Another CR-01 build

[Percymon]

Well, I don't post here an awful lot but i do read a lot of threads in the background. Late to the party as usual (man, this forum section is pretty quiet these days), but I've finally decided it's time i dabbled with the CR-01.

It was a coin toss to decide between the Hilux High Lift 3spd kit or a CR-01 but settled on the latter as i wanted something that i thought i would actually make use of, and be semi capable, rather than another ornament on the shelf.

I don;t use any of my cars much at all, enjoying the build process more than the running, but i'm determined to give this one lots of run time. I've never really done the crawler/trail scene, despite building a Gmade R1 a few years back - R1 as a basher ? - now buillt so will find out soon enough !

I still have it, with all of 2 hours run time on its clock


So back to business, I've read plenty of threads that say you don't need many hop ups but on this build I decided to acquire quite a few and add them during the build process, last thing i want to do is continuously pull it apart adding hop-ups progressively in the future.

Many folk probably won't agree with some of the parts i'm using, possibly zero performance gain on most of them but I wanted this to have good visual presence as much as performance - it'll see most use on modest forest trails, rather than rock piles after all.

So, my parts list..

CR-01 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 kit
ball bearing set
Tamiya alloy chassis sides
Tamiya tie rod set
Tamiya carbon steel prop shafts
Tamiya metal plated wheels (would like alloy beadlocks but these will do for now)
Tamiya chrome front grille
Tamiya CR Tuned motor
KM Racing servo beds
KM Racing servo posts
KM Racing front bumper supports
KM Racing motor heat sink plate
KM Racing knuckles front and rear
KM Racing hub carriers Fr and Rr
KM Racing centre skid plate
3Racing alloy upper and lower spring platforms
3Racing upper cantilever link arms
3Racing lower axle links
GPM Racing axle link brackets
Hobbyking 11Kg servo (front steer only)
Roof rack with light bar
front twin lights or winch (undecided currently)
custom led light set

Now thats a whole mismatch of part suppliers , and the reason is that where possible i wanted to buy parts in gunmetal finish. Of that list only the 3Racing parts had to be purchased in other colours and I hope to strip those and repaint to match.

I've no idea on the quality of the KM Racing parts but they seem remarkably similar (cloned ??) to ST Racing items. Time will tell, but if anyone has experience (good or bad) I'd be happy to hear it


I'm currently waiting for most of that list to arrive, so it could be a few weeks before i really get going (kit is mid air between Japan and London currently )

I've no idea what to do with the body - i've looked at hundreds of RC gallery photos, and google images of 1:1 cars - i'm thinking towards a mustard or turquoise or light blue colour with white roof, but I'm even more undecided whether i want the glossy lexan look or to spray the outside for a more matt, aged look.

All your thoughts, comments and questions most welcome.

[GraciousOne]

A quick note about the finish of the body - many people assume the only way you can get a matte finish with a lexan body is to paint it on the exterior surface. However, note that Tamiya (and probably others) make a spray coating that you can apply to the exterior of a lexan body (that has had the normal coloured paint applied on the interior surface per the usual process) to give a more matte finish. Haven't used it myself, but the reviews I've seen on YouTube show that it works quite well. It comes in the usual Tamiya PS Spray can.

[Percymon]

Many thanks for the suggestion - I am aware of the Tamiya PS-55 matte clear, and PS-58 pearl clear.

I've painted one shell on the outside previously, after painting rust/metal colours on the inside - the aim being to show rust once the exterior paint got scuffed. It was a lot of work masking inside, then the same on the outside (windows). I never ran that body enough to know how well that would have worked

[Percymon]

Today was a good delivery day..

A small order from Hobbyking UK warehouse (high torque servos and a couple of capacitors)

Followed by mail man bringing...

Oh YES..

CR-01 plated wheels
CR-01 alloy hub carriers
CR-01 alloy knuckles
CR-01 alloy bumper supports
CR-01 alloy servo beds
CR-01 alloy servo posts
CR-01 alloy motor plate
CR-01 axles lower mounts
CR-01 bearing set

And the custom made lighting loom


Initial impression of the KMRacing parts is good, certainly look no worse than the 3racing or GPM parts.

[Percymon]

Not much of an update I'm afraid.

My kit is out of customs, I have £35 customs import fees to pay when i collect it from local mail depot. Still it came in £90 cheaper than buying the kit locally

Still undecided on body colour - have ordered PS-55 mustard yellow and PS-8 (?) - light green tamiya paints along with the PS-55 matt clear. And I have a whole host of other colors to hand albeit probably only light blue or cobalt green are suitable options for a FJ40.

I'll try to get some photos up tomorrow

[Louisbaby]

The CR01 is still one of my favorites in my collection. If I can offer some advise on the paint, I painted the outside of my CR01 Unimog with the lexan clear coat paint (PS55 flat clear), and after that, I used ordinary tamiya spray paint. The clear paint etches to the lexan, and the TS paint bonds to the clear paint. Thus opening up more variety of colors.

