Carroll Shelby`s Formula 1 Maserati

Transcription

Race Six Digital Cars with Your Smartphone
82
July/August 2015
$6.95
Carroll Shelby’s
Formula 1
Maserati
Break-Through!
Four-Wheel Drive Le Mans Audi
www.modelcarracingmag.com
Le Mans Ferrari 512BB LM Shoot-Out
Build Your Own
Wood Race Track
Remember Revell’s
Corvette?
FLIP TO PG 7
to compare with the real car!
Peter Reece and Alfred P. Hitchings drove the number 2 Cad-Allard J2X at LeMans in 1951 but the gearbox disintegrated in the 14th hour. Sydney Allard
himself, driving with Tom Cole finished third overall and won the over 5-liter
class in 1959 in a nearly-identical number Cad-Allard. ---LAT Photo
82
Model Car Racing 3
82
15 Historic Racing
LeMans 1951 in 1/32 Scale
CONTENTS
ON THE COVER: The Scalextric 1/32 scale replica of the Scuderia
Centro Sud Maserati 250F that Carroll Shelby drove to ninth overall at
the 1958 British Grand Prix. Silverstone, England. ---LAT Photo
16 Real Race Track Plans
1/32 SCALE MODEL CAR RACING:
2-Lane Estoril Circuit for Scalextric Sport,
Classic, SCX, Ninco, Carrera (with optional
lane-changing) on a 5 x 18-foot tabletop.
by Robert Schleicher
19 Race Tracks on a Tabletop
2-Lane Estoril Circuit for Scalextric Sport,
Classic, SCX, Ninco or Carrera (with optional lanechanging) on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop
7 Formula 1
Scalextic 1958 Maserati 250F
Carroll Shelby’s F1 Car
10 TRACK TEST
20 Digital Racing
Carrera Digital 132 Race Management App
22 Tech Tips
True-Running Tires
Supertuned Racers, Part 119:
Magnet-Free:
Avant Slot 1975 Mirage G8
24 Vintage Racing
12 LeMans
26 Your Track
MMK 1951 Cad-Allard LeMans
by Bill Wright
4 Model Car Racing
Revell 1963-1965 Corvette
by Philippe deLespinay
Randy Peterson’s 20 x 40-foot Four-Lane Wood
Satan’s Turf Raceway
28 TRACK TEST
Magnet-Free SHOOT-OUT:
Flyslot/Avant vs. Slotwings 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
by Marc Purdham
46 TRACK TEST
Magnet-Free SHOOT-OUT:
Flyslot/Avant 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
by Marc Purdham
51 LeMans
Slot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quarto
52 Tech Tips
How the Slot.it Four-Wheel Drive System Works
32 Muscle Cars
1970 Dodge Challenger
by Albin Burroughs
HO MODEL CAR RACING:
37 Drag Racing
Auto World NHRA Funny Cars
by Bill Wright
49 Track Plans
4-Lane Estoril Track for 4 x 8-Feet
DEPARTMENTS:
34 LeMans
Slot.it 1989 Nissan R89C
by Albin Burroughs
38 Home Racing
6
48
50
54
Editorial: Slot Cars
Pit Board
Club Directory
New Stuff
On Your Tablet:
Build Your Own Race Track
Part 1: The Table
Model Car Racing is now available for iPad or Kindle. Just click on the
Apple iTunes icon and search for Model Car Racing to order individual
issues, subscriptions or a limited number of back issues. There’s more
information on page 56 of this issue.
41 Tech Tips
Where To Buy Model Car Racing Products:
Build A Model Car Racing Table
Dealers: A listing of the addresses, phone numbers, email addresses,
and websites of all the dealers that carry Model Car Racing magazine
appears on our website at www.modelcarracingmag.com
Manufacturers: A listing of the addresses and websites of firms that
manufacture model car racing products appears on our website at
www.modelcarracingmag.com:
More Information:
43 Sedan Racing
Ninco Seat Leon Cup Racer
by Albin Burroughs
There is an Index of all of the past issues, a Digest of the results of the
first 257 cars in our Race Track Test series, Pros and Cons of plastic
track by brand, the Pros and Cons of the four digital systems, Pros and
Cons of 1/43 scale and an index of the 157 previously published track
plans, by size, on our website at www.modelcarracingmag.com.
Model Car Racing 5
Slot Cars ��
You will seldom see the term “slot cars” on these
pages because there really are very two distinct
versions of the model cars that can be raced on a
tabletop and these cars are part of just one version.
It is certainly true that all of these 1/32 and HO and
1/24 scale models can be described as slot cars but
there are more differences than similarities between
the 1/24 scale cars that race on commercial (rented)
tracks and the 1/32, HO and 1/24 scale cars that are
raced on tracks in enthusiasts’ homes. I have tried
to make it clear which one of the two you will find
in Model Car Racing magazine.
Two Hobbies
Many of you remember model car racing from the
seventies when the hobby was focused on eightlane tracks that were half the size of a tennis court.
Those are the models that most remember as “slot
cars”. In the seventies, these models had evolved to
be almost exclusively 1/24 scale with clear plastic
bodies. That is one version of slot car racing.
The hobby you see on these pages originated with
1/29 scale cars with unpainted colored injectionmolded plastic bodies from Scalextric and 1/32
scale cars from VIP in England in the late fifties.
The term “slot cars” came into common use about
that time. In the mid-sixties American-based companies including Strombecker, Revell and Monogram produced 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars and sets
with much lower prices than Scalextric or VIP
and, obviously, they were more readily available
to Americans than the English brands. That was
enough to capture the attention of race car fans in
America.
Virtually every hobby shop in America carried
Strombecker, Revell and Monogram cars, parts
and sets and, soon, special model car racing shops
opened that had tracks with the slots routed into
sheets of particle board. That ever-growing needfor-speed inspired the model race car shop owners
to build ever larger tracks and, by the mid-sixties,
there were hundreds of shops that had 4- and 6and even 8-lane tracks that slot car fans could rent
by the hour, hence they became known as “commercial raceways’. By 1970 there were about 6,000
commercial race car shops in America, 3,000 of
them under the American Model Car Raceways
franchise alone.
Very few folks had the space that was needed for
these ultra-quick 1/24 scale cars that were the
mainstay of commercial race tracks so slot car racing became a hobby where you raced almost exclusively on these massive rental tracks. Racing on a
plastic track in your home almost died out. At best,
1/32 scale racing was less than five-percent of the
hobby but that hobby was massive, with somewhere
around 10 million slot car fans renting track time.
It was, however, a “bubble” because the hobby had
evolved from a sport where you could win with
a $50 (in today’s dollars) car into one where you
needed a $500 car—too rich for 95-percent of those
10 million and the commercial raceways dwindled
to about 100. The radio control race car hobby was
6 Model Car Racing
also in its early stages and you could race a “real”
1/12 or 1/8 scale car for about the same price as a
slot car so that, too, impacted the slot car hobby.
“Retro” Car Racing On
Commercial Tracks
The commercial raceways survived and there are
at least 100 commercial raceways still active in
America. Most are listed on the www.oldweirdherald.com/owh-raceway-directory website. The
fastest slot cars are the “wing” cars with wedgeshaped painted clear plastic bodies (that resembled
no known full-size race car) with two-inch-high
pieces of clear plastic sheet stapled to the sides
and back to force the airflow over the car for more
downforce. There are though, a growing number of
enthusiasts who are racing the cars that date back to
the early years of commercial raceways when cars
were at least something similar to the shapes of fullsize race cars---today, these 1/24 scale models are
referred to as “Retro” racers.
Essentially, the “Retro” cars have handmade chassis
soldered together from steel piano wire and brass
tube that are replicas of chassis from the late sixties.
The chassis usually have eight or more parallel steel
rods that are selected, bent and attached in a specific order to provide a controlled amount of twist to
dampen chassis vibrations and keep the pickup and
rear wheels in contact with the track---they function somewhat like 1/32 scale motor pods. You can,
of course, buy these Retro chassis ready to race. The
clear plastic bodies are modified replicas of full-size
race cars from firms like (http://truescaleproducts.
com) but they are much lower and, usually, wider
than accurate 1/24 scale. The wheels and tires are
also much smaller than accurate 1/24 scale. The
Retro cars are really caricatures of the real thing but
no one would have any difficulty identifying one of
these cars as a McLaren M8B or Ferrari 312. The
International Retro Racing Association (http://irraslotracing.com/) rules include a provision for
a $10 cap on the motor cost and an experienced
home chassis builder can probably assemble a 1/24
scale Retro McLaren M8B for less than $200 if you
are willing to paint your own clear plastic body.
Ready to race chassis are obviously more costly.
Euroracers on
Plastic Tracks
Ironically, there are segments of today’s 1/32 scale
model car racing hobby that are very similar to the
seventies-era 1/24 scale Retro racer cars. NSR was one
of the first to produce ready-to-race 1/32 scale cars
with bodies that were “smoothed” for better airflow
(to become caricatures of the real car’s shapes) and
tires that were about 20-percent smaller than accurate 1/32 scale. The NSR Mosler looks like a full-size
Mosler that was molded in clay and placed in the sun
to melt just enough to lower and smooth its shape.
The NSR Ford GT40 Mk IV has a similar smootheddown and extended shape. These cars were designed
specifically for the 1/32 scale fans that race in Europe
that prefer the vastly undersize tires. Apparently, the
Mosler and Mk.IV were too much of a deviation from
accurate models even for Euroracers because most of
the later NSR cars have more accurate shapes. Those
ultra-small tires, however have remained and they
have become common on some Slot.it, ScaleAuto,
Ninco Lightning (and Ultra) and other cars designed
to appeal to the Euroracer market.
Common Ground
There is no one-right-way to go model car racing.
That is one of strengths of the hobby because you
can choose to race and build the fastest cars possible with little thought about their appearance, or
create highly-detailed masterpieces from parts and
pieces, or simply collect the cars that make you
smile. And you can choose to race them alone to
improve your lap times, race them with a friend or
relative or few, join or create a club, or visit one of
the commercial raceways. Or you can do all that
and thousands of model car racers do, because you
do not have choose. It’s all fun.
Volume 14, Number 4 (issue number 82)
July/August 2015
Publisher:
Robert Schleicher
Technical Editor:
Chris Walker
Editor:
Robert Schleicher
Track Test Editor:
Marc Purdham
Layout & Design: Aaron Tipton - [email protected]
Contributing Editors:
Mark Gussin
Jeremy Dunning Jason Boye
Dan Wilson
Alan Schwartz
Dan Esposito
Brad Bowman
Bernard Sampson Pat Dennis
Editors Emeritus:
Rocky Russo
Bill Sipple
Jose Rodriguez Jim Russell
Bob Braverman Ron Klein
Albin Adams
Circulation & Dealer Contact:
email: [email protected]
Model Car Racing Publications, Inc.
6525 Gunpark Drive, Suite 370-142
Boulder, CO 80301-3346
website: www.modelcarracingmag.com
Model Car Racing (USPS 020-443, ISSN 1538-9170) is published bimonthly by Model Car Racing Publications, Inc., 6525 Gunpark Drive,
Suite 370-142, Boulder, CO 80301-3346. Copyright 2015, Model Car
Racing Publications, Inc.
Individual issue price $6.95. No current issues or back issues are available from the publisher but a list of dealers who carry the magazine is on
the website at www.modelcarracingmag.com. All sales and subscriptions
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Formula 1
Scalextric 1958 Maserati 250F
Carroll Shelby’s First Grand Prix Car
You can compare the Scalextric
1/32 scale model to the fullsize car — the model is on the
cover — this is the full-size car.
Carroll Shelby driving the Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F to ninth overall at the 1958 British Grand Prix. Silverstone, England — LAT Photo
Part of the legend that evolved about Carroll Shelby was his incredibly wide
range of racing experience, from being a mechanic to winning LeMans, and
creating the incredible results with the Cobras. His partial seasons racing
Formula 1 cars, however, are not always included, but race he did.
■■by Robert Schleicher
Carroll Shelby contracted with Mimmo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud to
compete in Formula 1 races during part of the 1958 season, replacing American driver Masten Gregory, beginning at Reims, where he retired with a blown
engine. He also contested the German and Portuguese Grands Prix but his best
finish was a fourth at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. At the end of the season,
Shelby teamed up with the American Temple Buell team. He drove for the factory Aston Martin Formula 1 team in 1959 at the Dutch, Portuguese, British and
Italian Grands Prix but failed to finish in the points.
At a glance, these white-striped blue cars look like they could be America’s
Model Car Racing 7
fifties-era Formula 1 team. In some ways they were. These cars were purchased
and campaigned by Scuderia Centro Sud. The cars were usually rented to drivers
and/or their sponsors. The cars were painted in a variety of colors, often to match
the desires of their drivers, including red and green. Carroll Shelby’s backers
rented one of the Maseratis for the British Grand Prix and that car was painted
blue with white stripes. Later, a second 250F was painted the same colors. Shelby
ran his 250F in four races in 1958 but failed to finish high enough to score points.
In 1958 Scuderia Centro Sud had two Maserati 250F cars. Carroll Shelby rented
one for this races and the other drivers included American Indy 500 star Troy
Ruttman and Cliff Allison and Horace Gould from England. Shelby raced another blue and white 250F at the Portuguese GP, this one bought by the American race entrant Temple Buell. This car did not have black roundels and carried
the number 28 with a white triangle on the nose (apparently to make it easier for
the pit crews to differentiate the two blue and white Maseratis).
½½ The Blue And White Formula 1 cars.
The Scalextric Maserati has an SP-size front motor mounted near the front of
the car with a coil spring driveshaft to the rear axle. The front motor leaves the
cockpit area clear, to allow a full driver and interior. The cars have a single round
magnet mounted in front of the rear axle but it is so far from the track that it has
very little effect on the car's performance. We performed a full Race Track Test
on the car in the January/February 2005 number 19 issue and Scalextric has not
changed anything significantly for the current version. Since most model car
racers will want to race the Maserati with other fifties-era Formula 1 cars, the
class will likely include some of the Cartrix cars from that era. Racing with the
downforce magnets in place, the Scalextric car does not have a chance against
the Cartrix cars because the Scalextric magnet is located so far from the steel
pickup strips on the track. You can add another magnet, or raise the magnets (to
reduce their effective downforce) in the Cartrix cars. Running magnet free, the
Scalextric and Cartrix cars have very similar performance with the Scalextric car
being slightly quicker on the smoother Carrera track surface.
½½ How Fast Out-of-the-box?
Model Car Racing Track Test:
"Out-of-the-Box" Lap Times
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Cartrix 1959 Lotus 16 (with SP-size motor)
4.84 sec..
5.52 sec..
Cartrix 1950 Talbot-Lago (with FF-size motor)
4.74 sec..
5.05 sec.
5.58 sec..
5.16 sec..
