Scratch built models in any scale are showcased here. Model details and build information are a must. Search for: searching... This forum has 170 topics, 1,465 replies, and was last updated 3 days ago by Ken. Viewing 101 topics - 1 through 100 (of 171 total) 1 2 → Topic Voices Replies Last Post Forums Gents, Local engagement in the forum spaces is very low. I might try to incorporate some areas into posts or pages as I refocus but if there is anything of particular value to you in a forum please save it for yourself. Cheers! Started by: Arthur in: Website Information 1 0 1 week ago Arthur 63 Thunderbird I've always wanted a 63 T-Bird convertible with the optional tonneau cover and twin head rests. This is a very nice kit for a slot car. Here's whats in the kit. It comes as a hardtop, or convertible. The chrome really sparkles. These are the parts being used. I hope to use the complete interior with the exception of the back seat. The back seat comes as a separate piece. You have to leave the back seat out if you install the tonneau cover. That leaves a lot of room for a slot car drive system while still retaining the full interior. Started by: Ken 2 24 3 days ago Ken 1/43 289 Cobra A Monogram 1/43 Cobra kit somehow ended up in my hands. What should I do with it? Started by: Ken 4 4 2 weeks ago Ken 61 Ranchero Hot Rod Though my 'handle' here is Porsche911, I LOVED the 'American Muscle' that ruled the roads in the 60's and 70's, Stangs, Camaro's, Cuda's and such, and as we have a 'Hot Rod' class, I wanted something...as John Cleese would say, "And now for something completely different". :>) I thought a departure, different than most of the others, and had an 'AMT Scale Stars' 61 Ranchero tucked away, so this is it. Because I elected to go with supplied full interior, it's likely nowhere near slammed low enough, nor light enough to be too fast but I think it looks Baaaad, if you're into that type of thing. Going forward, should I acquire another 1, I'd use a flat/card interior, and also rip out the entire bed and cover with a tonneau top. I did have to cut a wee bit to accommodate crown gear, hence the 'beverages' in the back, plus a guy could thirsty driving this. :>) Added some 'smoke' to tailpipes, and the 'Skull' to grill, might not be everyone's cuppa but after test fit, I loved it. Alas, my photo skills/lighting aren't the greatest so you may not be able to see the small decal details(all homemade). Lovely KRZ chassis fitted, slimcan 'Vanski' motor, 10X23, RS Slot wheels, D'Art inserts, driver by Pioneer and lady friend vintage Revell. Vinnies Hot Rods of Fresno has given the 'Lil Devil' a shakedown, and it's about 3/4 of a second off where it would be somewhat competitive, but it's fun, who knew I could be whimsical...LOL Hope you enjoy, Cheers! Started by: Porsche911 3 5 2 months ago Ken Two Lane Blacktop-inspired ’55 Chevy Hey guys, I haven't raced with the group for a while. Having been invited back into the fold there were a few classes that I need to build cars for. One of which is Hot Rods. During the pandemic I ended up ordering a few movies to pass the time - one of which was Two Lane Blacktop. I had never seen it before, and it's really worth a watch. It's French New Wave meets hot rods in the best possible way. The hero car of the film is a '55 Chevy driven by "The Driver" (musician James Taylor), and worked on by "The Mechanic" (Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson). They travel from town to town with The Girl (Laurie Bird) engaging in street races and trying to hustle a few bucks along the way. Eventually the meet up with "G.T.O" (Warren Oates - I'll let you guess what he drives) who challenges them to a race to Washington D. C. - the winner taking the loser's car. I'm a big fan of movie cars, so after seeing this movie I set out to find myself a '55 Chevy body. I was lucky to find a Monogram Snap-Tite kit in 1/32 scale on ePay. Hot Rod rules call for the BWA FF050 slim can in an inline configuration with skinny wheels. Being a fan of the Slot.it HRS2 chassis I was able to source an FF050 motor pod on Shapeways. With all the bits and pieces in hand, it was time to hit the spray booth aka the level 3 stairwell vestibule in my condo's parking structure. Here's what I ended up with: The hood scoop is fabricated out of Evergreen sheet styrene. Driver is a vac-formed interior from Slot Car Corner. I went with the slammed stance since that's what it takes to get the CG down low. I opted for the side pipes because - why not? Anyhow, we'll see how well it runs at the next Hot Rod race. See you guys then! - DrV Started by: DrVanski 6 6 2 months ago f1nutz 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air [foogallery id="42868"] Cheers! Started by: Arthur 3 3 2 months ago f1nutz Corvair progress, slowly…. Getting there, I know, I know, do posts 1st, aesthetics last....well, perhaps a slow learner.....I had an opportunity for a few (rare) hours, so decided I would graphic my Corvair kit. All all old homemade decals(work well on white/silver bodies)Awaiting the chassis setup/motor/gears/wheels etc(KRZ chassis, thanks KRZ!) Made a little 'scoop too' Started by: Porsche911 5 12 3 months ago Arthur #7 Yellow 312P IROC Art, received the car in the post today, looks awesome. In my spares box I found a Penelope Pitlane inline competition chassis that I have had for a while and which fits the wheelbase, so I am good to go. Thks DB Started by: DB 4 7 3 months ago Porsche911 64 Impala SS The green colour of this Impala is amazing. A white vinyl roof really sets it off. Drew did a stunning job with the paint. The hood was epoxied in place. Then the extra posts for the static chassis were trimmed off. The rad support was also removed. The chassis was assembled to set the height of the body posts. The post lengths are 31mm front, and 30mm rear. The numbers on the chassis are the tire diameters. The body will sit about 1mm higher with the stainless and urethane washers added. This is the same body height as the Olds 442. The wheel well shape makes it look very different. A thicker washer can be added to the rear body posts to create a little more rake. More to follow. Ken Started by: Ken 4 5 5 months ago Ken DArt Watson Indy It's been a while since I started something for myself. Time to dust off the machinery. I found this cool photo of a Watson Indy in metallic orange. That was the inspiration to start this car. I just painted this today. Super nice day outside. The build begins. Started by: Ken 5 11 5 months ago Arthur 66 Corvair Long before I joined S32 and Group 25. I built an AMT 1/25 static 1966 Corvair. I didn't paint it because I didn't know how. I eventually learned how to disassemble and paint cars. It was time to re-visit the old Corvair. It has a new chassis with a corrected wheelbase. Started by: Ken 3 3 5 months ago Ken 71 Charger RT Someone requested a lesson in paint. Today was the day. I needed something to paint in order to show what to avoid. The only body I had ready to paint was an AMT 71 Charger RT. It was one of my first model car kits as a 10-year old. Time to fulfill an old childhood dream and make this one go! This colour leans more towards a Kawasaki green. No metallic. I think it suits the car. Now I can put it aside for a few weeks while I do other things. Started by: Ken 2 2 5 months ago Arthur A tale of two T-buckets So I started this project as a commission for a fellow racer and it kind of snowballed partly because I loved the idea and partly because as I progressed on the car I realized I was going to have a hard time parting with it. Started by: f1nutz 7 31 7 months ago Arthur Targa Florio Porsche 908/3 Test Car I had a white NSR Porsche 908/3 body and looked for a Targa Florio livery but it looked like they have all been done by our talented members. I came across a Test Car painted red but the images I could find were mostly black and white with the odd colour photo. My scratch built chassis used a Slot It motor pod and I have to thank Ken for drilling the 4 holes through the brass stock to accept the pod. You can't beat a Drill Press! Started by: GI 5 5 7 months ago Arthur 62 Bel Air, Bubble Top The bubble tops were interesting cars. I would hate to flip one in an accident. But they sure looked