Hey Glenn, I bought the XR311 in Ft. Knox at the base hobby shop in 1976!! I lived on base and was in the 6th grade at the time. I loved that kit, and the Cheetah that came after it. I lost them both in 2000 when my home was destroyed in a fire. I lived on base when the REAL XR311 was being tested at the proving grounds and I got to see it in person as my stepfather was in tank maintenance at the time. Jeep also had a similar prototype at that time that was there too! I am 55 now. The Lamborghini Cheetah was equally equipped and a bit faster than the XR311. MY GAWSH I wish I could have taken pictures of them back then. To see them in person is one of my lifetime favorite memories.
I do love the completed XR311. A school friend of mine had one of the original models in the late 1970's. When will we see the completed car running Glenn?
"... suitable for radio control." I recall that verbiage associated with my original Sand Scorcher way back in 1979. Honestly, did anyone actually purchase the Sand Scorcher an not install radio gear?? Anyway, even to this day, Tamiya are the absolute gold standard in static models but probably not so much in RC. Thanks so much for posting this build!! 👍👍
An absolute stunner and my favourite RC. I had the original in 1982 and as a kid the body got trashed. Bought the rere in about 2006 which I did in a camo scheme with Red Cross logos. Still got it too. Very fitting that this car appears on Tamiya Legends.
What an awesome model, I never realised the amount of detail the body has on this. When you said over 80 pieces to the bodyshell alone I just thought Wow!!! I love that it is a static model first and RC model second. This kind of thing is what Tamiya does best and other manufacturers just don’t come close.
My first r/c car was the cheetah in 1977....I was 7 years old....I remember fondly my dad helping with the build....he was into r/c planes....I remember the detail on the cheetah's body shell....the detail was very complex...even more that the xr311....I wish they would re release it....it would be in my collection in a heartbeat
looks fantastic. I used the EuroRC code to order a Frog, no one else seemed to have stock, it was a bargain, came last week and didn't even get charged any import duty 👍
I always say if Tamiya can do XR311, they have no excuse not to re-release the cars from the really early era (I am talking about the model #'s up to around early 30's). It is such a shame that this is the ONLY one you can go back to the real beginning. For the pancars, Tamiya can use FRP for the main chassis and nyloy 66 for the front suspension arms (as seen in the later CS models) if they are worried about the durability.
I made piano wire torsion bars for the original worked so much better than the exploding plastic ones. To makes that car look really good mask where the wipers would track then lightly airbrush dirt colours on spray from the wheels etc. also if you had sprayed it silver first scratches would only add the the scale effect things like the hook can be scratched a bit to look used but with it being military all those details would be the same green as the shell.
I just received my one of these from Finland Glenn. Looking through the box & manual it really is so very impressively different. They also had several other kits in stock that I wanted so I bought 5 in total & the 5% discount ment I could get a touring car bodyshell for free! So thanks for that!
That Bodyshell is just too pretty to justify damaging it! I really wouldn't be comfortable running it! lol. Thanks as always Glenn! Wes, Liverpool, UK.
Im glad to have one in the collection Glenn, My Box for it has gone yellow either with age or smokes (yuk) so possibly a 2001 re release and its just a matter of when ill build it now as there's so many others to assemble yet also the JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle is another Nice Military kit by Tamiya, but soon i will get there ,but your one turned out a treat, showcase material for sure my friend be great to see the running video soon as the weather picks up a little cheers Glenn and thanks for sharing
Love it Glenn and nice extra details and so you should have the XR311 decal on the side! This vehicle has a lot to brag about being tamiya first real off road RC car! So you are going to do a very slow safe running vid then! Brilliant! Very special model indeed!
As Tamiya is presently leaning heavily upon the past, I wish they’d reissue the contemporaries of the XR311 going back to the 934. The chassis are crude by modern standards, yet the simple aluminum-pan conversions of 1/12th scale static kits is where it all started. It was a brilliant idea.
Great Job Glenn, I guess it's one up on the Tamiya kits that were motorized. I remember building those and then sending them off on their merry way, normally ending up at the bottom of the stairs or under my Dad's feet.
Nice car , and looks great - to help stop the decals "frosting" you can use a gloss coat on the paint work , apply the decals and then apply dull coat to the body.
Another quality job Glen... it looks great.. I really like this one👍👍👍. It never quite hooked me in back in the day.. I was to wrapped up in the buggies. I certainly can appreciate it now though!!!. And to think they still available!!!!!!!. Mmm I wonder😄😄😄😄
When I was a kid I had the Firefox which was,the Radio Elecon version of the XR 311 . That was the closest I could get because of the price point. Turned out awesome Glenn .
Thats amazing! I wouldn't want to run that to be honest. I built a FAV in full box art and the work that I put into that was far to much to risk the damage if I run it, and the XR311 looks more fragile again. Excellent finish and the extra detail on the Jerry can's, lights, towing hook etc make all the difference.
Mate the front spring are slightly too stiff.. rear springs are perfect! I think I’m building this one next, I’m loving what you’ve done but I’m contemplating doing mine pink! that might sound mad but pink is a desert colour and I like bright.
Wow that sounds like a very interesting paint job Neil 😎👊🏻 Regarding the suspension, I’m thinking I might actually set all four to zero, think it might look pretty cool on the shelf like that 🤔🤷🏼♂️
That bodyshell has turned out sooooo well mate, you've done a fantastic job!! If I ever got one, I'd probably paint it in a similar way to how you've done it, but I'd also have a go at 'weathering' it to make it look well used. Anyway, awesome video of an awesome 1/12th scale model car that's suitable for radio control ;) Keep 'em coming!!
You did a great job on this project. I think that the black is nice. Personally I'd would have painted the tow hitch and the attachment on the front in a lime yellow. Great work mate.
Once, >30 years ago, I had one of these in my hands, but didn't know the model at that time ... now I badly want a model of the successor .. not the Humvee, but the Lamborghini LM002 :-(
Holy moly that is pretty good Glenn, i never have been interested in the XR311 but seeing it now makes me think should i get one lol, i am a pro static model builder so this kit would be right up my street lol.
The details are amazing I would buy a different shell to run it with maybe. It would look amazing in a dieararma Like we did when we were kids with fake trees and grass etc. To sun up it’s totally awesome
I saw in my hobby shop that they had this kit I wish I had the money for it because I would Buck my trend with that with the Hoppers to get that because I thought they stopped making and I can't believe they had one in their shop so I thought they the release hasn't been out in a while.
Where you ever in the army? I find that even though it was long ago, one keep looking up army things like vehicles etc. We didnt have this one, but its nonetheless pretty cool.
I remember that statement 'suitable for RC'. I think it was a common thing when things 1st moved towards RC. i remember some tamiya stuff came with the option to add a motor, I think it was 1/32 or 1/24 models.
back when the fmc xr311 was developed it didnt have a particularly high performance anyway it seems. 180 - 200 hp v8 If you search for " Real XR-311 Vehicle Promotional Video "Not Tamiya Product" XR-311 実車動画 " on youtube you'll see the original promotional material for it & tanks-encyclopedia seems too have lots of info about the real deal as well.
@@TAMIYALegends I might put in something less powerful than that but I personally think since of the way the tires are you should have a decent amount of torque for to get through things that's how I feel about it.
@@TAMIYALegends Could probably go with the one of the slowest sensored brushless combos you can find in one of these 1800 kv or slower if you can find one & program the esc too be gentle on the start punch & it should hold up fine honestly.
History: XR311 was created in the 1970s as replacement for the long serving M151 "Kennedy" Army jeep which in service in the Vietnam war & currently served in various Military units around the world, but unfortunately, it loses to a Company that built the Humvees
Lol...make sure I don't drop this...need to get a better grip. Give it time, I think Tamiya will release every model they have as long as their marketing department have the numbers for a green light.