NOTE: The lap times and other test results for all of the track tests in the first 78
issues are available on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Model Resources”,
then click on the link “Race Car Test Results”. We performed a full Model Car Racing
Track Test on the Scalextric 1957 Maserati 250F in the January/February 2005
number 19 issue and on the Cartrix 1950 Talbot-Lago and 1959 Lotus 16 in the
September/October 2014 number 77 issue.
• 1959 BRM P25 (in the May/June 2007 number 33 issue)
• 1956 Bugatti T251
• 1955 Ferrari 555 Squalo
• 1956 Gordini T32
• 1956 Lancia-Ferrari D50 (in the May/June 2010 number 51 issue)
• 1959 Lotus 16 (in the September/October 2014 number 77 issue)
• 1957 Maserati 250F
• 1955 Mercedes W196 (in the May/June 2005 number 20 issue)
• 1956 Vanwall
• 1959 Scarab (announced two years ago scheduled for late 2015)
• 1950 Kurtis Offy (never raced in Formula 1 but Indy 500 did count for points)
Cartrix cars with FF-size motors:
• 1950 Alfa Romeo 158/159
• 1950 Talbot-Lago T26C (in the September/October 2014 number 77 issue)
½½ More Information:
HISTORY OF THE GRAND PRIX CAR, 1945-65, by Doug Nye, 289 pages,
16 in color, ISBN 1-874557-50-0. Doug Nye has done his usual impeccable work
in brining random cars and random information into an organized perspective.
The chapter on Maserati is the best overview of the labyrinthine Italian cars. He
divides the 26 factory-built cars into specific categories and clearly explains why
they were so successful.
MASERATI 250F, by David McKinney, published by Crowood, 192 pages, ISBN
1-86126-568-9. Provides a chassis number-by chassis number history of the cars
as well as full race results.
MASERATI, A RACING HISTORY, by Anthony Pritchard, published by
Haynes Publishing, 256 pages with 16 in color, ISBN 1-85960-871-X. A great
overview of Maserati's racing history, including the "repro" 250F cars made by
Cameron Millar.
The Prototype (the
The size the model
The dimensions of the
real car):
should be in 1/32 scale: Scalextric model:
SPEC SHEET
Length:
4,350 mm
5.35 in. (135.9 mm)
5.35 in. (135.9 mm)
Width:
980 mm
1.20 in.(30.6 mm)
1.27 in. (32.2 mm)
Height:
950 mm
1.17 in.(29.7 mm)
1.34 in. (34.0 mm)
Wheelbase
2,300 mm
2.83 in. (71.9 mm)
2.80 in. (71.0 mm)
Track, Front:
1,310 mm
1.61 in. (40.9 mm)
1.57 in. (39.8 mm)
Track, Rear:
1,250 mm
1.54 in. (39.1 mm)
5.02 in. (127.4 mm)
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Tires, Front:
5.50-16
4.3 x 21.3 mm
4.1 x 21.8 mm
"Magnet Free" Lap Times
Tires, Rear:
7.00-16
5.5 x 23.0 mm
5.1 x 22.3 mm
Cartrix 1959 Lotus 16 (with SP-size motor)
5.68 sec..
5.89 sec..
Weight:
NA.
NA
60 grams (2 oz.)
Cartrix 1950 Talbot-Lago (with FF-size motor)
5.55 sec..
5.91 sec..
Weight on Front Tires:
30 grams (1 oz.)
(with downforce magnet)
5.58 sec..
5.16 sec..
Weight on Rear Tires:
30 grams (1 oz.)
Magnetic Downforce on Carrera:
28 grams (1 oz.)
Magnetic Downforce on Scalextric:
58 grams (2 oz.)
Ground Clearance on Carrera:
2.3 mm (.090 in.)
Ground Clearance on Scalextric:
2.1 mm (.085 in.)
Pickup Lead (pivot to rear axle):
84.9 mm (3.34 in.)
Gear Ratio:
3.00:1 (9/27)
NOTE: We performed a full Model Car Racing Track Test on the Scalextric 1957
Maserati 250F in the January/February 2005 number 19 issue and on the Cartrix
1950 Talbot-Lago in the November/December 2014 number 78 issue.
½½ Fifties Era Formula 1 Cars:
Scalextric cars with front-mounted SP-size motors
• 1958 Vanwall
• 1957 Maserati 250F
Cartrix cars with SP-size motors:
• 1959 Aston Martin DBR4
8 Model Car Racing
SOURCE: MASERATI 250F, by David McKinney, published by Crowood, 192 pages,
ISBN 1-86126-568-9.
A Maserati has high ground clearance so the single round magnet that is mounted
just in front of the rear axle has little effect..
The model has accurate recreations of the Scuderia Centro Sud logos on the nose
and on the sides of cowl and the proper Maserati emblem on the nose.
The Maserati 250F has a separate chassis with a front motor and a full interior.
Model Car Racing 9
Track Test:
Le Mans: Magnet-Free
We performed a full Race Track Test on the Avant Slot 1975 Mirage
G8 out-of-the-box with stock tires and with a magnet in place in the
May/June 2015 number 81 issue. This time, we ran the car through
the tests with the magnet removed and with number 1404RC Super
Tires silicones on the rear wheels. It is possible that urethane tires
(like the 1404RY Yellow Dogs from Super Tires or similar tires from
other makers) would produce faster lap times but all of the Race Track
Tests we have run to date have been with silicone tires so we need to
stick to them to maintain comparable results with previous tests.
■■Track Test by Marc Purdham
The Race Track Tests revealed that the Avant Slot 1975 Mirage G8 is the quickest car in this class on the rougher surface of the Scalextric track and it is faster
than all but the NSR Porsche on the smoother Carrera track, It is a delight to
drive with predictable linear response that makes it relatively easy to powerslide
through the corners.
"Magnet-Free" Lap Times
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
4.09 sec..
4.25 sec..
Carrera 2011 Audi R18 TDI
5.36 sec..
5.01 sec..
Ninco 2012 Audi R18 e-tron quattro
5.01 sec..
4.62 sec..
Racer “Sideways” 1978 Porsche 935/78
4.49 sec..
4.11 sec..
NSR 2010 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR
4.68 sec..
4.23 sec..
Scalextric 2010 Corvette C6R GT2
5.65 sec..
4.76 sec..
SCX 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT-3 (inline motor)
4.56 sec..
4.73 sec..
Avant Slot 2006 Audi R10 TDI LeMans (inline motor)
5.24 sec..
5.27 sec..
NOTES: The lap times and other test results for all of the track tests in the first 78
issues are available on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Model Resources”,
then click on the link “Race Car Test Results”. The We performed a full Model Car
Racing Track Test on the Ninco 2012 Audi R18 e-tron quattro and on the Racer
“Sideways” 1978 Porsche 935/78 in the July/August 2013 number 70 issue, on the
NSR 2010 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in the November/December 2012 number 66 issue,
on the Scalextric 2010 Corvette C6R GT2 in the May/June 2012 number 63 issue, on
the SCX 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the May/June 2012 number 63 issue
and the Avant Slot Audi in the November/December 2007 number 36 issue.
10 Model Car Racing
The Avant Slot Mirage G8 chassis has a separate anglewinder-style motor pod
that can be “tuned” by loosening or tightening the attaching screws as described
in the “Six-Screw Hop-Up” in the number 69 issue (which is also on www.
modelcarracingmag.com under “Sample Issues”).
Avant Slot has offered the Mirage G8 in a variety of paint schemes including the number 10 car that finished second at LeMans in 1975 and number 11 car that won in 1975.
They all have the same chassis with separate anglewinder motor pods.
Model Car Racing 11
Le Mans
MMK 1951 Cad-Allard J2X
The Cad-Allard J2X was a British-built car with an American V8 engine that preceded
the Cobra by over a decade. And the Allard was about as successful as the Cobra in its
time, winning dozens of American road races and finishing third at LeMans in 1951.
■■by Bill Wright
Sydney Allard was producing limited numbers of hand-made convertibles in
the late forties, and, in 1950 he created the company’s first true sports car, the
Allard J2. The Allard J2 was, essentially, a limited production hot rod, including the rodder’s popular engine choice, a Ford flat head V8 60. Sidney decided
that more power would be nice and, in 1950 starting producing the J2 with an
overhead valve Cadillac V8 (another popular choice among American hot rodders) to spawn the J2X. The car looked like a hot rod but, unlike most American
machines, the J2X was designed to stop and corner as well as being able to accelerate and reach well over 110 miles an hour. Officially, the cars were identified
as simply Allard J2X but, most sources referred to the Cadillac-engined cars as
Cad-Allards.
The healthy Cadillac V8 made a rocket out of the 2,000 pound car; The Motor
magazine road tested a 1950 Cad-Allard and recorded a 0-60 time of 7.4 seconds
with a 16.2 second quarter mile and a 111.8 mph top speed. The Cad-Allard J2X
was the fastest-accelerating road racer of the 1950-1952 era.
Sydney Allard finished third overall at LeMans in 1950 driving with American
driver Tom Cole in car number 4 with the spare wheel on the left side (the car
was right hand drive). Ferrari won that year with a Type 166 driven by Luigi
Chinetti and Lord Slesdon (like TD Innovations body kit).
Back in the USA, Tom Cole was a successful Allard pilot on the east coast. Irwin
Goldschmidt won the 1950 Watkins Glen race in car number 98. Fred Wacker,
in the red car with number 8 in a black roundel was also a successful east coast
Cad-Allard driver, finishing second and Bridgehampton in 1950. Roy Richter
12 Model Car Racing
won the 1950 Santa Ana, California airport race in a silver number 1 car. Bill
Pollack dominated West Coast racing in his black number 14 Cad-Allard, winning Pebble Beach and Reno in 1951, Pebble Beach, Golden Gate and Madera in
1952 and finishing third in the car's last race at Pebble Beach in 1953. Pollack's
career was part of the history of road racing in California in the fifties and it
is delightfully described and illustrated in his biography RED WHEELS AND
WHITE SIDEWALLS.
½½ The Cadillac-Allard in 1/32 Scale
MMK is a small French company that produces hand-made cast-resin bodies.
They offer their products as either pre-painted body kits or as completely decorated ready-to race cars. The Cad-Allard was a challenge because of the flimsy (in
1/32 scale) separate front fenders. MMK created a clever one-piece pair of front
fenders and their supports that should survive some pretty violent crashes. The
body shape seems correct and it is right-on 1/32 scale. The paint is evenly applied
and decals are protected with thick coat of clear paint. The driver is cut-off at the
waist to clear the SP motor but the dashboard is fully detailed and the driver has
appropriate fifties-era helmet and goggles. The chassis is a tough plastic Slot Classics product. The wheels are aluminum set-screw-mount with etched-metal wire
wheel inserts. So far, the MK Cad-Allard is available from Electric Dreams (www.
electricdreams.com) in six different paint schemes to recreate two of the cars that
raced at LeMans in 1950 and 1951 and four of the cars that won races in America
in 1950-1952. The car raced with a side-mounted spare wheel that is included but
most American races allowed the spare to be left behind.
½½ Road Racing In The Fifties:
RED WHEELS AND WHITE SIDEWALLS. by Bill Pollack ,224 pages, with 80
black and white photos on 32 glossy pages, ISBN 1-888978-14-7, $23.95, published by Brown Fox Books, 1090 Eugenia Place, Carpenteria, CA 93013. One
of the best histories of American road racing in the early fifties, written by one
of the top drivers of the era.
AMERICAN SPORTS CAR RACING IN THE 1950S, by Michael T. Lynch, William Edgar and Ron Parravano, 172 pages black and white with 16 pages of rare
fifties-era color, ISBN 0-7603-0367-3. The authors are the sons of three of the
most active participants in the era. The book covers primarily west coast racing
of he period with some photos and information on the major east coast races.
AMERICAN RACING, Road racing in the 50s and 60s, by Tom Burnside (published by Konemann, ISBN 3-89508-246-5), 340 pages of Tom Burnside's excellent black and white photos of the most exciting era of America n Road racing.
THE FABULOUS FIFTIES, by Art Evans, 230 pages, published by Photo Data
Research, 800 Pacific Coast Hwy. #800, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, ISBN
0-9705073-1-2. 230 pages black and white
The MMK models have hand-made cast-resin bodies mounted to the Slot Classics
chassis with three screws.
MMK 1952 Cadillac-Allard J2X
SPEC SHEET
The Prototype
(the real car):
The size the model should The dimensions of the
be in 1/32 scale:
MMK model:
Length:
148.5 in.
4.64 in.
4.81 in. (122.2 mm)
Width:
68.0 in.
2.13 in.
2.11 in. (53.5 mm)
Height:
NA
NA
1.35 in. (34.2 mm)
Wheelbase
100.0 in.
3.13 in.
3.13 in. (79.4 mm)
Track, Front:
56.4 in.
1.76 in.
1.85 in. (47.0 mm)
Track, Rear:
59.1 in.
1.85 in.
1.66 in. (42.0 mm)
Tires, Front:
6.00-16
4.7 x 22.2 mm
7.0 x 20.1 mm
Tires, Rear:
6.00-16
4.7 x 22.2 mm
7.0 x 20.1 mm
Weight:
2,400 lbs.
NA
78 grams (2 3/8 oz.)
35 grams (1 1/4 oz.)
42 grams (1 1/2 oz.)
NA
NA
1.9 mm (.075 in.)
1.8 mm (.070 in.)
85.6 mm (3.37 in.)
Gear Ratio:
3.00:1 (9/27)
The front fenders have a clever and rugged cross piece to attach them to the body.
SOURCE: The Motor, February 1444, 1951
The models are also available as painted kits (these are the unpainted parts that are
included in the kit).
The MMK model is fitted to a standard Slot Classics plastic chassis with an SP motor.
The wheels are plastic with etched-metal wire wheel inserts.
Model Car Racing 13
MMK also offers the Cad-Allard painted and numbered
match the number 4 car that finished third at LeMans
in 1950.
These four Cad-Allards all raced and won in
America in 1950-52---the red number 8 car is Fred
Wacker's "8 Ball”, the red number 98 car is Erwin
Goldschmidt’s. The yellow number 50 car raced at
Watkins Glen in the early fifties. The most famous
Cad-Allard is the number 14 car that Bill Pollack
raced on the West Coast (it is the major subject of
his biography, RED WHEELS & WHITE SIDEWALLS).
There’s more information on the number 14 Cad-Allard
in the November/December 2004 number 18 issue.
All four have appeared at various vintage races and/or
shows over the last few years.
14 Model Car Racing
½½ Historic Racing: Le Mans 1951
The more significant cars that raced at LeMans in 1951 are available in
1/32 scale ready-to race and most are also available as body kits. If you
want ready-to-race cars, only the Auto Art 1953 C-Type Jaguar and the
Ninco Jaguar XK120 are available, but the TDR Innovations Ferrari
body is an easy build on the Slot Classics chassis---all the others are
cast resin.
