FTX Outback MINI 1/24 Scale truck review & build

[Halme]

I just *had* to get one of these when my LHS EuroRC got few of these in their shop. Always wanted to have a micro (especially the Ambush) and since there was an affordable option nearby.. why not! Heres some first impressions of this new toy, hope you like! This will be a project among the others, looking forward to make it more capable than it is now and ofcourse also try some other body in it.

If I've understood right, this is identical with the ECX Barrage 1/24 but with different body.



Promising small box and few stickers what one can never have too much.



It was me who broke the Seal of Satisfaction. Sorry!



Peek inside the box.. what secrets lie within.. Oh its so small!!



Here is what you get. Pretty scale looking toy car with nice tires, USB-charger, toy radio, fairly good manual with reference pictures and one (1.) sticker. Cool! Only thing needed are the batteries for the radio. I put 1.9" Dirt Grabber to stand for size reference.





About the scale.. It is not really 1/24 in scale. But well who knows what monster they had for reference.. Sacle is more like 1/20. I put it next to 1/24 Beetle (or was it 1/25..) and you can easily tell that it is not even close. This is bit sad but only if you are looking other body options from the plastic model kit area. Luckily there are some 1/20 scale kits available also.. And maybe one could make that lexan look nice, too.





Let's take a look under that crappy piece of lexan! Sooo small and still so cute! Just like it's bigger brothers! Impressive, even! What do we find? Center motored and geared, CMS setup and rear mounted battery. Driveshafts are in pretty nasty angle and plastic but have hold so far, perhaps because the underpowered electronics. I've had my kids play it with too and it's still working perfectly. Motor control/receiver unit has a standard connector for servo. This is nice! Battery is 220 mAh NiMH (edit: NOT 480mAh!) but I've seen a video where they put small 2S lipo there and nothing was blown up.



From side view you can sneak the aggressive angle of the driveshafts. Springs are also very bouncy but I'd love to have this chassi a bit lower. Package is pretty compact and if you would like to have a full interior or deep bed.. well, good luck!



On with the electronics! Oh it had a lights!! Actually this kind of remote controlled flashlight would be very handy sometims. Nice feature but I disconnected them as they were blinding but not giving so much light.



Todays featured scale detail is the light rack.



..and some flex! Overall and after few tests I'd say that this toy is a nice toy with many capabilities. Very light and very underpowered but I can understand the reasons for that. Love it already anyhow and it's fun to make some tracks inside from books and stuff. Like said, I'd still love to make it crrwalrl like a pro so some improvements have to be done. More weight and a lipo for a beginning. And maybe some fine makeup for the body before I try to fit some plastic model kit on it.

Thanks for watching, will continue after holidays! Ideas how to go with this are very warmly welcome!

[JatoTheRipper]

Cool looking micro scaler!

[moondaddy]

Man the ftx unit has a nicer manual and twice the battery capacity of the ecx variant. Nice write up.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

[generalee7]

I actually like the full body look over the ECX Barrage. If anyone wants to ship me theirs and I will ship them my ECX body, let me know I also like the FTX tires over the ECX tires

[5bites]

I wish the barrage had that body!

[Halme]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Cool looking micro scaler!

It is pretty cute indeed!

Originally Posted by moondaddy

Man the ftx unit has a nicer manual and twice the battery capacity of the ecx variant. Nice write up.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

Thanks for noticing the battery size! It is only 220 mAh but somehow I messed with the voltages and capacity. Sorry about it and it's fixed now! Driving time is approx. 10 minutes with this power pack!

Originally Posted by generalee7

I actually like the full body look over the ECX Barrage. If anyone wants to ship me theirs and I will ship them my ECX body, let me know I also like the FTX tires over the ECX tires

Originally Posted by 5bites

I wish the barrage had that body!

Tires do look pretty nice indeed! I would like to see both of the body options available all over the planet, maybe they think that stock look suits better the European taste and truggy(ish) look the American.

[5bites]

I’m wondering if a 1/24 model body can be made to work. I assume the wheel bases are close enough

[moondaddy]

I already have a body in mind

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[5bites]

That’s awesome. A flat bed would look great with that

[5bites]

Are you going to use the body posts, velcro.....?

