Special Project: Down by the Lake

When you think Trail and Scale, what type of terrain do you usually think of? For most of us, it will certainly be rocky, mountainous trails with plenty of obstacles to overcome. In a departure from the typical mountain pass, we decided to take a detour down to the lake and take a spin in an incredible Oxidean Marine RC speedboat.

You can’t have a Trail and Scale issue without talking about one of the leaders in modeling detail. Tamiya released their new CC-02 crawler chassis last year and it’s been a tremendous hit right out the gate. We took an in depth look at the CC-02 in our February issue and in this issue, we decided to switch up the crawler with a new body for a new look and assign it a new role, one as a tow rig for our RC4WD BigDog triple-axle boat trailer and Oxidean Marine 36” Dominator speedboat.

The Bronco

When it came time to give our CC-02 a new identity, we were able to choose from a number of bodies thanks to its adjustable wheelbase. The wheelbase can be adjusted between 245, 255 and 267mm, which allows us to accommodate a range of bodies. In keeping with an all-Tamiya build, we looked at their selection of CC-01 bodies.
We opted for Tamiya’s classic 1973 Ford Bronco body and sent it over to Charlie Barnes from CFX Paintworks to give it a custom paint job. Using the Pro-Line paints, Barnes gave our tow vehicle a style that matches the boat that its assigned to tow. If Barnes’ name sounds familiar, its because not only is he well known in the RC painting community for his tutorials and videos, he is also owner of a legit RC track, Cal Raceway in Orange, California.
After we got the body back from Barnes, we mounted it up and detailed it up with some stickers from Tamiya. We didn’t do much to the truck mechanically as its already very capable, but we did add Tamiya CC-01 chrome finish Bronco wheels and tires to keep the scale details on point.

BigDog

The only thing left to do was to find a way to actually tow the RC4WD trailer that we intended to tow the boat on. RC4WD makes a ton of licensed and scale accessories for several vehicles and the company also has their own line of scale crawlers. Since they make scale trailers as well, we reached out to them for some bumper options that could work with the CC-02. We landed on a RC4WD Survivor Rear Bumper for Gelande which is a bumper/hitch combo. It has a flat mounting surface that worked nicely on the back of the Tamiya chassis.

The BigDog trailers come in different lengths and are built for different uses. We opted for the giant Triple Axle Scale Boat Trailer, which perfectly mounts our Oxidean Marine speedboat. These trailers are some of the most detailed that we’ve seen. They are constructed of a hand made tube chassis out of stamped steel and are outfitted with 1.55” white beadlock wheels and Dirt Grabber 1.55” all terrain tires.

When we got the boat from Oxidean Marine, we immediately went to RC4WD and found the biggest trailer they had, it is designed for a Twin Cat but with a super easy modification it holds the 36” V-Hull perfectly. The trailer comes with all the bells and whistles you would expect from a scale trailer but RC4WD takes it a step further and adds working lights, a functioning jack and sprung axles. Another cool feature is the Nylon Hull runners so you don’t worry about scratching up your Carbon or Kevlar Hull. This is going to make for some great videos.

Dominator Mono

If you’ve ever seen an RC speedboat glide across the water, at speed, you’ll understand why we had to get our hands on one. These technological wonders are fast and really fun to drive. The Dominator Mono RTR was designed with combined over 40 years worth of knowledge of powerboat design and its race winning design is quite unique. Many of its lines are sharp and squared as opposed to round. This more futuristic design lends to its incredibly predictable handling characteristics. It features a squared “Delta” ride pad surface in the rear of the bottom that lends to its rock solid stability in the straights.

The boat’s hull is not composed from your traditional vacuum bag lay up molds. It comes from a CNC mold that is cured in a temperature-controlled autoclave. That allows it to be lightweight and thin; yet incredibly strong and able to withstand crashes at the incredible speeds the boat is capable of. The Dominator’s hull is outfitted with unique braces that stiffen the hull yet further. The boat’s iron clad, explosively powerful motor and ESC are made for Oxidean Marine by none other than Hobbywing. Well known for winning performance and reliability both on and off the track, they brought their expertise on to the water with their Oxidean Marine collaboration.
If you haven’t taken a boat out to the lake before and are itching to try, you’re in luck. The Dominator Mono is a part of Oxidean Marine’s line of ready to run boats. A ready to go RTR boat can have you skimming the water at speed in no time. Its robust power systems, high quality construction and lightning fast speed on water is now at your fingertips. At only slightly more cost, you’re getting light years more performance than anything currently or previously released as an RTR.

The Dominator Mono comes in either full carbon, or carbon/Kevlar weave. Both are incredibly strong, so it’s more a choice of cosmetic appeal. They feature an integrated clear coat that is virtually impossible to flake, chip, or peel. These hulls do not crack, or break at the seam.

An explosively powerful motor and ESC are made for Oxidean Marine by none other than Hobbywing.

The Dominator Mono RTR comes in your choice of full carbon or a carbon/Kevlar weave. Precision made aluminum parts are included on both versions.

Final Thoughts

As we cruised down to the lake, we were split between taking a few laps around on the lake with the Oxidean Marine Dominator Mono or unhooking from the trailer to cruise the shoreline with the CC-02 Bronco. It didn’t take us long to made our quickly make our decision. With both vehicles available to us, we enjoyed our day at the lake and ended up splitting our time between both.