Front to rear, l to r.:
• MMK Cad-Allard number 1 did not finish the race
(the MMK rtr and body kits are available from
Electric Dreams www.electricdreams.com
• MMK 1951 C-Type Jaguar number 20 (the very
similar 1953 car is also available from Auto Art)
• Proto Slot (out of production) Aston Martin
DB2 number 26 finished third overall
• Jaguar XK120 number 21 finished eleventh overall --an out-of-production Revell/Highway Pioneers body
but Ninco has it in this paint scheme ready to run.
• Ferrari 166MM number 64. This is the TDR Innovations
(tdrmodels.com) 3D-printed body painted to match
the 1949 LeMans winner as shown in the September/
October 2005 number 23 issue. A number 63 Ferrari
166MM raced at LeMans in 1951 as well as a halfdozen of the similar Ferrari 212 barchettas.
• Not shown:
Slot Classics (out of production) Lancia Aurelia number 33, finished
twelfth overall
MMK C2R Cunningham number 4 finished eighth overall and won
the over f liter class
MMK (out of production) Renault 4CV (a tiny four-door sedan) number 50 finished twenty-third overall and won the under 750cc class
Model Car Racing 15
Real Race
Track Plans:
2-Lane Estoril Circuit on Two
Ping-Pong Tabletops for a 5 X 18Foot Track With (Optional) LaneChanging For Scalextric Classic,
Sport, SCX, Ninco or Carrera
Today the Estoril Circuit is the site of the MotoGP World
Championship races for motorcycles, but it was the site of the
Formula 1 series in the nineties and it is host to most of today’s
GT and sedan class races including the FIA GT and ETCC series.
There’s an index, by size, of the previously published track plans
from Model Car Racing magazine and the four books by Robert
Schleicher on our website www.modelcarracingmag.com.
The Estoril Circuit (http://www.circuito-estoril.pt) is usually considered the
site of the MotoGP World Championship races for motorcycles, but Estoril
was the site of the Portuguese round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Today the track is host a variety of sports, GT and touring car races. The
track was completed in 1972 but it was used only for local and national races
until the 1982 round of FIA F2 championship. Estoril was the host to the
Formula One World Championship from 1984 to 1996 (the previous Portuguese Grand Prix being held in Boavista (Porto), ’58 and ’60 and Monsanto
(Lisbon) in ’59).
½½ Estoril In 1/32 Scale
This is one of the long and narrow race tracks. The tabletop is 5 x 18-feet but
five-feet is too long a reach for any corner marshal so you will need a threefoot access aisle along both sides and another three-feet on at least one end,
so the track will require a minimum 11 x 21-foot space. It should fit nicely in
half of a two-car garage and, of course, in most basements.
The real Estoril track’s shape looks like it might have been designed for tabletop racing, with the four longest straights running almost parallel to one an-
16 Model Car Racing
other. I modified the plan a bit so that two of the straights could run side-byside down most of the length of an 18-foot tabletop. There’s a short straight
between turns T6 and T7 but the majority of the track is a mixture of a variety
of different sizes and types of turns. Turns T1 and T2 are both small radius
followed by a long and tight ess curve through turns T3 and T4. There’s another tight turn at the end of the parallel straight at T6 that feeds although
assorted bends and into turn T7 but that straight can be taken flat-out as well.
The most interesting part of the track will be the series of broad-radius ess
bends that follow turn T7 into turns T9, T12 and into the decreasing-radius
turn T13. With magnet stuck cars, that ess bend can probably be driven flat
out. If the cars are running without magnets, that long series of ess bends
will be the place learn just what broad sliding four-wheel drifts are all about.
½½ Digital Racing Systems
Both plans for 1/32 scale tracks include suggested positions for the Scalextric
Sport Digital, Ninco N-Digital or Carrera Pro-X or Carrera Digital 132 lanechangers. You may discover that you want to relocate the lane changers or use
lane-changers to route the cars in a different direction after you have raced on
the track for a few hours.
On the Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX and Ninco version there are five possible locations for the double-crossing straight lane-changers at any of the
places marked with an "X" to provide the optimum number of chances for
passing.
There are six positions for lane-changers on the Carrera version and they are
shown as single-lane changers but I would recommend you opt for Carrera's
number 30347 double lane-changers at these locations.
The track plans indicate two positions for the controller-connector track ("A"
on the plans) so the drivers can be positioned at different areas of the track
for conventional analog cars. If you are using the digital systems, only ONE
connector track can be used. If you try to use two connector tracks you will
burn-out some of the circuits in one or both of the connector tracks. Scalextric, Ninco and Carrera offer extension cables so you can position the drivers
around the track or you can opt for the wireless control systems from Scalextric, Ninco and Carrera.
The Estoril Circuit
Race Tracks on a Tabletop Plans:
5 x 9-feet
5 x 9-feet
Two 5 x 9-foot Ping-Pong tables can be placed end-to-end to support the 2-lane
Estoril Circuit in 5 x 18-feet
½½ Recent Race Track Plans
In Model Car Racing
Real Race Track Plans:
All plans are designed for Scalextric Sport, Classic, SCX, NINCO or Carrera
track (with optional lane-changing).
• 4-Lane Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium Race Of Champions (ROC) on two
5 x 9-foot Ping-Pong tables placed side-by-side to form a 9 x 10-foot tabletop,
Issue #73
• 4-Lane Suzuka F1 Grand Prix Track on a 12 x 21-foot tabletop, Issue #74
NOTE: All of the plans listed below are available on www.modelcarracingmag.
com under the top bar “Sample Issues”
For Carrera, Sport, Scalextric, SCX or NINCO Track (with optional lane-changing):
• 2-Lane Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium Race Of Champions (ROC) on a 5 x
9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue #73
• 2-Lane Suzuka F1 Grand Prix Track on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue #74
• 2-Lane Unicorn Raceway (Vintage) on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue
#75
• 2-Lane Twisted Pines Raceway on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue #76
• 2-Lane Thompson Oval Speedway for Digital on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue #77
• 4-Lane Thompson Oval Speedway on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop. Issue
#77
• 2-Lane Unicorn Raceway (Vintage) on a 9 x 17-foot tabletop, Issue #75
• 2-Lane Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium Track on a 5 x 13 1/2-foot ping-pong
tabletop, Issue #78
• 2-Lane Buddh International India Formula 1 Circuit on a 9 x 17-foot tabletop, Issue #76
• 2-Lane Unicorn Banked Raceway on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop, Issue
#79
• 2-Lane Thompson Speedway for Digital (with optional lane-changing) on a
12 x 20-foot tabletop, Issue #77
• 2-Lane Silverstone 1948-1949 Grand Prix Circuit on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong
tabletop, Issue #80
• 4-Lane Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium Track on a 9 x 15-foot tabletop, Issue #78
• 2-Lane Sochi, Russia Autodrom on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletop. Issue #81
• 2-Lane Unicorn Banked Raceway on a 9 x 15-foot tabletop, Issue #79
• 2-Lane Silverstone 1948-1949 Grand Prix Circuit on a 9 x 19-foot tabletop,
Issue #80
• 2-Lane Sochi, Russia Autodrom on a 10 x 18-foot tabletop, Issue #71
Model Car Racing 17
TRACK PLAN
2-Lane Estoril Circuit
in 5 X 18-Feet:
List of Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX or Ninco Track Required
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
H
2
1/2 Standard Curve
OO
13
Outer-Outer Curve
D
4
1/2-Straight
S
16
Standard Curve
F
0
“Short” Straight
B
36
Full-Straight
O
10
Outer Curve
E
3
1/4-Straight
A
2
Connector Track
L
Track can be expanded in length by adding matched pairs of straight track
sections here.
T Turns on the model versions of the track.
To build the plan with NINCO track you will need about 10-percent more space and
you may need some additional short straights to get everything to line up properly.
X If you are assembling the track with Scalextric Sport Digital, 1 1/2 straights at these
points can be replaced with the C7036 double-crossover straight lane-changer.
If you are using NINCO N-Digital, the 40207 double Lane-changers can be
substituted for any standard straight.
TRACK PLAN
2-Lane Estoril Circuit
in 5 X 18-Feet:
List of Carrera Track Required
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
H
6
20577 1/2 Inner Curve R1
OO
0
20573 Outer Curve R3
D
0
20611 1/3-Straight
S
13
20571 Inner Curve R1
OOO
6 pr. (12)
20578 Outer-Outer Curve R4
B
31
20509 Full-Straight
O
10
20572 Middle Curve R2
E
12
20612 1/4-Straight
A
2
20583 Connector Track
L
sections here.
T Turns on the model versions of the track.
NOTE: If you are using the Carrera Digital 132 lane-changing system any adjoining
pairs of standard-length straights ("B") may be placed with Carrera Digital 132 lanechanging tracks. The plans show the locations for the Carrera Digital number 30343
right-hand and 30345 left-hand lane-changers, you can substitute the Carrera Digital
132 number 30347
18 Model Car Racing
Race Tracks on a Tabletop:
2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a 5 X 9-Foot Ping-Pong
Tabletop for Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX or Ninco,
and for Carrera with (Optional) Digital Lane-Changing
These plans are much-modified versions of the Estoril Circuit on pages
15-18, the current host to MotoGP and the site of the Portuguese rounds
of the Formula 1 series in 1984-1996. There is only enough space on a
5 x 9-foot tabletop for the four turns at the ends of the straights. However, on the Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX and Ninco version, there is
over 180-degrees of at least three different radius curves. The Carrera
version has the largest possible radius through turns T1 and T2 with
three tight turns at T3, T4 and T13. It will, then, take some time and
practice to learn just how much throttle is needed for each turn. The
plan is designed so it can be lengthened at the points marked “L” and
there are four parallel straights so any increase in table length will re-
TRACK PLAN
½½ Digital Racing Systems
There is room on the plans for Scalextric, SCX and Ninco track for two
of the double lane-change track sections at “X” on the plan. The Carrera plan also has room for two of the Carrera Digital 132 number 30347 double lane-changers.
TRACK PLAN
2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a
5 X 9-Foot Ping-Pong Tabletop:
List of Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX or Ninco Track Required
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
H
1
1/2 Standard Curve
E
2
1/4-Straight
S
9
Standard Curve
D
3
1/2-Straight
O
8
Outer Curve
B
8
Full-Straight
OO
11
Outer-Outer Curve
A
2
Connector Track
F
0
“Short” Straight
L
sult in four-times that length added to the lap length. If you have room
for another half of a ping-pong tabletop, for example, the plan would
fill 5 x 13 ½-feet and the lap length would be increased by 18-feet.
sections here.
2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a 5 X
9-Foot Ping-Pong Tabletop:
List of Carrera Track Required
Key
Quantity
Description
Key
Quantity
Description
H
2
20577 1/2 Inner Curve R1
E
4
20612 1/4-Straight
S
9
20571 Inner Curve R1
D
3
20611 1/3-Straight
O
3
20572 Middle Curve R2
B
8
20509 Full-Straight
OO
3
20573 Outer Curve R3
A
2
20583 Connector Track (analog)
2 pr. (4)
20578 Outer-Outer Curve R4
OOO
L
sections here.
T Turns on the model versions of the track
T Turns on the model versions of the track
X If you are assembling the track with Scalextric Digital, 1 1/2 straights at this
point can be replaced with the C7036 double-crossover straight lane-changer
plus a half straight.
If you are using NINCO N-Digital, the 40207 double Lane-changers can be
substituted for any standard straight.
To build the plan with NINCO track you will need about 10-percent more space
and you may need some additional short straights to get everything to line up
properly.
Model Car Racing 19
Digital Racing
Carrera Digital 132
Race Management With An App
The Carrera 30369 uses a free app to wirelessly display
race information on your smartphone or tablet including lap
counting, lap times, pit stops and more race management
options, on any current Carrera Digital 132 track.
The Carrera 30369 Bluetooth adaptor is designed to plug-into the 30352 Carrera Digital Control Unit. It will not function with older Carrera Control units or Black Boxes or with
any other brand of digital.
Model car racing has an advantage that racing full-size cars does not offer, with model
cars you have your own race track. You can
manage the races just like they do at Laguna
Seca or Daytona. Carrera offers this 30369
Bluetooth Adaptor so you can program all the
important race management options on your
smartphone or tablet.
20 Model Car Racing
To set up the system on your Carrera Digital 132 track connect 30369 the Bluetooth
Adapter to the Carrera racetrack 30352 Control Unit (the controller and power-connector
track). Note that the Carrera 30369 Bluetooth
adaptor will not function with older Carrera Control units or Black Boxes or with any
other brand of digital. Download the Car-
rera Race App in the App Store (iOS) or from
Google Play (Android)---all are free downloads. With the downloads complete, follow
Carrera's instructions and go racing. The app
will provide the lap counting, lap timing,
length of race and dozens of other functions.
(continued)
Profile settings
• Set up your own customized driver
profile with a picture and name
• Be the race director or log in as a driver
Race settings:
• Select training or racing
• Set up lap total or best time races
• Trigger a mobile start with a start-light countdown
• Sound function (race commentator, realistic racing sounds)
SCX, Ninco or Carrera Digital, Issue #77
• Carrera Digital 132 wireless Control, Issue #78
2015:
• Scalextric Digital Chip Installation in
Carrera F1 cars, Issue #79
• Carrera Digital 132 Wireless+ Control, Issue #80
• Carrera Digital 132 Lane-Changer Positions, Issue #81
Car settings:
• Speed
• Braking power
• Fuel Level
Overview of Key Race Stats:
• An overview of all the most important race events:
• Fastest lap
• Leading car
• Number of pit stops and more
• Race history: Save or print out all your race results
Compatibility of Hardware for Carrera Race App:
• iPhone from iPhone 4S and iPad from iPad 3
• others: subject to availability of Bluetooth® LE
Compatibility of Software for Carrera Race App:
• from Android 4.3
• from iOS 7.0
The Carrera 30369 Bluetooth adaptor will accept the Carrera app, which can be
downloaded onto your smart phone for hand-held race information. The app can also
be downloaded onto a tablet for a larger display.
Previous Digital Racing Articles;
(Available on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the top bar "Sample Issues")
2012:
• SCX Digital-to-analog One-Minute Changeover, Issue #61
• Carrera Digital 132 number 30355 Lap Counter, Issue #62
• SCX Digital in SCX GT Cars, Issue #63
• Carrera Digital 132 in Monogram Grand
National cars, Issue #64
• Rules (to avoid six-car crash-fests), Issue #65
• Scalextric Digital in MRRC GT Cars, Issue #66
2013:
• SCX Digital in Slot.it HRS/2 Chassis, Issue #67
• 9x16-foot Scalextric Digital Austin Formula
1 Track "Preview", Issue #67
• 9x16-foot Scalextric Digital Austin
Formula 1 Track, Issue #68
• Slot.it oXigen System for Scalextric Track, Issue #68
• Slot.it oXigen System Digital Chips for Any Car, Issue #69
• Five Digital Racing “Secrets”, Issue #70
• The Pros And Cons of Scalextric, SCX, Ninco,
Carrera and oXigen Digital systems, Issue #71
• Live Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for
Scalextric Digital, Issue #72
One of the settings displays the position of your car in the race, the total time of the
race, your most recent lap time, and the lap count and the positions of the other cars
in the race.