[Halme]

Originally Posted by 5bites

I’m wondering if a 1/24 model body can be made to work. I assume the wheel bases are close enough

Sure it will work somehow, especially if you are after lifted/mud truck look. You can see me comparing this to 1/24 scale beetle in my first post!

1/20 model kit would be most realistic!

[5bites]

That beetle looks really small for some reason? I’ll take your word for it though.


Rather than start a new thread I thought I’d ask here. How stupid would it be to cut the frame in front of the shock mounts? Obviously you’d need a different way to mount a bumper but it would gain clearance for the steering.

[Mongol Pete]

Hello all,

There is a 3rd version of this truck available from https://www.asiatees.com/display?Mis...d=147325&pid=1

I have the yellow one but haven't opened it yet because it is a New Year's Eve present for my son. I will run 2s lipo, a separate ESC RX and a sound system for engines sounds. The other option I am looking at is a 9t brass pinion gear from Hobbyking.

Happy New Year,
MP

[Halme]

Originally Posted by 5bites

That beetle looks really small for some reason? I’ll take your word for it though.


Rather than start a new thread I thought I’d ask here. How stupid would it be to cut the frame in front of the shock mounts? Obviously you’d need a different way to mount a bumper but it would gain clearance for the steering.

It may be a 1/25 scale Beetle but still - FTX/ECX micro is bigger than 1/24. That trick would suit somebodys build but not mine. I'm personally more a scale model builder than performance seeker! Thanks for the suggestion, with bigger tires it would come handy!

Originally Posted by Mongol Pete

Hello all,

There is a 3rd version of this truck available from https://www.asiatees.com/display?Mis...d=147325&pid=1

I have the yellow one but haven't opened it yet because it is a New Year's Eve present for my son. I will run 2s lipo, a separate ESC RX and a sound system for engines sounds. The other option I am looking at is a 9t brass pinion gear from Hobbyking.

Happy New Year,
MP

Thanks for the info Pete!


I was bit disappointed since the scale was not the one they market this thing. Like said, it is more close to 1/20 scale and idea to just pop some 1/24 pickup body on it and be happy with it did not come true. I was planning to maaybe scratch build a simple Land Rover or Jeep CJ body for this but then yesterday I found this from the thrift shop!



Tonka Jeep Wagoneer, I presume!



Is a beauty right there. Metal body, plastic chassis. True 70's! (or maybe older?)



Genuine.



Official.



Compared to the FTX Outback Mini chassis.. they are at the same planet but from different time lines! This could be it..



Original looking fastener.. I'm no expert of Tonka toys but I think that originally here was a rivet? Somebody has been fixing this and pretty sure that it is painted to the boring gray shade same time, too. Bit sad thing since this has killed the patina. The thrift (or more like antique) shop I visit has lots of stuff from United States.. road signs, yellow traffic lights and old Coca Cola wooden boxes (120€ each!) etc etc so maybe this was also imported from there. Never seen much Tonka toys here.



Rivet goes out, body comes in. Easy to explain that. Also - Finished! Thanks for watching!



Perfect match!

To make the wheelbase fit, I need to move the rear axle backwards maybe a inch or two. For this I need to make new shock loops and not sure if I need a longer driveshaft for that.

Painting suggestions and all the feedback warmly welcome. Keep on building!

Greetings, Heikki.

[Natedog]

I like the RGT Super Swamper TSL tires with the ECX Toyota truggy body! That Tonka Jeep Wagoneer is very nice, we used ours so much that they have less tire tread than that one and some are long gone due to use and abuse in the dirt.

[Halme]

Originally Posted by Natedog

I like the RGT Super Swamper TSL tires with the ECX Toyota truggy body! That Tonka Jeep Wagoneer is very nice, we used ours so much that they have less tire tread than that one and some are long gone due to use and abuse in the dirt.

Yeah ECX tires would suit better for this build perhaps! These old Tonkas surely are build to last..!


On the second thought why make new shock mounts when the old ones are good enough! Perhaps a new chassis would be better way to go.

Prepared a template rails from styrene to try things out.



Appears that I either need a longer driveshaft for the rear or move the transmission unit to the middle. I think that I keep it in this position as the front links mount to the skid already.



LWB. I like LWB's. Along with everybody else!



Wheels dont yet stick out so much but the body is a bit split open from the bottom at the moment as nothing is keeping the lower sides together.



