Boom Racing:

Congratulations on being our BOTM! Please share a little about yourself, including your background, your day job, and what drives and motivates you every day.

David Barton:

I'm 47 from Kenilworth, UK, who struggles day to day with living with ADHD and the constant pain of physical health issues. My interests consist of scale modelling, amateur photography, vehicles of various makes and models but mainly defenders and adding to my ever growing social media channels that I initially started as somewhere to store my photos and videos of my builds and to have physical memories as my own memory is almost non existent, I had no idea when starting them that anyone else would be interested in them. My mind is always racing with ideas for builds/scale accessories, which makes it really hard to concentrate on daily tasks in both my jobs, gardening and delivering pizzas. I've always had an interest in scale modelling, one way or another, whether it's model railways, Airfix kits, dioramas or RC.

Boom Racing:

What was your first experience with scale RC, and what initially excited you about this aspect of the hobby?

David Barton:

I've always had an interest in scale modelling and kit bashing, one way or another, whether it's model railways, Airfix kits or RC. Taking multiple different kits and using the parts to build something different that nobody else had. When I was a lot younger, I used to race 1/10 Tamiya touring cars at my local track (Bedworth), but I soon got bored of just going around in circles and constantly damaging them. About 6 years ago, a friend of mine resparked my interest in RC with his 1/10 Defender 90. I've always loved the shape of the Defender, preferably the longer wheelbase versions (127 & 130), and so I started back into the hobby with an RC4WD D110 body and a mashup of various parts from eBay to make a chassis. But due to my attention to detail, I was never happy with it. I wanted something more realistic, and then I discovered Boom Racing, which is where the true passion for realistic scale started.

Boom Racing:

When did you first hear about the Boom Racing brand? And what was it about our BRX range that captured your interest? 

David Barton:

I really wanted to build a Defender 130 as it's my dream vehicle. As there was nothing available, I decided that my starting point needed to be a D110 pickup and work from there. Whilst out one day with one of my local crawler groups, a friend of mine, Diz Ryan, showed me his BRX02 D110 pickup and gave me the link to the website. This truck had everything I wanted. Realistic scale details, opening doors and tonnes of opportunities to be the truck I wanted it to be, my only issue at the time was the price. Not because I couldn't afford it, but more of the fact that I knew I was going to chop it up, and I didn't want to get it wrong. So I knew I needed something second-hand, something that I could use to make a prototype and get everything right before moving to the BRX platform. After a bit of searching, I found a 110 chassis (pre-BRX), and it was cheap enough that if I got my measurements wrong, it wasn't so much of an issue. As it turns out, I nailed the dimensions 1st time and have been using that chassis as a template for all of my custom BRX02 extended chassis since.

Boom Racing:

Which Boom Racing vehicles do you own, and can you tell us about them?

David Barton:

7 Boom Racing in total (1 pre-BRX and 6 BRX02's), my 1st Boom Racing D110 chassis (pre-BRX) extended chassis with custom D130 HCPU body, BRX02 6X6 extended chassis with custom defender RC workshop/camper body, BRX02 stock chassis with D110 station wagon body, BRX02 extended chassis with custom defender combat ambulance camper body (a close copy of 'Edna' the defender from Bugoutvehiclesuk), BRX02 extended chassis with custom D130 overland body, a non kit BRX02 110 built from spare parts with a custom Defender 110 HCPU body and a BRX02 series lll 109 that I won as a kit on the raffle at the UK Nationals. All of my builds have full diorama-style interiors.

Boom Racing:

How do Boom Racing RC cars compare to other brands you've used in the past?

David Barton:

I don't really know how to answer this, as I've only had Tamiya as a kid, as they were the best looking/most realistic and most affordable at my local hobby shop at that time. Then, when I came back to RC, I initially kit bashed various non-branded parts plus an RC4WD body to make a somewhat scale-looking truck before carefully and specifically choosing Boom Racing and I've never looked back.

Boom Racing:

Can you share the specific features of Boom Racing RC cars that make them ideal for your projects?

David Barton:

Realistic, scale movement, readily available parts, plenty of optional extras and above all (in my opinion) the best customer service in the industry.

Boom Racing:

What are the two most important tips you would offer someone preparing for their initial Boom Racing build?

David Barton:

Firstly, read through the manual thoroughly and secondly, build it at a leisurely pace. Take your time and enjoy the process; it's not a race. Trust me, it's really frustrating when you miss a step and have to undo the last 4 hours' work to correct it.

Boom Racing:

Who are your RC role models? Who inspires you to improve and refine your builds?

David Barton:

Matt (scalebuildersguild), Maxee RC, Christian Schoo, Stephan Lindenau, Dariusz Cybula, all of whom inspire me and Peter Grey and Paul Shevlin for personal encouragement, (part of having ADHD is not believing in myself).

Boom Racing:

Can you describe your creative process when planning a new build?

David Barton:

I'm always watching 1:1 offroading/Overlanding videos, and once I see something that I like and make a quick sketch of it, I then make a scale drawing. All of my scale builds have started this way, whether it's a truck or a trailer. Then it's a matter of trying to collect pictures of as many angles as possible, even if it means pausing the video and taking a photo of specific details.

Boom Racing:

Are there any upcoming projects you're excited about and would like to share with us?

David Barton:

I'm almost finished with 2 current projects, 1 of which is a BRX02 D110 HCPU parts-only build and the other, which is an independent suspension overland trailer, which I'm hoping to have both finished before the southern scale trail next month. I'm also currently designing another trailer, which will be a caravan using several rear beds from the Series III 109 and various parts of the Defender 110 body, which will then sit on a scratch-built chassis. Nothing specifically truck-wise yet, I have various defender bodies sat in their boxes on a shelf just waiting for an idea to pop into my head.