cool. Here are the parts. The inspiration for this build came from these photos. This is what the test looked like before the body posts were installed. The body still needs the chrome strip going the full length of the car. I'll attempt that another day when I feel brave. A full interior made of card stock is next. Thank you kindly for looking. Ken Started by: Ken 3 2 8 months ago Arthur Another Indycar After looking at all the wonderful builds for the Indycar class, I felt inspired and decided to join in. I used the reliable KRZ aluminum chassis, DArt Watson Roadster kit, RS Slot wheels, and of course DArt urethane tires. The car is the Bryant Heating and Cooling Special driven by Len Sutton. Something a little different since we already have AJ and Parnelli liveried cars. Started by: GI 5 6 8 months ago Arthur DArt Auto Union Type D This is the season to paint cars. Yesterday was another perfect paint day. So I kept the momentum going. This colour is Tamiya TS-7 racing white. It will match my type C. I can officially start a team. "Club Weisse". No clear-coat required for this lovely pastel colour. Started by: Ken 4 8 8 months ago Ken Mercury Marauder 1/24 build Well I’m calling this one done! Got the interior, driver, wheel inserts and trim work done over the last few days. Started by: f1nutz 2 3 8 months ago Ken 1965 Impala Super Sport This pre-painted and fully assembled static model came from a Group25 flea market. It was a quick test to see how these large cars would run at Nova Ridge. It was quickly turned into a slot car test bed. My humble apologies. The paint is ugly. But it passed the test. With the slot car test a complete success. It was time to freshen up the body. Off with the old paint. A full interior made of paper is next. Thanks for looking. Ken Started by: Ken 3 4 8 months ago Ken 1966 Olds 442 W30 I've never seen a slot car of a 66 Olds. It's an odd duck. Either you like them, or you don't. There's no middle ground. The box. The only parts that actually came in the box. Barely enough for a slot car. A pic of a completed kit on Google inspired the Tamiya Cobalt Green colour. A chassis was made. The car fell on its roof seconds after painting it. Thankfully a vinyl roof was in the works anyways. Problem solved. Mating the chassis to the body. The car is ready to run. It needs bumpers, window/body chrome, windows, and interior. Started by: Ken 2 2 9 months ago MiA Red Monogram Cooper Ford Our Group-25 friend Ted modified and painted this Cooper Ford in a Canadian livery. This was Ted's inspiration for the build. Started by: Ken 4 3 9 months ago Joe MIA’s 63 Impala MIA's 63 Impala. Side view. Started by: Ken 1 1 10 months ago Ken 1964 Rover BRM I got very lucky in finding this kit. They simply aren't available anymore. The real cars were gas-turbine powered test-beds. Very strange car. The first step to planning out the chassis: What is the wheelbase? Using tires that are too large just for the purpose of measuring the wheelbase can reduce room for error. I happen to have a pair of old 17" inch Slot.It wheels/tires that were the wrong choice for another car. Perfect! Slide the body into the wheels/tires until the wheel-wells of the body centers the tires. (this one's easy because the wheel wells are round) Carefully slide the body away making sure not to move the wheels. I measure the left side of the axle holes on both wheels to get the wheelbase. In this case it's 73.30mm. It doesn't matter what the actual finished tire diameter is. The wheels will be perfectly centered in the wheel well. The old 17" inch wheels go back on the shelf to measure the next car. Started by: Ken 3 8 10 months ago GI 1924 Sunbeam GP car Next up on the build list… Started by: f1nutz 4 11 11 months ago f1nutz You’ve taken me to the Darkside…. Yes, I vowed I wouldn't succumb to peer pressure, get engaged in the 1/25 60's sedan builds, well...guess what, I am weak... Got the Super Body kit deal from RZ (Thank you!), happened to have some 1/24, 1/25 engine parts(I knew I had a purpose when buying them), and voila....Still to be finished paint wise, chrome, touch ups etc, and of course, I need a KRZ chassis(Hello Ken) :>) Would like to shod this beast with Cragar style wheel inserts(Art). Overall, very happy with it so far, will see how it shakes down, and for me, the 3ft 30MPH rule is in effect... :>) Started by: Porsche911 3 2 1 year ago Arthur Yet another VW bus project… Well I saw this photo on another site and just had to go for it! Started by: f1nutz 3 4 1 year ago Ken 1953 Carrera Panamericana winner Fangio and Bronzoni won the 1953 Carrera Panamericana in their number 36 D24 Lancia. The slow motor classes are some of my favorites so I thought I'd give o'l number 36 a try. When finished this car should qualify for both our 50's sports car and our Carrera Panamericana classes. The body is 3D printed in Elegoo ABS like resin from a file I purchased online. The chassis was designed and printed by me in PLA+ on my FDM printer. The body weighs 10.5 grams and the chassis adds another 5. The D24 has very little front overhang, making designing the chassis and the location of the various front end components a challenge. I will add the body posts and source the images for making the decals next. Cheers Steve Started by: racer68 4 6 1 year ago Ken I’ve started another transporter project… Well I got a little bored over the weekend and I’ve had one of these parked in the corner of the race room for a while now. Started by: f1nutz 6 17 1 year ago GI 59 Eldorado Biarritz Another beautiful Gunze Sangyo kit. "Biarritz" is Cadillac's fancy name for their Eldorado convertible. The same car in a hard-top was called a "Seville". Huge wings were "in style" back in the late 50's. I like the meadowlark yellow on the front of the box. But it's impossible to get that shade of light yellow in a spray can. I would need to move up into an air-gun. The colour below is an older spray paint now discontinued by Testors called "Lime Ice". The large metal flakes make it very 50's era. It suits a "Boulevard Cruiser". Started by: Ken 3 9 1 year ago Ken Military Junkyard possibilities? So I came across a box of old military vehicles and thought some of it might come in handy for slot car transporter conversions and/or track scenery. Started by: f1nutz 6 13 1 year ago f1nutz Porsche 550 Coupe Guten aben meine freunde, Porsche 550 Coupe reveal... :>) D'art kit, KRZ chassis(thank you Ken), Vanski motor, 10X23, RS slot wheels, D7's front, D8's rear...Fantasy livery, my home made decals(except Marchal headlamps). Car is smooth(read NOT a lot of speed), and apparently, the Lyons engineering team, in an effort to reduce 'unnecessary ballast' , elected to include brakes! Again, 3/30 rule invoked....I tried for hours to get the windshield/window for to sit just right, but $#@! I couldn't get it to sit perfectly, went with best overall fit...perhaps I'd bent it, did the best I could..will continue to learn(I hope!) But, it does look nice meandering Spa...On to the next project.. Started by: Porsche911 4 8 1 year ago Arthur Ford MK Iv and Porsche 907K #23 Hello Guys, I build two chassis with a bronze plate and slot it sidewinder pod, I used NSR white body kits and Indicals decals Started by: Luis Meza 4 12 1 year ago MiA Aston Ulster PGP+ entry Hello gang, 1935 Aston Ulster 1.5L PGP+ entry, Matchbox kit... I believe driven in the 1935 'Targa Abruzzi" by Giovanni Lurani(private entry) but after much research, no pics to corroborate(need our historian to wade in and virtually zeroid on Racingsportscars and other sites), but perhaps my sleuthing skills ain't what they used to be.... :>) Stupid question of the day...How do I add to model db? Thanks Started by: Porsche911 5 17 1 year ago MiA Porsche 917K double fin Started by: Luis Meza 5 11 1 year ago Porsche911 The 1954 Pegaso Z102 Cabriolet Saoutchik 2a Serie Street The Spanish company Pegaso is well-known for its trucks, busses and tractors but many people don't know that for a period of 7 years, the marque took a jaunt into the world of sportscar building – resulting in this, the Pegaso Z-102. This beautiful little car is the only Saoutchik Cabriolet Pegaso Z-102 Series II ever made, the coachwork on the body is jaw-dropping from every angle and