Insight – Tamiya Mud Blaster II

Once again Tamiya are hitting the re-release bandwagon with a new version of the popular Mud Blaster monster truck. Unlike other re-releases, Tamiya has based the Mud Blaster II on the WT-02 chassis with an inboard motor position unlike the rear motored original. Also the body is now a Lexan one rather then the ABS original, which also sees the deletion of the roll over hoop mounted in the rear bed.
Those worrying about having to build the gearbox up and losing parts when trying to hold the casing steady, and fit gear after gear will be are pleased to hear that the main gearbox now comes pre-built with the motor already mounted so you simply have to build the rest of the chassis and secure the gearbox in place. Even the tyres are pre mounted although they are not glued. A set of eight bearings for the four axles are included in the box to help reduce the friction on the wheels.

The chassis also boast a full independent suspension layout that helps soaks up the bumps and mounds the Mud Blaster II will encounter. The four shock absorbers are of the friction-type that in standard guise are perfectly usable, but maybe something you may want to upgrade in the future. The suggested colours for the body shell are Black Silver and Dark Metallic Blue for the box artwork but obviously you can choose to go your own colour scheme (the original was red).

You need to add a two-channel radio system to get the Mud Blaster2 II up and running we would suggest one of Acoms excellent 2.4GHz radio systems. An electronic speed controller is included in the box so you don’t need to worry about the extra expense on and we think that the money saved should be put towards a high-capacity battery for longer running time. A perfect kit if you are looking to step away from the RTR cars and start to build and understand the more technical side of RC.