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1971 Targa Florio video Here's 31-minutes of the 1971 Targa we all know and love. Stick with it through the slow parts. You'll probably learn a little Italian before the end of the video. Nice interview with Nino Vaccarella. A few club members might recognize their liveries. The faster cars taking off from the starting line are insane! :yahoo: https://www.facebook.com/GentlemenDriversASD/videos/215963979626676/ Cheers, Ken
Started by:
in: Historical 1:1
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- 3 years ago
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The only road-legal Porsche 917 in the world? Count Gregorio Rossi (Martini & Rossi) was once photographed driving his road legal Porsche 917 from Stuttgart to Paris. That finally explains why Fly made this car. I've always thought it was interesting, But never knew it actually existed. The body has an external ID number making it legal for R32 Classic LeMans. The licence plate counts as a number. The last 2-digits are #37.
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in: Modified Slot Car Models
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- 3 years ago
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Bugatti Type 50B – Penelope Pitlane I found a resin Bugatti T50B body kit from Pendle Slot Racing. It's made by Penelope Pitlane. It's a fairly simple build. It weighs 75.2-grams. 10x24 gears. Thank you very kindly for looking.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 3 years ago
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Lighting Whether for working on a car. Or taking photos after. You can't paint the details if you can't see the details. Lights are an important part of my workbench. Specially as I get umm... older. :whistle: I have been using the same cheap $59 camera since my first 1949 blue Tudor. It looks like the pics were taken in a dark dungeon. Then I found out that I needed more lights just to do the work. That inadvertently provided more light for photos... The same $59 camera was now taking way better pictures. What just happened?? Ambient light below. With better direct and reflective lighting below. Same camera, distance, and setting. The bench in ambient room lighting below. The lights turned on for photos almost cancel the ambient lights from the room below. If you watch photographers. They always pay extra attention to lighting. Camera's usually prefer bright lights. The detailed and crisp photo of the Lotus was with all three lights on, at close range/macro setting. Here's the $59 camera that took all the shots so far. This one was taken with an iphone. Thanks for looking.
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in: Workbench Essentials
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- 3 years ago
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Paint can spinner I sometimes wake up the house by shaking rattle-cans late at night after everyone else has gone to bed. Oops. Towels and/or rags around the can doesn't seem to help enough. I had to recently create/invent a small bucket-spinner for a customer. That got me to thinking about a paint can spinner. Ingredients: Scrap wood. A few drywall screws. Old 12VDC power supply. Old crappy slot car chassis. Gear-motor from "Princess Auto" surplus department ($15). And about 45-minutes of serious goofing around. :wacko: The chassis was cut apart to use the front axle to balance the drive and give the can 4-points of rotational stability. The tires were removed from the wheels for less rolling resistance. The tires weren't very round anyways. It spins the can about one and a half revolutions per second. Just enough to barely hear the widget rolling around. 20 to 30-minutes of spinning should get the sediment off the base of the can. A few shakes in warm water just before painting should do the rest (hopefully without waking the house).
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 3 years ago
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New Car Carrier I bought a new car carrier at the last slot car show. I still need to install a hingle for the lid and handle at the top. It should be able to carry 6-cars plug the controller. The rig stays attached. It will be a bit hard to carry around. But it is sure to get some interesting reactions. Actually, it's just for a diorama. The NASCAR snap-together Peterbilt truck came with a cool machine shop where the purple Mini is sitting. The shop tools are 2-vices, a drill press, and a belt sander with a grinding wheel. I still prefer a breadbox as a car carrier. :good:
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in: How To – Scenerize It
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- 3 years ago
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Jag XK120 Carrera Panamericana This build was inspired by DB's white XK120. He also gave me the body. Thanks Dave! I was looking to build another Carrera Panamericana car. I found a gentleman by the name of Frank Hern that drove an XK120 in the 1952 race. He did not finish due to an accident. It's my least favorite colour. But "British Racing Green" is extemely accurate for the times of the Carrera Panamericana. :wacko: I love the spats! D'Art blue dot tires on old CB wheels. Use what you got!
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 3 years ago
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1956 Ferrari Bardahl Indi-500 Special With the Indi-500 event drawing closer. Some poor guinea pig needs to sort out the rough edges of the class. I came across someone that bought this Geodies resin body and didn't start it. A lucky break. A blind chicken gets a kernel of corn every now and again. That hand written note about using heavy wire as exhaust pipes are the only instructions. You need to figure out the wheelbase and everything else on your own. A windshield was not included in this kit. The wheels, driver, and steering wheel make nice heavy paper-weights. The body weighs 23-grams by itself. It's a bit rough with several pin-holes and buldges. But you can't beat the price. I'm told resin bodies are a bit like egg shells in how they can easily break. 50.8mm max track width might be a tad too narrow for this slow and heavy class. But axles are easy enough to adjust. I'm going to start at 55mm track width and see how it looks. I can cut more off, but can't add it back on if I start too short. We'll find out what the consensus is after the car is built and everyone has had a look at it. I need to sort out the motor and drive shaft next. Where there's a will, there's a way. "Willoughby will, when nobody will!" Or something like that. Ferrari called this car experimental. They weren't kidding. It surely has become an S32 experiment.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 3 years ago
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What type of Aston Martin is this? I saw a kit like this on EBay and it made me curious if there was a real Aston that looked like the one on the box? Or could the drawing be a little off?
