Tiny RC Crawler Course Ideas

Tiny but mighty, mini and micro RC rock crawlers are endless fun for all ages and one of the best ways to keep the fun going is with a custom RC crawler course. When dealing with the smallest-scale RC rock crawlers, a course doesn’t take up much space or even expensive supplies. Plus, they’re easy to mix up to keep you challenged.

Common RC Crawler Course Obstacles

Rocks

The most common obstacle in an RC crawler course of any size are the unpredictable lines that come from rocks, steps, and ragged edges. You don’t need real stone to make rock obstacles for your tiny RC rock crawler course though. To make an indoor mini RC crawler course with simulated rock trails, you could us expanding foam on a plank of plywood, or screw broken scraps of packing Styrofoam into a board. For a more urban setting without the plywood, you could create rocks out of tinfoil, stack books into stairs, break apart egg cartons, or even flip over food storage containers into varied terrains to simulate the challenges of rock crawling indoors. Look below to get some size ideas of simulated rocks for tiny RC crawlers.

Slopes

Hills with heavy inclines are another common obstacle for RC rock crawling at any scale. If you really want to increase the challenge of your mini RC crawling, include sideways slants in your course, too. Trying to go over a rock while not falling off the side of the trail takes a lot of practice. Inclines are easy to build, especially if you’re using a plank, but if you’re building indoors, try larger books and boxes to get that steep slope for crawling up and down. To build in side-slope obstacles, you’ll likely need to construct something over a triangle for the best support. Books partially open can work indoors, but a really good slope with obstacles on it or twists to it may require a little more work. Have you ever used plaster strips? They’re perfect for this obstacle! They’re what you would use to create a leg cast; gauze fabric for a bandage covered in a dry plaster compound. You get it wet, shape it the way you want, then let it dry into hard plaster. You could set up some rocks outside as a mold, lay your wet plaster strips over it at a sideways-angle, and let it dry into a complex, easy-to-bring-indoors crawling slope.

Rails

Here’s an easy obstacle to build, but a tough one to conquer if you build it right: rails. You could build a bridge with no guard if you want to work on your control, or you could make it even harder by placing two narrow rails parallel to each other as a bridge instead. This will force you to keep your tires straight as you cross. The more narrow the rails, the toucher the challenge. For tiny RC crawler courses, a pair of popsicle sticks may be all you need, or even two strips of tape going from one anchor to the next. Want an even bigger challenge for your mini RC rock crawler? Build your rails at an incline!

Terrain

Outside it’s easy to find a variety of terrains to master. With a tiny, mini, or micro RC rock crawler, even blades of grass can be challenging. If you’re building a tiny course, look for ways to build a pit of loose terrain. It could be cat litter, broken pieces of cork, gravel, bark, sand, or more broken foam made even smaller from the leftovers of your simulated rocks. Filling a container with some different terrains can make a pit-like experience or just increase the challenges of navigation.

Gates

If you’ve watched YouTube videos of tiny RC crawler courses, you may have seen physical gates on timers for you to try and pass through. But when we say gates here, we mean the kind you’d face on a trail outside – poles or other markers designed to force you to go through or around. You could use course cones, painted rocks, or even drinking straws in a lump of clay to build your gates. Where you place them on your course is what makes the challenge. Measure the width of your crawler and try placing the gates exactly that distance apart then try to get through without bumping your side mirrors. It’s harder than you might think when the ground is uneven.

Putting it all Together

Using a plywood plank can be a really easy way to construct a mini RC crawler course that you can take indoors or outdoors as you wish. Hot glue can be used not only to attach obstacles to the board, but also to create bumps in the terrain. Expanding foam is another great one to use on a board and can be carved down when dry into something more jagged. If you’re making something temporary, make paper-mâché out of old newspapers and attach them to some cardboard along with dried pasta or other materials, then surround your creation with household objects as described above to build your course on a table.

How Much Space Do You Need?

For a tiny RC crawler course, you can practice without needing a lot of space. Take a look at the common mini RC rock crawler sizes below to get a feel for how much space they use (sizes can vary with different body styles):

At 1/30-scale, a mile would be about 58 yards. But how long would it take to crawl a mile of rocky, ragged ridges? A piece of plywood is around 8 feet long. Most enthusiasts find that more than enough space to work on a practice course. You’ll be able to fit several obstacles and elements into that space, enough to make it interesting.

Whatever you build and however you crawl, you’ll find the obstacles you can build are endless with a little bit of ingenuity and creativity.

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