This article was originally published in RC Driver’s June 2015 issue.
By David Baker
Mini Me! Who wouldn’t want one for their scale or trail truck?
I Have always felt that if an RC vehicle has an open or highly visible driver’s seat that it should have a driver figure in it. If that driver could look like a mini me then that would be over the top. However, I never considered that since I didn’t know it was actually possible. While perusing CowRC’s Facebook page I would come across photos from ABBC Motorsports, a Utah based business that is, as they state it, “a scale garage involved in building and showcasing RC goodness.” One image of a GMade trail truck with a scale driver in it captured my attention. Upon closer inspection I realized it was modeled after a real person, Bob Walkup, the man behind ABBC Motorsports. I contacted Bob for more details and found out the following information. ABBC stands for A Byte Better Computers, which is Bob’s company and his “day job”. He is also involved in a number of other RC related websites. When he wanted to see himself driving his GMade trail truck, he enlisted the services of his friend, Cory Clawson to make it a reality. Cory’s sculpting skills will blow your mind. Check him out at clawsonsculpture.wix.com/clawsonsculpture when you’re done with this month’s issue of RC Driver. If you go there now you may not get back here for a good while.
Cory used photo references of Bob to sculpt his likeness in a computer program called ZBrush. The file was then used to have a 3D model printed at the appropriate scale for the GMade Jeep. Bob painted and detailed the figure, which actually has Google glass, and mounted it in the driver’s seat of his trail truck. Bob shared with me that he and Cory have plans to offer scale drivers to the RC public in several different configurations. Details are not complete at the time I am writing this so you will have to keep an eye on the ABBC Motorspsorts’ Facebook page if you are interested in a driver for your rig.
I want to thank Bob Walkup and Cory Clawson for the photos they provided to share with you. It always amazes me what people in our hobby can come up with to keep it interesting and exciting. If you have or know of a project that you think would make a good Backyard article please let me know at editors@rcdriver.com