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in: Vintage Slot Cars
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- 3 years ago
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Avoiding dust in paint This is just about my bad experiences with dust. Not how to apply paint. There's no bigger dissapointment than leaving your paint almost perfect with the last wave of the spray can and coming back to... fresh paint covered with dust or pet hair. I had to sit back and think of the many possible reasons that could affect the final finish. Any one alone could easily ruin a paint-job. 1) Dog 2) Cat 3) Shop tools (bandsaw, belt sander) 4) Forced air heat/AC 5) My wife doing things around the house such as laundry 6) My own clothes I created a system to try and combat every possible angle I could think of. This is starting out with a body that's already prepared for paint. The basement kitchen fan is used to evacuate the fumes. The entire area around and behind the oven-top is lined with cardboard and black garbage bags. Now I can explain a process that seems to work for this household. 1) I start the basement kitchen fan around 10PM. Throw a paint can on a stirring device. Then go upstairs closing the door behind me to leave the basement undisturbed until midnight (No pets allowed). The kitchen fan has time to remove ambient dust around the paint area. 2) I turn the heat/AC off around 11PM. 3) At around midnight the rest of the house goes to bed and I slowly and carefully make my way to basement closing the door behind me to keep the pets upstairs. I walk very slowly to prevent stirring dust up from the floor. 4) I head to the landry room first to put on a fresh T-shirt and jeans. Pet hair is the worst! 5) I give the body a fresh wash. Then rinse in filtered water to avoid residue. Dry the body with a dust-free towel. It's ready for paint. 6) Heat the can that's been stirring for the last 2-hours in hot water for 2-minutes. It's ready to paint. I paint the body with 4-coats using a 1-minute timer between coats. After 4-minutes of painting I slowly walk back upstairs, close the basement door, and watch TV for an hour. After an hour I turn the heat/AC back on and go check the paint. Hopefully I go to bed with a smile. I installed exhaust outlets on my belt sander and bandsaw that fit the shop-vac to help keep the residual shop dust down. But prefer not to cut or sand anything the day I paint a body. I wish everyone the best of luck in finding your own way to paint without that dreaded dust thing. :good:
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 3 years ago
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Keeping track of paint cans Running out of paint near the end of painting a car will ruin a paint job. A full can of Tamiya spray paint ranges from 133-grams to 138-grams. Empty, the can weighs 60-grams. (cap included) It takes more paint to cover a car when you make an extreme colour change. It also take more paint to cover a car when you use paints that are weak in pigment strength like yellow. You can sometimes get 2-paint jobs out of a can of paint if you don't fight the colour. Sometimes it's just not possible. I weigh the cans before, and after using them to see if there's enough paint for a second car. For me, the can becomes touch-up paint only once they go below 95-grams. Specially yellow. The last 5 to 7-grams grams of any can are often not useful because the spray becomes erratic near the end. All used cans get marked with a permanent marker stating the weight, and are weighed with the cap on. Testors paint cans are about the same. Best of luck with what ever you're painting and building!
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 3 years ago
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D’Art inserts in Slot.It wheels made easy I have some regular Slot.It wheels and wanted to install a specific D'Art insert that's only supposed to fit a standard RS-Slot wheel. I bought a package of standard Slot.It inserts and gently sanded down the spokes to pop out the center and expose the outer ring by itself. It was easy to press the D'Art insert into the ring. I could not get the inserts out of the rings once they were pressed in. I'll use a drop of glue to make sure they don't move. I used 150-grit sand paper. It took 15-minutes of sanding by hand to get the spokes out from the outer rings. The belt sander would have disolved/melted the inserts in seconds. Slow is sometimes better. Now anyone can install just about any standard 14mm D'Art insert in almost any 15"-inch Slot.It wheel. The sky is the limit. Thanks for looking, Ken
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in: How To – Build It
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- 3 years ago
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Cooper Ford T61 With nothing on the workbench. Time to get started on something new specifically for the 1960-1965 SCCA series. I purchased this body kit from Professor Motor and somehow managed to get most of it completed a little at a time between all the other cars I've built. The last thing to do was to make a chassis. Not what I would call the right order to do things, but it is what it is. Making the chassis first would avoid scratching the paint. But that would take patience. Whatever that is... A BWNC1 was supposed to go in this car at first. Then I ran into some clearance problems with the larger motor. A BWMS050 should hopefully do the job. I know what I'm doing over the holidays... Assembly. I would like to wish the entire group at S32/R32 a very Merry Christmas! Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 3 years ago
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Nano brushes I bought some Flex-I-File brushes at one of the model shows and never really understood how to use them. So they stayed in my drawer. I prefer to glue things like windshields in place with epoxy. But the risk of a glue-string is always there when using toothpicks. Sometimes you can wipe away the string with a cotton swab (Q-Tip). But the best way is to avoid it altogether. I was somewhat challenged with the Gunze Sangyo kits in that the windshield fits perfectly, but with very little over-lap. Any excess glue would easily show up through the windshield. I bought a variety pack of nano brushes to experiment with. It came with 3-sizes. Small (red), medium (yellow) and large (teal) plus a regular style paint brush (blue). The nano brush is a small puff-ball on the end of a plastic stick that holds a small dot of epoxy. It deposits the glue with amazing precision. Then with a small twist, leaves no strings. It also comes with a re-usable handle. I was able to paint several dots of epoxy at the base of the windshield without any glue contamination. The "rag-top" kits have a weak point. The windshield frame is very sensitive to breaking. It's best to get windshield in the car as soon as possible to protect the frame. I breathed a sigh of relief when this windshield was finally in. Here's the link. They are available in many hobby shops. https://www.flex-i-file.com/magic-nano-brushes.php
