lohr500

Hi DougT, I haven't bothered with the 4 wheel steering, although as you will have seen everything is in the kit to do this. Two reasons really. 1) I only used a 2 channel radio set, and didn't fancy the idea of having the 4WS working permanently. I think you can do this by using a Y connector on the steering output from the receiver. 2) Sounds crazy, but I wanted to keep it more realistic, and leave the rear axle fixed. Hi Shodog, I have to admit the light blue colour wasn't my idea. I saw Mystic Blake's CR-01 in the same colour on the site & decided that it had to be the colour for mine as well. Just started building my F350 over the last two evenings, but can't do much more until the radio set & MFC-02 arrive from Hong Kong. Motor/gearbox & both axles completed. I have locked the rear axle but I am going to leave the front free. Painted the silver bottom section of the body tonight as will do the upper colour tomorrow.

Hi DougT The TEU-101 seems to be OK, but I have nothing to compare it with as it is the 1st kit I have built for 25 years! To be honest, I think if I was just using it for crawling, I would want it lower geared, as in standard form it is set up as a compromise between reasonable road speed & the ability to crawl. For me it's fine as I wanted something that could do a bit of both. I think others have fitted different motors & ESC's designed for crawlers, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that Tamiya were going to do different gear ratios for the main planetary gearbox. Don't know if these are available yet. My F350 kit has just arrived, so once built I will be able to compare the two. At that point I may investigate changing the CR-01 gearing or motor/esc combination, so it gives better off road capability. But to be fair, even in "out of the box" form, it will climb steep gradients and tackle double paving slab steps from a standstill with the front wheels touching the slabs.

Hi there Blakey. Your's looked so good in pale blue so I thought I would do the same. Kind of looks right on an old Land Cruiser. Already got it a bit dirty down the field, but no roll overs yet. Rear wheels are running out of true. Not sure if I have trapped a bit of the sponge inner tyre in the bead locks or if the rims aren't sitting correctly on the hexagonal drive thingys. The freeby Hitec radio gear I used out of a scrapped sail boat seems to be doing the biz. Have you seen the boxed Blazing Blazer for sale on ebay? Chap in Leeds. Cheaper to buy the real thing Now using your mystic powers, should I buy another ten f350's and put them away in a cupboard for 25 years? Will I be able to retire on the profit in 2033?

Good point sir. Wish I had thought about that before taking all the window masking off & the outer protective plastic layer. I guess it's now a big job to re-mask everything to add a few extra coats of white. I might take my chances as is for now.

Following on from my earlier post asking about which to choose from a CR-01 or F350, then deciding to buy both , here are some photos of the finished CR-01. This is the first car I've built for 25 years and also the first using a polycarb body. Not up there in the same league as some of the photos posted by other members, but for a 1st attempt, I am pretty happy with the result. Masking the roof area off proved trickier than I thought and the end result was a roof line with some blue areas creeping into the white area. I ended up using the white roof line stickers off the decal sheet to tidy up the roof which are les than ideal. First two photos are after painting the shell but with no detail. Second two are the finished article. If Mystic Blake is reading, your prediction was out by two days. It arrived on Thursday, but with no extra customs fees to pay. Can't wait for the F350 to arrive now from RC Champ.

Well the CR-01 Crawler arrived today from Stella. Been in the UK since last Friday so another stunning performance from Parcelfarce! Started the build tonight & got to the end of Section A. Will continue over the weekend and hoping that the paint will arrive from "On Tracks" tomorrow. Can't wait to test it. Soon as its finished I'll post some photos.

That's a great deal from MC. I placed my order with RC Champ at 193 before reading your post! If I don't get hit by customs then it is a bit cheaper, but for17 extra I would have given the business to the guys in the UK and saved the worry.

Well good luck for 3 weeks time. Best deal I have found for the F350 is RC Champ at 193 all in. Any experience with RC Champ? Do their shipments get through customs without a bill? No sign of the crawler yet, but it has moved on the parcelfarce website to "National Hub" "Sorted in Hub" so a step closer.

