FEATURED
You are browsing the archive.
The Backyard – When One Legend Pays Tribute to Another
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! One of the more interesting releases to generate discussion lately has been the new Team Associated RC10 Retro 80’s Ultra Fox. If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media over the last few days, you’ve probably seen it pop up in your feed along with a whole lot of opinions. The reason people [...]
The Backyard – Ready for Race Day
This week’s Backyard is going to be a quick one because I’ve got a busy weekend ahead. First off, if you’ve been following along with my JConcepts Reactor build, Part 2 of the build series is now live. I’ll drop a link right here for anyone who wants to check it out. It’s kind of funny how quickly this project went from [...]
Monster Truck Madness: Building a JConcepts Reactor Monster …
Hey folks, it’s time for the second and final part of my JConcepts Reactor build! Here is a link to Part 1 in case you missed it. Let’s get right to it! The chassis went together smoothly. As an FYI, the only differences between the short and long wheelbase chassis kits (mine is the 13″ version) are the frame rails and [...]
- 6/11/2026
- 10:57 am
- JConcepts
Monster Truck Madness - By: Doug
The Backyard – The Projects That Never Happened
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! Before we get into today’s topic, I should probably confess something. I own enough unbuilt static model kits to keep me occupied well into retirement. Tamiya kits. AMT kits. Military vehicles, aircraft, ships, semi trucks, race cars—you name it, I’ve probably got one sitting on a shelf somewhere. Now, I don’t necessarily consider those projects [...]
The Backyard – Some Thoughts on the Axial SCX10 III Toyota…
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! I always like to keep you all guessing a bit here in The Backyard, so this week instead of talking monster trucks, retro racing, or some larger hobby philosophic topic, I figured I’d throw out some general impressions on a truck I recently picked up—the Axial SCX10 III Toyota SR5. https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/axial-1-10-scx10-iii-1987-toyota-sr5-4×4-rtr-brushed-rock-crawler-red/AXI-2062.html Now, this is not a [...]
- 5/29/2026
- 2:17 pm
- Axial
The Backyard - By: Doug
The Backyard - Come Race Monster Trucks at BIGFOOT 4X4 Open …
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! Well folks, it’s almost that time again—BIGFOOT 4X4 Open House is just around the corner, and once again the Trigger King R/C crew will be there putting on our annual solid axle monster truck racing event! This year’s event takes place on Saturday, June 13th, and if you’ve never made the trip out to BIGFOOT [...]
- 5/22/2026
- 6:56 pm
- The Backyard
- By: Doug
The Backyard – Sometimes It’s Enough to Just Look at ‘…
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! You know, as I sit here writing this, I’m staring over at my Tamiya King Hauler and matching trailer sitting on my desk at home. The whole setup is over three feet long in total, and despite the fact I built the entire rig last year… I’ve barely driven it. And honestly? I don’t even really [...]
The Backyard – Give Me a Mid Paint Job Over a Vinyl Wrap
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! I know this opinion probably makes me sound like an old man yelling at clouds, but I’m going to own it anyway: Give me a mediocre paint job over a decent vinyl wrap probably 80 percent of the time. This goes for both full-size vehicles and R/C. Maybe even more so with full-size stuff. But seeing [...]
The Backyard – Builder Mode vs Driver Mode
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! As I sit here in the middle of building my JConcepts Reactor (more on that over in the revived Monster Truck Madness series – article 1 goes live within a couple days), it got me thinking about something I’ve noticed over the years. When it comes to this hobby, I can be a bit of [...]
Monster Truck Madness: Building a JConcepts Reactor Monster …
Hey everyone! It’s time to resurrect Monster Truck Madness for a few weeks, as I’ve officially started building a JConcepts Reactor Retro Truck—and let me tell you, I have a lot to say about this truck. A few weeks back, I wrote about my plans for the Reactor build—think of that as a “Part 0” prequel. You can find a link [...]
- 5/1/2026
- 1:41 pm
- JConcepts
Monster Truck Madness - By: Doug
The Backyard – A Little Bit of Everything
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! First things first—my JConcepts Reactor has arrived, and I’m already well into the build. I’ll be diving deep into that in a series of upcoming posts, breaking down the build process, setup decisions, and everything that comes with it. But for now, just know that progress is underway… and I’ve got some diffs waiting for [...]
The Backyard – Bringing Back a Little Madness
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! Well, it finally happened—I’ve got a 13” wheelbase JConcepts Reactor on the way. After a couple weeks of going back and forth (and missing the first batch thanks to a bit too much indecision), I was able to get in on the next round. So now the real fun begins. As you might expect, once it [...]
The Backyard – Planning a Reactor Build
Greetings all and Happy Friday! With the announcement and release of the JConcepts Reactor, I’ve found myself going back and forth… and then back again… on what exactly I want to do with mine. When I first learned about the Reactor, I had a pretty straightforward plan. I was going to build it as a standard Retro monster truck racer—Clod Buster-sized, 10.75” [...]
The Backyard – The Truck(s) That Got Away
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! You know, as I sit here trying to figure out what JConcepts Reactor I want to build (short or long wheelbase?)—and then going down the rabbit hole of what body, what tires, what direction I want to take it (more on that in a future write-up once I actually decide)—it got me thinking about [...]
The Backyard – Choosing Your First Scale Crawler Kit
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! I spent most of this week traveling, which meant a little more downtime than usual—and as is often the case, that turned into a bit of “talking R/C” with friends of mine online. In doing so, a longtime racer friend of mine FINALLY said he wanted to buy a scale crawler. This is someone that [...]