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in: Workbench Essentials
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- 4 years ago
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66 Shelby Mustang I was asked to build a car for a friend. What better way to pass the time. The body is a Monogram GT-350. I have the exact same car in white. It was a fun way to test the accuracy of the original drawing. The request was "Keep it low, but keep it level". Thanks for looking
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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59 Impala Sports Coupe This is the same brand of kit as the T-Bird I just finished. It was such a pleasure to build the T-Bird that I could not wait to start this one. This is what comes with the kit. These are the parts being used. The kit comes with 4-roof options. Hardtop, soft-top, open back seat, or tonneau cover. F1nutz has the same car in the same colour but his top down. I'm going with the hardtop. This car was painted the same day as the T-Bird (one week ago). The red plastic just didn't have enough shine. This car won't require clear-coat. Pastel colours usually don't. Time to start putting the car together. It will have a full interior up front and a custom sub-woofer deck in the back to hide the motor. I can't get away with using the tonneau cover over the rear seats with the hardtop.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Testors “One Coat” discontinued Testors "One Coat" spray paints are different from Tamiya in that the metallic is much larger and more of a "metal flake". It's also very hard to get a nice shine from any of the Testors metallic colours without adding clear-coat. So Testors discontinued their "One Coat". The new Testors paint markets under the name Model Master. Everything they make presently is considered 2-stage base and clear-coat. I guess they stopped trying to mix the two together because it wasn't working very well. If you happen to have an old can of Testors "one Coat". Use it wisely (59 Eldorado :good: ). Also... Use it quickly because these old paint cans have a tendancy to erode from the inside of the can and leak. Part of my paint shelf is a nice shade of metallic red. Since the leak, I have decided to store all the Testors cans in an enclosed plastic storage container.
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 4 years ago
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Porsche 917 on the street This is on my bucket list! It's only mu, mu, money... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jfLntBaNcms
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in: Interesting Reality Bites
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- 4 years ago
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32 Ford Hot Rods without fenders is unexplored territory for me. No one in the group has a 1932 Ford. The kit has many parts. Only a few will end up being used. This is just the body and front grill from the kit. I can't hide the front part of the chassis. I might as well figure out a way to make it part of the Hod Rod.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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The history of Lindberg models If you've ever wondered? Here's the short story of Lindberg models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVahHjxZ2mM Ken
Started by:
in: Vintage Slot Cars
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- 2
- 4 years ago
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Tamiya TS vs PS spray cans I painted 2-cars with Tamiya PS paint by mistake. I was at the cottage for a 2-week vacation, and a glass of wine may have been an influence. Most people tell you never use PS on plastic bodies, and never use TS on polycarbonate bodies (clear RC bodies). Now that I already made the mistake. I needed to find out why? Would I wake up one day and find both cars in a pool of plastic goo? Here are the reasons... TS is made for hard plastic and has a gloss finish when applied correctly to the outside of a body. It doesn't adhere very well to polycarbonate and usually flakes off. PS is made for polycarbonate and is meant to be applied to the inside of a clear body. It has very little natural shine on it's own. If you paint a plastic car with PS paint. It will have more of a matt finish. That's the biggest difference for plastic cars. However, there is an added bonus that your slot car will be fuel-proof. Like it really matters. The green Lotus is TS. The blue Lotus is PS paint... Oops. :wacko: And the other mistake...
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 4 years ago
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What are you working on? Since were all stuck at home. We should have lots of time to start a few projects. I painted 2-cars between yesterday and today. Now they can cure for a week or two before working on them. This started off as George Follmer's light blue T70 Mk2 #16. The body sat in Super Clean for 24-hours. Then it was lightly water sanded with 2000-grit. The paint is Tamiya "Pearl Blue". It's much darker than the lid on the can. I recently saw a race format for 2-stock Trans Am cars and one TA+. That's a great reason/excuse to make one more stock TA car. I had a plain white TA Mustang that needed colour. The colour is Testors "Lime Ice" green with Tamiya clear-coat. My first try at using clear. The Testors metallic is more like a deep metal-flake. Although it looks the exact same colour as Tamiya "Candy Lime" green. They are totally different with respect to the metallic. Everyone please post what you're working on during your isolation. :good:
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 4 years ago
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D'Art Porsche RS61 We recently had a workshop where 3-bodies were painted as part of the demonstration. With the Player's 200 coming up. The RS61 fits in perfectly with the field of cars. My livery might be fantasy. But the colour is not. Art. Thank you very kindly. It was a lot of fun to build a chassis for this body kit. :yes: I still need to complete the body and details. But it's ready to run so to speak. :good: The class is SP+.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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McLaren M20 I thought I had built cars for every class. Turns out my CanAm Lola Mk2 is from Art's collection. I have yet to build a CanAm car myself. There is a Carrera McLaren M20 collecting dust on a shelf that could use a serious upgrade. The livery is from 1974. Driver: Helmut Kelleners The original plastic chassis did not survive the bandsaw for some strange reason. The old parts go into a junk box. The side body-panels are much lighter now. Each side panel is made up of three parts. One screw on each side keeps the assemblies secure. The body is ready for a new scratch chassis. The first step is to re-read the rules for CanAm in order to choose the right wheels, tires, etc...
