BlrwestSiR

Really nice work.

At least you didn't say the Force is with Them.

The stock chassis was soon found to have an annoying weakness. The suspension arms attached to it with several ball joints. Unfortunately the plastic tub wasn't strong enough and would break after the first jump. It took years for Tamiya to finally make a change and strengthen the chassis. In the meantime, this was one of the first AM upgrade parts to come out. Here's the weak point in question. The kit now includes a trio of steel brackets that reinforce the chassis from the inside. The pivot balls are screwed into the brackets instead of just the chassis.

Shocks! For now the only real change I'm making to my Clodbuster.

Here's the obligatory box contents shot. Some reference pics for size comparison. Handiest thing I had was my Miniart Grant. Here's the tub chassis. It even still has the Power mode switch opening moulded into it. This was a switch that allowed you to switch the dual motors from running in parallel for max power to series for max battery duration. Run time was around 5 min in Power mode on a state of the art 1300 mAH 7.2v battery pack which cost about $120. Eventually a friend found some 4000mAH batteries that were over $300 but we could run for 45 minutes on one of those. Bad thing was they were physically more than double the size of the stick battery and took a full day to fast charge.

Ok folks, this kit is how and where Tamiya make most of their money. Sadly, it's not on our beloved models. Well, not quite. People say their 1/32 F-14 kit is old and due for an full on update. The Clodbuster has been around since 1987 and they've basically made three changes to the moulds, the colour of the plastic notwithstanding in that time: 1- changed the supercharger scoop 2- removed the Chevy Bow Tie from the front grille 3- added four reinforcement plates to the chassis. This is the truck that truly got the RC monster truck craze going, especially in the US. I remember the countless number of AM custom chassis and suspension kits that were on the market in the late '80s. While companies started up just to make parts for it. It got to the point where Tamiya was selling a spares kit that only contained the parts for the two axles as that's all folks needed from the kit. I had a couple of them at the time. I still have parts from my last Clodbuster which was red instead of blue. I'm still trying to figure out if this is Clod number 4 for me or number 5.

Too much time on my hands?

That's coming along nicely. Great job on the interior. The earlier Panzer III you built looks great too.

Great work on the floats. Glad my suggestion worked for you. Carl

Here's the guide rollers re-installed along with the tow cable. As mentioned, I don't think you can see the groove that I made drilling through the space between the rollers.

Have a fun and safe trip. Carl

Good news. My Eureka XXL metal tow cables have arrived. I bought a multi set with various thicknesses to try and find the best fit. Unfortunately the only one that could fit through the guide rollers was 0.6 mm and look far too thin. So I ended up drilling between the rollers a 0.9 mm hole and will use that size cable. The hole can't be seen from any angle and is probably what I should have done initially. I've painted the cable and an just waiting for it to dry.

Just catching up on your progress Rob and it's been fantastic. I tried a similar multi layer approach that you are using on your floats with my Corsair build. The separate layers of paint came out nicely. Depending on the type of wear you want to show, you could try a 800 grit soft sanding sponge. Use very light pressure and gently wet sand the areas. Carl

Here you go Vandy! They're printed on a single sheet carrier so will need to be trimmed out. Compared to the kit parts, it looks like they should fit ok.

Thanks Ron!

Thanks Rob. They already are short one track so I can join them together once I'm ready to install them.

Nice work on the tracks and great to see you back at it. Carl

Oh how I wish.

Nice trip down memory lane John. One of the first kits I can recall building was a Snap Tite Jet Ranger. I must have 5 or 6 at the time. An earlier memory was my baby sitter's older brother built car models. He let me finish one that he'd done. Can't remember the car except that it was painted green. I do remember the smell of the Testors tube glue he gave me to finish building it though. As for modeling snafus, there was a 1/72 Wellington. I glued the fuselage together, then noticed the cockpit still on my desk. So I tried it open, installed the cockpit and closed the fuse back up. At which point I see the turret on my bench. Pry the fuselage open again, install the turret and close it up. Again. Well, you know what's coming next. Yup, the rear turret. That was a messed up fuselage by the time I was done. Carl

We got back from our camping trip. Still have all my family members that we left with. There were a couple packages waiting for me when we got back. First up is my continued descent into the Dark side: Decals for that Bandai Super Star Destroyer I have. Next up are some figures for my Scammell/Grant build. I also bought some weathering stencils for the build. Some PE for an Achilles A new set of plastic nippers. These are fantastic if you haven't tried them yet. Just don't drop them. Lastly, a trip down nostalgia lane. I'm still trying to figure out if this is Clod number 4 or 5. All the rest though we're the original red version.

The Concept Notes books are great and can be really helpful on a bulld.

Great back story Ernie and congrats on checking off something from the bucket list. Who knows maybe we'll get a CF-100 one day. Carl

Indeed!

I don't think it's out yet. Hannants list pre-orders as back orders. They often offer a 10% discount on their pre-order items which they're doing with the Tornado.

Great idea. I would love to add a dedicated paint station to the workbench but don't have the space. One day...