EVERYBODY’S SCALIN’ – SPOTLIGHT TANK TRACKED RAT ROD!
I was going to wait a couple of more weeks to post this Spotlight but I just couldn’t wait!
This build comes from Josh Dutton A.K.A RC Everyday. Not only can Josh build some amazing rat rods but he builds some great scale rigs. Flash back to about 3 years ago when I picked up the RC4WD Blazer body and was trying to mount it on a scx10 chassis. The videos I watched that helped me out the most were Josh’s RC Everyday videos on YouTube. You probably have already seen some of his other builds and he has even done a custom rat rod for a RC4WD give away. Just like all his builds, even his scale garage is scaled with some of the best deals I have seen. Josh’s scale garage mimics his rat rods with the same rustic Rockabilly theme. And if you look close enough in some of Josh’s videos and pictures you might spot a Big Squid RC sticker.
This is what Josh Dutton told us about his latest rat rod.
Alrighty, so this is the Tank Tracked RC Rat Rod. Starting off, the chassis is custom made out of 1/2 inch square steel tube, welded into the desired shape and split in the center to create equal C-channel rails. Up front is a custom CNC’s solid drop axle for Tamiya 1/14 scale semi-trucks, mounted on a custom radius arm style 2 link with modified Tamiya semi-truck shocks and mounts. The rear axle is an RC4WD Yota unit on a triangulated 4 link with some 1/10 touring car shocks. Power comes from a stock Tamiya can motor hidden inside the RC4wd scale V8 engine and is sent through the R4 trans and an old RC4WD metal driveshaft. The Scale V8 is loaded with little details like the headers I worked with RC4WD to create and the custom 3d printed tunnel ram intake with dual carbs designed by my friend Cyanide’s Speedshop out of New Zealand. I also used some welding wire to make scale fuel lines feeding the carbs. Topping it off is a mess of different body parts, the front tractor grill from Ossum designs is painted and patina’d and has custom steel mounts that hold it in place as well as hold the 1/8 scale model cast steel headlights. The front fenders were recycled from a 1/8 scale 32 ford model kit and mounted with custom steel mounts and scale hardware. The body (Ford Tudor) has an interesting story, it is a resin casting of a 3d printed body from my friend Nightcrawlers3d. It was an unsuccessful cast and had defects all over. So, I took it and chopped about 3/4 inch off the bottom then chopped another 1/4 inch out of the already chopped roof. It had been sitting around the shop for a while and had been painted tons of colors and used to test some real rust product on. Once the real rust had set up for a while, nearly a year, I hit it with some scotch bright and got the finish you see here. Hand painted some flames and called it good. lol. As of now it has some tank tracks on the rear but its mainly for looks, when driving I prefer some 1.9 steel wheels from RC4WD because with a small 3 cell, it will smoke the tires. The front tires are RC4WD 1.7 super wide semi tires stretched on some cruiser wheels that have been weathered accordingly. Electronics are simple, just a hobbywing 1060 and a micro servo from JDmodel.
A custom rig can be Priceless to some builders. Josh is definitely one of those master builders that takes pride and value in his work. He has had a lot of offers from people who are willing to pay a good chunk of money for his builds. Josh told me that if he isn’t building it for himself he finds it hard to get motivated and the last thing he is going to do is build a rat rod that doesn’t meet his pristine quality. In my opinion, if your heart is not into the build it can definitely show. Like when a painter is mad, their painting will reflect that emotion and building custom rigs is no different. Josh Dutton thanks for sharing your build with Big Squid RC. Keep up the great work and remember to always pan off into the sunset, lol.
On a side note we have a new drift guy Martin who will be doing the “Loosing Grip” article every Wednesday. I personally don’t know much about the Tasmanian Devil but I hear there may be a build challenge In the future. And if so, this is my official response, “Hold My Juicebox and watch this”, lol.
Till next week, have a good weekend and Keep Scalin’.