the factory model was fitted with a 165hp, 2,814 cc quad-overhead camshaft V-8 with a 2-barrel Weber carburettor implies that it also has the legs to make it a hell of a fun drive. It was decided that the chassis, drivetrain and engine would all be built in house by Pegaso and then the rolling units would be shipped off to coachbuilders to have bodies fitted – in the tradition of pre-WWII automakers. This one-off Z-102 Series II Cabriolet was built by Saoutchik and was arguably the most beautiful of the 88 or so cars ever made by the company. In 2013 this model went for $700,000 USD at auction. Cut and paste this link on your browser to view it. https://youtu.be/S1R2KPRz_B8 Some links with information and photos https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_-_Retromobile_2014_-_Pegaso_Z-102_Série_II_cabriolet_-_1954_-_001.jpg https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pegaso_Z-102 THIS BUILD The body of this model is from the Pegaso Collection by Top Slot. It's a highly detailed & finished resin body with a production run of only 300 worldwide. The model came with an MRRC Seabring chassis which didn't work very well with this heavy 50+ gram resin body. I replaced the original chassis with a custom aluminum chassis and used my Dremel tool to carve out a lot of excess resin material under the hood, to give this model a chance at being a decently performing slot car. The following are some photos of the model and the aluminum chassis. White wall tires are Dart tires. Started by: JMSracer 6 9 1 year ago Porsche911 Willys Gasser Style Coupe More than a year has gone by since the initial post #17570... and in my spare time, I built a gasser. I was inspired by some of the photos I found on the web. There are many. The body of my Gasser is a stock Carrera Willys coupe model with an aluminum chassis under it. The front sits high and can easily be modified by adjusting the length of the body posts. This will be done once the rules are determined. At the moment this model can be raced in the hot rod class. The chassis is powered by a 14k ff motor. The complete model tips the scale at 82 grams, making it a slow hot rod due to its weight disadvantage. Depending on the final ride height, it will require weight to lower its COG which will likely put this model over 90 grams when complete. I have a wider set of rear wheels for this model but I built it to meet our current HR rules until the Gasser rules are set. A the moment F1nutz and I will be racing only with each other... lets get building gents! Started by: JMSracer 7 11 1 year ago Arthur Latest rendering Latest build from Spa Skunkwerks, who knew same in German as in English! :>) No special build, just FLY white kit 908/3, all my home made decals save for rondels...Accompanied in pics by prior ventures(not posted) Not perfect, need to perfect burnishing tape, negate 'bleed', but I think it passes the 3/30 litmus test, 3 feet away and 30KM LOL!! And evidently, I am driving it! Sadly, nowhere near performance of others built, have to spend some time(not too much) to figure out... Started by: Porsche911 5 7 1 year ago GI Honda RA 271 I have always liked the Honda F1 cars and own the excellent DArt Honda RA 273. I purchased a "Munter" John Warren Honda RA271 kit over a year ago. The inserts provided were too large to fit the RS Slot 15 x 7 wheels so DArt inserts were used instead along with DArt tires, mirrors, and the red Sun off a DArt decal sheet The resin exhausts looked too fragile so I bent some copper wire and reproduced the exhaust system. The driver figure has seat belts molded in however I believe they were not used in the real world of 1964. Since I was not aiming for total accuracy, I decided to use it along with a car # that was not used during the season. So here it is. Started by: GI 5 5 1 year ago Arthur Lancia-Ferrari D50 Since I have not been able to race lately, I have tried to keep connected to the hobby by scratch building, this is my D'Arts Lancia-Ferrari D50 Started by: Luis Meza 4 9 1 year ago f1nutz D’Arts Brabham BT 44 I previously build this kit but I was not happy with the result so learned about the SuperClean product and restarted it again Started by: Luis Meza 5 11 1 year ago f1nutz Ferrari 246 SP Dino The sharknose Grand Prix car evolved in the early 60's at the same time as the sportscar. Racing in 1961 and 1962 the Ferrari 246 SP achieved some success. Here is Rodriquez in the Targa. I opted to fashion his french team mate. I started with the DArt body kit. I planned to mate this kit to an ASS (A Simple Sled) chassis. So far so good... Started by: Arthur 4 5 1 year ago Ken 1963 Watson Special – Front Motor Indy Roadster Lots of discussion prior to the pandemic led to the beginning of an Indy Roadster class using a low power motor in an inline front motor configuration. In that spirit this is my build based on a 1:32 AMT kit for a 1963 Watson Special. This kit was the foundation for the DArt body kit which is what I am using for this build. The original kit and all of the parts, including decals: The DArt body kit which will be used: First things first - sorting out the wheels and tires. I opted to use RS Slot 15x7mm (14x7mm) insert wheels with DArt D7.5 tires mounted front and back. I trued down the fronts a little smaller. The rears were trued to a diameter of 25mm and the fronts to 23.3mm... I used the setup blocks as pictured when setting up my jig. Now time to start on the chassis using assorted piano wire and brass pieces... This is my version of a two piece rotating torsion chassis. The motor is an extension of the rear end of the chassis even though it sits above the front section. A separate piece of piano wire wrapped around the guide tube will hold the two halves together after I solder the tips in place just ahead of the rear end. Now that the basic chassis is complete - you can see it has stubs for the front wheels - we can begin assembly, starting with the motor and driveshaft. Lots of trial fitting went into positioning the braces that will hold the motor shaft extension bushing. I only want to barely touch that bushing with my soldering iron to fix it in place after the motor is installed for the final time - then carefully clean away any acid flux and oil liberally. Time to trial fit the shell. I chose not to offset the body (or chassis) since we'll be running these on road courses. I'm happy with the overall stance of this chassis and body so time to trial fit the interior to provide clearance for the drive shaft/pinion. I hope to conceal the driveshaft under the pilot's left leg but I may need to improvise... we'll see... stay tuned! Started by: Arthur 7 16 1 year ago Porsche911 Indy roadster Parnelli Jones Meet Parnelli Body on the left head on the right. Started by: f1nutz 2 5 2 years ago f1nutz DArt McLaren M1B This M1B prototype got moved to the front of the build line. The plan is to standardize the M1B for DArt body/KRZ chassis quick-build kits in the near future. Chassis will be designed for slim-line motors to sit flat without the use of any spacers. A new paint-booth is under way. I decided to undo the mess I made in the basement kitchen before it became permanent. Anyone would have a hard time to figure out dozens of cars were painted there now. This prototype has CX0201 tires with 13x7 wheels on the front. The next prototype will have RM0201 tires with 13x5 wheels on the front. Started by: Ken 7 26 2 years ago Ken Diamonds in the rough Picked up a few more future projects at the show. They we’re badly painted with thick goopy brush paint but looked for the most part salvageable. Started by: f1nutz 4 6 2 years ago F1nutz Indy Roadster Considering my little experience building chassis I opted to emulated Art's Indy Roadster chassis to the best of my capabilities with a few modifications Started by: Luis Meza 8 20 2 years ago Ken Lotus 30 – 351C with 2 x 4-barrel Holley carburators Here's a couple of 4-barrel Holley carburators on a 351 Cleveland powered Lotus 30. Sweet. :good: I know what's going on my next Lotus 30. I need to locate those aluminum stacks. Don't you have some of those MIA? Started by: Ken 8 27 2 years ago GI Auto Union Type D – Dart Kit For this build, I have used the recently released Dart kit of the Auto