As we all know RC rock crawling is exploding in a big way (I have two of them) and this kit looks to be a cross between a crawler and what is referred to as a “scaler”. It looks the scale part, but it’s very capable among the rocks.

Follow along as I take the box of parts known as the Tamiya CR01 Kit and turn it into a formidable crawling machine! This isn't a tutorial, just highlights of the build to show you how extensive the process can be.

As you can see this kit is no different than any other Tamiya kit, it’s got a TON of parts! This is a good thing. I’ve built a few Tamiya kits over my almost twenty years in RC, and I’ve enjoyed every one. When I was about ten or eleven one of my first kits was a Tamiya Monster Beetle and I tore open that box with wide eyes and said, "Dad, I’m going to need some help!"

You are going to need A few Phillips-head screwdrivers in various sizes, some small needle nose pliers, some small cutters, and a razor blade or hobby knife.

The lightweight, pressed aluminum frame rails are a nice touch. They are very strong and they add a touch of realism to the truck.

This is one of the upper spring perch/torsion sway bar/shock mounts. You want to make sure the slots on the back side of the swivel joint are lined up the same direction. This is where the torsion rod slides in on both sides. If you don’t line them up before installing them on the frame you will have to remove the “C” clip, pull out the joint and swivel it around to match the other side.

This is a pretty interesting suspension setup. I would say Tamiya almost over-designed this suspension, in a good way. An independent coil spring- cantilever activated damper system with upside down mounted shocks that extend when the suspension is compressed. Tamiya also offers different rated torsion bars for tweaking the articulation. Very cool indeed!

Mounting the spring perches and lower frame.

Here’s the finished frame. It’s going so far so good, no problems with the build, and the Tamiya instructions are straight forward and easy to follow.

Getting started on the diffs. You can lock the diffs of leave them operational.

Tamiya supplies you with grease for the assembly. Apply generously.

I went ahead and built them to see how well they work before locking them.

Diffs coming together.

Everything fits perfect and this kit comes with full ball bearings. Nice!

Knuckles and outer drive axles

Front and rear axles almost complete.

Front axle with the servo plate and steering shaft guard in place.

When building your shocks and filling them with the supplied damper oil, they need to sit for a while to allow the air bubbles out. I’ve found that an old Styrofoam cup cut in half with holes cut in the bottom works well for a nice no-cost stand. No-cost is always good!

The Tamiya shocks come with different internal dampening plates. They have one, two, and three hole for optimal shock tuning. I started with the single hole plates.

The suspension links go together easily. Make sure and use the supplied thread lock.

Front four links installed. You might have to do a bit of tweaking to get your front axle positioned correctly.

Parts for the planetary assembly.

Finished planetary gear.

Finished transmission. Mounted to the lower skid plate.

The build is going really well at this point. Everything left to do on the chassis is straightforward. You just bolt on stuff.

Front.

Rear.

This kit comes with true beadlock wheels and some impressive Pro-Line Hammer Tires with foam installed.

Mounting the wheels and tires.

You have to push the foam to the opposite side of the tire to easily lay the lip of the tire in the rim. When you’ve screwed the lock plate down repeat this step on the opposite side.

You want to secure the beadlock plate with your first four screws in this pattern. This assures an even seal. You can then add the rest of the screws in any order. Repeat on all sides.

Looking good!

On to the body. After trimming / washing and masking the windows and the roof, it’s time for some color.

I was not very impressed with Tamiya’s pre-cut window mask. It was very thin and not very easy to work with.

You can cut the plastic film with a razor and remove what you want on the outside of the body to spray the fender trim.

When you paint on the outside of the body it will scratch easier, but it’s easily touched up with a brush or paint pen.

It looks a little scary when you shoot it but have no fear, when you remove the outer plastic it looks really cool. I like painting fender trim on the outside because it gives it a realistic dull look.

Almost looks factory.

The paint turned out well. I went with the Atomic Mods team colors-- yellow body / white top and a little black thrown in there.

The decals are not pre-cut, which is a pain!

I really enjoyed this kit. The level of detail in the body is awesome. I set it up so we could add some L.E.D. lights to the front and rear sometime soon.

I can’t wait to see this thing hit the rocks under its own power. I hear Frank has some awesome hop-up parts and a nice brushless set up he’s going to add. Stay tuned!