Chevy S10 Tribute

My tribute to the Chevy S10

I'd always known I wanted a piece of the XV01 action, but it appeared on the scene when I was under a bit of a spending embargo, and it didn't hang around for long. It's never been the cheapest of Tamiya kits, and having built it, I can see why.

This Asterion came to me from another TC member. I forget exactly who, but it was NIB and untouched and the price was good. I really wanted one of the rally cars, but at this price I couldn't say no. I was never sure if I wanted to build this as a truck or a rally car, so for a long time it sat unbuilt on the bottom of a pile of NIBs until the box began to deform.

At one point I was sure it was going to be a rally car - a local club started doing rally stages on Sundays and any chassis was eligible, provided it was 1:10 and had a touring car wheelbase and width and 1.9 wheels. I even bought a Celica GT4 body to make a retro rally racer. But alas it was not to be - Sundays turned out to be too difficult to do on a regular basis, and the club folded before I had a chance to even build my rally car.

It seemed then that the Asterion would sit unbuilt in the Rainy Day pile until such time as a rainy day came along. Well, the current situation is about as rainy as it gets, and although I don't have any more free time than I did before the crisis (actually I have less), I have much less things to fill it with, so building some NIBs has been my stay-sane therapy. The Asterion was the first to get built.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the build. Virtually everything is adjustable, with enough spares included to make some setup changes before driving. I think if you were racing you'd at least want to buy a full set of shims and some alloy suspension components, but for a basher I've got just about everything I need. I built the truck in stock form, although I substituted the included bearings for rubber shielded bearings in the wheels, just in case I get this truck wet. Initially I built without electrics as the embargo on racing and public events meant it would likely never see action, however I have now made a rough rallycross track in my garden and this truck is the perfect size.

I spent a long time deliberating on the body. I didn't want to go boxart, as IMO the Asterion has the most unimaginative body art to come from Tamiya in as long as I can remember. For a long time I thought I would go for my own race colours, but I'm getting bored of race colours and probably won't ever have a chance to race this truck anyway. However I'm a huge fan of the older TA02T range and I doubt I'll ever own an original Tamiya S10, so this was my opportunity to make a tribute truck. Paint is all Tamiya as per the S10 manual, except for the rear black area. I painted from the inside in black as the manual states, but it didn't look right. I added some flat clear on the outside but I still wasn't happy, so I painted over it with a generic satin black rattlecan, which I think looks much better. Decals are from MCI. I left a little strip of lexan at the front to hide the motor. If you look at a photo of the original S10 race truck, it actually has the same goofy stance with no chin; there is a tubular bumper beneath the grille but it's hard to see as it's painted black. The original Tamiya S10 has the same issue with a big gap between chassis and body, but I think it's easier to hide on the XV01 as it has a larger, higher tubular bumper instead of a small skid plate. The flap of lexan is painted black with some flat clear outside. I think it's just enough to hide the gap without looking out of place.

Currently it's fitted with an Alturn high speed race servo, Etronix Probe WP ESC and Super Stock BZ motor. I had planned to fit an old 17.5 blinky brushless setup from my old touring car but couldn't make it fit in the limited electronics space. The BZ is probably a little too fast for my track so when funds allow I'll buy something a little tamer to go in.

It's a real hoot to drive. The hard tyres and front-mounted motor make for some very lively action, but it's thoroughly controllable. Coming off the grass at the Tail of the Dragon hairpin and onto the patio slabs, I'm able to maintain a four-wheel drift all the way through Sands Hotel, into the sharp left-hander of Belfast and onto Fosseway, the start-finish straight.