Just my 2cents worth...

[Percymon]

Originally Posted by Louisbaby

The CR01 is still one of my favorites in my collection. If I can offer some advise on the paint, I painted the outside of my CR01 Unimog with the lexan clear coat paint (PS55 flat clear), and after that, I used ordinary tamiya spray paint. The clear paint etches to the lexan, and the TS paint bonds to the clear paint. Thus opening up more variety of colors.

Just my 2cents worth...

I'd heard that the matt ps spray could act as a primer for non lexan paints, although I've not tried it before. Like you say it opens up colour choice to all the TS paint range, a lot of which I think are more suited to an aged shell look.

A few more deliveries today. Mainly scale accessories but the cr motor too..



Bevel gears are for a M-03 rebuild, the sport tuned motor for the spares box

[860Crawler]

Lots of goodies, going to be pretty well sorted!

[Percymon]

Collected the kit from the courier dept this morning. I've heard people say the box is large, i think thats an understatement !

The box is same size as the one for the Bruiser re-release !



Great artwork - so nice to see proper drawings rather than a lazy photograph - Tamiya still do some things well.



Somewhat disappointing inner view - obviousy lots of smaller items are stashed away in the square cardboard box, but it look as thoughs only half the goods are present

[Percymon]

Waiting on a few more deliveries (steel prop shafts, alloy side plates, tie rods and the reinforced axles) before I get going on the build.

[OSRC]

Oh, they are all there. about 15 billion screws, nuts, and plastic parts. Really is a great build, it'll keep you busy for a while.

I see you've got the prop shafts covered - really the only part that has a problem out of the box. They are just too soft to handle the weight of the truck and twist up in no time. I think you'll find right away the stock tires leave a bit to be desired as well.

Other than that, out of the box it's quite fun to bomb around with - enjoy the build!

[Percymon]

Recommendations for tyres (without spending a fortune) for trail running ?

I can get some Ansmann Casper tyres locally fairly cheap, tread looks better than the Tamiya items but no idea on compound and how the perform.

[GraciousOne]

Proline Flat Iron 2.2s are what I use - I think they're a very reasonable price, but of course that's rather subjective....

[Louisbaby]

I have Flat Irons in both 1.9 and 2.2, love them...

[Percymon]

Thanks for the recommendations - I've had flat irons in 1.9" before, nice n soft and very square shouldered. Will have a look at the 2.2 variant, always thought the 1.9s were a little narrow but then I'm used to wide buggy tyres in the main.

[Percymon]

Decided the tyres can wait for a while - i might as well try the kit items, wear them out and then replace them; they will probably suffice for tame trail use anyway - its not as though i intend going bog snorkling or hard rock crawling anytime soon.

Part of that reasoning is that I've now added the alloy shocks to the build list - I've been debating options (Gmade Team Zero, Intergy, Tamiya or others) for a few days. Gmade were looking favourite as the UK prices of the Tamiya 54109 hop-ups were ludricrous (ca US$175 a set of 4 after loyalty discount ) but I struck a deal with a HK based supplier at US$65 shipped, so cheaper than buying the Gmade items locally in the end.

[new2rocks]

I'll be watching this, as I just started my CR-01 build last weekend. Counter to my other builds, I'm trying to stay somewhat close to stock before upgrading. So far, I'll be starting with the HD axles with lockers, steel drive shafts, aluminum side chassis plates, and a couple of other smaller mods. I'm also using the Rc Screwz kit instead of the stock screws, mainly because I wanted to go hex from the get-go. I will be using Flat Iron 2.2s, as I've been very happy with those on my SCxX0. They are almost as good on the included foams as my Rock Beasts with CI 2-stage foams, and they're less than half the price. Good luck and keep the updates coming. I'll probably start a thread on mine once it's up and running.

[Louisbaby]

I ran my CR01 stock for many years, only mod I did was the Reinforced drive shaft and diff lock (5410. After a few months of running the stock gear with a 35turn Tamiya CR motor, I wore the splines off the inside of the diff casting. So I upgraded to the reinforced parts, and haven't had a problem since...

[Percymon]

Originally Posted by Louisbaby

I ran my CR01 stock for many years, only mod I did was the Reinforced drive shaft and diff lock (5410. After a few months of running the stock gear with a 35turn Tamiya CR motor, I wore the splines off the inside of the diff casting. So I upgraded to the reinforced parts, and haven't had a problem since...

Thats good to know. Moving to the CR Tuned motor does seem to destroy the stock propshafts, the extra torque and rock crawling are too much for the plastic items.


I remembered last night I have a set of old Bruiser rims with Cliff Crawler tyres fitted - are those any better (softer) than the stock kit tyres ?

[Louisbaby]

The cliff crawler tires are the softer compound. Better for rocks and climbing stuff.