Posted: 11/15/17
There are so many things to look forward to at Axialfest, but if you are a modeler at heart, concours is the day during this event you look forward to the most. The pavilion of Cisco Grove campground transforms into a modelers truck show. Modelers line up before being told to at the gate, with rigs in hand and an eye over their shoulder to see who built what. Lanes are set up and modelers place their prized rigs into a lane that matches up with the class they’ve built their rig for. It’s a bit of a chaotic time, vehicles and owners are flooding in, cell phones are drawn, snapping photos, panning with video and instantly uploading to social media.
As the lanes fill up, judges start making their rounds and the chatter starts to begin between the participants and enthusiastic onlookers. “Whoa, look at that! Did you see that truck over there? That rig is insane! How did he make that?” These are all statements heard in the crowd and then it gets to; “the one.” The one most of the crowd saw, the one that stands out from the rest. If my mind serves me correct, it was less than an hour of concours being opened that several people had asked me if I saw the military wrecker? That military wrecker belonged to Todd Pearson and after staring at the machine in amazement I had to know more about it. Fast-forward to the end of concours, Todd and his military wrecker had deservedly taken home the 2017 Best of Show award. Now we all needed to know more about it! We were able to catch up with Todd and get all the details about his amazing build along with some close up photography.
ABOUT THE BUILDER
Name: Todd Pearson
Age: 47
Hometown: Chico, CA
Profession: Self Employed
Outside RC Hobbies: Rockhounding and Making Jewelry
HOBBY BACKGROUND
When did you start in RC? 1980
What was your first RC vehicle? A Tamiya Tank and then a Tamiya Fast Attack!
What are your main RC interests (building, racing…?) I love anything RC related, I flew my first plane at age 8 and still fly today. I started racing RC cars in the late 80’s and still enjoy it on a weekly basis. I can fly helicopters and quads and of course I love rock crawling.
How much time a week do you spend on RC? My wife who I love dearly says I spend way too much time on RC!
THE RIG
The name for your build? DOXY
What vehicle is your rig modeled after? Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck, with Chevrolet C15A 4x4 Crane (field adaptation.)
How much research went into the build? A Ton!
What is the frame/ did you start with a kit? This project started with a set of SCX10 frame rails. No modifications were made to the chassis
What drivline did you use? SSD
What axles did you use? SSD with all Axial internals
THE BODY
What did the body start off as? Tamiya Wrangler
What materials were used to modify it? The cab was cut down 6-inches then I added styrene fenders and side steps. The front and rear windows and the interior were all custom scratch-built from styrene.
How long did the body take to complete? I can't really guage time. I gave myself a year to complete this truck and enter it at Axialfest concourse.
Additional body modifications: The bed is real wood and the crane cage is steel. The crane is manually extendable for more boom reach. The winch works from the radio and is custom built; complete with scale chain.
THE DETAILS
Tell us more about the external accessories, lighting and other hidden features? For lighting, I custom built the head and tail lights. The work light operates by a hidden switch. In the cab I used an SBC Toolbox and Ammo Can. I also had a scale topo-map of Cisco Grove and a Scale CMP Manual. On the outside of the truck I added scale rope, made a scale tow log, added a full size spare tire, Jerry cans, welding tanks and hoses and the fuel tank. The fuel tank is actually active and is what holds the variable speed smoke system.
ELECTRONICS
Radio System: KO PROPO with two receivers. One for driving and one for the smoke system.
Motor: Axial 27T
ESC: Axial
Servo: Protek 100T
Battery: ECO Power
PARTS USED
The big list of stuff…
SCX10 frame rails
SCX10 II transmission
Ebay transfer case
SSD Driveline
SSD D60 axles with Axial internals
Protek RC 100T servo
Two speed controls (one for driving and one for the smoke system)
Metal stamped beadlock wheels
RC4WD Mud Plugger tires
Full-size spare tire
Custom hand-made winch (chain driven)
Custom wood bed
Custom metal crane cage with extendable boom
Custom Wood tow log
Custom metal bumpers front and rear
Custom working smoke system (in the gas tank)
Custom lighting
Tamiya Wrangler cab (cut down 6in.)
Custom interior
Scale By Chris accessories
THE EXPERIENCE
Give us a brief overview of driving the truck. Are you nervous when driving? What trails did you run on at Axialfest? Doxy never really made it out for any serious trail runs. We just kinda goofed off around the pavilion. On friday I left Doxy at my sponsors booth AMainHobbies.com and let everyone get a good look at the truck.
AXIALFEST MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Todd: Axialfest 2017, WOW what an awesome event this year! So much fun with family and friends. Last year I decided that I was going to build a tow truck for this year's event and enter the concourse.
The idea for this truck was just to build something different and badass! I was never expecting to be rewarded for all the hard work and effort. The competition at Axialfest in all concours classes is incredible with some really crazy talented builders.
After all the judging, Doxy was chosen to be best of her class for 2017. I'm speechless and extremely honored to be able to win this award on my first attempt. Then even more incredible to be voted Best Of Show by all of the other class winners. What? Really! I'm so truly honored to be recognized for the time and effort. Thank you fellow builders and judges!
WHERE IS IT NOW?
Is this a shelf queen? Will you continue to drive it? Doxy will be out on some trails but most of the time she will be next to her trophy!
FUTURE PLANS?
Will the truck stay as is, or will it continue to evolve? I’m done with this build and moving on to my 2018 secret project. Huge thanks to my family for supporting me on this project. And everyone else that was a part of the project.
SPECIAL THANKS
AMainHobbies,com
Proteck RC
ECO Power
Corey Koehler
Brad Juanarena
Shaun Klobas
Scale By Chris
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
We'd like to thank Todd for taking the time to give us all of the details about Doxy and congratulate him for taking home the Best In Class and Best Of Show award at Axialfest 2017. We hope this story on Todd’s quest to build an amazing tow truck inspires you to build the truck of your dreams too. We suggest starting right now and we’ll see you in the concours lanes at Axialfest 2018!
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