2014:
• Live-Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for
Carrera Digital 132, Issue #73
• Live-Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for
SCX & Ninco N-Digital, Issue #74
• Slot.it oXigen Digital Chips for Formula 1 cars, Issue #75
• Carrera Digital 132 single curved lane changers, Issue #76
• Action Pit Lanes for Scalextric Sport, Classic,
Model Car Racing 21
Tech Tips:
True-Running Tires
To true a plastic wheel, block the rear of the car about 1/8-inch off the track (here, with a wood ruler) and hold the car firmly in place so you can apply partial throttle. It is
essential that the car cannot move or you will be making the out-of-round problem even greater.
There are certainly some racing “secrets” among 1/32 scale racers. One of the
most important ones is the understanding that vibration is one factor that can
make any car slower than the rest. You seldom notice an out-of-round wheel or
a loose rear axle while driving, but that car will be spending a significant amount
of time with the tires not touching the track because vibration will produce
minuscule hops and skips---the tires have zero traction in the air so cornering
speed will be reduced even though it seems to you that the car is proceeding
smoothly around the corner. The first place to look to hunt-down vibration is to
start where the rubber meets the road. Be sure the tires/wheels are round. There
are some basic tune-up tips that are needed for every model race car on www.
modelcarracingmag.com under the “New to the hobby?” link. There are 13 tips
including tire mounting and truing. It will be difficult to achieve perfectly round
tires, however, if the wheels themselves are not perfectly round and running
true (without side to side wobble). Truing-up the plastic wheels on a car is easy
enough and, with perfectly round and true wheels, you will know that any remaining out-of-round or wobble is the fault of the tire. Given that, you can either
change to another tire or sand the tire. You will need to buy a file with mediumcut teeth and with all four edges perfectly flat with no taper in any direction.
22 Model Car Racing
Larger hardware stores and online shops will have a “cabinet maker’s file” (with
medium-cut tooth pattern on one face and on one side, a rough-cut pattern on
opposite side and one smooth side) for less than $20. It might be the best investment
you make in lowering your cars’ lap times. You will also need a wood ruler and a
small block of wood.
Use a flat mill file to remove the offending portions of the wheel. Support the file on
a block of wood so you can control its movement with some degree of precision. The
MOST IMPORTANT technique is to just barely touch the file to the spinning wheel.
The objective is to have the high spots on the wheel rub themselves away by hitting
the teeth of the file. The rib in the center of the wheel is the area that will most likely
be out of round because that is the point where the mold that made the wheel has
created a seam or ”flash”. Use the technique of lowering the file just enough so the
wheel touches the file to smooth the center of the rib.
Finally, position file over the areas of the wheel on either side of the rib and be sure
they are perfectly round.
Which leaves the front wheels and, honestly, there is no inexpensive way to be
certain they are as round as the rear wheels. You can use one of the $150-$250 tire
truing machines (like the Tire Razor from [email protected] or Hudy from www.
electricdreams.com or www.professormotor.com---in the January/February 2013
number 67 issue). However, just getting a perfectly round tire on the front will usually
be enough to keep the car cornering smoothly. On most cars, all you can do is check
the ribs on the front wheels to be sure there are no visible lumps by spinning the
wheels with your finger. Spin the front wheels (with the tires removed) while holding
a knife tip about 1/64-inch from the center of the ribs on the front wheels to see if
the distance between the knife tip and the rib is constant---so you can locate the
high spots, then gently file-away the high spots and recheck the wheels.
With the center of the rib perfectly round, you can then gently move the file to the sides
of the rib and, again, allow the wheel to touch the file to remove any high spots.
On some cars, you can fit the front tires temporarily on the rear wheels to sand them
round.
Model Car Racing 23
Vintage Racing
REVELL 1963 & 1965 CORVETTES
Revell produced replicas of both 1963 “Split Window” and 1965
Corvettes as kits, ready-to-run cars and complete body kits. It was
one of the most popular model car kits in the history of the hobby.
■■by Philippe deLespany
(His complete history of slot car racing ELECTRIC DREAMS, A HISTORY OF ELECTRIC
MODEL CAR RACING IN THE CLASSIC ERA OF THE 1960S is scheduled for publication
late in 2015.)
The models are part of Scott Bader’s collection at the Los Angeles Slot Car Museum (www.lascm.com). Rick Thigpen’s 1/32 scale Strombecker 1960 Porsche
RS60 was in the July/August 2014 number 76 issue and his 1962 BT7 Brabham
Grand Prix car was in the July/August 2011 number 58 issue, Bill Sipple’s Auto
Hobbies cars were in the November/December 2008 number 42 issue, the sixties
Revell 1/24 scale “Stockers” sedans were in the July/August 2009 number 46 issue,
Gene Wallingford’s incredible 1/32 scale Auto Hobbies Daytona Cobra coupe with
sidewinder chassis was in the November/December 2009 number 48 issue, the
racing box and 1/24 scale Porsche Carrera from the 1965 Russkit professional racing team were in the January/February number 49 issue, Gene Wallingford’s 1963
“Harvey Aluminum Special” Indy 500 car with a scratchbuilt brass sidewinder
chassis was in the May/June 2010 number 51 issue, Russell Sheldon’s 1/32 scale
Auto Hobbies 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe in the May/June 2012 number 63 issue
and the 1/24 scale Monogram 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster, the 1965 Monogram
330LM and Cox Lotus 40 were featured in the July/August 2012 number 64 issue,
the Revell 1/24 Lotus 24 GP in the September/October 1012 number 65 issue, Bill
Wessell’s 1/24 scale Merit Lotus 11 with Dynamic chassis in the November/December 012 number 66 issue and the 1/32 scale Strombecker 1964 Cobra Daytona
Coupe was in the July/August 2013 number 69 issue.
The first Revell Corvette kit was issued in 1964 (with the 1963 body molded in white plastic, Mabuchi FT16 original-issue endbell-side driven motor dubbed SP500 with the “rusty”
stack on the armature). The box’s bottom is made of cardboard and there is a cardboard inner tray supporting the body, the 4-piece ladder-style aluminum chassis, tires and motor. All
the other parts are in bags under the tray. Behind this kit at left is the 1965 re-issue of the kit now with a ‘65 Corvette body molded in blue, an improved motor (SP500) with a better
armature and the box’s bottom is now a molded styrene tray with compartments. On the right is the rare 1966 re-issue, now sporting an all-new 3-piece brass chassis and a new canside driven motor, the SP80. The outer body and other components remain the same but the cockpit and inner body are modified to bolt onto the new chassis. All are inline type.
24 Model Car Racing
The 1963 original and 1964 re-issue of the ‘63 Corvette body kits are exactly the same, both bodies molded in red. It is this body mold that was later sold to Bruce Printing, a
company in New Zealand, that issued complete kits and body kits using this body in their Lightning line.
The standard RTR “racing set” Corvette was first issued in late 1965, with the first
“Americana” set containing that car and a Ferrari GTO, and also sold separately in
small cardboard boxes. The motor is the earliest Mabuchi FT16 with “rusty” armature
stack and the wheels are aluminum with slotted setscrews. These also came with
different guides and a steel crown gear instead of the molded plastic example seen
here. Noisy! From the gear and motor’s color, this is a 1966 issue.
The last issue (1967) of the Revell ‘65 Corvette RTR model sold in racing sets and
also separately in at least three different packages. It has the “long” Mabuchi “R15”
motor as used on the 1962 Strombecker cars (before they switched to the Igarashi
motors for the rest of their life...) and also by BuzCo as the “Red Bomb”. The wheels
are molded push-on plastic, replacing the nice aluminum wheels used previously.
Both the Ferrari GTO and ‘65 Corvette bodies were offered as these RTR models.
Model Car Racing 25
Your Track
Randy Peterson’s 20 X 40-Foot
4-Lane Satan’s Turf Raceway
Randy Peterson’s Satan’s Turf Raceway is as large as
many commercial raceways but this one is designed for
scale model racecars and it is right in his basement.
Randy Peterson’s Stan’s Turf Raceway is as large as some commercial race tracks but he can race on this one any time.
If you had most of a basement available, what kind of race track would you
build? Randy Peterson had been racing since the seventies and, when he found
the space, he created a track that had everything, from a 27-foot long straight
to broad banked curves, esses and he built it out of wood, just like in the good
old days.
Most slot car race fans congregated at 8-lane commercial race tracks in the seventies. Few had space to have long straights and massive curves that were available by the hour at commercial tracks. Racing on a two-lane 3 x 6-foot figure 8
Revell or Strombecker or Monogram track just did not provide the same thrills
and action as on the commercial raceways. Many of the folks that raced on the
commercial tracks really wanted a track that big but they only needed four lanes,
and they wanted it to look as much as possible like a real race track. A few lucky
folks were able to have those massive tracks and Randy Peterson is one.
Carrera plastic track sections were used for the first two-lane Satan’s Turf but, for
a four-lane track, it made a lot more sense to use MDF board as a track surface
and to use a power router to cut the slots. In seventies, that’s how most of the
tracks were built, but with rougher particle board rather than smooth-surface of
today’s MDF panels. Randy built a supporting framework with 4 x 4 legs and 1 x
26 Model Car Racing
4 s placed on edge to form an egg-crate-like open grid that he then covered with
¼-inch plywood (like those on pages 38-42 of this issue) to support a two-lane
Carrera plastic track with nearly identical shape. With the wood track, however,
most of the curves were elevated and banked.
The MDF panels were laid on top of the table and in the areas where the track
would rise for an overpass, or be banked for a turn, the MDF was supported
by wedges of 1/4s placed on edge between the plywood tabletop and the MDF
board. The slot were cut with a power router guided by a trammel rod for the
curves and a 1 x 4 for the straights. The slots are spaced 4-inches apart to leave
room for even 1/24 scale NASCAR cars to race. Mike Sikierski helped build track
The track is surrounded by rolling hills, which were shaped with Woodland Scenics Plaster Cloth, painted with latex wall paint and textured with ground foam
glued tight with a flood of white glue and water. The trees and bushes are Woodland Scenics and other brands sold by model railroaded shops.
Satan's Turf is host to several of the Chicago area model car racing clubs including the JYD Racing group (www.toys4slots.com) and the Great Lakes Slot Car
Club (www.greatlakesscc.com). Most of the races are for specific 1/32 classes in-
cluding Formula 1, LeMans, Trans-Am and NASCAR but there are also regular
races for 1/24 scale cars including BRM and ScaleAuto ready-to-runs as well as
occasional retro car events.
The drive-in restaurant complex is from MDK. The hills and scenery textures are
model railroad products.
The track surface is MDF board with the slots cut with a power router. Electrical
pickup is provided by copper tape. Flexible plastic baseboard strips are placed on
both sides of track to keep the cars from spinning off the tabletop.
The four lane track has a variety of medium and large-radius curves, with no two
corners alike, to challenge the drivers’ skills. This ess bend includes the two tightest
turns on the track, about the size of a Carrera R1 and R2 pair but, with a wood track,
the transitions in and out of the curves are smooth parabolas.
The timing tower complex was built from sheets of 1/8-inch thick Masonite board
with bass wood strips for the window frames and trim. The pit buildings are Carrera.
The track is illuminated for night racing with model railroad light standards along the edges and three tall Lionel floodlight towers.
Model Car Racing 27
Track Test Shoot-out:
Slotwings vs. Sideways
1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
The Slotwings division of Flyslot 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM and
the Sideways version of the 512BB LM appear to be identical
cars. The chassis beneath them, however, are completely
different. Here’s how the two Ferraris (and similar cars from
both Slotwings and Sideways) perform back-to-back.
The Slotwings and Sideways models are replicas of the 1979 and 1980 Ferrari 512BB LM cars so it is just “natural” to want to see how the models run back-to-back.
■■Track Tests by Marc Purdham
Out-of-the-box the Slotwings Ferrari is no match for the Sideways car because
the Slotwings car is fitted with the Avant Slot motor with extremely strong
magnets, but, even with the motor’s unusual downforce, it does not provide the
traction-increasing force that the separate magnet in the Sideways car provides.
To be competitive, the Slotwings car really needs a second magnet. When the
magnets are removed from both cars, however, the Slotwings Ferrari is just as
quick as the Sideways Ferrari on either the rougher Scalextric Sport “Indy F1”
test track or the smoother-surface of the Carrera track. However, most model
car racing clubs would consider the “mag” motor in he Sideways Ferrari to be, in
effect, a downforce magnet (which it is). Your club will have to decide whether
the two cars really are in the magnet-free class….
To be fair, the Slotwings car has a much simpler chassis and is significantly lower-priced than the Sideways car. The Sideways car, however, has a separate motor
pod with Slot.it components and set-screw-mount rear wheels and gears so you
28 Model Car Racing
can “tune” the car as described in the “6-Screw Hop-Up” in the number 69 issue
(which is also on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Sample Issues”). Conversely, the simple one-piece chassis in Slotwings car is less confusing to “tune”
and, on some tracks, the sidewinder motor performs better.
½½ Previous Articles:
•Flyslot/Slotwings Ferrari 512BB Out-of-the-box Track Test the May/June 2014
number 75 issue
•Flyslot/Slotwings Ferrari 512BB Out-of-the-box Track Test the July/August
2014 number 76 issue
•Flyslot/Slotwings (with Avant Slot “mag” motor) Ferrari 512BB Out-of-thebox Track Test the May/June 2014 number 81 issue
•Flyslot/Slotwings (with Avant Slot “mag” motor) Ferrari 512BB Magnet-free
Track Test the July/August 2014 number 82 issue
•Sideways 1979 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Turbo Group 5 (with a chassis and
dimensions that are nearly identical to the Sideways Ferrari 512BB LM) in the
March/April 2013 number 68 issue
•Sideways 1979 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Group 5 (with a chassis and dimensions that are nearly identical to the Sideways Ferrari 512BB LM) in the
July/August 2013 number 70 issue
•Sideways Ferrari 512BB (no track test---information on the full-size car) in the
July/August 2014 number 76 issue.
Slotwings (Flyslot)
vs.
Sideways 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM:
SPEC SHEET
The Dimensions of
the Slotwing Model
The Dimensions of
the Sideways Model
Tires, Front:
9.6 x 18.2 mm
8.8 x 18.4 mm
Tires, Rear:
12.8 x 19.6 mm
9.3 x 19.8 mm
Weight:
80 grams (2 3/4 oz.)