Very interested about this little project now when I founded a suiting body. Always wanted to build a micro scale rig!

[Halme]

Before I can turn my focus to the body I need to get the chassis roll good first!

I used my styrene templates to copy again the shapes, this time to 2mm aluminium. I used dremel to cut two roughly shaped rails, then screwed them together and sanded (or filed?) my way to happiness! Much and extra accuracy was spended when drilling the holes. Drilling holes needs to be accurate as it's accurate kind of business. Especially in micro build.



While I had this on the table I decided to take a look inside of the axles. Nice (and accurate!) machining and bushings and everything. Pinion shaft doesn't have any kind of locking (o-rings or stuff) and if you remove the driveshaft, you may have to open the axle case as the pinion shaft wanders away from your fat fingers. These were also compeletly dry so little bit of grease was applied.



Here are my not-so-common rails. Still with some working tolerance on the both ends.



Otherwise the work needed to lengthen the wheelbase was pretty simple after some little tinkering. Driveshaft was made longer with recycling the body of old dried-out ballpoint pen. I had to drill it a little wider inside, up to 6,5mm. I know that it's acrylic and therefore brittle plastic but I think that this build wont qualify as a comp rig anyhow. And the colour is nice! Lower links were just extended with 5mm tube what I drilled open to 3,5mm inside. It comes close to the driveshaft but they are not binding! So accurate.



Mocking fast.. I would not want to cut those wheel wells but I may be forced to.



Thanks for watching! Comments or meaningless random thoughts warmly welcome!

[Brake Weight]

Originally Posted by Halme

Before I can turn my focus to the body I need to get the chassis roll good first!

I used my styrene templates to copy again the shapes, this time to 2mm aluminium. I used dremel to cut two roughly shaped rails, then screwed them together and sanded (or filed?) my way to happiness! Much and extra accuracy was spended when drilling the holes. Drilling holes needs to be accurate as it's accurate kind of business. Especially in micro build.



While I had this on the table I decided to take a look inside of the axles. Nice (and accurate!) machining and bushings and everything. Pinion shaft doesn't have any kind of locking (o-rings or stuff) and if you remove the driveshaft, you may have to open the axle case as the pinion shaft wanders away from your fat fingers. These were also compeletly dry so little bit of grease was applied.



Here are my not-so-common rails. Still with some working tolerance on the both ends.



Otherwise the work needed to lengthen the wheelbase was pretty simple after some little tinkering. Driveshaft was made longer with recycling the body of old dried-out ballpoint pen. I had to drill it a little wider inside, up to 6,5mm. I know that it's acrylic and therefore brittle plastic but I think that this build wont qualify as a comp rig anyhow. And the colour is nice! Lower links were just extended with 5mm tube what I drilled open to 3,5mm inside. It comes close to the driveshaft but they are not binding! So accurate.



Mocking fast.. I would not want to cut those wheel wells but I may be forced to.



Thanks for watching! Comments or meaningless random thoughts warmly welcome!

Looks good so far.


What size are the ball joint ends? Maybe these would work with some piano wire?
http://r.ebay.com/TPvIjb

Possibly try the smaller tires that come with the ECX version of these RCs. Maybe we could trade wheels/tires? LOL.

[Halme]

Originally Posted by Brake Weight

Looks good so far.


What size are the ball joint ends? Maybe these would work with some piano wire?
http://r.ebay.com/TPvIjb

Possibly try the smaller tires that come with the ECX version of these RCs. Maybe we could trade wheels/tires? LOL.

Thanks! Quite easy as the body dont need much work. Thanks for the Ebay link too, I need to get few sets of those and more M2 stuff!

Ball ends of the links are with 3,5mm hole. Lower links attach to the skid plate only with a screw going through to no ball end there. About tires.. Sounds tempting! Are you willing to send them to Finland?


Made some body mounts. Magnets of course! I'll see how these hold, if not then I'll go with the velcro.



In rear the magnets snap to the transverse metal strip of the body placed luckily just over the shock hoops. Bit of side movement here as the hold area is not very big. Need to come up with something..



Hangin' tough.



Soon I should decide my paint scheme.. What would be fitting? Thanks for your time!

[Brake Weight]

Finland..!?!! I’ll just keep mine.

How about similar to this one.
https://www.imcdb.org/v028964.html