Union Type D. As usual, the quality of the kit is second to none and it comes with two driver busts and seat options, large wired inserts and a long styrene tube with two brass push in threaded inserts to be installed as body posts where needed. I decided to mate the body with an aluminium chassis (KRZ Design) that I made specifically for this model. The BWA 14k ff motor is glued onto the chassis with 5 minute epoxy. I decided to use wired wheels that were purchased from Pendle. You will note that there is the appearance of significant tire degradation to the front wheels on this model-it wasn't due to the photo taken after a race. I'll be replacing these rubber tires that came with the wheels with Dart urethane that will be trued to the same size. The model as shown in the photos includes the smaller half bust that came with the kit but it is evident that this option requires a thick seat cushion otherwise the driver can barely see over the hood. I'll be replacing the half bust with a modified full body to achieve the most realistic result. The model runs very well, and is competitive, with my Auto Union Type C and Mercedes Benz W125. Based on early test results, this type D outpaces the other two. A new entry for the next Coppa D PGP+ race with Tazio Nuvolari behind the wheel to join Bernd Rosemeyer in the type C and Rudolf Caracciola in the W125. Thanks for looking. Started by: JMSracer 5 5 2 years ago JMSracer 1963 Indy Roadster I found a few links that folks might find interesting when building the car. It is not a slot car build but won first place at the 2016 IPMS Nationals in SC. Parnelli Jones's 1963 Indy 500 Winning Watson Roadster - Cars, Trucks, & Motorcycles - IPMS/USA Forums (ipmsusa3.org) The second link is of a Facebook page (embedded in first link), with step by step pictures with comments when you click on the picture. I guess you need to be on FB to see. The interesting thing I liked is it helped locating where bits go plus it identified the paint colors to use for the Watson Livery. Don't know if it is helpful to anyone but I found it helped me. My model is coming along. I am going for a Watson Livery. Mica Blue nose and White Pearl body, a little ambitious for me but what the heck. I ordered decals and a paint mask to help me along. The chassis I built 18 months ago for a STP Nova body but was never happy with the body. It fits the Watson with minimal adjustments. The chassis wheelbase is a touch long (1/4inch) as you will notice in the picture. So far the car is primed, interior glued in and driver fitted but not glued nor detail painted. Started by: DB 7 20 2 years ago Luis Meza Luis Meza VW Started by: Luis Meza 6 14 2 years ago Luis Meza Austin Healey Sprite I was walking along the front lot earlier looking for sections that still needed raking, when I heard the rumble of an antique motorcycle engine coming around the corner. I turned around and found that it was a tiny bright red Austin Healey Sprite. I remembered that I probably have one of those packed away somewhere in the basement, possibly even in the right scale. I eventually took a look and found a Healey 3000, as well as a 32’nd scale Sprite. It was a nice AirFix box of the 1958-1961 Sprite MkI. (1997 re-box of 1961 tooling). However, the contents weren’t so nice and I recalled that I had set it aside deciding that it wasn’t worth spending time on it. But seeing the real thing drive by, gave me renewed motivation. Fig. 1: You can’t judge a book by its cover – you can’t judge a kit by its box-art ! I had built many model cars when I was a kid, but never a 1/32 scale, and this one looks like the tiniest of the tiny. (I use two large magnifying glasses while doing intricate work, but here I could make use of a microscope!) I started work on it and found that the tooling, moulding, casting were even worse than I had initially thought. The front fender pontoons were lumpy. The three sections making up the front end of the car did not fit properly. The hood seam in front of the windshield was scored different thicknesses from one segment to the next. Door seams were irregular. Rocker panel seams were different heights and shapes between left to right side. Other body features that were supposed to be the same, were different sizes and shapes from each-other, and not symmetrically positioned on the left and right sides. The headlight lenses are nice but the dome sockets they are to fit into on top of the hood are not smooth and semi-circular but are instead elongated leaving excess at the top and a gap at the bottom. There are other inconsistencies that I won’t bother listing, plus more I’m sure to discover. (Once again, it seems that I’ve stumbled into an overly difficult model to work with.) But I decided to stick with it anyway. One of the problems for me in this smaller scale, has been motivation, so I decided now that I have a bit, I should make use of it. Fig. 2: Sprite in another of the many standard colours, ‘Mint Green’. I assembled the front end body sections, and started the prep by sanding down those seams and all the lumps on the curved surfaces. I’ve never used body putty on a motorized car, fearing that it may crack under flex during competition, but here I couldn’t avoid it and decided to take the chance. I filled in the top hood seam and the small body-fit gaps in the front, as a start. Fig. 3: Kit contents. There is something else about the body that doesn’t seem quite right. I almost bought a 3000 Mk III when I was a youngster, but I don’t know much about the Sprite, so I started searching the references to learn a bit about the car. If I’m going to the trouble of building it, I want to do it right. I couldn’t find matching wheels in my collection, so I tried the body onto a ‘Carrera Go’ chassis, and even at that 1/43 scale, the chassis was too large for this tiny body ( ~10.5 cm x 4 cm; ~4” x 1 ½” ) . With the kit wheels in place, the body looked very high off the tech block. I thought the problem may be that the wheels were out of scale too large. Doing a search and some arithmetic, I found that the kit tires are properly scaled and do correspond to the vintage Sprite tires, “Cross-ply 5.20-13 tyres”, which are apparently 23.1” or 587mm overall diameter (on nominal 13” rims). The kit wheels have a Rim diam = 11mm, Tire diam = 18mm, giving a Track clearance = 7mm with tires touching the inside of the fenders, and that already appears far too high for the tiny sportscar. Adding a 2 mm tire/fender clearance on the model, (which would be more realistic and would be needed to allow for minimum body roll), gives 9 mm track clearance, and would convert to 288mm, or 11.3” road clearance on the real car. (That 2mm tire/fender scale clearance converts to only 2 ½ ” tire/inside fender clearance available to the real car, still far too small.) I don’t own a sports car, but the road clearance from the bottom of the rocker panel of my mini-van is only 8 ½” ; the other cars in the garage are lower. Since the wheels are to correct scale, the only conclusion I can draw from this analysis is that the model is out of scale too shallow. As a result, they had to cut the wheel arches too close to the top of the body. The shallow body also gives very little clearance for the tires inside the fenders thus the whole body is raised far too high off the track. All of this is even apparent from photos of the real car. (Exterior photos, as well as photos under the bonnet show that there is plenty of space, and structure, between the top of the tire and top of the fender.) Fig’s. 4 & 5: Body proportions of the kit and the real car. It’s very obvious from comparison of these two photos, that the model body is out of scale too shallow, streamlined. (Compare the heights of the door panels, the heights of the fenders above the cut-outs, and the space from top of tire to top of fender.) Unfortunately, it’s an effect that can’t be corrected on this model without major surgery. On the other hand, using smaller wheels helps with the body height and track clearance, but makes the wheel cut-outs on the model look even larger . (I may have to do what I see done on my Ninco XK120 and many other sportscar models - build a step drop between the body and chassis. Even on the real car, some chassis