82 grams (3 oz.)
30 grams (1 oz.)
27 grams (1 oz.)
50 grams (1 3/4 oz.)
55 grams (2 oz.)
Front magnet
42 grams (1 1/2 oz.)
NA
Rear Magnet
45 grams (1 5/8 oz.)
100 grams (3 1/2 oz.)
Front magnet
55 grams (2 oz.)
NA
Rear Magnet
85 grams (3 oz.)
130 grams (4 1/2 oz.)
Ground Clearance (on Carrera):
1.1 mm (.045 in.)
9 mm (.035 in.)
Ground Clearance (on Scalextric):
1.0 mm (.040 in.)
8 mm (.030 in.)
100.0 mm (43.94 in.)
105.1 mm (4.14 in.)
Gear Ratio:
2.62:1 (13/34)
3.18:1 (11/35)
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Slotwings 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
4.42 sec.
4.35 sec.
Sideways (by Racer) 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
3.61 sec.
3.82 sec.
* Note: times are for the Racer “Sideways” 1979 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Group
5 (with a chassis and dimensions that are nearly identical to the Sideways Ferrari
512BB LM) in the March/April 2013 number 68 issue
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Slotwings 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
4.89 sec.
4.77 sec.
Sideways (by Racer) 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
4.95 sec.
4.61 sec..
** Note: times are for the Racer “Sideways” 1979 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo
Group 5 (with a chassis and dimensions that are nearly identical to the Sideways
Ferrari 512BB LM) in the July/August 2013 number 70 issue
Magnetic Downforce (on Carrera):
Magnetic Downforce (on Scalextric):
The Racer “Sideways” series of Group 5 cars (left) are all fitted with the Slot.it
anglewinder motor pod, motor and gears, with aluminum set-screw-mount rear
wheels.
The Slotwings Ferrari 512BB (right) has a 25,000 rpm SP-size “mag” motor from
Avant Slot mounted as a sidewinder.
Model Car Racing 29
30 Model Car Racing
Nick Faure, Steve O'Rourke, Bernard de Dryver and Jean Beurlys drove this Ferrari 512 BB LM
to 12th place at LeMans in 1979---LAT Photo
Model Car Racing 31
Muscle Cars:
Scalextric 1970 Dodge Challenger
Scalextric has shipped the “street” version of the 1970 Dodge Challenger
“muscle car”. The cars that Dodge had built to race in the Trans-Am
series in 1970 were based on this car so it is no surprise that the
two are nearly identical. The Trans-Am version of the Scalextric 1970
Dodge Challenger is the March/April 2014 number 74 issue. Scalextric
has used the same body, including the interior with rollcage and
the lip on the rear deck, for the street version. However, the street
version has “steel” wheels in place of the Trans-Am car’s Minilites
and the driver is in street clothes. Neither model is dead accurate
because there were some additional modifications on the Trans-Am
bodies and the hood scoop really belongs on 400-plus cubic inch V8
of the street car---the Trans-Am rules limited displacement to 302
cubic inches. However, they do make credible 1/32 scale race cars.
■■by Albin Burroughs
The chassis is the same in both versions so the street version should run as well
as the Trans-Am car we Race Track Tests in the number 74 issue. There’s a single
downforce magnet that can be positioned in any of three slots in the chassis. The
removable trap door in the bottom of the chassis allows a quick conversion to
Digital with a Scalextric Digital C8515 Easyfit Plug. If you want to run the car
without downforce magnets you will want to replace the stock rear tires with
silicone or urethane tires like the number 1102 Super Tires silicones or urethane
Yellow Dogs that have more grip.
There are three locations for the single bar magnet in the sidewinder chassis.
32 Model Car Racing
Scalextric 1970 Dodge Challenger
The Prototype (the
The size the model
real car):
SPEC SHEET
Length:
191.3 in.
151.8 mm (5.98 in.)
148.6 mm (5.85 in.)
Width:
76.1 in.
61.9 mm (2.38 in.)
61.0 mm (2.41 in.)
Height:
50.6 in.
40.1 mm (1.58 in.)
40.4 mm (1.59 in.)
Wheelbase
110.0 in.
87.3 mm (3.44 in.)
88.7 mm (3.49 in.)
Track, Front:
NA
NA
5.02 in. (127.4 mm)
Track, Rear:
NA
NA
5.02 in. (127.4 mm)
Tires, Front:
NA
NA
5.4 x 24.6 mm
Tires, Rear:
NA
NA
5.4 x 24.6 mm
Weight:
3,801 lbs.
NA
87 grams (3 oz.)
32 grams (1 1/8 oz.)
53 grams (1 7/8 oz.)
85 grams (3 oz.)
140 grams (5 oz.)
1.2 mm (.050 in.)
1.1 mm (.045 in.)
97.9 mm (3.86 in.)
Gear Ratio:
3.27:1 (11/36)
The Challenger has an SP-size can motor mounted as a sidewinder.
Source: Dimensions are for the “street” 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A www.supercars.net
/
The front spoiler, the wheels and driver are the only major differences between the
Scalextric Trans-Am version of the Dodge Challenger and the street “muscle car”
version.
Model Car Racing 33
Le Mans:
Slot.it is expanding their series of Group C LeMans GTP cars
to include replicas of the 1989 Nissan R89C racers.
When Nissan elected to compete in the World Championship, including
LeMans, they wisely chose an experienced race car builder, Lola, to produce their Group C 89C. Lola had built previous Group C racers for Nissan. The car was very similar to the proven Jaguar XJR9 but with a Nissan’s
3.5 liter turbo V8 that produced an “easy” 800 horsepower and could be
pushed to deliver 1,000.
The Prototype (the
The size the model
real car):
Nissan Motorsport entered three of the new R89Cs in the 1989 Le Mans
race plus an earlier 88C. The R88C and one of the R89C cars lasted about
16 laps, the other two blew earlier. The R89C cars did manage third place
finishes at Donnington and Spa but they were no match for the Porsches
and Jaguars.
½½ Slot.it 1/32 Scale Group C Cars
SPEC SHEET
Length:
148.5 in.
4.64 in.
4.81 in. (122.2 mm)
Width:
68.0 in.
2.13 in.
2.11 in. (53.5 mm)
Height:
NA
NA
1.35 in. (34.2 mm)
Wheelbase
100.0 in.
3.13 in.
3.13 in. (79.4 mm)
Track, Front:
56.4 in.
1.76 in.
1.85 in. (47.0 mm)
Track, Rear:
59.1 in.
1.85 in.
1.66 in. (42.0 mm)
Tires, Front:
6.00-16
4.7 x 22.2 mm
7.0 x 20.1 mm
Tires, Rear:
6.00-16
4.7 x 22.2 mm
7.0 x 20.1 mm
The R89C joins the Slot.it recreations of the Sauber Mercedes C9 (that won
LeMans in 1989), Porsche 962C, Jaguar XJR9 and Toyota T89C that competed in 1989 as well as the 1991 Jaguar XJR12 and Mazda 787B and the
1988 Lancia LC2. All have essentially the same chassis with a four-screwmount motor pod, inline-mounted SP motor, gears, and rear wheels to
make the Group C racing class a popular choice among model car racers.
Weight:
2,400 lbs.
NA
78 grams (2 3/8 oz.)
The Slot.it model is decorated to recreate the Nissan R89C that raced at
1989 Le Mans in 1989 sponsored by Calsonic and driven by Keichi Suzuki,
Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuhoshi Hoshino. The car dropped out in the
tenth hour with a blown engine. 1989 was year that the LeMans race was
won by the Sauber-Mercedes C9 and Slot.it has made that car.
35 grams (1 1/4 oz.)
42 grams (1 1/2 oz.)
NA
NA
1.9 mm (.075 in.)
1.8 mm (.070 in.)
85.6 mm (3.37 in.)
Gear Ratio:
3.00:1 (9/27)
SOURCE: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com and Note; Dimensions are for the NPT-90 Nissan that
raced in the IMSA GTP class from GTP RACE CARS, THE PROTOTYPE EXPERIENCE, by J. S. Martin and
Michael J. Fuller, 258-pages, most color, published by Motorbooks 2008, ISBN 978-0-7603-3069-2
34 Model Car Racing
½½ How Fast With Downforce Magnet?
The Slot.it 1985 Nissan R89C has virtually the same chassis with an inline
SP motor, gearing, weight and size as the Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 ’98,
so the Nissan should match the performance of the Porsche that was Race
Track Tested “out-of-the-box” (with the downforce magnet in place and
the stock rear tires) in the November/December 2013 number 72 issue. The
lap times and other test results for all of the track tests in the first 78 issues
are available on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “More Information”,
then click on the link “Race Car Tests”.
½½ How Fast Magnet-Free
(with silicone rear tires)?
The Slot.it 1985 Nissan R89C has virtually the same chassis, with an inline SP motor,
gearing, weight and size, as the Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 ‘98 so the Nissan
should match the performance of the Porsche that was Race Track Tested Race Track
Tested “Magnet-free” (with the downforce magnet removed and silicone rear tires) in
the January/February 2014 number 73 issue.
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1-98 (inline motor)
3.26 sec..
3.28 sec..
Fly “Evo 3” 1998 Porsche 911 GT1/98
3.24 sec..
3.52 sec..
Racer “Sideways” 1979 Lancia Beta
Montecarlo Turbo Group 5
3.61 sec..
3.82 sec..
NSR 2010 Porsche 997 GT3
3.80 sec..
3.63 sec..
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1-98 (inline motor)
4.52 sec..
4.26 sec..
Fly “Evo 3” 1998 Porsche 911 GT1/98
4.09 sec..
4.25 sec..
Racer “Sideways” 1979 Lancia Beta
Montecarlo Turbo Group 5
5.01 sec..
4.62 sec..
NSR 2010 Porsche 997 GT3
5.17 sec..
4.62 sec..
Flyslot “Alpha” 1970 Ferrari 512S
5.52 sec..
5.02 sec..
Carrera 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2
4.96 sec..
4.78 sec..
Flyslot “Alpha” 1970 Ferrari 512S
4.14 sec..
3.90 sec..
4.55 sec..
5.56 sec..
Carrera 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2
4.13 sec..
3.93 sec..
SCX 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT-3
5.38 sec..
4.96 sec..
4.02 sec..
4.63 sec..
NINCO ProRace 2005 Toyota Supra JGTC
3.81 sec..
3.74 sec..
SCX 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT-3
3.61 sec..
3.85 sec..
NINCO ProRace 2005 Toyota Supra JGTC
3.81 sec..
3.74 sec..
NOTES: The lap times and other test results for all of the track tests in the first 78 issues are available
on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Model Resources”, then click on the link “Race Car Test
Results”. We performed a full Model Car Racing Track Test on the Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 ’98
in the November/December 2014 number 72 issue, on the Fly “Evo 3” 1998 Porsche 911 GT1/98
in the March/April 2006 number 26 issue, on the Racer “Sideways” 1979 Lancia Beta Montecarlo
Turbo Group 5 in the March/April 2013 number 68 issue, on the NSR 2010 Porsche 997 GT3 in the
September/October 2012 issue, on the Flyslot “Alpha” 1970 Ferrari 512S in the September/October
2012 number 65 issue, on the Carrera 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 in the July/August 2012 number
64 issue, on the Scalextric 2010 Corvette C6R GT2 in the March/April 2012 number 62 issue, in the
SCX 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the March/April 2012 number 62 issue, the Carrera 2009
Morgan Aeromax in the January/February 2008 number 48 issue, the SCX Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
GT-3 in the March/April 2012 number 62 issue and the NINCO ProRace anglewinder 2005 Toyota
JGTC Supra in the March/April 2006 number 26 issue.
The Slot.it 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 ’98 was Race Track Tested in the January/
February 2014 number 73 issue, the Avant Slot 1975 Mirage G8 in the My/June
2015 number 81 issue, the Racer “Sideways” 1978 Porsche 935/78 in the July/
August 2013 number 70 issue, the Sloting Plus 2003 Reynard 2KQ LM and Scaleauto
2008 Radical SR9 in the March/April 2011 number 56 issue, the Ninco Lamborghini
Gallardo with 2.38:1 gearing in the September/October 2010 number 53 issue, the
Scalextric Cadillac Northstar LeMans LMP in the May/June 2006 number 27 issue
and the SCX Audi R8 PRO in the July/August 2007 number 34 issue.
Model Car Racing 35
The inline motor pods in the Slot.it Group C chassis provide mounting positions for a
downforce magnet in front of and behind the motor.
The Slot.it Nissan has the inline motor pod with an SP motor that is the standard
setup on their Group C and classic LeMans cars.
36 Model Car Racing
HO Drag Racing
Auto World NHRA Funny Cars
The Auto World series of HO drag racers includes five
different Funny Car bodies in about two dozen accurate paint
schemes. These are the latest releases in the series.
■■by Bill Wright
The cars are powered by Auto World’s 4Gear chassis with dragster-inspired
wheels and tires. The cars are designed to race on any brand of HO track but the
Auto World Start Line Christmas Tree will provide the starting line and finish
line action. A photo sensor in each lane triggers the lights, so the first car across
gets the “Win” light for that lane. The Start Line Christmas Tree is available in
several sets or as separate accessory.
This Auto World HO model is a replica of the Trojan Horse machine, a world champion
funny car owned by Larry Fullerton in the late sixties and seventies. He drove the car
to win the 1972 NHRA world championship, setting a then world record.
The Auto World 4Gear White Bear Dodge 1971 Dodge Charger Funny Car Is a
replica of one of the four cars that Tom Hoover drove with the “White Bear Dodge”
sponsorship in 1973 and 1974.
The Jeg Coughlin 1970 Camaro Funny Car is also powered with Auto World 4Gear
chassis. The car is a replica of the machine that was powered by a JEGS-built
Chrysler 426 Hemi on a Logghe brother chassis. The car was the 1972 national A/FC
record holder with an elapsed time of 7.53 seconds at 190.67 mph.
The full-size Fighting Irish 1971 Camaro was powered by a 426 cubic inch tunnel
port Mopar Hemi. Dick Rosberg piloted the car to a 6.90 second quarter mile at 206
mph at the 1971 at the New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.
Model Car Racing 37
Home Racing
Build Your Own Race Track
Part 1. The Table
You can have your very own racetrack. There are a number of choices,
ranging from snapping plastic track together on the floor to using your
carpentry skills to build a track as rugged and realistic as those that
SlotMods offers for $20,000 and up. This series will take you all the way
though the process, beginning, here, with your choices for lifting the track
from the floor to a tabletop…. In this and future issues, we’ll show you how
to build the table (for plastic or wood tracks), how to route the slots in a
wood track , how to add realistic scenery, and how to race on the track.
