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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge fan of the off-road trucks Ivan Stewart drove during his years with Toyota. It probably dates back to the early ‘80’s when I finally discovered there are other forms of motorsports besides NHRA, NASCAR and IndyCar.

According to Wikipedia, the “Ironman” won a total of 82 races in MTEG stadium series, Baja 500’s, Baja 1000’s and SCORE international events between 1973 and his retirement in 2000. I don’t think it’s the Toyota pickups per se (although there’s certainly nothing wrong with the brand) but the unique livery that I appreciate more. I dare say there aren’t many motorsports’ fans on the planet over age 20 who wouldn’t immediately recognize those white, yellow, orange and red Toyota’s driven by Stewart. The color and design elements of that livery is iconic and timeless.

Here are a few photos found online, courtesy of race-dezert.com, IS Motorsports and alamy.




So, lacking anything that even vaguely resembles the Toyota’s Stewart drove, I’ve been on a quest to find a suitable replica to add to the RC collection. I’ve quickly hit upon at least two fully licensed models produced by Tamiya: the Toyota Hilux Monster Racer (1990) and the Toyota Prerunner (1994).


The Hilux Monster Racer shares its 2wd chassis with the Nissan King Cab and the Prerunner sits on a repurposed 4wd TA02 chassis. To my knowledge, neither of these models have been re-released and perhaps they never will. There are a few examples currently listed on ebay but the used ones are well, “used” and in less than pristine condition and the NIB models are insanely expensive.

Anyway, tomorrow I’ll show you what I’ve come up with, why I’m not completely happy with it and later, what came next.

I assume you have seen the (modern) MST Toyota monster truck...but just in case.....its pretty cool but a weird blend.

I found that HPI has a 1/12 scale trophy truck and that Ivan Stewart bodies are still available for it.


If 1/10 scale is more your flavor, have your considered getting a clear body slash kit and painting the body in an Ivan Stewart theme? Decals can be obtained from MCIRACING.CA

I did the Ivan Stewart theme on the RC10GT (as best i could, lol)

I assume you've seen this... Mugen Toyota Pick-up Truck: https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=44630&p=524469

Image stolen from the link above: 1:8 scale... so definitely going to be strong!

Alex

Why not a box art JrxT?

Bolink Trophy Truck body is close, and available from SabulaTech: https://store.sabulatech.com/BL2266-Trophy-Truck-Body_p_120.html

Edit:
Forgot...McAllister's Toyota body is also available again: https://mcallisterracing.com/shop/ols/products/108-toyota-sr5-racing-pickup

This was my version of the Tamiya Monster Racer.

Thanks everyone for commenting. I regret not posting this earlier as it would have saved time and money and I might have gone a different direction. However, I started this quest a few months ago so I’m just posting work that has already been completed.

A while back, I was browsing the TBG and MCI websites; they’re reproducing the Tamiya Monster Racer and Prerunner body and corresponding decals so I order a set. When they arrived, much to my disappointment, it’s clear they’re not 1/10 scale – maybe closer to 1/12 or somewhere in between. Now there’s certainly nothing wrong with 12th scale but I really wanted to keep this build the same scale as the rest of the truck collection. Both models are listed by Tamiya as 1/10 scale and they clearly are not. By the way, I really don’t care for the way Tamiya plays with scale – it’s a bit deceptive.

Anyway, I went ahead and painted and stickered the body and mounted it on a shortened RC10 with HPI wheels and Lunch Box tires. I didn’t set out to build a monster truck but I had the wheels and tires so I figured why not. I can always change them later.

The front suspension plate and bumper are scratch made, everything else is standard RC10. The front body mount is incorporated into the bumper. Body pins are only needed in the rear.

Maybe if it had smaller tires, it would look better – I donno.
Here’s the truck next to a Bruiser clone which, I believe, is 1/10 scale.


Anyway, I’ve abandoned this build in favor of something new. I’ll discuss that tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I have something else planned for this body which I believe will look cool. I’m just waiting for the smaller tires to arrive.

That turned out great!

