“Hey,
I have a “team Durango” DESC210 and I want to run my 12mm wheels on it (it comes with 15mm hex) and have been looking EVERYWHERE for a conversion.
Have you heard of any or have any suggestions for me?
I only found one so far and it was in a blog that named a company that is not on the internet (M+M RC products)
Please help
Fred
“Sent from a Pirate ship somewhere in the Caribbean”.”

Cubby- Hey now Fred, thanks for somehow getting me an email from that Pirate ship in the Caribbean, LOL.

I have never converted a Durango 2wd SCT over to the smaller, but much more common, 12mm hexes, so I can not give you first hand info on the best way to do it. I have heard that you might be able to do it with Losi 22 hardware, but I have no idea if that will actually work or not. If you have a kick ass local hobby shop, you should be able to take your truck down and test fit a bunch of different parts to see what works and maintains the proper width. I for one am still amazed that none of the bigger aftermarket companies have made adapters for the Durango 10th scalers (hint hint Pro-Line, Exotek, etc).

Hit the “Read More” button to read the second question for this week (it’s about a Helion Dominus 10SC)…

“Helion Dominus 10SC

I read your review of the Dominus 10SC and have had quite the opposite experience. Parts have broken twice on fairly minor hits. Since Day 1, the remote loses connection with the truck. I took it back to HobbyTown to fix it (when it lost connection to the remote, it ran off the road and hit a tree), they fixed the broken parts around the front wheel and said it just needed to be re-bound to the remote. I had already done that before the crash and it continued to regularly lose connection. We put the car away after only using it for a total of two days. We got it out again, took it to HobbyTown USA and it is just out of the warranty period now. They didn’t fix it right the first time, but now they tell me I need a $59 receiver part that they won’t pay for and $30/hr to fix it. I spent nearly $1500 on four cars, fast chargers, extra batteries but their customer service has been terrible.

So my question (as a first time ever buyer of RC vehicles)–is there a place I can get RC parts where I don’t have to deal with Hobbytown? Have you had any experience dealing with Helion directly? And is this something a novice like me should be able to fix on my own?

I found your site on a google search and found it helpful, so I thought maybe you can answer my simple-minded questions.

Thanks,
Heath”

Cubby- Yo yo yo Heath, MTV raps and thanks for the email.

Sucks to hear you are having some issues with your new truck. Well, don’t feel alone in the matter, people have issues with all sorts of different brands, regardless of the price point.

To get to your questions…

Can you get Helion parts someplace other than your local HobbyTown? Yes, you can now get Helion parts directly from Helion. It’s pretty simple, just hit the Helion RC Website and order up what ya need. Like I always say, “support your LHS when you can”, since your local shop isn’t hooking you up they are forcing you to look elsewhere.

Have we dealt much with Helion directly? Yes, we’ve gotten to know several members of their crew quite well over the last couple of years. They’ve got some good people over there that should take care of you very well.

Can a noob like you switch out a receiver? Yes, it’s one of the easiest things you can do on an rc car, especially on that model where the receiver is easy to get to. It is as easy as plugging in some wires and putting some double sided tape on the back of the new receiver. Tip- make sure you put the wires into the correct slots and in the proper direction. You might want to make a note (or take a pic) of how the wires went into the stock receiver.

However… my recommendation would be to just ditch the stock radio gear and upgrade. If you plan on staying in the hobby you’ll want to get a good transmitter, they are the core of a good set-up. I don’t know if you’ve looked at a Futaba 4PLS, but they feel great in hand, their performance is top notch, and spare receivers are reasonably priced.

Have fun, go fast, and let us know what you end up doing.

That it’s for this week rc fans, shoot me your questions/rants/random thoughts to Cubby at BigSquidRC.com. If your letter hits the big time you will win a free sticker pack, if I proclaim it “Letter of the Month” you will win a new BSRC t-shirt, so keep those emails coming.

YOUR Cub Reporter

About a month ago, the crew over at Helion RC announced a successor to their popular 10SC short course truck, the 10SCv2. The version 2 truck has a bunch of differences from the original, with the biggest change being the addition of a Radient Reaktor brushless power system. Street price is $289, making it quite affordable for a brushless 4wd short course truck.

Below are a bunch of unboxing pictures of the 10SCv2 so you can see what it looks like when you open one up. The first thing we noticed when we got the truck out of the box was its bright graphics, then we saw its new plastic chassis. The chassis isn’t a traditional “lcg”, it actually sits a bit higher for better ground clearance. We also noticed a nifty clear plastic cover over the pinion/spur area that makes it easy to see the gears.

Our full review goes up next week, until then you can hit up This Link for more Helion news on BigSquidRC.

