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Every nowand then,our readersblow ourminds withsome of

the crazy creations theyhave built in theirworkshops. One suchreader is Scott Branche,who built one of thesickest trucks we’ve everseen. This is no ordinaryTraxxas E-Maxx withcool tires and a Hummerbody. This thing shoots a 5-foot stream of fire!We called Scott inMaryland and made himdrive his butt up here sowe could get a closerlook at his creation.

by Kevin HetmanskiPHOTOS BY PETE HALL & DERON NEBLETT

»Maxx Firepower!

HOMEBUILT

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Scott and his incredible machine.

BEFORE

[ ]Do you want to build your ownflame-throwing truck? Don’t! Scott

is a professional, and heconstructed this truck with safety

in mind. All photography andtesting were done under the

supervision of the Ridgefield FireDepartment. Never play with fire,

especially with your RC gear.

TRAXXAS EMAXX BASE TRUCKThe base of this flame-throwingmonster is a modified TraxxasE-Maxx. It features MIP CVDs,Dynamite front and rearbumpers, Megatech aluminumbody mounts, skidplates,bulkhead braces and batterystraps, Traxxas Big Boreshocks, DuraTrax aluminum-servo skidplate, Imex Jumbo

Maxx Claw Dawg tires andJumbo Maxx Diamond wheelsand Pro-Line Performancesuspension.

HUMMER H2 BODYScott chose a Pro-Line HummerH2 to cover the gear in histruck. Instead of sending thebody off to be painted, he did ithimself using Pactra paints anda Badger airbrush. He blacked

Don’t Try This!

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Since Scott’s truck shoots fire,we wanted to see it destroysomething. After looking arounda bit, I came across a truck I hadbuilt seven years ago and figuredit wouldn’t be missed. We took itout to the baseball field and letScott and his rig go to town on it.It took me more than a year tobuild the truck and less than 30seconds to see it melt away. Andyes, it was totally worth it.

Above: a single bottle of butane is enough for about 30 minutes of torch time. Center: here you see the nozzle for the flames. It can be moved from sideto side with the help of a servo. Right: the body is mounted on an aluminum assembly, and a servo moves it up and down. Its movement is silky smooth.

AFTER

out the windows for that trickstreet look.

BODY LIFTScott’s truck is equipped witha body lift to make it easy toaccess the gear inside. Tomake that happen, Scottcreated a frame out ofaluminum angle and smokedLexan that raises the body upwith a servo. The frame pivots

at the rear on two mounts thatare attached to a plastic plate.A servo mounted on the pivotplate pushes the assembly upand down with a tie rod. Aspring at the bottom of thepivot helps the servo lift theweight of the body. The bodymovement is very smooth; it’shard to believe that a servo isworking the lift. The bodylift/flamethrower mount is

attached to the E-Maxx usingthe stock E-Maxx bodymounts.

FLAMETHROWERScott hooked up the flame-thrower so that he can ignite itfrom his radio. A push of abutton on the transmitter opensa valve and butane shoots overa small pilot light to create the5-foot flame you see in the

photos. Another cool feature isthat the nozzle for the flame issteerable from left to right.When the steering servo turnsthe tires, another servo movesthe flamethrower’s tip.

WIRELESS CAMERALook closely, and you’ll see asmall wireless camera underthe body. Scott rigged it topan left and right from the

hf

hf

HOT STUFF2 IS CAPABLE OF BLAZING

PERFORMANCE –LITERALLY

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radio. The video it sends canbe seen through a pair ofvideo glasses. They allowScott to drive and see the“virtual reality experience”even while the truck is out ofsight. A small microphonemounted under the main deckpicks up the sound of thecarnage caused by theflamethrower.

LET THERE BE LIGHTAs if flames and a cool cameraweren’t enough, Scott addedworking lights to the Hummerbody. He said that wiring andinstalling the light system wasthe most difficult building

task. Scott constructed 22plastic holders for the LEDsthat light up the night on histruck; chrome paint helpsreflect the light.

ELECTRONICSA Novak Super Rooster ESCcontrols the power comingfrom a pair of SMC 3300mAhbattery packs, and a FutabaS9303 servo points the fronttires in the right direction. Allthe truck’s functions arecontrolled by a JR XP652 6-channel radio system. Twoswitches on top of thetransmitter control the bodylift (left) and shift the

transmission (right). The leftstick turns the lights andcamera on and off, and it alsopans the camera when movedup and down. Scott changesthe functions by moving thetrim tab to different positions.When the left stick is movedleft and right, Scott can controlthe on/off function of theflamethrower and the intensityof the flame. The right sticksteers and moves theflamethrower left and right.The up-and-down movementof the stick controls forwardand reverse.

Scott Branche thanks AletheaBageant of Competition ProductsInc. and Kevin Brey of HobbyWorks, both of Laurel, MD, forhelp with this project as well asthe Ridgefield Fire Department inRidgefield, CT.

SOURCESDuraTrax distributed by GreatPlanes; duratrax.com.Dynamite distributed by HorizonHobby; dynamiterc.com.Futaba distributed exclusively byGreat Planes; futaba-rc.com.Great Planes Model Distributors(217) 398-6300; (800) 682-8948;greatplanes.com. Horizon Hobby (800) 338-4639;horizonhobby.com.Imex Model Co. (352) 754-8522;imexrc.com.JR Racing distributed by HorizonHobby.Megatech Intl. (201) 662-8500;megatech.com. MIP (626) 339-9007; miponline.com.New Era Models (603) 888-4453;neweramodels.com.Novak Electronics Inc.(949) 833-8873; teamnovak.com.Pro-Line (951) 849-9781; pro-lineracing.com.SMC (540) 298-7706; smc-racing.com.Traxxas Corp. (972) 265-8000;traxxas.com.

Adding the lights was actually the most difficult part of this project. Boy, do those lights bring this truck to life!

You can use any radio to control this truck’s actions. Scott uses a JR 6-channel radio for the job at hand. It controls 10 functions!

A look at the bottom of the E-Maxx base truck. Its list of hop-upoptions is almost as impressive as the flamethrower.

Body lift

Gear shift

Camera pan

Flameintensity

Forward

Reverse

FlamesweepLights on/off

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