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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One of many SCCA entry lists I was browsing the net for diverse cars to build for future 1960-1965 SCCA races. This one list got my attention for some reason. Is that a Plymouth Barracuda in the middle of the list? :yahoo: This is just one of many SCCA entry lists from one of our favorite sites - Racing Sports Cars. The Slot Car show is around the corner. Happy hunting! Ken
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in: Vintage Slot Car Articles and Other Reference Materials
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- 4 years ago
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How to accurately measure front/rear weight distribution Do you have two almost identical cars where one out performs the other? Like me, did you also question why? There are usually many reasons. One could be weight distribution. Here's a quick way to accurately measure the weight distribution on almost any car. Ingredients: 1) Two food scales from Walmart ($19.95 each)(We already had one in the kitchen. I just swiped it and added a new one) 2) A glass poster that can be leveled, or flat/level table. 3) Two small pieces of plywood to set the cars on. One with a cut-out for the guide. Here's the glass poster I used as a base for the scales. Interesting Hot Wheels poster. :yahoo: I don't think the Corvette will make it to the goldfish bowl. I had to add popsicle sticks under one plywood plate because the new scale was shorter than the old one. Don't forget to re-tare both scales with the wood plates before your test. Now I can closer examine why Fred Steinbroner's Ford Tudor handles the way it does. These scales don't care where the car sits on the wood plates. The edge of the scale still weighs that part of the car accurately. Even if the car sits over one scale a little more than the other. So long as the car is level, the numbers don't change. No need to perfectly center the car to get an accurate reading of weight distribution. Thanks for looking. Ken
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in: How To – Tune It
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- 4 years ago
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Older Ontario licence plates Here's a place that offers older Ontario licence plates by year. https://www.licenseplates.tv/ontario.html Don't forget to resize for 1/32.
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in: Decals
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- 4 years ago
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D’Art Matra MS10 Most if not all Matra's were blue. This Matra found a can of Tamiya "camel yellow" and got friendly with it. The engine detail is Tamiya "semi-gloss black". The components at the rear have been painted with Tamiya "gloss aluminum". I still need to detail the interior, driver, engine and transmission parts. The body components snap into place nicely.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Alternative helmet straps and car stripes I have surplus supplies from building RC planes. There are sheets of self-adhesive decal material for RC aircraft that measure 5"inches x 36" inches that come in every colour. Some helmets don't come with a pronounced goggle strap. My hand isn't steady enough for paint. I use a paper shear to cut a thin strip of black decal material. I cut a small piece. Then peel and stick one end to the goggles, wrap around past the other side. Then take a razor to cut the excess. These goggle straps were added after the cars were finished. An oversight made in haste from the builder. But an easy way was found to resolve the problem. It also has a 3D effect over a painted strap. Using another colour to make stripes also works. Just know that if you place the decal in the wrong spot. The adhesive is very agressive in that it will lift the paint under it almost every time. Make sure to set it down right the first time. It was easy to stick the decal on the rear wing and trim the excess after it was in place. The nose stripes were a bit harder because they had to be cut to length prior to installation. Thanks for looking
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 4 years ago
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D’Art Shadow DN1 With the Ringwood around the corner. I have race classes to fill. I painted this lovely body last July. Time to get the chassis started. With the tires glued and trued. I can start to map out the chassis. Anyone need chassis plans for a DN1? :mail: The driver and helmet were easy enough to complete. Two-part helmet and visor are a nice touch. Chassis is ready for drilling and cutting. :good:
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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1936 Auto Union Type C Hopefully this will get finished in time for the next race. This car was painted at the last paint workshop. Then stripped and repainted. Second time was the charm. Quite the challenge to fit an aluminum chassis under this body.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Car Blueprints This site has some useful drawings for scratch-builders. https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/cars/
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in: Historical 1:1
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- 4 years ago
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Chaparral 2D If I could have a race car on the street. This would be it. Nothing nicer looking to me than a Chaparral 2D. I was fortunate enough to find an old beat up and badly sun-baked Strombecker body at the last Group25 model show/swap meet. First thing to do is to disassemble the parts. The body is in rough shape. Full of scratches, and lots of faded plastic. The underside shows how badly discoloured the body is. Choosing a colour was easy. Out of all my cars so far, Tamiya Candy Lime Green is still the favorite. I'll let other club members fight over the white cars, and main liveries. I prefer to be different. Now to choose a motor, gear ratio, and wheels/tires. I hope to eventually build 3 of these Chaparrals. Two more are on order with D'Art Hobbies. Those will be way easier to acquire. Thank you kindly Art.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 10
- 4 years ago
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ZL1 Corvette Stingray The second Anatoly Arutunoff Corvette is well under way. Like the first. This car is built in honour of the man, and his efforts to enter the Targa Florio in 1971. The first Vette has a Scalex motor in line with the 327 that should have entered the race in 1970. This one is more in line with Anatoly's 1971 - 427 Vette in that it has a Fox-10 for open class racing. I hope it will be completed by this week. I learn something with each build. I left nothing on the table with respect to how close the body sits on the chassis on this one. Any lower and the tires touch the inside of the fenders. Perfect! :good: I tried to make this a sidewinder but the motor hits the bearing flange before the gears mesh properly. You can see where I shaved the aluminum past the bearing flange. I even tried to angle it, but there is not enough room to work with in this size aluminum tubing. By the time the gears mesh, the motor is well into the tire area. Back to inline we go. *mumble* :scratch: Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Drive shafts for front motor drive I found these drive shafts are in stock as of Nov, 27/19 at Electric Dreams. They are $7.99 US funds. https://www.electricdreams.com/Shop/slot-car-parts-c-3/drive-shafts-all-manufacturers-c-3_1322/autoart-1473109-drive-shaft-assembly-for-124-citroen-xsara-p-13402.html They probably won't last long before stock is totally gone. Again.
