Axial EXO Terra Buggy - Getting Back into RCYeah so it has been a while since I was "into RC". People places and things piss you off that take something fun and turn it into something that is far from enjoyable... I needed a break, but have slide back into RC it seems again.
Every July 4th holiday we strap fireworks to an RC for a little show and inevitably something breaks. This time around we smoked a heavy duty servo and after finding the replacement I spotted the Axial EXO Terra buggy in kit form... hmm I have that extra Hitec servo, a Mamba Max, Neu 1515-1Y and a spare Spektrum RX/TX set. Why not?
Honestly it was not that I wanted another RC, it was that it looked cool and we have three weeks in a row where we are entertaining with kids here and there that need to be entertained. The wife keeps telling me I need to have an RC set up for inexperienced kids and not the mega death 50MPH machines I normally build; this would be perfect.
As I was assembling the extremely well made Axial EXO Terra kit, it struck me how far RC has come and has not come in the last 4-5 years I have been absent from the hobby. The quality of this kit was very close to my Losi 8 build with a few exceptions but for 1/3 the price it is a stunning value. For all practical purposes this kit is an 1/8th scale chassis with a true to scale roll-cage body and short course wheels and tires. Time will tell but I think the 1/10th scale shocks may be a little light for the overall weight, however initially they seem to have held up well.
Axial has done an outstanding job with the instructions with the only two errors I found regarding screw sizes. If you purchase the EXO in kit form, follow the directions otherwise there will be some rework on your part as it is just a bit different than an 1/8th scale chassis build due to the dependence on the roll cage as part of the shock supports.
For paint I decided to use whatever I had based on a silver fade/skull theme backed with dark midnight blue. As you will notice there is no blue in this build. The spray can of Midnight Blue backer paint was mis-labeled and was actually black... still turned out great. I used my airbrush with Artool Skullmaster stencils for all the skulls and the filled the voids with some of the stencil skull patterns. I did a few freehand highlights and fades and then let everything dry almost completely and then for a crackled paint look, I sprayed the backer black paint on the crackle the paint finish.... an old but good paint trick. Due tot the paint layering, the body was then allowed to dry for a full two days. After dry, I double backed the battery compartment cover and front of the hood with 3M Extreme duct tape to prevent the paint from chafing from the battery or shocks.
The interior body and engine compartment was just sprayed with Rust-Oleum high performance enamel in Aluminum as the decals provide all the detail required for these pieces and the lighter color allows the interior to pop a bit more and not wash out like a darker color would. Slip on the decals and your body parts are done.
Axial includes a 2900kv 1/10th scale motor with basically the Castle Sidewinder ESC. I opted to use what I had left over from the height of my RC days which ended up being a large 1/8th scale Neu 1515-1Y 2200KV motor and Castle Creations Mamba Max with a 12V 4CFM fan added. This combo has been used in more than a few of my 1/8th scale builds and easily handles the weight of the EXO Terra. There is one or two other folks who have used the Neu 1515, which is a bit fatter than the current Castle Neu 1515 versions, however I have cringed seeing that they ground down the motor fins to make it fit. Four small washers, one under each corner, are all that is needed to bump the height of the center diff supports up for proper motor clearance of this fat motor. In order to initially provide a lower speed platform for the kids, I opted for a 14T Losi 32P pinion. Based on the the total absence of heat when running it hard on 2S in thick grass with full sided 2.2" wheels, both voltage and the pinion size could easily be increased.
In a few of the pictures I have an old set of Proline Flatirons on beadlocks because my hobby shop was out of tire glue. The larger tires did work infinitely better in tall grass, however the "scaled look" suffered a bit.What next? Let's get through the next couple weeks with the kids beating on it and then I will drop some serious voltage on this thing to see what side pinion I should jump up to.
Awesome ride that now needs a light kit.
