Wondering what to do next, Llewellyn decided that his old American muscle shell, the Camaro SS, needed a bit of sprucing up so we caught up with him to check out his history into RC and his thoughts behind the build.

Interview:

Bob Rock: How long have you been in the RC scene?

Llewellyn Royan: About 2 years, give or take.

Bob: What made you get into RC cars? More specifically, drifting?

Llewellyn: I saw the Vaterra Camaro RS on one of those online shopping emails I received. It was on special. I fell in love with it and wanted 1 just for the shell. Then I did some research and went to Denkit Hobbies. Surprisingly they had it there. They didn’t know much about the Vaterra brand as it was still new on the market but suggested I take a belt driven chassis. I made them try the Vaterra shell on the Sprint chassis and it fit straight on, holes lined up perfectly. So anyway, I didn’t have cash at the time so I borrowed some cash from my sister and because I didn’t know much about the hobby back then, I spent 6k on a brand new HPI Sprint 2 Flux. After that I purchased the Vaterra shell a month later. It was all downhill from there when I started researching and doing mods on the chassis and detailing.



Bob: Wow that much huh? I can see that you have a genuine passion for this hobby though! Were you always into scaling and detailing?

Llewellyn: Before all this, I started drifting in Gran Turismo Online with people from all over the world, so I had no intention of RC drifting until I came across some vids on Facebook, especially the D Ragoon video. Once I found out about that it was all over. Found out they had clubs where I could drift!

Bob: What was your inspiration for the refurb on your Camaro?

Llewellyn: So the shell was just lying there collecting dust and then I remembered it’s what got me into this hobby and that we were going for nationals. There was no other shell that I would have wanted to compete with so it had to be the Camaro. Had some cracks and scuff marks so I was thinking I should do something different to it, something people will notice. Since I love American muscle and the drifting sport originated in Japan, I wondered what it would look like if I fused the 2. Since Liberty Walk and Rocket Bunny styled cars were eye-catching and the body kits look amazing, it inspired me to try it on the Camaro, and that’s where the build began.



Bob: Awesome. Hey, why not just buy one of those kits and add it instead of making your own? Isn’t that easier?

Llewellyn: They don’t sell body kits for this type of shell. Yes there are universal fenders and stuff but it would not have given me the look I wanted to go for.

Bob: So you prefer to make your own kits and accessories?

Llewellyn: Not really. I just liked to try it out once and see how well I could mould the stuff out of styrene, which to me is the best material I have ever used for scale modelling.



Bob: That’s so cool man! Are there any new projects that you are working on involving more custom-made items?

Llewellyn: I will be completing my scale garage diorama. I have made a replica of my real air compressor and a firehose for the garage out of styrene. Most of it will be handmade and some of the items are from ATees.

Bob: Could you tell me a bit more about your Camaro build? Like the features, fenders, the decals? You gave it that World 2 Bomber look.



Llewellyn: With the stickers I used an American-styled pin up lady on a bomb which is similar to the graphics used on the old American fighter jets. Yes I know the name kKamikaze is Japanese and the car is American but that’s part of the whole mash up.

Like this sort of interview with regular customers, who are at the same time insanely talented? Make sure to leave a comment below, or share with us some pictures and information about your build to editorial@asiatees.com. Check out our Facebook Page to follow our adventure to be the top drift crew.