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in: Class Eligible Bits & Pieces
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- 4 years ago
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Scalextric 18k slim-line 050 motors These motors are reliable and powerful. They come with a 9-tooth pinion. Available at Electric Dreams for $8.99 US funds (as of Nov 27/19). https://www.electricdreams.com/Shop/slot-car-parts-c-3/scalextric-parts-by-category-c-3_354/scalextric-motors-drive-shafts-c-3_354_359/scalextric-w10093-motor-ff-for-mgb-p-15265.html
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in: Class Eligible Bits & Pieces
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- 4 years ago
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Morris Mini Cooper I found a Morris Mini Cooper in the 1972 Targa Florio. I also found an appropriate car to get this project off to a good start. As you can see by the photo on the right, the car is "Plum Crazy Purple" in colour. That should be a cool addition to the other liveries. The drivers for car #51 were Matteo Sgarlata and Joe Anastasi. Class = S1.6. Sponsored by = STP. I need to open the wheel openings in the fenders to fit the 13"-inch wheels/tires. That will give me an opportunity to make those crazy looking fenders. The motor is a tight fit with the stock interior. I will need to get very creative with this little car if I want to lower it with bigger wheels, and still keep an interior with a driver. Fun looking car. It was a nice surprise to find out it has working head lights and tail lights. Since this build is not about speed. I'm going to try and keep them. Look out green Giliberti cause a purple Mini will be on the hunt! All in good fun of course.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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When flat or gloss black doesn't quite do the job Tamiya makes a semi-gloss that fits nicely when flat-black or gloss-black just won't do. It gives a nice look to grills, exhaust manifolds, tonneau covers, and ZL1 Corvette hoods. Be careful not to lay it on too thick or it will start to become glossy.
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 4 years ago
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Porsche 550 Spyder prototypes – Everything you ever wanted to know In researching the Porsche 550 Spyder for a recent build. I stumbled into a very informative site. It's called type550.com. The home-page is below. Not sure why it doesn't list the name. http://type550.com/ It has serial numbers with the various changes the cars went through such as colour changes, bumper changes, previous owner names, etc... It also lists the races each car entered, and where it placed.
Started by:
in: Historical 1:1
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- 4 years ago
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D'Art Porsche 550 Spyder I painted this car last July. The body should be safe to handle by now. Someone suggested I expand my build threads so others can learn how to duplicate my mistakes. Careful what you wish for. I measured the wheelbase and mapped out the chassis. Then I installed axle spacers on all 4-corners to help figure out the track width as well as center the chassis to the body when I glue in the body posts. I will remove the rear axle spacers after cutting the axles to length on final assembly. The front axle spacers remain in place to keep the independent wheels centered. 5mm spacing per corner was just right for this combination of parts. The chassis lays down nicely in the body. The tires are touching the inside of the top of the fenders at this point. But avoid the sides of the fenders. The build is self-slamming. I used to scratch my head on how to figure out the length of the posts. Toothpicks are a handy measuring device. I'm looking forward to seeing this car run. This will be the lowest car I've ever built. If this car runs half as good as the RS61? It will be a blast to drive! :yahoo:
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 9
- 4 years ago
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Installing new braids in guides This is one way to install new braids/wire. I'm certain there are many variations. First, tin the motor. I gently roll the wire with a razor knife to barely cut a line into the shielding so as not to cut the core. The shielding pulls off with a small tug without taking any precious wire with it. You want the entire copper core if you can. The wires are cut to length to go past the guide by about 20mm. 4mm of the shielding is stripped on the motor end and about 8mm from the guide end. The loose core is twisted to prevent fraying. The small ends are tinned, and soldered to the motor. The long end that goes into the braid is folded in half to help the set-screw grip the wire. It also lessons the strain that might prematurely fatigue the wire. Have the following tools ready to go. Small razor/knife, 2mm set-screw pre-installed in the driver, and a very small flat-screw driver. Slide the braid through the guide. Use the knife to open the braid in the center just enough to fit the small screw-driver. Open the braid enough so the wire can easily fit. Slip the folded wire into the braid until the shield meets the braid. Make sure the wire is closest to the inside, or center of the guide. Then slid it into the guide and install the 2mm set-screw outside the braid, in the center hole. Repeat on the opposite side keeping the wire close to the inside again. Keeping the wires near the inside of the guide keeps the total movement of the wire to a minimum. It has less fatigue on the wire making it last longer. Less strain on twisting the guide helps the car slip through corners. Thanks for looking. Ken
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in: How To – Build It
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- 4 years ago
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1949 Ford Tudor in red With the Carrera Panamericana around the corner. It's time to give Fred and his blue Tudor a bit of a break. Emilio Portez Medina and Armando Rodrigues Morado, both from Mexico, are busy preparing a red 1949 Ford Tudor #119 for the next race (1950). Emilio's red Tudor has a BWNC1. Fred's blue Tudor has a BWMS050.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Independent front wheels One of the first lessons Art showed me was how to make independent front wheels. Thank you very kindly Art. I was asked to pass it on. You can buy independent front axles. But it's far too easy to make your own. The ingredients are as follows: Professor Motor axle blanks, Dubro #2 flat washers (hobby store), soldering iron, Lucky Bob's acid flux, drill, file, and fine rosin-core solder. I polish both sides of the washer with 2000-grit paper to remove burrs or dirt. Then I install the axle in the drill press and press the washer on (flat side to the wheel). Some fall off so I discard those. Others won't go on so I discard those as well. You'll lose about two out of ten washers. You can also use a small hammer and your eye. However, the washer may not be as true as a drill press. I touch the a little solder to the iron and gently dab it onto the washer without disturbing it. I'm not concerned about the blob of solder on the end of the washer. You'll see why shortly. Then I install the axle in a drill. Spin it up and use a file to chew away the extra solder that isn't needed. I gently file all three sides of the washer to make it very smooth. Let the drill do the work. Nice little pile of lead left on the file and work bench. As true as my drill press can get it, and ready to use. Not to mention as thin as the washer itself. Takes about 10-minutes.