This series of articles on how build your own race track will show you all the significant steps to creating a replica of Albert Hetzel’s 4 x 19-foot three-lane Suzuka Track. Most
of these photos were originally published in the MODEL ROAD RACING HANDBOOK in 1967 but the only significant change is that the model car race track builder can now use
MDF board rather than particle board for the track surface on wood tracks.
For many model car racers the ultimate race track is one where the track surface is painted MDF board with the slots cut with a power router and electrical
pickup from two strips of copper tape. It’s been like that for over 50 years. Today,
however, the four major brands of sectional plastic track offer enough sizes and
the option of adding skid aprons on the outside edges of the track so you can
snap-together a track that is every bit as “good” as the ones you build yourself
with MDF board.
½½ The Table for Tabletop Racing
If you like to work with wood, I would encourage you to build your own track.
The task is not as difficult as building a patio deck and, although the track will
38 Model Car Racing
look finished, you really do not need the skills of a cabinet maker or finish-carpenter. Even if you do want to use plastic track, you may want to build the table
to support the track. There is another option; portable tables, like 5 x 9-foot
ping-pong tables and conference tables in a variety of sizes that will be perfect
supports for a model car race track and you can combine two, three or more tables of any size as we suggest with most of “Real Race Tack” plans on thee pages.
I have a personal fear of my model car racing track becoming an albatross, a
burden rather than joy. I have built a half-dozen permanent wood tracks and
they are great but, within a dozen months or so, I wanted something different
and I was not willing to tear that routed-wood track down to start over. If I had
just stopped at building the tables, I could have used plastic track and changed
Luf Linkert has built hundreds of tracks from MDF board and he sells a special tool to make it easy to guide a the router and he also offers an excellent instructional video. This
is the "village" end of his Targa Florio 8 x 20-foot track.
the track configuration every month. Indeed, I have found that the tracks I do
assemble from plastic sections actually stay in use for several years---the Carrera
version of Laguna Seca that I currently have has been pleasing me spectacularly
for a half-dozen years, and I have not found any reason to disassemble it. It’s just
the idea that I am not “stuck” with just one track that seems to make it more
comfortable in my mind.
½½ Why Wood?
The Limitations of Plastic Track
In the sixties and seventies most experienced model car racers opted to build
their own track using particle board and a power router. In that period, however,
there was usually only a choice of one or two turn sizes. Today, there’s a choice of
four different curve sizes from any of the four manufacturers. What you cannot
get in plastic, though, is a three-lane track. Typically, four-lane tracks provides
maximum amount of racing but nearly all of them are limited by the large differences between the inner and outer lanes. The accepted racing program provides
every driver race an equal amount of time on every lane. It would be nice if every
lane was as fast as the next but, even with precisely-equal lane lengths, there is
almost always one lane that is faster than other three. More often, the two inner
lanes are the quickest and they may be nearly equal in allowing the lowest possible lap times. The two outer lanes, however, have both the tightest curves and
the longest (a well as the broadest) so the best racing, with side-by-side competition, is usually only in the two middle lanes of a four-lane track. Three lanes
reduces the differences in lane lengths and tight and board curves to allow much
closer racing in all three lanes. And, three lanes only require about a foot or so
more space than two. ½½ Build A Tabletop
Model railroaders have perfected the concepts of benchwork and scenery over
a hundred years of layout building. Model car racers want similar tables but,
perhaps, a bit more rugged to withstand the enthusiasm that racing creates. For
most racers, a flat tabletop is enough. If you are building our own, however,
you can also include uphill and downhill in places other than the toy-like figure
8 overpass. Whether you choose plastic track or to route the slots in an MDF
tabletop, you still need the table.
If you are building a table larger than bout 4 x 8-feet, I would recommend that
you build in sections (again, a lesson from model railroaders). A 4 x 16-foot
track, for example, can be built on two separate 4 x 8-foot tables. The abutting
ends can be joined with carriage bolt, fender washers and nuts. If you have space
for, say a 16 x 12-foot L-shaped track you may want have three 4 x 8-foot tables;
two joined end-to-end for the 16-foot length with the “L” a third 4 x 8-footer
bolted to the side of first two.
When you are planning your track remember that there must be space for corner marshals around the outside of table to replace the cars. If the tabletop is
30-inches high (the most common---dining tables are about that height). You
can reach as far as 4-feet, but 3-feet is a more practical range. That means that
your table should not be any wider than 6-feet and that there needs to be an aisle
bout 3-feet wide on both sides of the table. The plans that are in each issue of
Model Car Racing suggest how each track can be located, and the space required
for corner marshals.
Model railroaders refer to the tabletop supports as “open grid benchwork” but
it is almost exactly like the supports for an outdoor patio deck with smaller and
lighter wood sizes. The “grid” provides support so the MDF tabletop will not sag.
The grid also provides places where you can attach vertical supports to elevate
parts of track above the tabletop. The late Albert Hetzel’s 4 x 16-foot three-lane
version of the Suzuka track is an example of the use of the best model race track
building techniques. The steps and photos are of those he used to build the track
while I supplied advise, beer and film for my photos.
If you are going route the slots for a track in the MDF board tabletop you must
design the track first. You can do that right on the MDF board using a yardstick
as a compass. You will want to be sure that the track has the smoothest possible
entrances and exists at the curves and at least a 6-inch wide shoulder (called borders or shoulders for plastic track) around the outside of the slot. We’ll explain
more about locating slots in the next issue but that track design is really the first
step. Obviously, if you are only using the MDF tabletop to support plastic track
you need not worry about the track diagram.
The Bill Of Materials is just a place to start to give you an idea of what is needed
to build the open grid supports for a tabletop. To make it as simple as possible,
this one is for just a single 4 x 8-foot table. If you are building a 5 x 9-foot table or
a 2 x 7-foot table you would need to adjust the lengths to match. The legs should
be placed about every 6-feet which means you need six to adequately support
a 5 x 9 -foot table. Assemble all of the joints with 1 1/2-inch flat-head Phillips
woodscrews and buy a pilot bit to match the woodscrews so you can pre-drill
each hole. You can probably use an electric screwdriver but I prefer a mechanical
"Yankee" screwdriver that drives the screws as you push down on the handle.
Model Car Racing 39
Raymond Neubauer’s three-lane “wood” track is a massive 42-feet long with a 94-foot lap length. It was featured in the number 32 issue.
You do not need to build your own table, even for a track routed from ½-inch MDF board. Ping-pong tables are a
reasonable 5 x 9- foot size that can fit in almost any room or you can combine two or three for a massive track.
This type of ping-pong table is designed to fold up onto its own 2 x 5-foot platform with casters to make it easy to
move.
I routed this 4 x 8-foot “So-Cal Raceway” in ½-inch
particle board for my pre-teen children and installed
an HO model railroad on the backside. It could be used
on the floor or supported on a couple of card tables.
40 Model Car Racing
Tech Tips��
Build A Model Car Racing Table
If you make an accurate sketch you can pre-cut most
of the wood for the tabletop.
The open-grid benchwork for the So-Cal Raceway 4 x 8-foot track.
Model Car Racing 41
The open-grid benchwork for the Paramount Ranch track that was in the SLOT CAR BIBLE (the plan will also be in
the next issue). The benchwork (and the track surface) is divided into four individual tables (A through D) so track
can be disassembled and moved. None of tables are larger than 4 x 8-feet so you can move them out the door.
The plan for the benchwork for the Paramount Ranch Track will give you an idea of how to design the open-grid
benchwork.
Use number 8 x 1 1/2-inch Phillips flat-head screws to
assemble the open grid benchwork and the tabletop.
Drill a pilot hole for each screw and install the screws
with a Yankee screwdriver (shown) or an electric
screwdriver.
The legs can be 1 x 4s, attached to the benchwork
with 1/4-inch carriage bolts, fender washers and nuts
so they can be removed and/or raised or lowered.
42 Model Car Racing
A table for model car racing must be rugged enough
to not collapse under the enthusiastic lurches for
deslotted cars. The supporting legs should be placed
between 3 and 5-feet apart (which means six legs for
this 4 x 8-foot table).
The open-grid benchwork for the Suzuka track is
higher along the far end and at the rear of the track to
support the elevated main straight-away.
If you are going cut slots for the track with a power
router, draw the entire track plan on the tabletop, just
as you see it in the plans. Mark the curve centers if
you are going use a trammel guide the router around
curves. Drive a nail in one end of a yardstick and use
that as a compass or trammel to mark curves on
surface of MDF board. A similar rod trammel will be
used guide router around curves with a piece of 1 x 4
to guide the router down the straights.
Luf Linkert sells an excellent flexible Lexan strip tool
that can be used in place of a trammel to guide the
router around curves. The “jig” is nailed temporarily
to the tabletop half the width of the power router from
the slot. The jig then guides the router as it cuts. When
designing a track, however, you can use the jig to locate
the center of the outer slot, then a compass to mark the
outer edges of the skid apron or border 6-inches from
that slot. The black line is what you get with a compass
and straight edge, the red and green lines show the
transitions you can get using the Lexan strip.
Attach the tabletop and cut all the outer edges and
realign any marks for the slots so the slots will flow
smoothly when they are cut into MDF surface.
Sedan Racing
Ninco 2014 Seat Leon Cup Racer
Ninco is producing replicas of some of the most powerful front wheel drive
cars, the Seat Leon Cup Racers. The models have a new rear wheel drive
chassis that encloses the motor and gears in a rigid unit to help control
torque and dampen vibrations. The model arrived too late for a full Race
Track Test but we will work it over and report the results in the next issue.
Seat is not a brand familiar to Americans. However, Seat is a popular brand in
Europe, particularly in it’s home country Spain. Seat is part of the Volkswagen
Group that includes VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Bentley. The Seat Leon is
their competitor to the Honda Civic series, with two-door, four-door and station wagons and compact SUVs. The Seat Leon Cup Racer is a highly-modified
four-door, built to compete in the Eurocup championship, a series designed exclusively for modified Seat four-door sedans.
The Leon Cup Racers look every bit the all-out competition machines, with wide
front and rear fender flares and rear wings. The cars are quick, the 330 horsepower turbo-charged two-liter engine only has to propel 1,150 kg (about 2,500
pounds). Most compact sedans that compete in similar series and World Rally
Cup cars have front wheel drive configurations but the power is also transmitted to the rear wheels with adjustable proportioning devices so any of the four
wheels can receive the power. With these Seat Leon cars, all that power is rationed between just the two front tires, so they are some of the most powerful
front wheel drive sedans ever produced.
½½ The Ninco 1/32 Scale Seat
Leon Cup Racer
The Ninco model is the first all-new design in nearly a decade. The chassis is
a box that cannot help but be referred to as a “brick” but it deserves more…
A molded plastic box about the size of an eyeglass case houses the motor and
provides a rigid mount for both axles and the guide. In effect, it is similar to the
monocoque chassis that began with the full-size 1963 Lotus 25 Formula 1 cars
and that is now common on nearly all production cars. The chassis has four
sockets on the sides to accept pegs that are molded inside the body. The pegs are
slightly oversize to allow the body to rattle or tilt slightly to absorb vibrations---if
you want a tight body fit, buy some small o-rings from a hardware store to fit
tightly over the body-mounting pegs. The Ninco 1/32 scale Seat Leon Cup Racer
chassis is fitted with the NC-5 "Speeder" 20,000 rpm motor mounted inline with
a 9-tooth pinion and 27-tooth crown or contrate gear for a 3.00:1 gear ratio.
Because the chassis is so rigid, the body can be lighter and thinner than on cars
that rely on a hefty body to help reinforce the chassis. The Ninco Seat Leon Cup
Racer bodies are very thin, flexible and light. The first two decorated cars are
replicas of the number 25 Seat Leon Cup Racer sponsored by KH-7 which participated in the 24 Hours of Barcelona 2014 and was first in its category and
the number 54 Pujolar racing team Leon Cup Racer that was driven in the first
rounds of the championship by the Danish pilot Thomas Fjordbach.
½½ How Fast ?
The Ninco Seat Leon Cup Racer arrived too late for us to perform a full Race
Track Test but we will run the car through the tests and report the results in the
next issue. However, the car has essentially the same motor, gear ratio, size and
weight as many Ninco cars so we would expect the Seat Leon to perform about
Model Car Racing 43
as well as the 2008 Acura ARX 01b that was Race Track Tested with the downforce magnet in place and without the downforce magnet in the January/February 2009 number 43 issue. The lap times and other test results for all of the track
tests in the first 78 issues are available on the website under “More Information”,
then click on the link “Race Car Tests”.
How Fast with
Downforce Magnet?
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Lap Times: Ninco 2014 Seat Leon Cup Racer
4.84 sec..
4.39 sec..
How Fast Magnet Free?
(with silicone rear tires)
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Lap Times: Ninco 2014 Seat Leon Cup Racer
4.96 sec..
4.56 sec..
Ninco 2014 Seat Leon Cup Racer
The Prototype (the
The size the model
real car):
should be in 1/32 scale: Ninco model:
SPEC SHEET
Length:
4,363 mm
5.37 in. (136.3 mm)
5.37 in. (136.3 mm)
Width:
1,950 mm
2.40 in. (60.9 mm)
2.40 in. (60.9 mm)
Height:
NA
NA
1.68 in. (42.6 mm)
Wheelbase
2,666 mm
3.28 in. (83.3 mm)
3.28 in. (83.3 mm)
Track, Front:
NA
NA
2.02 in. (51.3 mm)
Track, Rear:
NA
NA
1.87 in. (47.5 mm)
Tires, Front:
NA
NA
9.4 x 19.9 mm
Tires, Rear:
NA
NA
11.0 x 21.4 mm
Weight:
1,150 kg.
NA
85 grams (3 oz.)
32 grams (1 1/8 oz.)
53 grams (1 7/8 oz.)
58 grams (2 oz.)
90 grams (3 1/4 oz.)
1.7 mm (.070 in.)
1.6 mm (.065 in.)
97.8 mm (3.85 in.)
Gear Ratio:
3.00:1 (9/27)
A single screw holds the top and bottom halves of the chassis pod together. Remove
the screw.
SOURCE: www.seat-sport.com
The new Ninco chassis is about the size of an eyeglass case and it fully encloses the
motor, axles and guide in a rigid unit.
44 Model Car Racing
With the single screw removed you can pry-out the two side tabs and the rear tab to
remove the top half of the chassis pod.
The NC-5 motor is mounted inline with same gear ratio as the Ninco 1-Series cars so
it’s performance should be similar to the previous Ninco cars with these components
To remove the body, simply pry one side body out to disengage the two sockets from
the posts. Slide the body sideways to disengage the other two posts.
Model Car Racing 45
Track Test:
Race-Tune Your Race Car:
Slotwings/Avant 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM
The Slotwings division of Flyslot has a new series of high-performance
cars that are fitted with 25,000 rpm Avant Slot "mag" motors. The
Ferrari 512BB LM is one of the cars that are available in the new series.