Hit the “Read More” button to view 2 more Helion 10SCv2 unboxing galleries.

THE Helion Dominus 10SCv2 4×4 Short Course Truck Review

The original Helion Dominus was an affordable and solid bash machine. Recently the Helion crew announced its successor, the Dominus 10SCv2. The version 2 comes with a much more powerful Reaktor brushless system, along with many other changes. Is the 10SCv2 that much better than the original? How does it stack up against the very stiff competition in its class? And more importantly, is it worth your hard earned cash? Hit the “Read More” button to find out…

From: Helion RC
Direct Link: Dominus 10SCv2
Unboxing Pictures: BSRC Unboxing

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Tim Mohr
Video Editing By: Doug Welker

Specs:

RTR or Kit: RTR
Age: 14+
2wd or 4wd: 4wd
Shaft or Belt: Shaft
Electric or Gas: Electric
Waterproof: Yes
Scale: 1/10th
Length: 21.26″
Width: 11.42″
Wheelbase: 12.87″
Motor: Brushless 3500kV 2 pole sensorless
Speed Controller: Reaktor 35A brushless
Low Voltage Cut-off: Yes
Radio: Helion 2.4 GHz HRS-3.1
Differential: Front & rear gear diffs
Slipper Clutch: Yes
Driveshafts: Bones
Gear Ratio: 3.4:1
Weight: 5lb-9oz
Shocks: Oil filled, plastic bodies, aluminum caps
Servo Saver: In rack
Screws: Phillips
Spur/Pinion Pitch: 32 pitch
Bearings: Yes
Tires: Helion race tread
Battery: 7 cell 3000 mAh Ni-MH included
Part Number: #HLNA0440
Top Speed (measured by BSRC): 26 mph
Runtime: 12 minutes w/ included battery
Warranty: 90 day limited
Street Price: $289

Primary Competition: Losi SCTE, Carisma M40DT, Associated SC10 4×4, Racers Edge Pro4 Enduro, Caster Racing SCT10, Traxxas Slash 4×4

What’s Needed To Complete: The only thing you need to come up with is four AA batteries for the transmitter.

Build Quality: The 10SCv2 had the best build quality that we’ve seen from Helion to date. Wheels nuts were tight and the tires well glued, oil was not leaking from the shocks and had they were properly filled, everything looked like it was well assembled from the factory.

Test Drivers: “Iron Mike”, Daniel “The Engineer”, Sam “The getting better but still a Noob”, Tim “Factory Shoe” Mohr, and yours truly.

Test Venues: RC Outlaws (8th scale off-road road track) in Collinsville Illinois, Dirtburners (8th scale off-road track) in St Louis Missouri, City Park in Arnold Missouri, and Minnie Ha Ha Park in Fenton Missouri

Set-up Notes: The Helion comes with a Deans type connector so it was left on the truck. We used the stock Ni-MH pack for the majority of testing, but also popped in a TrakPower 2S 6800 LiPo to check out the power difference. We did not use the included wall charger instead opting for a TrakPower VR-1.

Turning: The Dominus wasn’t an ultra-sharp turner, but it didn’t really push either, it was fairly neutral in corners. It turned in to corners well enough, held a decent line mid-corner, and we could pound the gas hard just after the apex. It didn’t carry a lot of corner speed, but the Dominus was easy for all different types of skills level to drive in the corners.

Jumping: The stock suspension settings and chassis geometry did well while jumping. Like in the corners, the Dominus didn’t do anything bad while jumping, and its 4wd system gave instant response to trigger corrections while in the air. On the downside of things, the Dominus didn’t like being landed sideways, but its suspension soaked up even large hucks very plushly. Also, while the brushless system had decent overall power, it didn’t have enough rpm to really bring the nose up during endos.

Bumps/Whoops: While the stock shocks aren’t made of esoteric materials, the damping and spring rates were well done at the factory. We could blast through some very gnarly sections without a ton of huck-a-buck like some of the other trucks in its class. If there is a place the Dominus excels in handling, it’s when pounding through blown out whoop sections and large dirt clods.

On-Road: The Helion gets around well on-road. You can get it to traction roll, but it soaks up road joints and pot holes well, and has enough power to make things interesting.

Grass: The Helion also gets around well in grass, perhaps better than any other truck in its class. The Helion has good ground clearance and its stock tires get good grip in grass. If you do a lot of grass driving the Dominus is a good choice.

Tires: The stock tires worked very well on pavement, hard packed dirt, and grass, but came up a bit short in loam. They were a fairly hard compound which resulted in long wear, but they did not yield the mechanical grip of some of its softer shed competition.