Hi blakeatron, That was a quick reply! Well done on the bike theory test. No such thing when I took my bike test and if you had a sidecar you could miss the part one test which involved riding round a load of cones, and you weren't limited to a 125cc jobby. I bought a Russian Cossack 600cc affair with sidecar, based on the ww2 german BMW and passed my test on it. Nearly killed myself the day after I passed when I unbolted the sidecar and suffered a rear wheel blow out on a sharp bend. Wallace & Grommit eat your heart out. Refitted the side car after that!! Went to work on it one day & the float stuck in the left hand carb. Pi***d petrol into my shoe which then dissolved the sole & lining as the day went on. MD questioned what the funny smell was & I asked him to put out his fag. Sold it to a chap who was planning on taking his wife & two kids to watch the TT races in it. Rather him than me. Anyway I digress. Already ordered a bearing kit for it from this chap. Bearings arrived today. No idea what they are like quality wise but they do rotate . Visit My Website Glad to hear about the tracking issue & I will check out Fusion and the trades section. If all goes well with Stella I will probably order from them again as their prices seem keen. They didn't have a 4 channel radio though, hence the order with dragon. No doubt I will be asking for numerous tips once the builds begin. Cheers

See, his powers grow weak. No sign of the parcel today my mystic friend!!! Parcelfarce website says parcel arrived in Heathrow on Friday, but no update since. Could this be a sign that big customs bill is on the way, or just that tracking stops once parcel arrives in UK? Someone please tell me the latter. Anyway, back to the original post and a quick update. Unable to decide on Rock Crawler or F350, and having ordered the CR-01, I am now flush from the proceeds of my vintage Blazing Blazer sale so have ordered a 4 channel radio set & the MFC-02 from dragonstorehk on ebay. All I need now is the F350 itself. Anyone spotted a bargain in the UK for the F350? Thanks,

Just placed an order with Dragonstorehk on ebay for the MFC & Futaba 4EX radio set. Ordered a set of ball bearings over the weekend from alan041049 on ebay which arrived today. All I need now is to find the best deal on the F350 itself. Waiting to see if I get stung for customs charges on the CR-01/ESC/Battery pack I ordered from Stella. Parcel is showing as arrived at Heathrow 9th May, but no movement since I saw the F350 on offer in the UK for 230 somewhere. At that price it might not be worth the hassle of importing. Only trouble now is that my wife is going to kill me when all this gear arrives!!!

OK, I am convinced!! I won't be doing any wading through deep water with the F-350, so hopefully the MFU will be fine. Also not planning on changing the motor. Don't fancy a retro-fit if half the truck needs tearing down to fit it later, so will purchase it at the start. Thanks for the input.

I am absolutely amazed It seems crazy to me, but I'm not complaining. When I looked at the bits again whilst packing them up this afternoon, I concluded that it won't take much to get a runner out of them. Anyway, the sale has provided the funds for an F350 set up. I wonder if I will get my money back on this as well in 25 years time !!!!

My CR-01 hasn't even arrived yet, but I am already thinking about the next project It will definitely be an F350, but I can't decide if the MFU is worth it. Is it worth spending +/-100 extra over the standard ESC to get the noise & lights? How robust is the MFU and speaker? Will some serious off-roading just wreck it? Is it easy to retro fit later, or is it best to run all the additional LED wiring at the time of 1st build? Thoughts please. Ta Tony

Thanks for that. So the 4EX-FM has the non digital trims then, that are needed for the MFU? The 4 model memory sounds like a good idea. Can the the servo travel distances also be set through the LCD screen?

My CR-01 hasn't arrived yet and already I am planning the next model. (Don't tell her indoors ) Looking at the Tamiya website, it suggests that when using the MFU on the F350 you should use a Futaba Attack 4WD, although some UK sellers are also offering with the Acoms Techniplus 4. Are these the only two 4 channel sets that will work correctly with the MFU, or are there others? Just shopping around now to price up my options. Thanks.

I'll make sure I don't!! Polycarb is going on the inside. Hoping to do a bit of detailing on the outside, but after seeing some of the photos on TC, I have a challenge on my hands to make it look half as good as the photos from the mystic one (blakeatron), toylux, wyoming, 7.2inchdriver. Can but try.