■■Track Test by Marc Purdham
We performed a full Race Track Test on the car with the stock front magnet,
tires, wheels and gears in the May/June 2015 number 81 issue. The magnets in
the motor are so strong that they try to stop the wheels from turning so do not
attempt to spin the motor by rotating the rear wheels by hand or you may strip
the gear from the axle. We recommend that you replace the rear axle with Slot.it
components, however, the stock gears and wheels lasted through over 100 laps of
testing so, if you are careful, the stock components may last for dozens of races.
This is not, in fact, a test of a car without the downforce magnet because the motor itself products more magnetic downforce than most auxiliary magnets. We
did, however, remove the front magnet and fit silicone tires. The car was really
not significantly slower than it was with the front magnet in place. The silicone
tires did, however, result in a noticeable improvement in lap times. This is not a
car that you can run in a magnet-free class unless you are racing on a wood track
with copper or nickel silver pickup tape or non-magnetic braid.
There’s a full race track test on the out-of-the-box Slotwings 1982 Ferrari 512BB
46 Model Car Racing
LM in the May/June 2014 number 75 issue with more information on the fullsize car. There’s a full race track test on the same car without the downforce magnets (and with Super Tires silicones) in the July/August 2014 number 76 issue.
½½ Downforce: Magnets vs. Motors:
Slotwings Ferrari 512BB
with Avant Motor:
Magnetic Downforce (on Carrera)
Front magnet
42 grams (1 1/2 oz.)
Rear Magnet
45 grams (1 5/8 oz.)
Magnetic Downforce (on Scalextric)
Front magnet
55 grams (2 oz.)
Rear Magnet
85 grams (3 oz.)
Slotwings Ferrari 512BB Stock
(no measurable motor magnet downforce):
Magnetic Downforce (on Carrera):
Front magnet
60 grams (2 ¼ oz.)
Rear Magnet
70 grams (2 1/2 oz.)
Magnetic Downforce (on Scalextric):
Front magnet
70 grams (2 1/2 oz.)
Rear Magnet
125 grams (4 3/8 oz.)
36-foot Scalextric
Indy F1 Course:
36-foot Carrera
Indy F1 Course:
Flyslot/Avant 1972 Ferrari 512BB LM
4.95 sec..
4.72 sec..
Slotwings (Flyslot) 1972 Ferrari 512BB LM
4.89 sec..
4.77 sec..
Flyslot 1970 Ferrari 512S
5.22 sec..
4.97 sec..
Slot.it “Reloaded” 1999 Audi R8C
5.22 sec..
4.34 sec..
Sloting Plus 2003 Reynard 2KQ LM
5.17 sec..
4.62 sec..
ScaleAuto 2008 Radical SR9
5.52 sec..
5.02 sec..
NINCO 2007 Honda NSX Super GT with NC-6
motor and Slot.it 3.60:1 gears
5.52 sec..
4.26 sec..
Fly 1996 Ferrari F40
5.83 sec..
5.56 sec..
Avant Slot 2006 Audi R10 TDI LeMans
5.24 sec..
5.27 sec..
SCX Audi R8 PRO LeMans
5.38 sec..
4.96 sec..
NOTES: The lap times and other test results for all of the track tests in the first 78 issues
are available on the website under “Model Resources”, then click on the link “Race Car
Test Results”. The Flyslot 1972 Ferrari 512BB was Race Track Tested in the July/August
2014 number 76 issue, the Flyslot 1970 Ferrari 512S in the September/October 2012
number 65 issue, the Slot.it “Reloaded” 1999 Audi R8C was Race Track Tested in the
May/June 2012 number 63 issue, the Sloting Plus 2003 Reynard 2KQ LM and Scaleauto
2008 Radical SR9 in the March/April 2011 number 56 issue, the NINCO Lamborghini
Gallardo with 2.38:1 gearing in the September/October 2010 number 53 issue, the NINCO
Honda NSX Super GT car with Slot.it 3.60:1 gearing in the September/October 2006
number 29 issue, the Fly Ferrari F40 in the September/October 2008 number 41 issue,
the Avant Slot Audi in the November/December 2007 number 36 issue, and the SCX Audi
R8 PRO in the July/August 2007 number 34 issue.
The Slotwings Ferrari 512BB has a simple one-piece chassis with a high-revving and magnetstrong Avant Slot motor in place of the stock Flyslot motor. We removed the front downforce
magnet but the motor itself has more magnetic downforce than most separate magnets.
We would recommend that you replace the rear axle with Slot.it components to avoid
stripping the gear on the axle splines. These are the components we would suggest:
Slot.it Parts:
*SIKK15 Axle kit, sidewinder, w/19mm 36t spur gear
SIPA225 Stopper
SIPA06 Allen wrench
Super Tires silicone 1405RC or Yellow Dogs 1405YC urethane tires.
*Note; The SIKK15 Axle kit includes:
SIPA16 Plastic wheel inserts
SIPA24-Ah 15 x 8 aluminum wheels
SIGS1936 36-tooth spur gear 19mm
SIPA01-51 51 mm axle
SIPA02 Bronze bushings
Model Car Racing 47
Pit Board #82��
All Thumbs
I have a 5 x 18-foot Carrera analog two-lane track. Carrera only offers controllers that are operated by pushing down with your thumb. Some of the other
tracks I race on have Scalextric controllers that are operated with your trigger
finger. I like the feel and response with the trigger finger but some refer the control they get pushing with their thumb. Which is best, thumb or trigger finger?
Thank you, Ben Timonsen
Carrera (and Auto World HO) only offer thumb-operated controllers while
Scalextric, Ninco and SCX (and AFX HO) only supply trigger finger-operated controllers. Each of these firms obviously feels that their style is best.
The first slot car sets from Scalextric and Strombecker had a simple on-off
push-button. In the mid-sixties the first “standard” controller with variable speed was a small blue thumb-operated plunger-style controller from
MRRC in England and, later, similar thumb-operated controllers were
standard in the early Strombecker, Revell and Monogram sets.
The late Jim Russell, of Russkit, developed the trigger-operated controller
for mass production and he was proven to be very astute, most folks believe
they have more control and increased hand-eye coordination using their
trigger finger rather than their thumb. There, though, are some drivers who
hold trigger-style controllers to operate the trigger with their thumb. And,
just so you know, about one in twenty model car racers that use triggerstyle controller operate the trigger with their middle finger.
Some of the lower-priced Carrera and Scalextric sets have controllers with
just two wires, which means there is no brake circuit. That third wire connects to a metal tab inside controller to force car’s motor to act like a generator to provide dynamic braking. I would, then, recommend that you
upgrade to a Carrera Power Base that has three wires for each controller
connection and, hence, brakes.
The PMTR2019 adaptor cable from Electric Dreams (www.electricdreams.com) will plug-into the Carrera three-prong Power Base outlet and
has a 3.5 mm socket to accept most brand’s trigger-style (pistol grip) controllers. You can make your own adaptor cables if you are wiling to “sacrifice” your Carrera controllers to steal the plugs (or buy two new or used
Carrera controllers). Cut off the wire from the Carrera controller close to
the controller to leave as long a cable as possible attached the Carrera threeprong plug. Strip about ¼-inch of the insulation from each of the three
wires. Plug the Carrera three-prong plug into the Carrera Power Base with
the track power connected and a car in that lane to test the wire the connections. The Carrera controller's cable wires must then be soldered to a
1/8-inch (3.5 mm) phone socket like the Radio Shack number 274-274 to
match the sockets and plugs used by Scalextric, Ninco, DS, Professor Motor, Slot.it and others. You will have to test the wire connections to determine which wire must be connected to which terminal on the Radio Shack
number 274-274 socket, with the leftover wire being the brake circuit--when testing the connections, if the car runs at full speed with the trigger
off, you have found the brake wire and one of the power wires. When you've
found the proper connections, solder them to the tabs on the socket.
Buy the trigger-style controller you prefer; the Scalextric C8229 controller is
the least expensive, but I’d suggest an upgrade to at least a DS-brand DS3502
or to a Professor Motor or Slot.it controller with a 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) plug.
Painting Clear Plastic Bodies, The Tradition
The article in May/June 1015 number 81 issue describing how to paint and
mount a clear plastic body was excellent. However, I want to paint a few clear
plastic bodies in the way it was done back in the day. The article says to simply
reverse the process but it cannot be that simple. How do you keep paint from
attacking the decals? And what kind of paint. And… Please let me know what
is critical so I do not ruin the body or decals.
Thank you, Robin James
True, it is not quite that simple. Start by masking-off the headlights and windows inside the body with Microscale Micro-Mask as shown in the article.
When that is complete, apply the decals. The decals have glue on the back so
they must be soaked for a minute, slid from the paper backing and flopped
48 Model Car Racing
face-down back down on the glue side of paper before sliding them off the
paper again and applying them inside the body. When the decals have dried
overnight, gently scrub-off the traces of glue with a damp cotton swap and let
that dry. If you are going to ink-in the panel lines, do that now and let the ink
dry completely. Spray the inside of the body with Testors Glosscote to seal the
decals (and any panel line ink) and, again, let that dry. Finally, spray on the
final color, however, use an enamel paint, not the special paint for clear plastic
R/C car bodies because that paint will attack the Glosscote and decals. If you
want to use the R/C car body paint, apply it from inside just after the windows
and headlights are masked and apply the decals and panel lines on the outside.
If you are using Bare Metal for chrome or aluminum it must applied on the
outside regardless of how you paint the body. The outside decal technique is a
compromise but it is the way most builders use because it allows them to have
nearly chip-proof paint protected by that clear body shell. Protect the decals
on the outside of body with a brush-on coat of Future clear floor finish.
Race Track Paint
I have a lot of grey Revell track pieces for 1/32 cars made in the 60s. I want
to paint them black. Is there a particular black paint I can use that can also
maintain traction?
Thank you, John Cobarruvias
If you want to recreate that Ninco-type rough surface you can do what model car racers did in the sixties and paint the track with flat latex wall paint
but with fine-grind walnut shells mixed-in. Paint shops can usually get the
ground walnut shells (which are used to help create non-skid boat and patio deck finishes) like TS-631 Shell-Tex (www.topsecretcoatings.com/) and
Downwind Marine offers three ground walnut shell textures ( http://www.
downwindmarine.com) but the fine is the one you will likely need. You will
have to experiment to see how many ounces of walnut shells are needed for
each quart of latex paint. You will, however, wear-out urethane tires quickly
and the silicone tires may chunk on rough surface. If it is too rough, you may
need to sand it down and repaint with just plain latex paint.
The Revell and Monogram (and today's Carrera) track was usually molded
in styrene, which means that lacquers and other solvents can attack and distort or craze the plastic. Any flat finish latex wall paint should be fine but
it would be wise to keep it away from the slots so it does not build up to
narrow the slot. Clean the track, first, with a wet rag and detergent, rinse it
thoroughly, and a wipe it dry before painting. You can jam a single strand of
insulated 14-gauge house wire into the slot to mask it. Automobile body shop
paint suppliers can supply narrow masking tape like the 1/8-inch wide Scotch
#1281 Fineline tape that can be curved to cover the curves but you will still
need to apply two layers to completely cover each pickup rail.
You may be heading in the wrong direction searching for a rougher surface.
The racers back the sixties realized that there was more traction available
from an even smoother track so some tracks actually had high-gloss finishes--a compromise would be a semi-gloss finish. The tracks were usually painted
light grey to simulate concrete and to allow skid marks to be visible. Urethane
tires actually leave a microscopic thin layer of rubber on the track so the skidding paths of the tires would become visible after just a few hundred laps
of racing. That walnut-shell-rough track would grind-off the rubber to leave
similar skid marks but with ground-off tire dust rather than smudges.
New To The Hobby?
There’s more information on pages 22-23 of this issue. There are some basic
tune-up tips that are needed for every model race car on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the “New to the hobby?” link. There are 13 tips including:
How To Get Started in Model Car Racing, Two Driving Techniques, Perfect
Pickup Braid, Tire Mounting, Cleaning Track Rails, Cleaning Track, Avoiding Disaster: Oil & Grease, Race Program Set Up: Color Coding & Racing
classes, Reliable Wires, Chassis Set Up, Carrera Guide Shoe Mods. There’s lots
more you can do, including changing to silicone rear tires with better grip,
loosening the body-to-chassis screws and more.
Race Tracks For
Your Home:
HO 4-Lane Estoril Circuit for
a 4 X 8-Foot Tabletop
This plan is based on the full-size Estoril Circuit, site of the Portuguese
round of the 1984-1996 Formula 1 series, on pages 16-18 of this issue.
This plan includes examples of the significant curves and it provides for
two of the longest possible straights, by running them side by side. The
curves at both ends of the main straight are the largest radius available
in HO so you can expect a lot of speed around the outside of the course.
The course tucks inside at turn T3 through a tight ess curve that opensup a bit through turn T4. There’s another pair of tight turns at T6 and
T 7 before the cars can accelerate out of turn T8 and around turns T11
and T12 onto the main straight.
The majority of the HO plans in the magazine cram as much track as
possible into that 4 x 8-foot area. Any of them would be more enjoyable
to race on with the straights longer than the typical six-feet or so. It can
be difficult to design a plan for, say, 4 x 16-feet that can be shrunk to fit
a 4 x 8-foot area. So we present them as compact as possible and hope
that you’ll expand them to 4 x 10 or 4 x 24-feet to get those exciting
20-foot straight-aways. Most of the plans are marked with “L” letters
indicating just where to insert the additional sets of straight track sections to expand the track to any length.
TRACK PLAN
HO 4-Lane Estoril Circuit
in a 4 x 8-foot area
AFX Track Sections Required
Quantity
Description
Quantity
Description
2
3-inch Straight
2
9-inch 45-degree Curve
16
6-inch Straight
6
2
9-inch Straight
20
16
15-inch Straight
13
0
8
Model Car Racing 49
Club Directory ��
Most model car racers prefer to race at home on their own tracks with a few
friends. There are hundreds of model car racing clubs in the world but some
of them are groups who race very highly modified cars on tracks routed from
wood or PVC. The model racing cars you see on the pages of this magazine are
all designed to be raced on plastic tracks (although they can be raced on most
wood or PVC tracks) from Scalextric, Sport, Carrera, NINCO, SCX, Riggen or
Artin or the older Strombecker, Revell or Monogram tracks 1/32 scale tracks or
Tomy AFX or Mattel/Tyco HO tracks.
class where extra magnets are allowed or different bodies. We try to NOT list
the clubs that primarily race cars with hand-made metal chassis and clear plastic
bodies---those clubs are listed on various internet sites or you can find most of
them through the Old Weird Harold site at http://www.oldweirdherald.com.
There are hundreds of dealers in the country that have operating tracks in the store.
We cannot list them all, but you can contact the ones in your area from the list of
dealers that carry Model Car Racing magazine www.modelcarracingmag.com.