Power: The Reaktor power system has decent overall wattage, but, out of the box, the Helion isn’t some crazy powerhouse. It can easily throw a good sized roost and make good sized jumps, but it isn’t as powerful out of the box as some of its competitors. With the included battery, the low end was very soft, the mid-range had good authority, but the top end signed off early. With LiPo the truck really woke up, low end was greatly improved as was the top end. To boil it down, box stock the Dominus isn’t that fast, but the power is there, it just has to be unleashed with a LiPo and taller gearing. I must also note that the Dominus was very smooth from a dead stop, we did not notice even a hint of cogging.

Radio: The included radio was a solid performer for us. We never had a glitch and range was very long. We didn’t actually walk it off, but it was far enough that we still had full control when the truck was so far away it was hard to see. As far as the ergonomics were concerned, they felt very good. Most testers really liked the serrated trigger, and everyone liked the foam covered wheel.

Broken Parts: The Dominus made it through the normal portion of our testing without issue. We slapped it off of park benches, used tree roots as ramps, and tagged chain link fences without issue. We started upping the destruction factor and the Dominus still held up fine with no issues. We finally had to go extreme so we started slamming it full speed into large rocks (about a foot in diameter). On the first full speed run we popped one of the pillow balls out, but after using a decent amount of force it went back in. On the second full speed slam into the large rocks we split one of the front a-arms at the inner hinge pin. The review was then over, but the version 2 Dominus proved to be perhaps the toughest Helion that we’ve ever tested.

Misc Notes:

The clear cover over the pinion/spur makes it easy to check mesh, nice touch.

The included body clips are small and not very resilient. Do yourself a favor and lose them the first time you take the body off.

The battery tray has some ups and downs. On the up side the velcro straps and extra length of the tray add some versatility to which packs you can fit in the truck. On the downside, if you want run thick packs, like a 3S/4S LiPo, they will not fit in the stock tray.

We did a LOT of water driving with the Helion and didn’t have any issues. Props to Helion on the killer waterproofing job.

The stock servo is quite slow. On the upside, this helped the noobs drive a straight line and the more experienced drivers to be smoother. On the downside, it was slow enough to hamper driving in tighter confines.

The stock bumpers are quite large and absorb a lot of force when hitting hard objects. Needless to say they help keep the Helion from breaking and we were big fans of them.

All the stock plastic is quite flexible. If you are Mr A-Hole racer guy, you probably won’t like that fact, but we appreciated that the plastic would flex and not break.

Best Mod Under $5: While the truck comes with a decent set-up, we ended up dialing in a bit more negative rear camber to help keep the truck more planted in the corners. This is a free mod that really helps the truck. Our truck came set at zero camber, we dialed in negative 2 degrees.

Best Mod Over $5: Two upgrades here, a good LiPo battery, and some upgrade Pro-Line wheels and tires. A good LiPo really wakes the truck up, while better wheels/tires can help put the added yank to the ground.

Summary:

A = Outstanding/Best in Class, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, F = Horrific

Time To Bash: B It doesn’t take long to get the Dominus up and running. Pop the AAs in the transmitter, charge up a pack and you are dialed. Had the truck come with a faster charger it would have busted out an A.

Workability: B We didn’t do a lot of wrenching on the Dominus, but when we did we found the truck easy to work on. The layout is pretty standard, making it fairly easy to get to the important stuff. We just wish it came with Hex hardware instead of Phillips.

Car Show Rating: C While most of our bash crew liked the way the Dominus looked, they all wished it came with more scale detailing. For example, instead of small pin race tires, it could have come with scale looking tires. Scale type tires would have not only looked better but could have gotten the same or better grip on a variety of surfaces.

Bash-A-Bility: B The Dominus is arguably the toughest truck to come out from Helion. It survived all our normal bashing without issue, we had to get extreme to break it.

Fun Factor: B The addition of brushless power certainly makes the truck more fun to drive than the previous version, and as a whole our bash crew had a blast driving the 10SCv2.

Handling: B Overall the Dominus is very easy to drive. It doesn’t push or oversteer too much, and jumps predictably.

Value: B There are cheaper and more expensive trucks in its class, but we feel for your $289 you get an above average bang for your buck with the Dominus.

Parts Availability: C To get parts for the Dominus you have two choices, a brick and mortar HobbyTown USA store, or the Helion website. We found that the parts we broke on our truck were readily available on-line, but Helion doesn’t have the vast parts availability of Traxxas or Associated.

BigSquid Rating: B- So where does the Dominus 10SCv2 stand vs a stacked field in the 4×4 SCT class? It might not have the raw horsepower of some, and might not have the razor edged handling of others, but it is a very well rounded package at an attractive price point. Only a shootout could tell how it truly stacks up, but we feel the 10SCv2 is the best overall truck Helion has ever produced, and is well worth your cash.

