Lunchboxer

Yeah, but it is also tougher than Bruiser.. high impact plastic isn't a bad thing.. (compare to cast parts...!!)

This is actually something that you wouldn't mind running.. hee hee..

R/C fan-addict

yeah I would find it hard not to run a bruiser, but still I wouldn't want to drive it because it is a vintage! I'm sure the f-350 is stronger, but they could replace the cast parts on the bruiser with machines parts on the f-350. I just find it too much money ($350-400) for a car that has a lot of plastic on it. You could buy 5 TLT's for that price and it's pretty much all metal!!!

Lunchboxer

I am sure the 3-speed got to count for something...

R/C fan-addict

oh yeah that's right! And the nice body too, but still $350 is pricey!!! The price will probably drop fast though when intial demand drops and supply catches up to all the out of stock orders.

paintstikker

Awww Its not metal.........Is it molded in that color? If it is, I guess it wont be that bad, so scratches wont be obvious.

Lunchboxer

Pretty sure it is chrome plated plastic...

paintstikker

Darn.....Now I wouldnt want to go on rocks! Maybe ill buy one of those cast metal kits from Micro-Mark and cast them. (maybe 60 for all the supplies?)Then polish them up to look like the chome plated ones.

hunter306

I thought I'd just put a plug in here. While the Bruiser has quite a few metal parts, it is indeed MUCH, MUCH less capable in stock form. The F-350 is certainly built to run and withstand some abuse, I wouldn't do much with my Bruiser for fear that the "Metal" axle casings would crack or bend or the stamped links in the back would be damaged. Don't get me wrong, the Bruiser is an amazing piece of craftsmanship, but it is MUCH more fragile than the F-350. Building the F-350 made it very clear Tamiya designed this to take abuse. Especially the front and rear diff which have large deep toothed metal gears. Comparing these to my Bruiser it is no contest to design and quality.

The kit is well worth the 360 dollar price tag, you'll enjoy putting it together and you won't be afraid to have some fun with it. I think you'd be surprised how much metal IS included. The parts bags consist almost entirely of alloy and metal parts and fasteners. The skid plates, front bumper stays, braces, chassis rails, many of the gears, etc... I'm betting you won't be disappointed!

[]TEX[]

Fan-addict - The TLT is all plastic, except for the chassis plates. Where are you getting this more metal thing from? Sure the links and stuf are metal, but you can't count that. The 350 still has more metal than the TLT.

The 350 has more metal than most Tamiya kits, actually. While I agree the cost is high, I disagree with your reasoning why it should be less. The semis are the same price range and they don't have bearings either. The only way those diff pans would be metal and to Tamiya standards, they'd have to be billet alum. In that case they would just CNC them, which would give them less of a scale look.

Again, this is NOT a rock crawler by any means. I talked about this in the other 350 thread. This is a flat/medium surface truck. I you want to go crazy, just take the diff covers off. They are just for show anyway.

If you want to do some rock crawling, you'd have to mod it up pretty good...but would it be the 350 or some mod thingy with the 350 shell?

I had this issue with the Clod Buster, it's been modded out so much that only the axels remain. Now it's just a monstor truck with Clod axels.

Anyway. My point is that Tamiya makes high quality parts/kits and while they sometimes come at a high price, you won't be disapointed once the kit is in your hands.[&:]

carmatic1

if its plastic, and you go out and somehow damage it, its much cheaper to replace than if its metal to begin with... abit of foresight and mantainence, but less of a shelf queen...

metal has its place in a truck, but not everywhere, ive learnt this lesson the hard way....

R/C fan-addict

Hunter: I totally agree that the F350 is more durable than the bruiser, but I find that the parts quality is lower. Sure the bruiser used pretty low strength metal by our standards today, but when it was built the bruiser was amazing. Now the F350 isn't all that amazing in terms of parts quality. Tamiya has great quality, but compared to other stuff out there today the F350 isn't as amazing as the bruiser was back in the day. I do not own an F350 so I can not say with certainty that it doesn't include much metal but just looking at the chassis shots, it looks to be mostly plastic with some metal here and there. I am saying that in my opinion if I had $360 I wouldn't spend it on the F350. There are many better deals in R/C and I think the F350 is at the bare minimum slightly overpriced, I think you can agree.

TEX: As far as the TLT goes for the price it is loaded with metal. I'll make a list for you:
metal outdrives, axles, motor mounting plate, chassis plates, chassis stiffeners, metal diffs, dogbones, steering links, suspension links, shocks, and suspension link mounting brackets. While this is not a ton of metal if you look at the amount of plastic on the truck it is a lot. Plastic parts on TLT: axle cases, tranny case, cantivelvers, battery and electronics mounting plates, knuckles, servo plates, bumpers and that's about it for major plastic components (as in no rod ends, but rather stuff like axle cases)

As for semis being in the same price range, look at the link:

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/produc...oducts_id=6884

The semis cost a lot less than the F-350! I could almost get 2 of those for the price of a 350. And the Mercedes 1838LS costs a good chunk less than the aeromax so I could get 2 exactly (1838LS costs $190).

Compared to the rcmart price for the 350: $340: http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/produc...ducts_id=20532

I agree though the 350 is not a rock crawler, before I was just asking whether the diff plates were metal because they sure looked like metal. I in no way meant to say that because the diff plates weren't metal that the kit was full of plastic.

lol, yeah sadly that is one of my problems with the R/C hobby... everything feels so worth it once you build it and then take it out for its first run. You don't feel bad at all that you just blew your entire life savings! lol

Lunchboxer

Entire life saving!? I hope not, LOL!!

[]TEX[]

You have some good points fan-addict, but all the parts you listed for the TLT come in the 350.

Lunchboxer

Yeah, but TLT is $59/69 shipped... I think that was his point... [>:]

[]TEX[]

sheesh...FINE THEN...HMPH![sm=angry.gif]

LOL

R/C fan-addict

hehe well I always have some money in the bank, as I think it is a good habit or if I go on a trip and need money or something, but I do spend a lot on my R/C hobby. I mean $500 would clean up my bank account, and that's what it costs to get a standard nitro MT running!

Lunchboxer

That's okay, you are a student, right?! Just don't do that when you are my age... LOL!!

Anyway, I am gonna stop so we won't turn Hunter's nice build up thread into a chit chat thread.. [&:]

[]TEX[]

Right...so how's the build coming?

-Brian

Nice truck Hunter
Where do you guys get all this money from?!?!
lol

Lunchboxer

Work... work.. work.. work... work... work... work... robbing banks.. work.. work.. work... [:-]


EDIT: Right, I can't spell.. so I don't know how I got my job...

[]TEX[]

I think he meant...robbing banks...but anyway..

Ya, work...


You're in CT?

carmatic1

thanks to these pics i now know what they mean by a 'ladder chassis' ... its almost like building the truck yourself!

R/C fan-addict

yeah that would be bad if I was an adult and blew all my money on R/C!!! lol well continue with the thread hunter!

paintstikker

Personally I dont care how much metal is in a kit, as long as its good quality. I think the only bad thing is that it costs more than a semi, but mostly becasue its new.

R/C fan-addict

I totally agree. I don't like 100% metal t maxxs or savages. I think they are excessive but metal in some key places where they add durability and quality is key. The f-350 has metal in the key locations but it does not, in my opinion, have enough metal (high cost material) to justify its high cost.