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in: How To – Build It
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- 4 years ago
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Luis's Ferrari 312P Berlinetta Luis asked me to post these pictures until he can get the bugs out of his PC. Nice start to the build Luis. I can't wait to see it run!
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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65 Mustang 2+2 My very first thread was February 2018. Before I knew how to scratch-build, I posted a pic of an Eldon Shelby GT350 that I put together using an old Hornsby plastic chassis. It ran like... an old Hornsby plastic chassis. What a surprise. You only get what you invest. It was unrealistic to hope for more. It was time to re-visit the old Mustang idea. But with a fresh start. This is an AMT static kit I painted at the cottage. This chassis was going to hang out more than any other on this car forcing me to re-invent the back section. It's not perfect. But it's an improvement.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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70 TA Camaro colour change I have a blue Z28 Camaro for stock TA class. There are several of the exact same colour and number. It was time to create Ken's red zed. It took 2-coats of paint over 2-days to cover the dark blue. I could not avoid orange-peel on the roof. More paint would have created runs and the rest of the car was too nice to ruin. I'll try buffing the roof.
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in: Modified Slot Car Models
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- 4 years ago
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Who let the cats out? I stumbled into 3-white Scalextric 1967 Cougars. One of the possible plans was to make IROC cars using BWNC1's. I can use the stock 18k motors elsewhere. But the gearing was eluding me so the project went back on the shelf. JMSracer helped me figure out how to gear these properly. The plan is once again in motion. Thanks JMSracer! The colours are: Fiery-tangerine, chrome yellow, and candly lime green. The tangerine Cougar was painted before the IROC idea was thought of. It was painted by Marty at Group-25 when he showed me how to paint. It was the snow-flake that started the avalanche. Thanks Marty! They all have working head/tail lights. An extention of night-racing? Time will tell.
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in: Modified Slot Car Models
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- 4 years ago
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Drive shaft removal made easy With the possibility of front motor classes in the future. I took the time to figure out how to remove them without damaging the spring. I have a Monogram, and Scalex motor/drive to experiment with. I started out with a drop of oil on the end of the spring I wanted to remove. I used a drill to hold the back of the Monogram motor shaft (had to remove the bell because the shaft was cut). Then took light duty, tapered pliers with no teeth. Slipped the pliers onto the motor side of the spring until it locked. I started the drill in reverse and the spring backed off and fell to the work bench in under 2-seconds. It only took 2-fingers of pressure. The drive shaft came off with no damage or distortion to the spring. And no damage to the motor shaft. So now I have a long style drive shaft ready for a future build. But I had to throw away the Monogram motor (no great loss). Next is the Scalex motor and drive shaft out of the Maserati 250F. It would be nice to save both the drive shaft and new motor for 2-other cars. Luckily the Scalex motor had enough motor shaft for the drill chuck. After a drop of oil and a quick twist of the drill. It too fell to the work bench in a flash. Resistance is futile. ;-) I believe the smooth surface of the small hobby pliers helped prevent damage. They did the job perfectly. The right tool for the right job is almost priceless. I now have 2-different lengths of drive shafts for front motor drive, and a new 18k Scalex motor in my parts inventory. :yahoo: Thank you very kindly, Ken
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in: How To – Build It
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- 4 years ago
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Maserati 250F (Scalex body) There is a Shelby #5 car in the database already. So in an attempt to be different, I grabbed a can of Tamiya Coral Blue not knowing how the car would look. Without the details, it looks a bit scary. Over the top blue. The rest of the car made all the difference. Art's suggestion of white roundels really made the numbers and colour pop.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Fairlane GT Classic Stock Car A Fairlane GT stumbled onto my workbench. So off I went... The package came with 13" inch wheels. Does anyone have an issue with 1967 5-spoke bullit inserts instead of the stock car inserts? Maybe the driver was friends with Steve McQueen and he gave him some wheels. Aren't bullit wheels period correct for a 1967 Ford? The car is still getting a roll bar, driver with steering wheel, fire extinguisher, inserts, and it's race ready.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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1963 Rover BRM (1969 Aurora dual purpose kit) I met a guy at the Torcan model show. He said he had a rare 1/32 dual purpose kit that came with parts to be static, or a slot car. He said it was a Rover BRM. I never heard of it, but I like my BRM 578. So my interested was peaked. The real car has a turbine engine! Nuts! The kit is at least 50-years old. Aurora Plastics was sold in 1969. Then again in 1971. The company was parted out in 1977. This is what came in the box. Besides missing the instructions, it's also missing one headlight from what I can tell. The chome roll bar, inserts, steering wheel, and tail light bezels all sparkle nicely. Some kits are so far from the real car that they are an insult to the manufacturer. This model may actually look a bit more sleek compared to the real car. I'm not complaining about this one in the least. It looks cool to me.
