2.2 Rock Crawlers are great vehicles to drive, the mechanical components are so much similar to real life motors that working on them is a constant pleasure. And they are so good off-road.
But maybe they are just too good. A bit like having a tricked up hybrid proto with 54in boggers without experiencing too much power issue nor breakage.
See my point? Things get too easy and it is getting harder to find challenging routes.
Although those crawlers are great, they do not look too much like a real vehicle. And at the end of the day, if you, like me, got into RC, it was because they are mechanically similar to the original product, but are easier to maintain and run (usually...).
That made me want to build a 'scale' RC. A vehicle that will have some more real life size ratios. They are usually classify as 1.9 (ie 1.9in rim diameter compared to 2.2in for the others). The choice is great, and as usual, ranges from the cheap toy to the 'many' hundred of Pounds one.
Based on my very good experience with the Axial Racing AX-10, I decided to stay in the same stable and got myself the SCX-10 kit.
Unlike my previous Axial, this one had to be built from scratch. And provided an excellent opportunity to spend time with my son and explain how a car works.
Built
Building it was very easy, the instructions were very clear with all the parts coming in marked bags which made the overall experience more pleasurable. I did not "suffer" as much as I do when I did my CR-01. (another very good rock crawler, you can read about it in Difflock too), but you have to remember that I am starting in this hobby.
It took me a total of 10hours to make it (body shell painting excluding).
A lot of the components are very similar to the proven AX-10 I had, therefore, no worry about the capability of this vehicle.
I only did one change from the original design. Instead of having two locked axles, I used the open differential from my AX-10 to put at the front of the new one. I wanted to build a more faster type vehicle, a sort of mixed between a comp safari car and a play day one.
Driving it
I tried a couple of courses that I tend to do in my garden. Obviously I failed on a number of them, but I got a much greater pleasure in attempting them with this car than the other 2.2 crawlers. Having smaller tyres and an open front diff forced me to find better routes. It also gave me some big smiles when the wheels were lifting in the air in axle twisters.
I also had a go on flat dirt surfaces. With stiffer suspension (that you can adjust) and a faster motor it is handling more like a comp safari car and I could do some drifts and wheel spins. That part got my son very excited.
Massive great fun I can tell you !!!
Next stage
I want to fit another body. I've got a Kamtec Bowler lying around, but the chassis is a bit long, so I will have to decide what to do on that one, cutting or not cutting. The LR Discovery body (from Kamtec as well) could also be a good bet.
I'd like also to improve its turning circle in the same way as I did it for the AX-10.
All in all, my son decided that the SC-10 will be the RC to take with us on holiday, and I will agree with him. It is a lot more multi-purpose than the 2.2 crawlers and smaller as well, and provides as fun if not more fun.
