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njmlondon

Tamiya really should have released this...

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I was considering the D90 for my next build and then I saw this Land Cruiser today...it's going to be a tough decision.

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Nah, it just doesn't look right.. Its like they put a 1/10 scale body on a 1/12 chassis.. Its all wrong...

And if we are talking "scale", where are the leaf springs???

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Lovely detailing. Good to see it comes with an interior, there's no reason why Tamiya couldn't do one for their lexan version :( I thought the same sbout the leaf springs but then oil shocks give you a much better range of articulation. The only thing missing is a light kit and driver :)

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Nah, it just doesn't look right.. Its like they put a 1/10 scale body on a 1/12 chassis.. Its all wrong...

I agree. There is also something seriously wrong with the body proportions. Especially the grille doesn't look right and from the rear, the whole body looks too high. As much as I love hardbodies, I much prefer the Tamiya Lancru over this one.

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I think the proportions look a little off because they've given it the proper scale wheels and tyres rather than the big beefy off road tyres we're use to seeing on these. It's also sitting a little high on the mounts, nothing that can't be fixed easily.

Posted Image

Grill looks ok to me.

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It looks much worse than the Tamiya one, proportionally it all looks a little wrong.

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i 've being looking at the image from RC4WD for a couple of hours while working away at the bench . IMO its the headlights that are ruining the look . The grill is ok but somehow they have used oversize lights - maybe the ones they use on the D90 . The lower part of the grill cut out is also wrong . It should slant at the ends . Its sat too high as said too .

Other than that i think the proportions are spot on . Maybe a different colour would show it off better ?

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I think Mr Crispy is right. I agree in some of the photos the RC4WD kit looks a little off, but I think that's more because:

a. Mr Tamiya has a much larger wheel tire combo and wider track width.

b. Mr Tamiya is the master of photography :)

The RC4WD kits I have seen some of the guys building with the larger wheels on some of the other forums are starting to look really good.

Let Wyoming at one of these kits and you'd be hard to tell in from its 1:1 version :)

This is going to be my first full RC4WD kit, and I think with the roof off, a little stretch to the wheelbase and some more capable wheels/tires with the rear arches cut - it's going to be a beast.

James

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So James are you going for a Steve Irwin crocodile hunter look then with the wheelbase stretch - the LWB pickup version ?

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How about mounting this body on an Gmade Sawback chassis... that might be more true to scale?

Jx

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Sounds like James is going the full "Richard Hammond" on his Land Cruiser :D

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Can't wait to see what you come up with Toykid!

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Dang guys, you ruined the surprise :)

Not sure who knows this but I am originally from the UK, my Wife's Australia and I have 3 American kids. So I love mixing it up globally. I didn't really know about the FJ until I lived in Aus, and boy do they love their Toyotas down there - and I can see why :)

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How about mounting this body on an Gmade Sawback chassis... that might be more true to scale?

Jx

It's funny, release something with leafs and people covert it to links and vise verse :) . I'll be keeping mine with the links as I have never had a panhard up front and can't wait to see how it works.

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i love my Land Rover's but the FJ is a great 4X4 . Tough , reliable - maybe more reliable than a Land Rover and a far better drive on tarmac . their popular in Aus because parts are cheaper due to Japan being so close . In Africa where i lived in my teens its the other way around . Land Rover are built under licence in South Africa so parts supply is fairly good , whereas you wait for weeks if not months for FJ parts .

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I think the proportions look a little off because they've given it the proper scale wheels and tyres rather than the big beefy off road tyres we're use to seeing on these. It's also sitting a little high on the mounts, nothing that can't be fixed easily.

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Grill looks ok to me.

Yeah, but that is the problem.. The Gelande FJ 40 isn't sitting on stock split rims like the BJ in that photo, its sitting on Sunraysia wheels (and 5 stud ones at that..) so the wheels "should' be sitting flush (or slightly proud) of the edges of the body and front mud guards, but its not..

In addition to the body sitting WAY too high, it looks like the axles are approx. 10-15mm too narrow for the body..

Personally, if I'm going to drop that much coin on a model then I would like it to look technically and proportionally scale, not like someone put a FJ "Shorty" 40 shell on a D90 Gelande chassis...

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It does look off, it is certainly too high but something else isn't right with it. :(

The 40 series was really popular in both NZ and Aussie, our family had a couple of these and s1 and s2 landies.

Now... if RC4WD or Tamiya made a 70 series with a flat deck in off white every Aussie here would buy one because every man and his dog owned one, in fact they were so popular even the kids had one B)

849885-boy-with-mini-land-cruiser_zps8p1

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I agree that it needs a few tweaks to match the body / chassis wheels up, but that is pretty easy.

I have the Gelande II chassis and it is gorgeous.

From reading some ongoing builds on scale4x4 you can see that a couple of 3mm spacers really line the wheels up properly and tires with 100-105mm diameter rather than the stock 95mm ones really seem to work well.

Lowering the body is also easy or use 70mm shocks instead of the stock 80mm ones for a lower ride.

And if you really want leafs, I would imagine the RC4WD Trailfinder chassis would fit underneath beautifully. Or maybe a Tamiya Hi-lift.

When I started the post what I really meant was that I wish Tamiya released more hardbodies on interesting chassis.

Tamiya started the whole RC thing off by offering scale models that moved. If you look at the Blazer / Hilux / Bruiser / Mounty range and then the Jeep / Pajero CC01s and then the Hi Lifts you can see how popular their hardbody ranges are.

So it surprises me a bit that Tamiya now churns out lexan Cruisers. Or the new VW Amorok thing which is a horrible lexan version on an average chassis rather than a hardbody on something decent. You can see what I mean here from a post made by Twinset.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=75507&p=573726

I just do not like seeing Tamiya chasing the "toy" end of the market at the expense of the "hobby" grade.

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The old exact same chassis and new body will not work too well to experienced hobbiest. rc4wd stretched it chassis for its d90 and d110, but used the d90 chassis for the toyota, which just don't sit well. Maybe company sees hobbiest can fix any short coming of the design. For the asking price, i will go for Tamiya's re release 3spd.

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Going slighly off topic, i still maintain Tamiya should release a dually working tow truck. This tow truck will have so much play time for towing drift cars to crawlers.

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Surely any competent modeler can build his own dually ? How hard can it be to convert lets say a Mountain Rider or similar ? . Just fit a flat bed and Jib and maybe extend the wheelbase . Hardly rocket science is it .

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Surely any competent modeler can build his own dually ? How hard can it be to convert lets say a Mountain Rider or similar ? . Just fit a flat bed and Jib and maybe extend the wheelbase . Hardly rocket science is it .

Love to see one. TC member has done dually, but not functioning tow.

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Solid Scale & RC4WD made an excellent, scale Toyota FJ40 frame a few years back, along with the yota axles... To a FJ40 purist, like myself, I would like to see the hardbody on that chassis. It was a limited production run, [url"http://www.rc4wdforum.com/showthread.php?9604-Solid-Scale-FJ40-Roller-kit-(Limited-Stock)]more info here[/url].

DSCF4415.jpg

Can't wait to see your build James! Tons of custom parts you can make for this kit, for sure!

i love my Land Rover's but the FJ is a great 4X4 . Tough , reliable - maybe more reliable than a Land Rover and a far better drive on tarmac . their popular in Aus because parts are cheaper due to Japan being so close . In Africa where i lived in my teens its the other way around . Land Rover are built under licence in South Africa so parts supply is fairly good , whereas you wait for weeks if not months for FJ parts .

As the Toyota never breaks down, there is no need for overnight spares :)

Here is mine 1983 BJ42, which at one point actually was taken down to Australia for an extended period by a former owner, an author I believe, for an inspiration safari or something.

bj_1.jpg

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Going off topic even more. I often wonder why Toyotas are so reliable. It is the material used, the design knowing which area will likely fail and make improvements on it? A friend has a Toyota well over 10 years old and god knows the actual real milage (service garage from experience on wear and tear thinks Odometer has been roll back), nothing much seems to go wrong vs Hyundai, which the driver side outside mirror stop working in just 4 yrs and the AC compressor broke just after 5 years (5 warranty). Wonder will the tranny go soon. :(

I am at the age where reliablitly is more important than looks or performance

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