Big Squid RC

For Bashers, By Bashers!
Recent Reviews

What's new: Thursday, May 6th, 2010

JConcepts has a new tire for 2.2″ buggy wheels that lies somewhere between their popular Goosebumps tread and the Double Dees tread. They call them the Flip Outs and this is what they have to say about them:

Alternating center bar support provides the base for the forward traction while the small accommodating tapered pins provide the dig and flex under hard acceleration and cornering.

It’s going to be available in their super-soft green compound and it will come with foams. MSRP is about $16.00. Check out JConcepts’ site for more info.

What's new: Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

JConcepts gave us a sneak peek of their new Punisher body for the AE RC8B a few weeks ago.  Well now it’s finished and going into production.  It’s still got a steeply angled windshield and sidepods that supposedly help it corner faster and fly better.  The rear cab area is low profile to provide for better air-flow and engine cooling.  And it’s also got a full complement of decals, windows masks, and overspray film.

So, will ROAR be banning this one too?  We shall see.  For now, check out the JConcepts web site for more info.

Remember those Pro-Line Trencher SC tires we posted about a while back?  No?  Oh…  well…  Anyway that tread pattern has been jumbo sized for monster trucks.  The Trencher 3.8″ (40 series) tire has a 1/4″ tread that is good for all kinds of grip on just about any surface.  They’ve also got an increased sidewall thickness to prevent tearing at the bead when things get just a little too crazy.  The Trenchers will be molded in Pro-Line’s M2 compound so they should last a good long time.

Check out Pro-Line’s web site for more info.

What's new: Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Axial’s got a new .28 size nitro engine that may help satisfy all your big block desires.  The new Spec 2s is a big engine that you’ll be able to stuff into any .21 size engine mount for an instant power boost.  This thing can be spun up to a max of 37,500 RPM.  Some other features are an easy to adjust three needle slide carb, an oversized heat-sink head, and a selection of venturis in 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0mm sizes.  It also comes with a pull starter that can be swapped out for most aftermarket shaft start systems.  You’re going to be looking at somewhere around 2 bills for this bad boy, and it should be on store shelves soon.

Check out Axial’s site for all the details.

Pro-Line P56 Pro-Line P56

For all you on-road guys, Pro-Line introduces the P56-N (Nitro)
body. It’s legal for just about every sanctioning body on earth, and comes in two weights, ‘Lite’ and ‘Pro-Lite’. Not sure exactly how they do that.. but we’ll take their word for it. Looks pretty sweet though.

Check the Pro-Line website for more on-road rc body info.

Pro-Line Chevy Silverado Pro-Line Chevy Silverado

Just in is the new Pro-Line Chevy Silverado 1500 body for the HPI Blitz! Excellent detail with pronounced fenders make this body stand out in a crowd. Throw a little paint on it and tear things up!

Stop by Pro-Line for more information.

Novak has a new addition to their huge line of brushless ESCs.  The new Havoc Pro SC speed control is specifically designed for all you short course racers.  One of the few things Novak is touting about this new ESC is a redesigned brake system.  But it also features electronic timing and 14 adjustable parameters.  The Havoc Pro SC will be available by itself, in a combo with a 4.5T motor, and it will also be available as a complete prewired system for quick and easy installation in the Traxxas Slash.

The Team Novak web site hasn’t been updated yet with all the information, so keep an eye on their homepage for more info.

RPM slash nerf bars For all you Traxxas Summit owners, RPM has come out with front and rear bumper supports. These are the nerf bar type parts that are between the truck and the bumper. If you ever snapped one, you’ll want to upgrade to the RPM version for sure.

Visit the RPM RC site for details.

RC Bashing So last weekend the Big Squid RC Bash Crew (as Cubby likes to call us) headed out to Champaign Il, to Slot and Wing Hobbies for their yearly bash event. It’s always fun when we can all get together and just have a good time bashing. We weren’t there worrying about testing products, or running the event, we were there just to have fun!

RC Bashing Myself, Bill, Tim and Jim all met up to partake in some cool events. I’ll be posting some video in the next few days, but didn’t want to just slap something together, since it was a good event, and we got some cool footage. So I have tossed up a few screen grabs here to keep you thirsty for more later.

RC Bashing Tim and Bill tied for first in the high-speed event. We brought our dragsters, but the parking lot was rough, those things wouldn’t of gotten 10 feet. Tim got 51mph in his electric buggy, while Bill also hit 51mph with his nitro Jato!

After the high speed run we participated in the tug of war, Tim and I both jumped in with our modded SC trucks. There wasn’t really much traction on the track, so it was more a matter of who’s gears would fail first.. lol.