components show below the bottom edge of the body. However, such a step will limit my chassis design and it’s dynamics.) This thing has given me so much trouble; Looks like my initial assessment was correct and I should have just left it in the box! In any case, now it’s become a challenge! So I have been searching for correctly scaled rims and tires. I have worked out four possible chassis designs to fit this tiny body, but until I have the wheels in hand I can’t finalize the adjustments on the body or the detailed dimensions of the chassis. I’m looking for rims 13” nominal which usually work out of be 13mm diameter at the centre ridge and 11.5 mm diameter at the outside edge, depending on the manufacturer. I need 5mm wide for the front pair and 7mm for the rear. Corresponding tires would be 18mm diam before truing. It's going to be difficult to compensate for the shallow body; I may have to do other adjustments, but I want to get the best balance possible. I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. Vincent Van Gogh Started by: Felix 6 20 2 years ago Felix 1936 Auto Union Type C – #4 Bernd Rosemeyer This is a PGP+ class eligible model for our Pre War Coppa D'oro series. The main restrictions for this class (apart from the mandated motor) are a maximum track of 50.8mm (excluding inserts which may extend beyond) and maximum tire diameter of 23mm. Of course all tires must be DArt club series urethanes and wheels cannot exceed 16.5mm in diameter nor be wider than 5.5mm... so armed with that info we can begin building something eligible...The basis for this build was the DArt Auto Union C Type body kit with a few modifications and upgrades. As always I begin with the wheels which I modified by turning down a set of 4 DArt DA16x9XL alloy wheels. I carefully mounted 4 DA0210 club series tires using clear Gorilla Glue after scuffing the outer rim surface and let them dry overnight before truing with my Hudy. Using the truer I also narrowed the front tires using a sharp Xacto knife. After sorting the overall tire diameters I gathered some small bushings and the rest of the parts needed including the low power BWMS050 motor with a 1.5mm 10T pinion. Initially I also opted for an aftermarket 23T crown gear but then went with the orange 25T gear instead after initial testing. I opted for a simple torsion chassis using a combination of piano wire and brass. The front end would use stub axles made from piano wire with DuBro No2 steel washers soldered on one end. Because the washers were too large in diameter they needed to be ground down to fit within my front axle braces. I also fabricated the motor mount and guide sleeve. After sanding all of the parts I soldered the rear end together. Then I made the front section. The front and rear sections are only held together with piano wire tabs that slide inside a small brass tube. By gently pulling them apart (and out of the tube) you can separate the front and rear halves of the chassis which allows for convenient cleaning and maintenance. The wire tension is enough to hold it in place. Before final re-assembly I made sure to clean any flux residue before applying a blackening treatment to all of the chassis parts using a disposable dollar store brush. Make sure you are happy with the chassis - because after you apply the blackening chemical treatment to the steel you won't be able to solder anything to it. While the steel does turn black the brass is more stubborn and will only give you an antique look at best - but I still prefer this to painting anyday - and I prefer to take away the shine of brass (or steel) especially on exposed parts that don't reflect the real thing. I painted the wire wheel inserts that came with the kit and after final assembly I glued them in place using white glue. The assembled chassis weighs in at 45.7g.. I wanted to use as much of a complete pilot and interior so I modified the original body by opening up the cockpit. I also extended the cockpit slightly by removing material up to the recess for the original windscreen (which I would replace with a more detailed windscreen from the DArt Type D body kit).The painted and washed body shell (without interior and exterior detail) now weighs 9.6g. Decals which I printed on clear Testor's decal sheeting were applied. I also used Micro Mark decals for the front grill detail. Then I made firewalls which could be glued in place using thin styrene sheeting. Other upgraded parts included a pilot figure, head, steering wheel, shifter and interior side panels from the DArt D Type body kit, plus DArt button radiator cap and DArt fuel cap. After painting the body silver I added a black wash using Tamiya flat black acrylic paint diluted with Tamiya acrylic thinner to bring out more detail where I wanted it. If using the acrylic thinner (which is alcohol based) only apply carefully where you want it and let it pool and dry to give the desired effect. Quickly wick away any wash that creeps where you don't want it since the longer it remains the harder it will be to clean away. Once it is dry it is impossible to remove easily - you'll need to polish it out then. I would do the interior first. I would use clear 5 minute epoxy to fix everything in place, starting with the firewalls. Then came the seat back (minus head rest) and dashboard. While that dried I removed the lower portion of the pilot's legs and sanded away the underside of his thighs to give me as much clearance underneath as possible. Luckily I did not need to shrink his torso. Once satisfied with the fit (and clearance) of the torso/legs I glued the pilot arms to the torso and placed the steering wheel in his hands and let dry. [I trimmed the steering wheel shaft since I never fix the steering wheel to the dashboard - I always leave it in the pilot's hands - which I find much easier to work with.] Then I glued the pilot's body to the seat and let that dry. Then the side panels were fixed in place and finally the shifter was added. The interior was done. I could add a styrene piece underneath his legs to finish the interior but I'll leave that alone for now. [Turns out the blackened chassis works nicely underneath so I decided to not bother adding a floor.] Exterior details were then added. The windscreen was second last - after hand drilling a pair of holes to fix it in place. Finally a solid aluminium wire was added to the rear of the body through another small hole hand drilled. The completed body now weighs 12.9g. Not bad!Add two screws and four urethane washers (2 for some body float and 2 underneath the head of each screw (to prevent the screws from backing out) and our completed model weighs in at 59 g.The original crown gear performed just fine when the chassis alone was tested (before the body was completed) but as fate would have it would fail on the first lap in its debut... but replaced and tested the model is very quick and this chassis shows lots of promise for 2022.Happy to answer any questions. If you would like to upgrade any parts on your C Type (like I did) drop me a line... Cheers! [foogallery id="20971"] Started by: Arthur 4 5 2 years ago JohnnySlots 1933 Alfa Romeo 8c 2300 From the original Airfix Model Kit: If you can't read the fine print here it is: "Alfa-Romeo, one of the most famous of the Italian car companies and still one of the foremost manufacturers of high performance cars, started in 1907 building the Darracq under licence. After the First World War they introduced their own very successful series of sports and racing cars. The 1933 8C was a development of the 'Monza' racer of 1931 which won at Le Mans in 1931, 1932, 1933 and 1934 and this car was beaten into second place in 1935. The low four-seater sports body is typical of its era and the 2,336 c.c. supercharged twin overhead camshaft engine with its eight cylinders in line is also typical of the period. This model is based upon the car owned by the late Mike Hawthorn." So after doing a little research I decided that I would model a fantasy period livery in the same colour scheme as this 1:1 survivor (which is an 8c 2300 LM - with the round streamlined lid covering the spare tire(s)). A different version than the one I am building but I do like the extra single windscreens and since there were so