Tamiya Clod Buster

Finally got around to putting this project together, it's been sitting with an unfinished body for a few years now...This is not an original truck, it's pretty much a collection of original parts I've gathered over the years. It all started when I realized that my father still had his original Clod decals still in the wrapper. He built & ran the truck but never used the Clod decals, just painted it red and ran it. There were only a couple missing, but all of the important decals were still on the sheet.

The chassis is an original replacement chassis that I acquired in the original bag when buying a lot of parts a while back. Red parts are all originals, axles are mostly new, and the body is new. I have a bunch of original Chevy grilles, but unfortunately none of them were nice enough to use as-is, so I made the decision to black out the grille, bumpers, roll bar, and hood scoop. I did not have the original hood scoop decal, so I cut out the face with a Dremel to give it a nice open look. The color is unfortunately a bit darker than it should be, but I still like it. I had a full can of Regal Red lying around and thought it would be close to the original, but now I can see the original Clod red is much brighter. Still, I think the darker Regal Red looks nice with the black details. Paint was cleared and buffed/polished. I didn't bother to wet-sand this one since I planned on it being a runner. Bed was done in bedliner.

For running gear it has stock 540 motors and a Hobbywing 860 ESC. Steering is accomplished with a single 35kg servo along with some other minor steering modifications and it actually turns quite well for a stock Clod. Wheels are originals painted gloss white with M3 hardware & Proline faux planetary caps.

Overall I'm pleased with how it came out and its nice to have a mostly original Clod in the collection. I have plenty of spare chrome bumpers, roll bars, and hood scoops so if I do come across another Chevy grille in good shape I may swap out the black parts, but for now it will stay as-is.