The good folks over at HobbyTown USA are giving away one of the new Helion Dominus 10SCv2 short course trucks. The 10SCv2 features 4wd, a brushless power system, and is made for bashers like you. The contest ends later today so hit up This Link to get your entry in now.

Read more HobbyTown USA news at This Link, or check out our Dominus 10SCv2 review Right Here on BigSquidRC.

Firelands Group, which is primarily sold at HobbyTown USA stores, brought their “A game” this year showing a bunch of new products at the convention.

Helion RC is Fireland’s surface line-up and they unveiled two new products at the show. The Impakt 12B is a new 1/12 scale buggy designed to be bash worthy, affordable, and fun. While being listed as a 12th scale, it looked to be about the same size as most 10th scale buggies (wheelbase on the 12B is 11.8″, width is 8.39″), but it should sport a remarkably low price point of just $139 RTR. It comes with scale detailing like a roll cage and driver’s head, all-weather electronics, and a 1500mAh LiPo battery. It looks like a great way for someone to get started in the off-road side of our hobby.

Helion also had their new Rivos boat on display. The Rivos is a RTR that is fairly good size at 28″ in total length, making it big enough to handle some choppy water on the local lake. Its electronics are water cooled, it comes with a brushed 550 motor, and it has a very affordable street price of just $149.

Ares RC is the brand name for the air products from Firelands and they had plenty of new products on display too. The most exciting new product they had on display we can not post pictures of, or even really talk about at all, but it is something like we’ve never seen before, and something that even us car/truck lovers really wanted to get our hands on. Expect more information on this product to start leaking out of Ares compound in the next few weeks.

Of the items we can talk about, it’s hard to decide what was more exciting, their new Ethos FPV quadcopter/drone/multi-rotor, their new Ethos PQ nano quad, or their new Nanos FP75 helicopter.

The Ethos FPV quad comes RTF out of the box with everything needed to fly first person view. We saw the quad demonstrated and it seemed to work flawlessly. The camera provides a good quality picture (1080 HD at 30 or 720 HD at 60 FPS) and is mounted on an anti-vibration mount to help keep the picture steady. The transmitter comes with a large screen (4.5″) and a sun shade to make it easier to see while out flying. The quad used on the FPV model is fairly large at 18.75″ in length, and we were blown away that the street price was only $299 RTF.

The nano quad scene has blown up since the Proto-X entered the market and Ares unveiled their entry into the class, the Ethos PQ. The PQ is truly tiny with a length of only 63mm and comes with an auto flip mode. Price? $49.

The last new product in the Firelands room was the Nanos FP75 helicopter. With a length of 6.75″ this is a small helicopter, but features 3 or 6 axis stability control modes. The FP75 will be priced at $69.

Overall, it was easy to see from walking the room that Firelands Group is working hard to put out a lot of new, innovative products, look for them soon at your local HobbyTown USA store.

Click Here to visit the official Helion RC website, and Right Here for Ares RC.

Click Right Here to view more HobbyTown USA show coverage.

Helion has a new 1/12th scale buggy called the Impakt 12B. Its smaller size makes it easier to drive in small areas and it comes with a very affordable price point. The 12B also comes with scale details like a drivers helmet, a roll cage, and light buckets. Some of its other features and specifications include-

* Water resistant electronics
* Comes completely RTR with LiPO battery and charger, and AAs for the transmitter
* Comes with LiPO charge bag
* 380 brushed motor
* Wheelbase- 9.84″
* Width- 8.39″
* Length- 13.54″
* Full bearing set
* 2.4GHz radio system
* Speeds in excess of 20 mph

The 12B is street priced at $139 and you can scoot on over to the official Helion Website for more details.

The weekend is soooo close, why not click on a TGIF Mystery Link?

New from Helion RC is a 1/12th scale short course truck called the Verdikt. The Verdikt is a 2wd RTR that comes equipped with a 380 sized brushed motor and a HRSS-2 2.4GHz transmitter. All the electronics are waterproof, making them basher friendly, while an included LiPO battery and charger make it fast and easy to hit your local bash spot.

The Verdikt is street priced at $154 and Here Is The Link to more details over on the official Helion website.

Get More Helion RC news right here on BigSquidRC.

When we got the announcement on the new Helion Verdikt 12SC everyone in the office was curious as to how big it was. It is shown as a 1/12th scale, which normally is too small for our style of “serious” bashing. However, once we cracked the box open we found that it is a decent size and should be good for outdoor bashing. We are busy bashing it to bits right now so it will still be a few weeks before we can render a final “verdict” on the $154 street priced Verdikt. Until then check out This Link for more details over on the official Helion RC website.

Click Right Here to view more product unboxings on BigSquidRC.