The Paddock – Why?

The Paddock is a section dedicated to sharing model slot car related ideas, information, photographs, videos, links – anything – that might be considered useful to anyone sharing a passion for miniature slot cars in any scale, including scratch built, modified, vintage and ready to run models and circuits.

At the Core

At the core are a group of hobbyists located within the Golden Horseshoe – a geographic area around the western portion of Lake Ontario including among others the cities of Toronto & Hamilton – who meet regularly to enjoy this pastime. Table talk on any given day may include anything to do with the racing world or slot cars, racing movies, local hobby retailers in and out of business, new products and of course tips and suggestions from proven sources. Questions never go unanswered. And then there is the racing…

The Racing

Our groups meet trackside at any number of privately owned miniature circuits all located within the Golden Horseshoe. Every model racecourse on our calendar is a custom routed wood racetrack hand crafted by DArt. For each race we run our models with our own controllers but ‘loaners’ may be available at some tracks.

The Circuits

Racing on a landscaped circuit provides the perfect context for our models. As a monopoly or chess player moves their token or pieces around a game board we race our models through ‘one of a kind’ dioramas – each personalized by their owners. While no two circuits are the same they all share common features: all are custom routed 2, 3 or 4 lane wood tracks without gimmicks or quirks; all use copper tape fixed to a flat latex finish and restrict tires to the same compound/brand of urethane keeping grip levels consistent and predictable; all are wired positive and accept controller leads with alligator clips (all but one accept convenient banana plugs too); all use reliable and adjustable power supplies set between 10 to 11v; and all use proven Trackmate timing hardware run by free SlotTrak timing software.

The Ring

The Ring is The Happy Canadian Scale Modeler’s home circuit.

Other Circuits

Several two, three and four lane private custom routed circuits dot the Golden Horseshoe and some host R32, S24 and T32 scale model slot car racing. Click here to see our circuit album.

Nova Ridge Motorsports Park

Shared Features

It is important that our ‘circle of circuits’ share common features and provide consistent (or fair) performance. Unlike a real race where participants race all at once we in our hobby must take turns (in separate heats). For this reason evolving or changing grip levels (caused by the use of different tire compounds either during a race or prior to a race), voltage fluctuations/changes, a deteriorating track (peeling/broken tape, damaged slot/track joint) or debris will all have unwanted effects. Fortunately those of us who race together and especially all of our hosts share this common goal. The parts, tips and techniques recommended in our slot car paddock forum will improve the performance of your models on all of our tracks and help ensure consistency through every race. A wide selection of urethane control tires by DArt are made from the same urethane compound – and are mandatory for R32 and S24 races.

The Happy Canadian Scale Modeler’s Slot Car Albums

S24, R32 & T32 Explained

All events, runabouts or races are private venues and attendance is by invitation only. If you are interested in participating at a venue please contact the host directly (or I can forward their email to you – ask me).

S24

S24 runabouts are for larger 1:24/25 scale models, whether scratch built, vintage, or modern. At present they are informal meets casually lapping in an unstructured practice session. All models must use DArt Club Series urethane tires. S24 runabouts are held at the Nova Ridge Motorsports Park.

R32

R32 races are for any model (including ‘ready to run’) that meet the R32 criterium for the class. Class criterium are found in our R32 forum. All models must use DArt Club Series urethane tires. R32 races are typically held on Saturday mornings at various circuits within the western portion of the Greater Toronto Area (Mississauga/Milton/Oakville).

T32

T32 races are for any model (including ‘ready to run’) that meet the T32 criterium for the class. Class criterium can be found in our T32 forum. Some on-going biweekly series are bracket races. T32 races are held twice monthly on Thursday evenings in Toronto and Vaughan.