many variants of this car that raced I will incorporate a pair of them on my model as well and leave the rest as is, including the uncovered spare tire. Racing number and pilot can be decided later... I do plan to paint the numbers in black. So after looking over everything I decided to start assembling (and welding) what I should in order to be able to sort out the dimensions for the chassis keeping in mind that everything must still be painted - so not everything can be assembled until after paint - and it is first mated to the chassis. I decided to leave the rear fenders separate since I wouldn't be able to remove the body from the frame with them welded in place. So they along with the headlamps and other various bits will be painted separately and then epoxied together, as will the frame to the body. I cut a channel into the floor to accommodate a mid inline 'low power' slim can motor and will decide later if it will be covered with styrene or a flexible piece of metallic plastic sheet. A front motor build would be nice but they are too much work and I would still need to cut away a portion of the interior - so why bother. Stock frame/suspension pieces such as leaf springs will be added to the frame or chassis after the chassis is built. Front axle/assembly will be determined on the fly as I build the chassis - I may use independent pins for each front wheel but we'll see. In any event I plan to use and incorporate the following parts into this build: BWMS050 motor w/10t true pitch pinion & 23t slot.it crown; Slot.It round 'self centering' bushings with PM axles & spacers/washers (I like the very small size of these bushings); Scalextric 'stock' round guide with quick change plate & Slot.It braid; DArt wheels, tires & inserts plus DArt windscreens & pilot; and Various K&B brass stock & wire. I was thinking about adding LED head and tail lights but that might be too ambitious right now - hopefully there is plenty of time in the future... Next Step: Building the Chassis (stay tuned...) Started by: Arthur 8 19 2 years ago Arthur Ford V8 Special – #32 – Ireneu Correa – 1935 Rio Grand Prix Many consider Ireneu Correa as the 'grandfather' of Brazilian motor racing since he was the first Brazilian to win an international race - the 1934 Rio Grand Prix - which was raced on the lengthy Gavea course. A little history on the Rio Grand Prix can be found here. South American racers who competed in early motor sport events throughout the Americas favoured and raced North American models right up to the outbreak of the second world war and this was particularly true for Correa until his death in 1935. These models were not elegant - they were in fact very hard to look at - but in the 1930's they achieved successes in part because their competition was focused on motor sporting events back on the European continent. But by the mid to late 30's European entries would begin to dominate major south American events such as the Rio Grand Prix. Correa trained in the United States as a mechanic in order to modify and prepare his own race cars. The entry which he prepared for his return as Champion of the Rio Grand Prix in 1935 was yet another Ford - a V8 Special - entered as #32. Unfortunately on the first lap while chasing the race leader Correa would skid out of control and hit a tree launching his car into the canal - an accident that he would not survive. Believe it or not his car would return to race again but became known as 'the cursed car' after killing another pilot. And so with that historical perspective in mind I decided to kitbash a Lindberg Ford kit into something unusual to compete against a deluge of European models for a new 'pre-war' class - an early to mid '30's Ford V8 Special, as prepared and raced by Correa in the 1935 Rio Grand Prix. I'm not a rivet counter or a scale fanatic nor do I believe that a slot car must be as detailed as a static model so I kept an open mind when planning the chassis, but first I would have to bash a body. My priority was for this car to look right when circling the track. That being said I still wanted the model to be as close to scale and as detailed as possible. It was also imperative that the guide be hidden as much as possible and not be visible at all when viewed from above. I shortened, lowered and narrowed the back of the kit body and then fabricated the rear end using styrene sheet and tubing to make the extra fuel tank and crown gear cover (to which the spare tire would be fixed) and wrapped it with a thin piece of L shaped styrene stock. The interior floor was raised in the centre to accommodate the FF050 motor and two DArt racing seats were modified to fit side by side. At the front I added a few styrene plates to cover the gaps left underneath the motor covers along with a few body flaps where the windscreen used to be. I used as much of the frame that came with the kit as I could - and left the fender seam and the trim underneath the front grill. The rear of the frame together with the bottom of the fuel tank (I think that is what it is) was cut off and added underneath the new rear end. The rest of the kit would be tossed except for the steering wheel, shifter, brake and dashboard. A complete DArt 'Nouvolari' driver figure would lose its head in favour of another DArt replacement. and that would come later. When I was finished I was left with two pieces - the complete body, floor and rear end and the separate frame which could be glued to the body after paint. I turned 5 wheels to 16.5 x 5.3mm which would accommodate a set of DA0210 urethane tires and DArt spoked inserts. I know these inserts have too many spokes but I liked their overall look and how they extended well beyond the wheel flange. I also cut off the ears leaving just a small round cap at the centre instead of the original two eared knock off. In order to ensure that the installation of each insert (after paint) would go without a hitch I drilled out material from the backside in the centre of each insert to accommodate any small extension of the axle and the washer for independent fronts. The overall diameter of these wheels with tires mounted and trued was 23mm. With dimensions of the body and wheels now in hand it was time to plan the chassis. I fabricated a small motor bracket for the BWMS050 motor and would use two sizes of piano wire and brass tubing to join everything together. I went with very small Slot.It bushings at the rear in order to give me flexibility in mounting the rear of the body. Due to the ride height of the chassis and with several parts needing to be attached at different levels this chassis took a little more planning to make sure it would turn out right - measure twice, cut once. The motor would sit 3mm below the chassis and the guide sleeve 5mm below. The chassis didn't need to be too strong since it was for a low power motor and a lightweight body - and was never travelling to a proxy race. I decided to mount the body using some styrene tube into which the chassis would 'snap' at the rear and a #226 styrene post up front into which the 'V' shaped wire brace would be secured with a single screw. Material was removed from these three contact points until the ride height was where I wanted it and there was enough body float. Urethane DArt washers would allow sufficient body float and prevent the screw from ever backing out of the brass insert. My own research didn't turn up much to assist with this project so I needed to improvise and make educated guesses where appropriate. With a Brazilian owner/pilot it was more than likely that this model would have raced with a pale yellow body on top of a green frame/chassis with black numbers. I sprayed the wheels a lighter shade of green and weathered them with several washes of dirt. The body was sprayed yellow and then the paint was sanded using 1200 wet paper to give the finish a dull, worn and weathered look. Since I used grey primer underneath the colour changes slightly depending on how much paint was removed. Everything else was hand painted. Number decals were printed on my inkjet printer and sealed using Crystal Clear - and then applied. Nothing was used to seal or coat the decals after they were applied but I still might apply some Micro Set decal sealer by hand... I