svt923
I wanna be Dave
I have made many threads here over the year (and will continue to do so as long as they keep the lights on). Usually these threads run the gamut of sarcastically informative to amusingly pointless but a short break from the ordinary is needed for this occasion.
As you may or may not have been aware, we recently lost Nick Chwalek of Helios and Bowhouse fame to the RC world. It is sad enough when our little corner of the hobby loses someone because there really aren't that many of us playing with tiny trucks. The ability to talk with someone about things as ultimately trivial as batteries or axle housings allows people from all over to connect quickly. Nick was one of those good dudes you would have connected with if you have ever been to a GCM Adventure Series, ECSC, Beat the Creek, Shred the Ledge, USTE, or any number of local events in the past. Some of us are lucky enough to be friends with Nick beyond a fleeting RC based encounter and we gathered to remember him this past weekend. Many of those same friends will be at USTE so will be a chance to remember the good times again and that is not something I would miss.
With those heavy words being said, a bit about the Ultimate Scale Truck Expo (USTE) for those not up on these things: it is a big ass RC weekend in Florida where a bunch of tiny truck nerds gather to mostly play with realistic scale trucks in realistic scale terrain (a place where you can safely enjoy driving your shelf queen for hours without fear of destroying it) but also vintage buggies, rally cars, monster trucks, and other RC-related shenanigans. So it is basically everything that is right up my alley (except the Florida part, I could do without that state).
Since I am committed to attendance, I guess a truck of some kind will be needed but what? :???:
Scale is the name of the game at USTE so a hard body is practically required but also something that is reliable enough to take on hours and hours of driving. Oh, did I mention USTE is about 3 weeks away? No time to build something new so let's see what we can spruce up.
The hard body options are my TF2, Gelande 2, and GCM Skeleton.
#1 - The TF2 is in really rough shape after being not so nice to it while running a C2 course at a local event a while back. It probably needs a new body to look presentable so that one is out.
#2 - Gelande 2 = wife's truck = nope
#3 - My GCM Skeleton has been insanely reliable with multiple 300+ gate events on it, drives incredibly well, and looks good. We have a winner.
When we last saw my Skeleton in action, it was slogging through the mud at the GCM Scale Adventure in 2018.
It ran like a champ that day but it always does. The China 2 door JK body also does a fantastic job of being scale with minimal effort.
Cool, so let's grab it off the shelf.
Eww.
Ok, so I haven't cleaned my truck for like a year and a half. In my defense, I didn't really want to so I didn't. Dirt isn't the boss of me!
And we arrive at our current situation:
Not bad and USTE isn't until the 3rd week in February.
(Checks calendar, sees date)
Well, this should be interesting.
As you may or may not have been aware, we recently lost Nick Chwalek of Helios and Bowhouse fame to the RC world. It is sad enough when our little corner of the hobby loses someone because there really aren't that many of us playing with tiny trucks. The ability to talk with someone about things as ultimately trivial as batteries or axle housings allows people from all over to connect quickly. Nick was one of those good dudes you would have connected with if you have ever been to a GCM Adventure Series, ECSC, Beat the Creek, Shred the Ledge, USTE, or any number of local events in the past. Some of us are lucky enough to be friends with Nick beyond a fleeting RC based encounter and we gathered to remember him this past weekend. Many of those same friends will be at USTE so will be a chance to remember the good times again and that is not something I would miss.
With those heavy words being said, a bit about the Ultimate Scale Truck Expo (USTE) for those not up on these things: it is a big ass RC weekend in Florida where a bunch of tiny truck nerds gather to mostly play with realistic scale trucks in realistic scale terrain (a place where you can safely enjoy driving your shelf queen for hours without fear of destroying it) but also vintage buggies, rally cars, monster trucks, and other RC-related shenanigans. So it is basically everything that is right up my alley (except the Florida part, I could do without that state).
Since I am committed to attendance, I guess a truck of some kind will be needed but what? :???:
Scale is the name of the game at USTE so a hard body is practically required but also something that is reliable enough to take on hours and hours of driving. Oh, did I mention USTE is about 3 weeks away? No time to build something new so let's see what we can spruce up.
The hard body options are my TF2, Gelande 2, and GCM Skeleton.
#1 - The TF2 is in really rough shape after being not so nice to it while running a C2 course at a local event a while back. It probably needs a new body to look presentable so that one is out.
#2 - Gelande 2 = wife's truck = nope
#3 - My GCM Skeleton has been insanely reliable with multiple 300+ gate events on it, drives incredibly well, and looks good. We have a winner.
When we last saw my Skeleton in action, it was slogging through the mud at the GCM Scale Adventure in 2018.
It ran like a champ that day but it always does. The China 2 door JK body also does a fantastic job of being scale with minimal effort.
Cool, so let's grab it off the shelf.
Eww.
Ok, so I haven't cleaned my truck for like a year and a half. In my defense, I didn't really want to so I didn't. Dirt isn't the boss of me!
And we arrive at our current situation:
Not bad and USTE isn't until the 3rd week in February.
(Checks calendar, sees date)
Well, this should be interesting.