Just checking!!! Should have figured out those mystic powers were all seeing, all hearing. Thanks for the info.

Will be painting my 1st polycarbonate body soon & understand I need to use polycarbonate paint on the inside. But what if I want to pick out some detail on the outside? I can't find a pot of tamiya polycarb silver paint anywhere. Am I OK using acrylic on small areas or does it damage/melt the body? Thanks, Tony

Probably should post this in the "tips & tricks" section, but as it continues my string of questions thus far, here goes : What is the best marker pen to use to pick out the detail on the inside of the Lexan shell, prior to painting? I am thinking about the shut lines around the doors & bonnet (hood to our friends in the US ). Read various posts about using fine pointed marker pens like Stabilo or Sharpie, but is there a problem with any of the inks reacting with the Tamiya polycarb paint? What brand of pens have folks used in the UK that are easy to get hold of & recommended for the detail work? Thanks once more. Now can I call on the powers of mystic Blake to predict when my order from Stella models may arrive?

Well as I've found this complete Hitec radio setup I am going to use it in the Rock Crawler. As/when/if I buy the F350 then I'll buy a separate radio so both trucks can be run together. The way my ebay auction is going on the old vintage 3 speed stuff, I might be able to buy the F350 sooner than I thought Had a go with a Wii contraption at Xmas because my nephew got one, but I prefer my PS3. Liked the idea of the motion sensing controllers, but he graphics on the PS3 blow the Wii away.

Thanks for the painting tips blakeatron. Our posts must have crossed. Once you'd done the roof, and masked up the windows, did you allow the blue to overspray onto the roof, or did you mask up the roof as well? This is a whole new game to me, after the old hardbody kits. Masking all the windows sounds a tricky job. As I am bound to stuff the body on the 1st outing, perhaps I shouldn't spend too much time worrying about it!!!!!

OK, I think understand it now. Thanks for that Shodog. So the ESC will have two connectors going to the receiver? One supplying power, the other to pick up the throttle setting input. I was rummaging through some old salvaged bits from a r/c sailboat & found a full Hitec 27Mhz AM Ranger 2 channel setup with receiver and a couple of servos just now. Hasn't been used for two years, but I connected everything up & amazingly both servos sprang into life. Any reason why this shouldn't work in the Rock Crawler? What's the pros view on 27Mhz AM & Hitec gear? Low end and best not bother, or use it & keep the Acoms 4 channel I was going to order for the F350? Thanks again Tony

Cheers blakeatron, I've plenty of modelling tools knocking around after various failed attempts to take to the sky with model helicopters. After nearly decapitating myself with one of them, I realised it was time to hang up my fling goggles. How does the receiver get power nowadays on these kits? The older ones I built needed a separate supply. I am looking at buying the Acoms Techniplus 4 channel set which is currently on offer from Modelsport at 84. Thinking ahead that this will do me for the F350 when i buy it. In the description it talks about a BEC receiver & BEC switch harness & accessories. I am guessing this is Battery Eliminator Circuit, but how do you connect it to the main power pack? Just need to know if I need to buy any other bits & pieces to wire it all up. Oh, and how did you get the white roof/blue body on yours? Are both painted from the inside? What do you use for masking? Thanks, Tony

Well, I've just placed the order for the Rock Crawler with Stella Models, along with an ESC & 4600mAh battery pack. Can't wait to start building. Few more questions now !! Do you get hit for vat/import tax on shipments from Stella to the UK? In the past with HK sellers I've been lucky. When I was building the old three speeder & Wild Willy many years ago, I used Tamiya thread lock. Is this still needed, and if so, what's the best stuff to use? As a newbie, anything special I need to know that won't be mentioned in the build instructions? Like soaking ball races in oil, packing anything with grease, or other well known tips that I am currently oblivious to? Thanks again to everyone for your input. I'll take photos of the build along the way & of the finished article. Although I doubt if it will ever look as good as those that I have already seen posted here on Tamiyaclub!