made a small cover from large styrene tubing which I painted flat black and glued to the front of the guide to hide the clips when viewed from the front. Other details included the textured belt and buckle and a spare with a small aluminium rod that was bent and fixed to the centre of the hub which secured the wheel on the real car. I planned to add a second tire underneath the spare but have not done so (yet). The chassis components for this model: BWMS050 w10t brass pinion x 28t Slot.It crown (for now - gearing will be changed though); DArt 16.5mm x 5.3mm wheels with DArt inserts; DArt DA0210 urethane tires; Slot.It rear bushings and PM axles; Scalextric Round Guide with Slot.It braid and generic silicone lead wire; The basic specs (at present): 60.3g overall weight; Track: front = 53mm / rear=52mm (excluding inserts); Wheelbase: 80mm (83mm from guide); Chassis Clearance: 8mm / Min. Clearance: 5mm (at motor/bracket); The driver still needs a pair of goggles and a co-pilot is in the works too but there is no rush now that the model is ready for action. For more pictures of this eyesore visit our model gallery here. Started by: Arthur 3 5 2 years ago Arthur Charger I wanted to build this car for the unlimited Trans Am class for unfortunately the Charger never raced on Trans Am anyway I could not resist building it. Started by: Luis Meza 7 14 3 years ago Luis Meza Ba-ba-ra-ra-cu-cu-da-da gasser build Ok so of the few gasser eligible kits I have I decided on this one. Started by: f1nutz 7 46 3 years ago Porsche911 Dart Hobbies Porsche 804 Four years ago, I read Art's post on how to prepare the Dart Porsche 804 kit and I immediately wanted one. Followed most of his advice and placed it over a simple chassis - from a simple mind. Originally it had an AB Slot motor bracket but I was never happy with the performance. I have since built a new chassis with a homemade motor plate allowing me to angle the motor and achieve a lower ground clearance. Just waiting use it in a race. Started by: GI 5 4 3 years ago JMSracer Dart Porsche 804 One more. Started by: GI 2 1 3 years ago f1nutz Ford Model T Hot Rod Greetings from Scarborough. It's time to contribute to this Forum after reading it for so long. Although I race with "the other Club", I did race a few R32 events several years ago and Hot Rods was one of the classes. After using a borrowed car, I decided to scratch build my own. Despite being in the Hobby since the 60's (off and on), I never a soldered a chassis together so this was going to be interesting. I used the Lindberg 1925 Ford Model T and added a box (made from styrene) in the rear to hide the crown gear and AB Slot motor bracket. It has RS Slot wheels with Dart inserts and Dart tires of course. For a first attempt, I was quite pleased with it. Started by: GI 7 16 3 years ago Felix Rat Rod ideas There are a lot of kits out there that never entered an endurance race. The Studebaker Avanti is one of them. Strange, yet interesting car. It would probably be considered too narrow for a sports car. But it might fit the Rat Rod class in a striking ugly flat grey or flat black with 8-injector stacks and 8-exhaust pipes coming out of the hood. I'm installing headers on my next BRM and have a spare set of these exhaust pipes that would look crazy sticking out of each side of a Studebaker hood. Starting to lean towards the "Mad Max" theme. Started by: Ken 1 0 3 years ago Ken Brabham BT44 Started by: Luis Meza 2 5 3 years ago Luis Meza VW Beetle I finally broke down and bought an Arii Beetle for the Carrera Panamericana. Fun little kit. I decided to go with car number 262 in the Beetle caravan. The main difference between car 261 and 262 is the fold-up open top roof. Both cars were apparently red. The kit was molded in red. Why fight gravity? I studied the removable top in more detail. It did not look like someone stuck a matress on the roof of the car as pictured in the example of the model above. It might look more like the thickness of a sheet of paper on a 1/32 model. Like the example of the real car below. Started by: Ken 1 3 3 years ago Ken Thunderbird Started by: Luis Meza 4 9 3 years ago Luis Meza Corvette 1963 Started by: Luis Meza 4 10 3 years ago Luis Meza Corvette 1963 Chassis Started by: Luis Meza 1 3 3 years ago Luis Meza Mustang 1965 Started by: Luis Meza 2 7 3 years ago Luis Meza Peterbilt 352 Cabover – Revell Kit 1964 From the Revell Instructions: The Peterbilt 352 Cabover is in a class by itself with custom styling, functional design and uncommon rugged beauty. The impressive Peterbilt 352 tractor is a trucker's dream. This cabover engine design reflects Peterbilt's thoroughness in the manner that they engineer and build heavy duty trucks. Every Peterbilt that rolls off the assembly line is custom built to suit the needs of each customer. And on the Box: The Peterbilt 352 Cabover is a 10-wheeler with 110' cab and has comfort and elegance built into the driver's compartment and sleeper. The high standard of manufacturing excellence sets it apart from all other trucks. Length: 8 1/4" # of Parts: 59 Molded In: Light Blue Decals: Peel 'N Stick So, after nearly 10 years this project has returned to be the focus of my workbench... A square/rectangular brass frame was constructed to accommodate this body and the 10 wheels that it rolls on - using a high torque king can motor in an inline configuration with 8x29 gearing. The motor powers the first set of dual wheels - the second set tag along and can be removed with a pin for tighter tracks/corners. The cab is so large that in order to fit everything under the gantry/overpasses I will either need to lower it and open up the wheel wells or chop it shorter in some places - the jury is still out on which option to pursue... but for now here are a few spy shots from The Ring: BTW, this is no slouch - in its current configuration it will complete a lap in the 8 second range... but its real purpose will be to transport race models and/or pull a track conditioning/cleaning trailer... stay tuned!!! :good: Started by: Arthur 3 14 3 years ago Ken 1931 Ford Pickup Lindberg kit which I have had for a while. Parts are from the usual sources, RSSlot wheels, Darts inserts, BWA 050 motor, scratch chassis. Runs well, quite smooth. Added a oak strip bed for effect. Kind of experimented on the paint, dark red first coat, sanded then red on top. I was look for an aged look but not sure it came off :unsure: . Started by: DB 4 5 3 years ago MiA 1965 Corvair Corsa Build I was fortunate enough to get 2-unbuilt Corvair kits at the same time. The best of everything from the two went to Art. I'm building this one as a test. This one was missing the front bumper, which isn't really an issue for a Corvair race car. Art has the front bumper to make complete Corsa kits. The paint is Testors "Star Spangled Blue". The colour on lid looks great. The nonsense coming out of the can is another thing altogether. :negative: More to follow... Started by: Ken 5 20 3 years ago JMSracer 1971 Porsche 908/3 double fin model This model is my attempt at building the Porsche 908/3 double fin model driven by J. Siffert and B. Redman in the 1971 Targa Florio; the no. 7 car with with the Gulf Livery. I began with a white kit, painted the body light Blue using Testors paint which was the best match. Painted green around the front grill I haven't waxed and buffed the car yet, so there are some fingerprints and smudge marks on the body. This model is currently paired with a white (hard) NSR plastic chassis but it also has a custom built aluminium chassis in a SW configuration. Thanks for building the aluminium chassis Ken. Thanks for looking! Started by: JMSracer 2 1 3 years ago Ken Rebuild of GT40 white kit A few years ago I built a white kit for a GT40 and painted it yellow with black hood. I decided to rebuild this car and do a better job on the livery since the original project fell short of expectations and I was never happy with it. ... I disassembled the car, removed the driver, cockpit, windshield, lights, grills, etc. I submerged the yellow livery into a tub of Superclean for 48-72 hours to remove the paint and decals, and scrubbed the body clean with a toothbrush until all the paint was removed. These photos are of the original build that I wasn't