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Jonesy76

To Clod Or Not To Clod

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.............that is the question!

After re-building my Monster Beetle I now have a big job of two Beetle bodyshells to get sprayed but I may have also added to my monster truck collection with yet another kit to build.......

A Wild Willy 2!

I always loved the original, but the new one with it's big wheels and totally mental performance encouraged me to get another big wheeled toy to add to the collection (and move the Sand Viper out........it's awesome but just not as much fun as something that falls over in every corner).

Now I have the potential of some extra funds next month and it got me thinking.........."what next?".

Well the obvious choice to complete the stable of Tamiya monster trucks is a Clodbuster. My spoilt friend in the 80's also had one of these humongous beasts and all I can ever remember of it is its ability to eat through a 1300mah battery in about 3 minutes!

I fancy a kit to build next month, and come December I'm going to have my old Blackfoot to restore so I don't really fancy stripping down an 80's Clod in the meantime, and I've spotted a Super Clodbuster Chrome kit that even comes with an ESC rather than the old fashioned mechanical speed controller that the standard Super Clodbuster comes with.

Now the question is this.......

Do I keep reasonably faithful to the old fashioned Tamiya stable (re-re Lunchbox and Wild Willy, and original Monster Beetle and Blackfoot) and go for a Super Clod, or do I blow the bank and go utterly bananas with a TXT-1?

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I Say go for the super clod especialy the chrome edition

its the original tamiya big monster truck with a twist of the esc and the chrome finish and the solid bodys still tend to last longer than the txt's lexan one

besides this with modern batterys and electronics they run for longer + Parts are cheap and strong

so why not stick with the classic theme BF MB LB etc the clod would look right at home :D

Just my 2 pence worth

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If you buy a clod you'll wish gone the extra mile for the txt. I've got both and found the txt to have much better rough ground performance, and better traction up hills thanks to its mechaniically linked 4wd. It also has a far better suspension system out of the box. I also think it looks a lot better from the bodyshell down, with the 4 link suspension and metal chassis. If you like the 'old school' looks of the clod, get a txt and put a clod body on it.

The only downside is that it is slower than clod, but there is room out of the box for an 8.4v battery:)

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Get the Clod if you want it stock & slow for nostalgia. If you want pure performance then you will replace every part of the clod except the gearboxes.

Get the TXT if you want a monster that performs from the box (still slow though). Looks real too. Far superior design as well.

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What does your £330 get you with the TXT-1?

Oil filled shocks? ESC? Ballraces?

These are all standard build upgrades for me, but the TXT-1 would score some points if it had those already.

Also I read that the TXT-1 needs a 4 channel radio for it's steering set-up......is this so?

To be honest the old school clod would be cool enough and it's only going to be blasted around the back garden or occasionally outside of the house, but would I miss having a TXT-1 for that?

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What does your £330 get you with the TXT-1?

Oil filled shocks? ESC? Ballraces?

These are all standard build upgrades for me, but the TXT-1 would score some points if it had those already.

Also I read that the TXT-1 needs a 4 channel radio for it's steering set-up......is this so?

To be honest the old school clod would be cool enough and it's only going to be blasted around the back garden or occasionally outside of the house, but would I miss having a TXT-1 for that?

4 Wheel Steering is done by a 2 channel radio with a Y-Servo Lead adapter or a 3 Channel radio. If you want to be different go for a 4 channel. Sounds like you want the clod then by your tone. good luck ! Show us photos when done:).

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Well.......

I watched a lot of vids last night on YouTube of both Clods and TXT-1's to try and get some idea what to go for next month, and two things stuck out:-

1. The TXT-1 is a simply awesome bit of gear.

2. The Clod is stupidly good fun!

Fun I think is the name of the game so I'm drifting more over to the Super Clodbuster now, but I take it that it just has standard springs and no dampers? Every one I saw was as bouncy as my Lunchbox used to be. Oil filled dampers I take it are a must?

