First runs with my LandFreeder

After I experienced the pleasure of trailing with my friends from the club using my King Blackfoot (not the best candidate for this laughing), I was impatiently waiting for the next run. Despite a cold and rainy afternoon of december, we all joined for a new adventure:

 

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

 

Enjoy these photos because it won't be as clean on the next ones laughing

Apart from a battery problem after a few hundred meters, my LandFreeder handled amazingly well all afternoon long. After replacing the first battery (dead), the almost 3 next hours of run didn't drain the 4500mah battery out (!). Knowing about 1500mah were still remaining in the battery when I got home, the power consumption is about 1000mah per hour: of course, the speed is very slow, but still, this is an absolute record among all my models.

After this technical consideration, let's get back to the aesthetics. It was clean at the begining of the run, but then something happened:

 

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

 

Indeed, the irresistible call of the mud puddle... well, mud puddles laughing. OK, one could pretend the goal of this is to test the driver's ability getting the model out of delicate situations using the model's abilities in terms of grip on slippery and wet terrains. Sure. Nevertheless, the end result looks like this:

 

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

 

No fear! The CC-01 chassis offers a natural protection against most of projections. However, the bodyshell does play the role of a "lid" that distributes liquid projections over the inner chassis, but nothing very worrying. The protection by simply covering the controller is more than enough and the receiver was safe at the rear of the bathtub. Nevertheless, I will try to find some kind of protection for the steering servo before the next run.

You may notice the front bumper disappearing from some photos while the driver shows: after the first run, I installed the driver and removed the front bumper in order to gain clearance at the front.

Anyway, the most interesting is there:

 

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

 

The pleasure is to see this model run in a very realistic way, to see it passing through almost any tricky path, including in very slippery slopes where the driver hardly stands. In fact, I must admit I was very impressed by my model abilities in clearing obstacles:

 

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

Tamiya 58579 LandFreeder

 

In conclusion, the LandFreeder is a very special model in my collection, even though it shares some common points with my XR311. In fact, you can appreciate both models for their scale realism and their suspension efficiency, even if they technically have nothing in common. In both cases, speed is low (moderate for the XR311), even if the reasons of this are very different: as for the XR311, the model is very fragile, especially the bodyshell, forcing the driver to keep cool with the trigger. As for the LandFreeder, the motor is a limit, but above all, the pleasure is to get as much realism as possible when clearing an obstacle. Passing flat out is an option at the exact opposite of what you are looking for.

 

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