happy with. I decided to rebuild the car and copy the #130 - GT40 livery that ran in the 1967 Targa Florio. The freshly repainted body, pearl white with black headlights, hood air intake and rear. I think the second attempt turned out a little better... there were some mistakes made with gluing the body together originally that could not be rectified but the final result was improved. The body sits on a plastic chassis for the moment, a scratch chassis is a possibility in the distant future. There are many other projects already in the queue that are a priority. Thanks for looking. Started by: JMSracer 2 3 3 years ago Ken Ferrari 330 P4 – #224 Well this is a build of a Policar white kit of a Ferrari 330 P4 that I have built in my spare time during the second wave of the lockdown. I decided to build the car that ran in the 1967 Targa Florio #224 The kit came with two rear motor covers; one with an indented channel and one that is an inverted concave that is used on the stock RTR model. In order to achieve the look of the targa model, I had to cut the roof off the plastic kit and I used the motor cover with the inverted channel. I then cut a small piece of styrene building siding to fit the channel and glued it into place. Perfect look to match the original model. I could take this one step further and paint the vertical bits black but they look good already as they are. These photos were taken prior to the installation of the wiper and headlight lenses. No chassis built yet, this model sits on a plastic chassis at the moment. Here is the built model next to the stock model that comes RTR with full roof Ready to race.... zoom zoom! Thanks for looking. Started by: JMSracer 3 4 3 years ago JMSracer McLaren Elva Mk1 Another spare time build The McLaren Elva Mk1 This is my second build of an Elva Mk1 model. This is a fantasy livery. Having considered many different options, I decided to go with a pearl white and a dull red two tone livery. Printed some decals off the internet. This model requires a bit of care in some areas like the spare wheel in front of the driver that must be hand painted. The kit comes with tall and short stacks, I used the short stacks on my previous build, I went with the tall stacks for this model. I like the look of the tall stacks. This model sits on a plastic chassis for now. The two Elva's side by side. Started by: JMSracer 3 3 3 years ago Arthur Super Roadster I became motivated to build the first model of my double Lindberg hot rod kit. There are enough parts to build 3 variations of each model but I created a hybrid. As you will be able to tell, I like chrome. I used the kit chassis and then cut it back, then clamped and glued to the internal body sides. That allowed for a fairly simple chassis. The chassis is secured by a single screw into the engine block. The rear axle is secured in place by 1/8th inch eyelets which maintains body ride height. The decals are from the kit and I think they are kind of cool. Color is French Blue which is similar to kit color. Wheel inserts are from my parts bin. Wheels from Pendles and RS Slots. Started by: DB 3 4 3 years ago DB Jaguar XK120 Started by: DB 4 25 3 years ago Ken Porsche 550 Spyder No.351 as entered the 1954 Mille Miglia open-road endurance I've had this Revell model of the 550 Porsche Spyder sitting on my shelf for a few years; I decided to build an aluminium chassis for it. This is one of the aluminium chassis I built myself. Note, I am using PM brass bushings front and rear. This model will fall into the unlimited sports car field, it is set up with a Scalextric ff motor in an anglewinder configuration with a 10 pinion, 29 spur. Nice quiet gear mesh, runs very well, turning lap times equivalent to a stock group C car in its first few laps. I think there is room for improvement with the addition of some weight. I may decide to convert it to an inline configuration after some additional testing. It's pretty simple with this chassis design, just pop the glued in motor out using a screw driver, mix a new batch of epoxy and glue it in again in the desired configuration. A 10 to 15 minute process. The car is set up with MRRC wheels; 13.6 x 5mm fronts and 13.6 x 7 mm rear. These are very nice wheels, designed to take many different size inserts, they are available with a long or short boss, these have the short boss for easy access and they use a 2.6mm set screw which does not strip very easily. A great looking model. Some additional shaping work is required to conceal the chassis it will be cut into a pointed configuration at the rear and painted black. Look forward to racing this model soon... ZOOM ZOOM! Started by: JMSracer 3 2 3 years ago Ken Shelby GT-350 I started this car before I had proper direction. A newbie mistake if you will. I did not realize when I chose the "Candy Lime Green" colour that S32 Sportscar class stops at 1965. After a little bit of digging. I found a 1966 Shelby GT-350 that was entered in the 1967 Targa Florio (#210). A scarce American Mustang among a field of mostly European cars. It didn't make the race due to an accident during practice. It became a one-of-a-kind GT-350 BBQ. There are very few pictures of this car simply because it didn't race. This Shelby was all white. After taking 3-days to remove some really nice paint. The "Candy Lime Green" Shelby became all white. The chassis. I put a little more effort into manipulating the rear of the chassis so it tucks under the rear valance. Measure twice, cut once. The Shelby fits in the GT+2.0 class and requires a Scalex 18k motor. I went with 9x28 gears with an offset crown to keep the CG as low as possible. You can still see hints of green under the body. Hard to get it all out. The chassis tucks nicely under rear valance. It's a tight fit. The car came with black wheels. Inserts are D'Art 5-spokes. The car sits fairly low. The body could have gone even lower. But it's my humble opinion that it would not improve the look even though there might be a slight handling improvement to lowering it further. It's very difficult see the chassis under the body unless you lay your eye on the track. Mission accomplished in my books. The car has body-float.The tires don't rub on the fenders even at the extreme flex of the body-float. But they sure can't get any closer than they already are. It should be ready for the next Targa Florio. Thanks for looking. Started by: Ken 3 5 3 years ago Ken 65 Pontiac GTO A friend (Another Michael) in Group-25 model club gave me this Monogram static kit and said "Make it go!". I finally decided to take his advice. It might make an excellent "Classic Stock Car". The picture on the front makes the car look tall and skinny. The decals on the side of the car look terrible. Two things I plan to avoid with this build. This is what comes in the box. After water sanding the body with 2000-grit paper. It's ready for paint. Tamiya orange covers the red fairly well without primer. I ditched the decals and threw the tall and skinny idea out the window. The rest of the field of Classic Stock Cars were the inspiration for the final body-height of this GTO. There is much yet to be completed like blacking out the front grills. Painting the tail lights red. The body requires Molotow chrome pen detailing. The driver is on order. He's out getting a hamburger, fries, and a Coke. One suggestion for a sponser is "Kickapoo Joy Juice". You would need to have lived through the mid 60's and already be self-aware to remember this old soft-drink (soda pop). Perfect for a vintage 1965 car. Started by: Ken 2 5 3 years ago Ken 65 AC Cobra I bought a Ninco AC Cobra missing some parts a long while back. Steve and Art were with me at Carefree Hobbies when Nick (store owner) quoted $20. My brothers in slot cars were a bit dissapointed that they didn't see the car first. I was lucky that day. Thanks Nick! The body used to look like this. The car I would like to make is a Targa Florio livery from 1966. It will also serve as a Sportscar SP+. This idea started long before last July when I originally painted the body. Too many plans... Too many cars... The sun really makes the metallic pop. This Cobra will get a Scalex FF 050 slim line motor with an offset crown - 9 x 27. Stock, legal motor for this class. Started by:
