Posted: 3/21/23
Ultimate Scale Truck Expo
2023 USTE Recap
By Matt Higgins
We went on an adventure. Recently, Axial packed its bags and headed to the Sunshine State for the Ultimate Scale Truck Expo.
Ultimate Scale Truck Expo, or, as it’s most often referred to, USTE, is a multiday event held annually in Florida in mid-February. Specifically, this something-for-everyone gathering is hosted in the fairly small town of Williston, Florida, which is about an hour and a half north of Orlando, home of Mickey Mouse, and less than a half hour south of Gainesville, aka home field for the Florida Gators. While inarguably geared toward the scale truck crowd, USTE has a lot of RC variety. It's like the 12 Days of Christmas. You’ll find vintage buggies racing, heavy equipment pushing, 18-wheelers truckin’, monster trucks jumping, drift cars sliding, and bashers getting huge air. Definitely something for everyone. What you won’t find is gate-dodging comp crawling or serious racing.
In my humble summation, the two main attractions are the miles of wooded RC rock crawling trails that are loaded with features and the huge show-n-shine competition for the numerous dollhouse trucks — with everything else being not just regular gravy but savory gravy. A close third and basecamp for the event is the vendor row area. Including RC mainstays such as Axial, vendors range from hobby stores to manufacturers such as Reefs Servos to small outfits making scale accessories to media companies such as RC Car Action and Big Squid RC. It’s not a full-on tradeshow, but there’s a good amount of vendors – more than enough to make it worth it. And, there’s a lot of small guys you wouldn’t normally be able to see in person.
Dollhouse Trucks
What is a dollhouse truck? Well, it's a term of endearment for a scale truck that has transcended from mere RC car to full-on "Is that thing real?" scale replica. Dollhouse trucks are consistently performance last and scale details first. What kind of details? Some have brake lines and radiator overflow tanks under the hood. Almost all have wildly detailed interiors. Patina is the norm and glossy flawless showroom finishes are the exception. Dollhouse trucks are tiny trucks that look as much like the real thing as possible. What's cool is while the primary focus is definitely the scale details, some of these trucks do find their way out onto the trails.
Scale Trails
The trails meander through the expansive wooded acres full of pinetrees and palmtrees. If you want to put some miles on your scale trail rig, you won’t be disappointed. There are a lot of paths and they’re all fairly long. In addition to plenty of dirt, rocks, elevation changes, and roots to climb over, there are a lot of additional obstacles, some manmade, some not. Axial Adventure proudly sponsored Trail 3, which offered a massive 90-foot long suspension bridge. Trail 3 was the longest trail at the event and also featured a huge, downed tree that drivers had the option of climbing and crawling like a prehistoric bridge. All the other trails were loaded with interesting elements. There are a ton of cool obstacles and neat photo op buildings. You won't be bored.
Show-n-Shine
The show-n-shine is one of the most inspiring spectacles you can find in RC. There are simply a ton of well-built and expertly crafted show trucks. The show-n-shine is split into tiny truck, street, vintage buggy, mega mud truck, monster truck, and semi truck categories. Without a doubt the “tiny trucks” make up the vast majority of the entries, but it’s nice that there are the other breakout categories for competitors. The trucks compete for ten awards: old looking truck, new looking truck, engine bay, scale accessory, interior, driver, paint/weathering, detail, metal work, and best of show. The street side keeps a little simpler with: engine bay, detail, interior, and best of show. If you want some build inspiration or you want to showoff your skills, USTE is definitely the place to do it.
Why USTE?
If you like scale trucks, you should go to USTE. It's that simple. You'll get to run some great trails, meet plenty of fellow enthusiasts, and chat up some vendors as you check out their latest and greatest. Events like this definitely help you take the hobby to a whole new level. Not only will you see a ton of inspiring RC rigs (and some full-size off-roaders) but, overall, it's a very real experience that you just can't have on the bench or online. Not only is it fun but a few days at USTE will, pardon the pun, charge your batteries like nothing else. You'll leave tired, maybe with some sunburn, but you'll be fully cranked with a head full of ideas for your next build.
