Hi Ken, thanks for your note; I hope you are doing well.
Nice to see you at the Grp25 show last month; every time I came by you had a bunch of people at your table so I didn’t want to interrupt. I had decided to drop by just as a temporary escape from all my eldercare duties, problems, and worries. I saw a couple of things worth buying, but I just couldn’t get into the buying mood.
I posted the Monte Carlo kit photo as a curiosity; didn’t know if the ones you got are from the same series. I got the kit long ago when we were planning to add another race series at the club I was in. But the series never materialized, then the owner moved and the track was sold. The kit is very unusual for AMT, with everything pre-finished and the painted sprues sealed in the blisterbags. The body is fully painted, but will probably need clearcoat. It’s 1/25’th scale, so, just 4% smaller than 1/24’th. This body has a WhlB = 120mm, FrW = 77mm, RrW = 76mm.
I’ve posted a few of my 24’th scale chassis here, but I’ve been hesitant in the past to post examples or discussion in case it was thought that I was trying to convince someone to go ‘to the dark side’ ! But since f1nutz, and now you, have done some of those postings I feel safe !
For those who have not used metal chassis in the larger scale, this one in my photo is a Pf1300, a very early generation ‘Pla-fit’ chassis, long out of production; not as sophisticated as the current versions, but a bit easier to adjust. Plafit chassis development has an interesting history and influence on 24’th scale racing. It’s a Japanese company that changed the nature of 24’th scale metal chassis with some very fundamental new properties (float, suspension, and linkage designs) that were quickly copied by some of the German manufacturers, like Schöler. The Plafits were adopted as the top competition chassis in the main northern European clubs. These guys are very serious about their toys and became the centre of the 24’th scale ‘slotcar universe’. The European pro-racers later started replacing the secondary parts of the Plafits with their own modified designs. They kept the large brass baseplate and the CNC’d bearing holders, but started modifying the aluminum H-plate and T-plate. They later started making these replacement parts from Carbon-Fibre plate, and Phenolic plate.
( The one in my photo is an old chassis, but the H&R one is archaic! After the wheelbase adjustment is bolted tight, the geometry and whole structure on the H&R is static. Also, it’s based on 1/8” axles which introduces another layer of incompatibilities on the bearings, gears, and wheels. The H&R chassis are also inline! )
This trial run is an interesting idea as a test. We will likely run into compatibility problems with parts, something that I still find irritating in going from 24’th to 32’nd scale; things are just done differently between the two scales, including some things that just don’t make any sense. Also, people who have tried a chassis that performs well in 24’th and downsized to 32’nd scale (like the Pf3300, a 32’nd scale version of the Pf1700), have found that it just doesn’t have the same dynamics in the smaller size. In the end, it seems that a ‘well-designed’ scratch-built brass/piano-wire chassis works best.
The 25’th scale will be tight on the track, but should be do-able on 3 ½” lane spacing. (Still, these are fairly large bodies. If the test fails for these ones, don’t be discouraged, it won’t necessarily fail for others.) If people are interested in running 24’th scale on Art’s tracks, there are a few other options, like 50’s and 60’s sports car model kits that are naturally smaller and would run well. I have a few other options as well, if people want to pursue the idea. There is also a whole new series of 24’th scale metal chassis finished slotcars out, that are being promoted as able to race on Scalextric track! I’ll bring one of them along to the next meet I attend.
Here’s a closer photo of the Monte Carlo body, in between some parts-fit testing and adjustment.
I don’t have a stash problem; I could stop buying any time I want to !
Felix.