RC Bashing After the tug of war, there was the High Jump and Long Jump events. I ended up pulling out the win in the high jump competition, I couldn’t believe the air time! That green ramp is at least 8 feet tall! The pictures don’t do it justice, wait for the video! Tim beat me in the long jump event with 83 feet off a 18 inch ramp. I took second with 79!

After the jump events came the mud bog drag race! We didn’t even know about this event on the way down, so we didn’t bring vehicles for it. Tim made a good effort using his buggy with Bill’s truggy tires, and he won a few of the races, but his receiver fried after it got mud logged. LOL.

After the mud drags, came the demolition derby! This was a great time with 20+ vehicles going at it! Last truck standing, so if you rolled you were out. The Big Squid Crew made up the final 3 trucks with Jim taking the win with his stock Traxxas Slash!

The day was wrapped up with the final event, the freestyle competition. The event was judged based on crowd response, and it was fun to try and get the crowd into it. Tim was using his HB V8 buggy going for huge air, at one point jumping completely out of the track/event zone.. I was using the Savage Flux where I wowed the crowed with consistent back to back to back – backflips, but Bill took home the crown by landing a double back flip for the crowd with his nitro 8ight-T. We took first, second and third in freestyle.

The guys running the event were great, and so were all the volunteer’s that helped set up the event and build the ramps! It’s always great to travel and meet new people. If you get a chance, make sure to check out the Slot and Wing Hobbies shop if you are in the area!

We ended up winning most of the events while making a bunch of the local kids happy. Every time we won a prize, we would pick a kid and give it to them. I’m really looking forward to the next event there. If you stop by their shop/track tell them Big Squid RC sent ya!

RC BashingRC Bashing

RC BashingRC Bashing

What's new: Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Geezuss I’m getting tired of lame “teaser” press releases. A fine example of this was the tease put out by our broken English speaking friends at Kyosho America a couple weeks ago. The promise was “Something BIG” was coming from them. What did it turn out to be? Well the “BIG” news was that Kyosho America was opening up a Mini-Z track inside their facility. Arrgghhhh….. To me “BIG” news from Kyosho is a totally revamped 8th scale buggy featuring liquid cooling and EFI for the engine, and some way super dope laid down shocks that use a linkage for rising rate, remote reservoirs and eternal damping clickers. Just say’n…

The official BigSquid bashing squad hit an event hosted by Slot and Wing Hobbies in Champaign Illinois this weekend (look for event coverage in the next couple days). I was unable to attend, but the BigSquid crew came back ranting and raving just how much fun they had long jumping and mud slinging. I think a lot of people forget just how much fun bashing is. Anyways, we got to talking about why there aren’t more bashing events put on and why there aren’t any dedicated bash only tracks. Perhaps hobby shops think there is no money to be made by putting on bashing events? The Slot and Wing event had good attendance, as has BigSquids own Bash-A-Paloozas, and the No Limit RC events are always huge. Maybe if you are a shop owner you could (and should) consider catering more to the bashing crowd instead of the hardcore (and very vocal) racing guys? There are way more bashers than racers floating around out there. Hint hint…

That’s it for this week, as always support your local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!

YOUR Cub Reporter

What's new: Saturday, May 1st, 2010


Article: Duratrax Gatekeeper Chassis review – If you have a Losi Mini Rock Crawler you might want to give our Gatekeeper Chassis kit review a perusal.

Build Log: Micro-4WD Project – Taking Losi micros to another level.

Shopping Around: America’s Best R/C Sale – BestRC.com – Be sure to check out all the great savings at BestRC.com

Photo of the Week: Drift – Cool off-road drift action shot.

What's new: Friday, April 30th, 2010

Have an old tired Team Novak speed control or motor? Or maybe you are thinking about a upgrade… then it’s Novak to the rescue! They have just announced a great new program to help you out. Besides trading for the same ESC or Motor, you can pay a little extra and upgrade to something else! How sweet is that?

There are two links you need to hit up:
Novak ESC Trade In Program and the Novak Motor Trade In Program

For any more info and details, just hit the Team Novak website.

The A team’s got another one up their sleeve.  This time it’s the Factory Team edition of the RC8Be 1/8 scale electric buggy.  So what’s different between this and the non FT version?  This one is more bluer.  Just like the other Factory Team editions, the RC8Be has been decked out in all kinds of blue anodized aluminum parts.  And of course the sweet, succulent Factory Team Big Bore shocks have been thrown in the box as well.  It also comes standard with Pro-Line’s Holeshot treads in M3 compound.  MSRP is going to be $699.99 and it should be in the shop sometime in June.

There’s actually a ton more hop-ups and changes, more than we have room to list, so be sure to hit up Team Associated’s web site for more information.