And are there no ballraces with the Super Clod kit?

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Definitely not to clod. The only good thing a Clodbuster is worthy of is becoming parts for a crawler!! Sorry, but when Tamiya decided to make a monster truck they seriously dropped the ball. The only ones that I suspect will think good of them, are those oblivious to what else is available.

Try a HPI E-Savage. I have tried in vain to kill mine, running it over various ramps down the driveway. The truck body is worn, the tops of the mounts are a bit ground back. I've done back flips, high jumps and I'm sure found every way to crash while getting it wrong.

Try doing that with a Clodbuster and you will be lucky to have anything left, to donate to any crawler project.

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But if I wanted a Stadium Truck then I would be looking for a stadium truck.

What I'm after is a good old-fashioned huge monster truck.

Yes the HPI E-Savage may be indestructible and may be amazing, but I had a seriously hopped up DF-03 chassis which was also pretty unkillable, and certainly amazing to handle, but going fast is no fun if there's no danger. I got a ton more kicks from my basic Lunchbox than the DF-03.

I also want a kit. Half the fun is building it myself.

Maybe a TXT-1 is the thing to go for if the Clod is scorned so much.

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But if I wanted a Stadium Truck then I would be looking for a stadium truck.

What I'm after is a good old-fashioned huge monster truck.

Yes the HPI E-Savage may be indestructible and may be amazing, but I had a seriously hopped up DF-03 chassis which was also pretty unkillable, and certainly amazing to handle, but going fast is no fun if there's no danger. I got a ton more kicks from my basic Lunchbox than the DF-03.

I also want a kit. Half the fun is building it myself.

Maybe a TXT-1 is the thing to go for if the Clod is scorned so much.

Get a Kyosho Double Dare (you'll have to go on Ebay).

What?!?!?!

Okay seriously, I'd say go with the Clod Buster. A tamiya monster truck collection isn't complete without one. They're fun. No where near the performance of a TXT-1 though.

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Definitely not to clod. The only good thing a Clodbuster is worthy of is becoming parts for a crawler!! Sorry, but when Tamiya decided to make a monster truck they seriously dropped the ball. The only ones that I suspect will think good of them, are those oblivious to what else is available.

Lol.

A few points you may like to note:

*The Clod Buster has been in production since 1987

*It is the biggest selling RC monster truck of all time

*This is TamiyaClub, we dont get enjoyment sliding our Clod Busters down driveways on their roofs.

You may want to call Tamiya and let them know what a huge mistake they made with the Clod, and how they dropped the ball. I'm sure you will be rewarded with a dial tone.

Original Poster, the TXT-1 and Clod are two different kettles of fish despite both being 4WD/4WS monster trucks, only real comparative is their tyres and top speeds, otherwise the similarites end there.

It really depends on what you want from a monster truck first, both being great trucks with their own merits.

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ARGH!!!!!

To much choice! I'm going to have three weeks of badword trying to make up some form of decision of what I'm going to go for.

Basically I want something to have a good laugh with, because since re-finding the hobby of RC I've found that the most fun can be had going at a fairly sedate pace with a stupid monster truck around the back garden........the issue I guess I'm struggling with is whether or not I'm going to try taking the massive beastie over any of the big stuff down on the coast of Norfolk...........

I guess I'd then have to head down the route of the TXT-1

But the Clod is just silly good fun, and the looks of that old body is utterly superb.

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Sorry, but when Tamiya decided to make a monster truck they seriously dropped the ball. The only ones that I suspect will think good of them, are those oblivious to what else is available.
Wrong. When Tamiya decided to make a Monster truck they have made a scale Monster Truck that looks and performs pretty much like what the real monster trucks used to do back in 1986. You can not judge a 1987 RC truck by comparing it with new trucks, either RC or 1:1.

Apart of that, I would say go for the Clod and provide yourself with tons of fun. It's a bang-for-the-buck kit.

