Bruiser without the fridge/freezer!
Status: Restored
Date: 12-Feb-2007
Comments: 21
I bought this as a standard Bruiser from TC member 'jonny_bravo' a quite while ago. It was mostly there but missing the usual odds and ends. Normally I start with the mechanical restoration and then do the body but I was so chuffed to have a Bruiser that I immediatly stripped the body, filled all the minor scratches and blemishes and set about collecting the missing parts it needed.
Somewhere along the line, it ended up on my shelf and it just became part of the 'furniture'. I was unsure as to whether I should do a full box art resto (given the price of these things thesedays!) or turn into a Chef's special. After much debate with Whopper as to the merits of each, it spent several more months sitting on the shelf until I reached the point when I decided, once and for all, that I simply couldn't live with that stupid fridge/freezer thingey that Mr. Tamiya added to the Bruiser (but thankfully deleted for the Mounty) so out came the Dremel! Besides, I've never really been a fan of copying box art, but hey, that's just me.
Once I'd decided to Nike (just do it!), it didn't take too long and wasn't that difficult to fabricate the missing section of the bed. I then made a wooden liner (which is made from over 70 seperate minature 'planks') which slotted in nicely. I then made a rollbar from two Juggy items which I cut up and spliced together to give the extra width and height.
As for the colour? Well, I thought about the usual suspects, red, blue, white, silver etc. but when I was trawling the net for inspiration I found a picture of a late 70's early 80's Hilux in......yep....beige! Apparently it was a factory colour! I thought it looked pretty good and said to myself 'what the hell' and went for it!
I think it looks pretty cool, and more importantly it's different. I've still got the mechanical restoration to go - I'm still awaiting some parts from RC4WD, but it'll have dual shocks on each corner and numerous alloy upgrades. I'm really looking forward to getting this one totally finished - It's begging to be muddy! ;-)
Comments always welcome.
Comments
scollins
Another ace job buddy, you picked a color similar to my Bib Bear/ TLT tamiya hybrid!
scollins
Did I say Bib Bear?? LOL- I mean Big Bear. Cant type for crap.
Wyoming
Looks fantastic chef, its the finedetailing that makes em stand out, wow!
chef_bikes
The devil is in the detail!
DImblum
Looks excellent. I dig the custom bed liner.
mymonsterbeetleisbroken
Awsome truck! I've just bought my first bruiser, they are so impressive its crazy
rad22rad Alloys
Oh yes Matey. Like it.
Well done.
toymkr73
looks great!!! the beige color is perfect
bruiserbuilder
wow, great job! I see some of my goodies on there!
can I use a few of them on my website?
chef_bikes
Bruiserbulider - no problem - your rear window arrived today so that's to be added next along with the nice 'Bruiserbuilder' decal in the rear window!
TWINSET
Sweet, first one I've seen with a built in leprechaun pool
They'll love the decking, all you need now is an ickle BBQ
chef_bikes
Twinset - nice one! Perhaps some solar powered patio lights too?
cardesigner
Awesome Bruiser, and great job on cutting the freezer out! It's a lot of work to fill in the remaining hole, isn't it? Lovely color too, you can go wrong with beige on an old Toyota!
That colour is so good, well done yet again.
By far my most liked of all your TOP CLASS models.
jonny_bravo
Well,. if it had stopped with me it would still be in the same state as when I sold it,. a lovely job mate, well done
Crash Cramer
Now how did I miss this, oh Yea my computer was dead. That thing is sweet looking. I bet Tamiya would have done this as box art if beige and white were not so close as it wouldn't have made a good artist rendering, unless it had a TON of mud on it. Makes me want a Mounty more and more.
flux density
Much nicer than box art ! Beige is nice
freyahel
impressive !
zulu69
I like the Beige..Is soo 70's...!! Nice Job..!
mcovalsk
Lovely color! Good work
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