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in: Vintage Slot Cars
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- 4 years ago
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D'Art Lotus 30 My enthusiasm to build this kit was off the charts. The real Lotus 30 was a terrible car with respect to handling. This is an opportunity to hopefully make it better on a much smaller scale. The real car had chassis flex issues. This chassis does not have those same problems. I had to shorten the top of the front bearing supports because the body sits very low. You can see the 180 grit sanding marks on the inside of the chassis so the epoxy will adhere to the aluminum and motor a bit better. The chassis started out as an inline S-can. That was a huge mistake on such a low car. I should have planned it out better. I hope I never make that mistake again. I had to make a big hole in the body to fit the motor. The colour is Tamiya "Candy Lime Green". Upon assembling the body to the chassis I realized this was indeed a huge mistake. My lack of experience is getting the better of me. Time to take it apart and try something else. I was thinking that I may have already ruined the body. :negative:
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Larry's Opel GT Hello fellow racers. Larry has been having some ipad troubles posting pics to start his Opel GT build thread. I offered to get the ball rolling for his first build. He built it for, and raced it at the last Targa Florio. The following are quotes from Larry. So to start I researched as many angles of the car as I could. I sanded down the fender well lip so the fender was flatter so my flare would sit flatter at the back to the body when glued. I stuck painters tape to the fenders and traced where the door jam was, where the front bumper came around the side and the outline of the fender itself. Next I glued three pieces of styrene together for each fender. Stuck the tape to the blank and cut it out. Didn’t cut out the wheel opening yet to keep it stable. Sanding and body putty, lastly I cut out the wheel opening to fit the wheels. And then this happened! Way to go Larry! (Those were Ken's words) Please direct your questions and positive comments to Larry for his fine build. :good: Thank you.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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D'Art Ferrari 312P The first time I laid eyes on Art's Ferrari 312P my brain said "I want that!". Based on using 3/4" aluminum square tubing. I started to rough out a chassis for bearings. Wasn't sure how to attach the body.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 4 years ago
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Interesting finds at the Slot Car show yesterday I'm looking at car kits in a different way now that I'm considering converting these into slot-cars. I will try and avoid the really narrow or heavy ones from now on. Not sure wich one of these will eventually make the grade and move up to the build table. You can't make everything. Can you? :wacko: 1965 Barracuda - lightweight resin body = 14g. Track width: Rear = 52mm. Front = 50mm. 1968 GTO - body weight 21g. Track width: R = 56mm. F = 55mm 1961 E-type Jaguar - body weight = 9g. Track width: R = 46mm. F = 47mm 1963 Studebaker Avanti - body weight = 12g. Track width: R = 49mm. F = 48mm.
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in: Vintage Slot Cars
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- 5 years ago
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Group-25 Model Car Builders meeting invitation Group-25 has extented an invitation to the S32/R32 slot car club to join them for an afternoon of model and slot car building show & tell. We can share our skills with each other about building, painting, detailing, etc... These are the guys hosting the Slot Car and Model show in March. Please bring some of your cool stuff to show. There will be a track or two set up for some beater cars that can afford to break. Don't expect to run your nice cars there. The track is merely for newbie entertainment and to get people interested in slot cars. That's our goal too. Just as an example. DB can show off his green Ford Tudor he just brought to the Carrera Panamericana. The wiper blade marks on the windshield and general weathering are cool and inspirational. We can learn from these guys too. Some of the Group-25 members are master-builders. Check out some of the pics on their site from previous meetings. https://www.group25.org/meetings.htm The date - Feb 9th. The time - 3pm until 7pm. Location - Armour Heights Community Center on the southwest corner of Avenue road and Wilson avenue. Take Avenue Road exit and head south of the 401 to the first light. Here is a photo of the cool stuff various members gave to me for free to make into slot cars. Nice bunch of people. The file and brush are Christmas gifts from Cindy and Marty at Toys4Everyone. Everyone in the club got them. I hope a few can join us for a day of fun. Thank you. Ken
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in: Local Events & Happenings
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- 5 years ago
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Super Macro as a building tool I remember finishing my first car and being all proud of it. Then I took a bunch of pictures. After examining the photos I thought "Is this the car I just built? Look at all the flaws!!! The build threads I posted have all been an eye opener from what the naked eye can see, and what the camera can see. I make it a habit now to take many more pictures of my builds than I post. I do it now just to catch details my eye did not detect. It helps keep my building standards a bit higher. Ken
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in: How To – Paint It
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- 5 years ago
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1/35 pedestrian bridge I saw this at Hornet Hobbies. It's only good for someone that has a track. It's listed at $75.00, but everything has to go by this Sunday. I have a feeling that a cash offer may lower the price dramatically on Sunday. Footprint is listed on the box. Ken
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in: How To – Scenerize It
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- 5 years ago