You all have a nice weekend!!

EB

--

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Hello. it's a monster truck from the 80's it's not supposed to preform it's supposed to crush. If you like the old 1:1 monsters from the 80's, the clod is what you're looking for.

The clod is a real monster truck compared to all the other trucks you got. They are all fun and cool trucks but the clod is something else. I just got one and my son is going for a super clod. If you're not into the fast preforming kind of truck, but a truck with a feeling, which i somehow feel that you are, get the clod.

I would go for a super clod and buy another esc, you can get one that's waterproof from modelsport. Instead of going for the metal plated kit just because of the esc. The super clod are really cheap over at dinball right now, but there are just 2 left.

The txt-1 is like one of the monster jam trucks of today, very good preference wise but the soul is lost.

You know if you get the txt you'll wonder if you should get the clod. Get the clod and start saving for a txt.

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Thanks Kstar.

I've had a looksie at the Dinball webpage and their prices are superb, but looking at the shipping rates and probable customs charges (recently brought a new guitar from the US and know what those are like) it's only going to work out a tiny bit cheaper than buying it in the UK.

I've got a couple of superb modelshops near me in Norfolk (special mention to Hobbystores in Watton) and I'd prefer to keep our local shops going in the UK.

If I was to go for the standard Super Clod it'll cost me £200, but what ESC should I then go for?

Just I can get the Chrome Super Clod complete with ESC for £257.

Also what length oil filled shocks should I look at? The ol' Clod does look very bouncy in YouTube vids so building it with proper shocks would be an essential.

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I don't know what shocks as I use standard shocks.

I got an esc from modelsports. Check here (I think I got the Modelsport UK Sniper RV-12, I'm at work so I can't check)

The only thing that I don't like about that esc is that when reversing you the power builds up instead of just start att 100% as it does when you go forward. That will make you wait a little before the car starts to reverse.

If you run stock motors the esc must be able to handle at least 12 turns. An esc that can handle 10 turns can take 2 motors with 20 turns. You do need to make one Y cable or as I did connect a pair of old motor cables to the output of the msc. There's allot of info in the forums so look around the monster truck area and you'll fin info about it.

I bought one from dinball and even with the hundred dollar shipping and import taxes I saved circa $250 compared to buying locally so it was a pretty good deal for me.

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Uh oh........

**** model shops ought to have a sign saying that they're hazardous to your wallet!

Went into Snetterton park models today to get a basic ESC for the Lunchbox I'm rebuilding for my brother-in-laws Christmas present and they may have had a Super Clod or two!

Bit of haggling and I walked out with a Super Clodbuster Chrome with an ESC for £225!

The thing is huge!

Gonna be fun to build, just need a full bearing kit first though.

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Ah that's not to bad. I bet you were after the chrome edition not just because of the esc. I think you wanted a quick build and get started running it as soon as possible and the chrome one is faster as you don't have to paint it :) Am I right?

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Ha ha.........

Have you seen my Lunchbox on this forum? I have a wee bit of a thing for spray jobs. Just done spray work on a 'Herbie' version of the Monster Beetle.

Even though it's the chrome version it's still going to get a bit of spraying done.......two tone chrome and metallic dark blue I'm thinking of currently.

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Yes I've seen it. Fantastic work. So you're gonna make a custom killer paint work on this one to. Looking forward to see it.

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I have two cans of transparent deep blue!

Going to hit the chrome body up with some transblue that should hopefully allow the chrome finish underneath it to shine clean through.

Couple of chrome racing stripes up the bonnet, over the cab and through the flatbed (which will otherwise be black) should stand out nicely through the blue. Getting the blue right down the sides to coincide with the decals is going to be the tough bit.

Need to wait on bearings first anyway so the chassis can stay in the box currently anyway.

Going to run it stock to start with and then go on the hunt for less bouncy shocks. From what I've read on the net I think I should be looking for 100mm shocks......that right?

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