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The XR311 is a beautiful kit! As you say, the amount of detail on the body is not shy of a static kit, and a challenge to build if you are in a hurry :-D
You've done a great job on this one uncletom!

I hope you don't regret not painting that - in the past I've thought certain plastic colours look exactly right out of the box, but after a while (I guess UV exposure and/or oxidation), they end up looking really plastic. Still - the XR311 is a comparatively easy (flat, one colour) paint job with few decals, so straightforward if you ever change your mind.

IDK about a "civilianised" version of the XR311, unlike the Cheetah (basicly the same chassis, just built 10mm shorter - or is it longer? - either way it's just a few bits in a different postion + front torsion bars to match) I don't think there were ever any non military versions, not even in Tamiya boxart. A used Cheetah body on a new XR311 chassis ought to be possible - if you bought another kit you'd have a new XR311 body set for spare, and the Cheetah body is a lot less fussy about having all the greeblies there, at least in my my mind, having built a couple of "Rambo Lambo" Cheetahs - there are also the "boxart" Cheetah (the big cat) and Italian flag variants to consider...

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the info Jonny. Well, how bleeched can a dark olive-green plastic get over the years? I will have to see. If I get a nasty shock in about 10 years, if it's still in my garage, I will answer it by painting my XR311 pink with hippie graffiti saying "I LOVE WAR".

Sting. Yes. Like Darth Vader, black everywhere.

Hippie pink with flowers should be a great idea
Black is the good choice Tom.

Off the road again, today I spent some quality time with my Holiday Buggy (DT-02).




I got these "DT-03 CVA dampers" (tamiya 54567), of ebay, so I wanted to try them out.




And they work just perfect! At this point I'm letting it go full throttle on the forest path.



On the road, off the road, my Holiday Buggy is a lovely piece of machinery.




Best is, I think, to soften the suspension enough to make it glide over rocks and roots, I never jump, I mostly just watch the vehicle work its way over the terrain.




Sometimes it's a messy drive.




And sometimes it's a beautiful drive.

It was just the adventure I was looking for. I only wish the weather would cooperate more often. Mostly these days it's rain and wind, also it gets dark much sooner.




The gravel roads are damp and less dusty now, with more puddles. It makes everything stick to the tires. Perhaps some consolation would be that autumn comes with great colors, both on the ground and in the sky.



Racing amongst the leaves is quite a slippery experience.




As is going uphill through the mix of stones and pine needles.




But best is driving home as the sun is setting, with still a full battery in my pocket, .. just in case.

Always nice picts Tom. Top

Thank you, Sting.

That's a motivation.

It has been a while, hasn't it. Let's blame winter. Anyway, now that winter has gone we're ready for new adventures in the land of wheels and axels! And I've been busy.

Film clip: Uncle's Cupcake-Truck



And with the decals installed




The decals were printed by my good friend Johan who has a professional Print firm. The design is a generic 'search and steal' however slightly modified by me to appear more attractive.



It is a thicker vinyl type of decal such as used on real cars. I think it works on model vehicles just as well.




I'm not sure exactly how I feel about truck, I mean I love them no doubt, but for model trucks there are different terms of physics. I cannot 'race' them, I cannot travel long distance with them, I can only drive short stretches and mostly just straight forward. I can also back up with them to practice the radius and precision, which is about as much fun it gets with a truck. A buggy is different, it is more versatile, goes into more places and can accept experiments and beating better than a truck. I feel that my cupcake truck will be mainly for display.