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Ferrari 512 S I bought this car a while ago and it had some problems. The chassis had a broken pod post. I don't have an unlimited car for the up coming Targa Florio so I started this project earlier tonight. I found an interesting way to get a sidewinder mated to an aluminum chassis. The pod is the original from the car. I had to make a small cut to both sides of the motor to get the double-flange bearings to fit. 4-screws and a little epoxy will secure the pod to the chassis. Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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Airfix MGB Sports model I bought this kit at the Torcan model show. The kit dates back to 1967. Nice to find an old gem like this. Worth doing the build. I hope to have it finished by the weekend and race it at the Dale in just under 2-weeks. SP-slow class. Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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C3 Corvette I found this kit a while back. The body is reasonable. I like the car. I was the kid on the bike in the background when this car was new in 69.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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Charger 500 Classic Stock Car When I first started with S32. Art was generous enough to donate a stock-car body for build inspiration (Thank you very kindly again). How to build the car eluded me for a long time. I even tried to buy the original plastic chassis for the car out of frustration on how to go about the build. But I couldn't find one. I eventually bought another complete new car (Ford Talladega) in hopes to get into the CSC circle. Then time passes and a few builds later... I now look at the new plastic car and wonder "what was I thinking?". It would take me just as much effort if not more to prepare the plastic chassis now. That being said. The stock-car build begins. The inspiration was clearly a success. It's nice to build a car I don't have to paint or detail for a change. Being an aluminum chassis. I might need to add some weight to get it to 100-grams. I ordered a pound of lead. :good: The assembly begins... Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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Bandsaw blades I recently had a bandsaw blade explode and got lucky it didn't catch my hand in the process. I went to the usual industrial suppliers for a 93.5" inch by 1/8th scrolling bandsaw blade and found nothing in stock anywhere (Usually $16.00). I stumbled across a guy that makes blades to suit for $29.00 = Barry at M&L Sharpening Ltd 1550 Bayly Street, Unit 22, in Pickering. When Barry told me that he uses Starret blade stock, I actually got excited. It took Barry 10-minutes to make two blades while I waited. I now have a blade that cuts through thick aluminum as if it wasn't there. The weld is so straight, you can't see it pass when the power is on. I won't buy cheap blades anymore. I like my hands too much. Ken
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in: Workbench Essentials
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- 5 years ago
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63 Split window Corvette Stingray We had a workshop recently where we drilled a chassis for roller bearings and a guide. The chassis fits a 63 split window coupe kit made by AMT.
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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Eldon/Shelby GT-350 body revival I bought a few 1/32 Eldon bodies when I was 10-years old. Reviving a few of these cars has been on my bucket list for the last umm... 46-long years. Anyone interested?
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in: Modified Slot Car Models
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- 5 years ago
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Ford Tudor-6 This is my first scratch build. Please forgive the mistakes. It's a Lindberg static kit of a Ford Tudor. My inspiration for the build was the Carrera Panamerica. The paint is Testor's " One Coat" lacquer. The drivers I chose to create the car after were Mickey Thompson and Rodger Flores from USA. Car #204, 1954. Sponsered by Ford and La Carrera Panamerica. No photo's of this livery were available. More photo's to follow. Ken
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in: Scratch Built Models
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- 5 years ago
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Fasteners and set-screws If anyone ever needs a set-screw or fastener. Try Spaenaur.com out of Kitchener. They stock everything no one else has. They ship to your door. It's sometimes cheaper to buy a bulk box of 50 than it is to buy 10 from a store. They also sell brass inserts etc... Ken
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in: Class Eligible Bits & Pieces
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- 5 years ago
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Controller brake pots I just shorted out my controller recently and created a dead spot on the brake pot. After doing some research, this is what I found out. The following is pasted from Andrew Smith, CEO at Professor Motor. One important tech tip to help the brake pot – when finished racing turn the pot always to the “full brake” position so that IF the controller is hooked up incorrectly then the circuit breaker that is on the circuit board will protect the pot – if the brake is not at “full” when a controller is misconnected the short circuit that the pot sees will likely cause damage. No need to add a fuse .. there is already a self resetting electronic circuit breaker that we designed in on the circuit board .. that circuit breaker replaced the fuse that we used to use years ago … but any fuse or breaker is not effective if the pot is partially on (unfortunately) Ken
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in: Slot Car Resources
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- 5 years ago
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Drilling holes in aluminum for 3/16" single flange bearings The key to keeping axles true to each other is in the set up. I measure and scribe everything before I start drilling. I always start with a pilot drill. It can be used to lightly poke an accurate spot indicating if you're on target. Drills are too long and flexible to check for accuracy that way. I don't need a digital readout this way and use an inexpensive $75 drill press.
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in: How To – Build It
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- 5 years ago
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Slot car travel box I remember showing up for my first race 5-months ago, March 24th at MVL. I had one yellow Slot-It GT40 in a sandwich bag, and had to borrow a controller. I saw racers walking in with custom slot car cases filled with nice cars. My first thought was "What the bleep did I walk into here?" On that note... I saw a bread box on the "Bed, Bath, and Beyond" website.
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in: Slot Car Resources
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- 5 years ago
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