Side note, I shortened a rc10 big time, mid motor, and added big grizzly tires. That was one fun rig! On days like today where we have some snow I really miss that truck

Not sure what direction you are taking with this...the pics you posted of Ivan's truck are the desert racing version. He also raced a reg cab in the Mickey Thompson shortcourse series and there is a ton of detailed info if you follow the link...if that helps or simply makes for good reading on racing history...
https://www.race-dezert.com/forum/threads/ivan-ironman-stewarts-1984-ppi-toyota-sr5-restoration.125888/

RPMfieldtester wrote: ↑Thu Dec 16, 2021 8:19 pm Not sure what direction you are taking with this...the pics you posted of Ivan's truck are the desert racing version. He also raced a reg cab in the Mickey Thompson shortcourse series and there is a ton of detailed info if you follow the link...if that helps or simply makes for good reading on racing history...
https://www.race-dezert.com/forum/threads/ivan-ironman-stewarts-1984-ppi-toyota-sr5-restoration.125888/

Thank you for that link. I'm on page 7 of 28 and so far it's been a fascinating read.

The cantilevered multi shock setup with staged torsion bars shows Ivan's team were really thinking outside the box.

several desert teams were using variations of the canti set ups to work around certain rules...and yeah, it is an incredible read...

RPMfieldtester wrote: ↑Thu Dec 16, 2021 8:19 pm Not sure what direction you are taking with this...the pics you posted of Ivan's truck are the desert racing version. He also raced a reg cab in the Mickey Thompson shortcourse series and there is a ton of detailed info if you follow the link...if that helps or simply makes for good reading on racing history...
https://www.race-dezert.com/forum/threads/ivan-ironman-stewarts-1984-ppi-toyota-sr5-restoration.125888/

Thanks, that's a fantastic read, I couldn't stop reading it. The fabrication and engineering of the era is fascinating.

It reminds me of a nearly identical thread I read years ago on a restoration of a Roger Mears truck that someone found, amazing stuff.

There are a few iconic race cars that have been found and restored the last few years...most can be found on the race dezert site...some amazing history!

So, MST; there is so much to say about this kit that I’ll want to break this into multiple posts.

There isn’t much info on the web about MST and I found nothing about it posted on this message board. I became aware of the brand from watching Matteo’s videos; he’s built a few MST trail truck kits on his channel and posted running videos for some of their RTR’s. Anyway, I happened upon this MTX-1 kit while browsing Amain hobbies one day. This is the TH-1 kit (Toyota Hilux) but a C10 Chevy look-alike version is available as well and costs a bit less (maybe because it includes fewer decals?). I don’t believe either kit is licensed by Toyota or GM.


Here’s the contents of the box.
Tires come pre-mounted (not glued). The chassis sides are identical (symmetrical front to back). All materials appear to be very high quality.
Decals and window masks are also very high quality and are pre-cut. I don’t care for the “TH-1” and “rc-mst.com” logos and QR code but I have a way to deal with them.
As we’ve come to expect from modern RC kits, the build manual is fully illustrated and is well organized.

The separate body finish manual includes color illustrations – I’ve never seen this before with any RC kit.
As you would expect, each bag number coincides with a build step in the manual. Most of the larger molded parts have been removed from their sprues so there isn’t a lot to throw away when you’re finished. I really wish all manufacturers would do that.
All hardware needed to complete each step is bagged in this manner so it’s easy to find what you need. Gmade for instance, bags all like screw sizes together so you’re forced to hunt through a pile of bags to find the exact screw you’re after. I watched Matt from the Scale Builder’s Guild assemble the Gmade Buffalo during a live stream and after two plus hours of flipping through endless bags of screws, he was getting so angry that I fully expected him to drop-kick the thing. Clearly, he was not having fun. However, for those of us watching the stream, it was hilarious.
The kit doesn’t include a slipper clutch but it uses a cushion system for the spur gear. I recognize this system; old motorcycles use a similar system in the rear wheel sprocket to cushion drive line shock during gear changes.
Transmission gears are plastic while all axle gears are metal. The receiver box also uses that blue silicone rubber material for its seals. If assembled correctly, the receiver box should be completely water proof.

... more to come