The clubs that are listed here are groups whose main interest is to race out-ofthe box cars and mostly on plastic tracks (although the club may also race on
one or two hand-routed wood or PVC tracks). The group may have a modified
If your group races out-of-the-box 1/32 scale or HO scale cars, with only occasionally events for modified cars) send us the information at www.modelcarracingmag.com and we’ll try to include your club in the next issue.
California, Los Angeles (Glendale): OTHG – Farrout
Slot Car Club. Contact Stephen Farr-Jones
818-416-9188, www.farroutslotcars.com/
Illinois, Central area: Hotslots 1/32 Slot Car Shop,
1809 A. Philo Road, Urbana, IL 61802 (217) 3552277, [email protected]
Missouri, St. Louis area: (Carl Shorle) gsra@
swbell.net
California, Fresno area: Insane SCRC,
Joe Cabral [email protected]
Illinois, Chicago area: Bolingbrook Speedway, Karl
Staehlin, [email protected]
California, North San Diego County: Nomad Slot
Racing Club, Jim Cunningham (760)492-4619
[email protected] www.NomadSlotRacing.com
Illinois, Chicago area: Great Lakes Slot Car Club,
contact:
www.greatlakesscc.com
California, North San Diego County, Escondido
- “The Slot Outlaws” 760-747-4511 or email:
[email protected]
California, San Jose area: Devin Mauldin web@
flyinghump.com
California, South Bay (Los Angeles): Stan Smith
(310)812-1866
[email protected]
California, South Bay (Los Angeles): ITG - In The
Groove Slot Car racing, 324 W. Florence Ave.,
Inglewood, CA 90301. Contact: Marc Natividad
(310) 200-6300. [email protected]
Colorado, Denver area: Rocky Mountain Slot Car
Club (RMSSC)
http://rmscclub.proboards.com/index.cgi
Colorado, Denver Area, Colorado Slot car Club,
contact:
http://coslotcarclub.proboards.com/
Illinois, Chicago Area: JYD Racing, contact www.
toys4slots.com
Illinois, Peoria/ Metamora area: Peoria Model Car
Raceway,
(309) 573-1027, [email protected],
(309)712-3299 [email protected]
Indiana, Indianapolis area: (Jeremy Dunning)
[email protected]
Indiana, Terre Haute area: Otter Creek Slot Racing
Association,
Bob Redman [email protected]
Iowa, Cedar Rapids area: Iowa Model Area Racers,
http://imar.us/
Indiana, Fort Wayne area: Wallace Dale Monroe,
[email protected]
Iowa, Cedar Rapids area: ERASR (Ecurie Road
America Scale Racers) Art (319)626-6374
Iowa, Swisher area: IMAR (Iowa Model Auto Racing), Jerry Hightshoe [email protected]
Colorado, Denver area: Front Range Vintage
Slotcar and Historical Racing Club, http://monovell.
proboards.com/index.cgi
Kentucky, Louisville area: Derby City Slot Car
Club, www.derbycityslotcarclub.proboards.com/ [email protected]
D.C., Washington area: The Capital Racing
League,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcrl, contact:
[email protected]
Louisiana, Lake Charles area: Lake Area Slot Car
Auto Racing, Julian Guillory, http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/LASCAR
D.C., Washington area (Alexandria): Classic Slot
Car Association (CSSA), John Roberts, (703) 5825504, [email protected]
D.C., Washington Metro area: Old Dominion Slot
Car Club, 5322 Graystone Rd., Warrenton, VA
20187, contact: Chris Bowles (540)341-1405 or,
[email protected],
www.nascarslots.com or www.metalracer.com
Maryland, Baltimore area: (Allan Schwartz)
[email protected]
Michigan, Grand Rapids area: Rivershore International Raceway, Alto, Michigan, Stephen Thomas,
(616) 891-1632. email: [email protected]
Michigan, Kalamazoo area: West Michigan
Slot Car Group, John Lacko (269) 344-5588,
[email protected] https://www.facebook.com/
groups/205657316120426/
HO Clubs: The majority of HO racing on a club level in the US is home
sectional tracks, using hard bodies and largely stock equipment. The majority
are Thunderjet focused, although many do run the Life-Like, Auto World, Playing Mantis, G-Plus and Mattel/Tyco cars, these mass produced magnet cars tend
California, Bay area: M.S.C.R.C. - Model Slot
Car Racing Club www.mscrc.orgemail: info@
mscrc.org
California, Bay area: Shaunadega Racing www.
shaunadega.com
California, South Bay (Los Angeles): ITG - In The
Groove Slot Car racing, 324 W. Florence Ave.
Inglewood, CA 90301. Contact: Marc Natividad
(310) 200-6300. [email protected]
Colorado, Denver area: Front Range HO (FRHO)
50 Model Car Racing
Missouri, St. Louis area: Monaco Grand Prix
Miniature Racing Club, www.mgpmrc.org, email:
[email protected]
New York, Binghamton Area: Tri-County Slots,
Contact: [email protected]
New York, Watkins Glen area: The Slot Car Club
Of The Twin Tiers, Contact: Frank Spena, Jr., [email protected]
North Carolina, Winston-Salem area: Road
America Racers, King City, North Carolina, Tom
Brooks, (336) 985-3867 or [email protected]
Ohio, Columbus area: 1/32 Slot Car Racers of
Central Ohio, Randy Horton, http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/1-32SlotCarRacersOfCentralOhio
Oregon, Portland area: Beaverton Area Slot Car
Club (B.A.S.C.C.),15430 SW Gull Ct., Beaverton,
Oregon 97007, 503-330-6907
Pennsylvania, Allentown-Reading area: Allen &
Allen Motor Speedway Racing, (610) 520-7247,
[email protected]
Pennsylvania, Chambersburg area.
Sherman Collings [email protected] (717)
377-1435
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg area: Homestead
Speedway, Landisville, Pennsylvania. Ken Falco at
[email protected]
Pennsylvania, Manheim area:
D & B Raceways, Don Noll [email protected]
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area: Mt. Airy Racing
Association, Herbert Bigelow (215) 868-4464,
[email protected]
Texas, Eastern area: East Texas Slot Car Association,
Tyler , TX 75771, (903)882 0965 ETXSCA@
hotmail.com
Texas, Houston (Northwest Harris County): Houston Scale Auto Racing Club (HSARC), www.hsarc.
net, (281)807-4026.
Northern Virginia-Metro DC area: Northern
Virginia Digital Slot Racers, contact: Hayes Lewis,
[email protected]
Vermont, Burlington area: Burlington Slot Dorks,
Daniel, [email protected]
Williamsburg Virginia area: The Barn Burners”
Contact: Joseph Brimer [email protected]
Washington, Auburn area: Rainier Raceways,
Greg Gaub [email protected]
Washington, Seattle/Tacoma area: PSSRA (Puget
Sound Slot Car Racing Association) http://pssra.
webhop.net/ or Tony Kuljis,
[email protected]
Washington, Seattle/Tacoma area: NMRL (Northwest Model Racing League). John MacKenzie
(206)295-9980, [email protected]
Toronto, Canada area: Scale Sloters 1/32,
[email protected]
Vancouver, Canada area: (Luf Linkert) luf@
telus.net
1/24 scale racing clubs:
Oregon, Eugene area: Pelican Park Speedway
(541)349-0917 htm210@comcast.
Digital Racing Clubs:
Phoenix, Arizona area: DSCRC-Phoenix, Carrera
1/32 & 1/24 only, email [email protected]
Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre Area: NEPA Slot Car
Club, 570-903-9182, nepaslotcars.com
Ohio, Mansfield area: Mid-Ohio 1/32 Scale
Racing Club, [email protected], John Chorpening
(419) 289-6563
Pennsylvania, Wyoming Valley Area: Wyoming Valley Slot Car Association, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania,
wvsca.blogspot.com
Northern Virginia-Metro DC area: Northern
Virginia Digital Slot Racers, contact: Hayes Lewis,
[email protected]
to be utilized by small round robin groups by invitation or as groups of friends.
There are some excellent clubs across the US racing basically stock hardshell T-Jet
cars for the most part on sectional home tracks. This is only a partial listing. If you
have an active group racing hard-bodied T-Jet-style cars, let us know.
club. http://www.scaleracers.com/FrontRangeHO/
default.asp
Missouri, Kansas City area:
http://home.kc.rr.com/jhabernal/mahor/
Illinois, Chicago area: http: nitro-racing.4t.com/
Missouri, St. Louis area: [email protected]
Indiana, Fort Wayne area: Wallace Monroe,
[email protected]
Ohio, Columbus area:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colohhoscc/
messages
Kentucky / Virginia area: http://www.thunderjetracing.com/
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area:
http://vintagehoracing.mr-bigstuff.com/
Winston-Salem/Greenville, South Carolina area:
Upstate HO Slot Car Club, 403 Hill Lane, Mauldin,
SC 29662 - (864) 967-7865 Richard Tabb at
[email protected] or Steve Lorch at [email protected]
Michigan, Lansing area: NASAR, Richard Leeper
(517) 290-9952 or [email protected]
Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre Area: NEPA Slot Car
Club, 570-903-9182, nepaslotcars.com
Burning Rubber, www.burningrubber.net
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area: Mt. Airy Racing
Association, Herbert Bigelow (215) 868-4464,
[email protected]
United Kingdom, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Le Mans
Slot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18
The Slot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro has finally
arrived. The car has been several years in gestation to be
sure that the systems work because the car has a unique
adjustable tooth belt drive to the front wheels and a clutch in
the front wheel to be sure that the front tires receive power
only when it will help increase their cornering grip.
■■Robert Schleicher
Four wheel drive is certainly not a new concept for model race cars;
Ninco, SCX, ScaleAuto, MSC and others have offered four-wheel drive
cars for over a decade. The SCX cars had a motor with an extended
shaft so there were pinion gears on both ends to drive the front axle
through a crown gear like the pinion and crown gear on the rear axle.
Ninco and others used a rubber belt and pulleys on the front and rear
axles so the rear axle effectively powered the front axle.
The Slot.it 4WD system does use the rear axle to drive the front but the
drive is with a non-slip toothed belt, a miniature version of the belts
that drive the camshafts in many modern cars. Slot.it has carried fourwheel drive one step further, however, by fitting ball bearings that will
only rotate in one direction in the front wheels. The ball bearings allow
the front wheels to rotate independently from the rear wheels when
the brakes are applied or when the car slows significantly. The bearings
are, in effect, a differential. The one-way action keeps the front wheels
from creating any drag or scrub that can reduce the car’s speed in tight
corners. There’s more information about the car on the Slot.it website
www.slot.it under “Models” on the left, then “AUDI R18 E-TRON
QUATTRO” , then “Mechanical Instructions 4WD”.
We received the Slot.it car too late to perform a full Race Track Test but
we do not intend to just test it with and without the downforce magnet.
For this car, we will try it in four-wheel drive mode and test it again
with the toothed drive belt removed and again with silicone tires. The
first of those tests will appear in the next issue. I was able to run the car
around the Carrera Laguna Seca track and it is quicker than the previous two-wheel drive 2011 Audi R18 ultra from Slot.it with downforce
magnets in both cars. The 2011 rear-wheel drive R18 turned a 5.80 second Qualifying Lap and the 2013 four-wheel drive R18 turned a 5.65
second lap. There’s a certain amount of dynamic realism with 4WD
Audi because it usually deslotted nose first while the rear-wheel drive
car spun when it deslotted. If you race the car without the downforce
magnet, it will take some testing to determine how much additional
Model Car Racing 51
weight will be needed on the front of the chassis to keep the front tires’
grip on the track.
Whether the car is quicker or not, it is a fascinating piece of model car
engineering and it is something that has tremendous (pardon the expression) “play value". The 4WD Audi is only about $10 more than a standard Slot.it car and, if you don’t like four-wheel drive, you can disconnect
the drive belt and have a typically quick Slot.it car with the added benefit of independently rotating front wheels. You (and I) can experiment
for hours trying different tires, different gear ratios (because the drive is
standard Slot.it anglewinder so there’s a wide choice) and seeing which
tires work best.
My experience with 1/32 scale four-wheel drive cars is that none of them
were faster with the all four wheels driving---removing the front crown
gear (on the SCX cars) or removing the drive belt (on Ninco cars) allowed
the car to produce slightly faster lap times. Slot.it believes that the typically slower speed of four-wheel drive models is the result of the front tires
trying to rotate too much slower than the rears to produce unpredictable
vibration and skids. There are 17 teeth or cogs on the rear wheel drive
sprocket and 16 on the front wheel to insure that the front tires are revolving just slightly slower than the rear so the car doesn’t “plow” or trip over
its own front wheels. The Slot.it one-way ball bearings in the front wheels
should allow the model to have the grip that four-wheel drive promises
(it took four-wheel drive to win LeMans for the past few years). Since the
chassis is essentially a typical Slot.it, it can be tuned for potentially lower
lap times as described in the “6-Screw Hop-Up” in the number 69 issue
(which is also on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Sample Issues”).
It is a superb model with all the subtle differences that the 2013 R18 has
compared to the 2011 cars including the incredibly low rear deck that
was a hallmark of these Audi LeMans cars. The first release is a replica
of the all-black car that ran at the LeMans Test Day in 2013. Later, Slot.it
will release a limited edition of the Audi R18 that won LeMans in 2013.
Slot.It 4WD 2013 Audi R18
SPEC SHEET
The Prototype
(the real car):
The size the model
The dimensions of the model:
should be in 1/32 scale:
Length:
4,647 mm
5.72 in. (145.2 mm)
Width:
1,998 mm
2.46 in. (62.4 mm)
5.91 in. (150.0 mm)
2.53 in. (64.1 mm)
Height:
NA
NA
1.42 in. (36.1 mm)
Wheelbase
2,914 mm
3.59 in. (91.1 mm)
3.68 in. (93.6 mm)
Track, Front:
NA
NA
2.19 in. (55.7 mm)
Track, Rear:
NA
NA
2.19 in. (55.7 mm)
Tires, Front:
NA
NA
9.9 x 19.8 mm
Tires, Rear:
NA
NA
9.8 x 20.3 mm
Weight:
900 kg.
NA
85 grams (3 oz.)
34 grams (1 1/8 oz.)
51 grams (1 7/8 oz.)
58 grams (2 oz.)
100 grams (3 1/2 oz.)
1.0 mm (.040 in.)
0.9 mm (.035in.)
111.5 mm (4.39 in.)
Gear Ratio:
2.55:1 (11/28)
SOURCE: 2013 LE MANS 24 HOURS, by Christian Moity and Jean-Marc Teissedre,
GSN Publishing ISBN 9-78282726-897287
52 Model Car Racing
At a glance the car looks like a typical Slot.it anglewinder and, in fact, the pod and
gears and motor are the same as in the similar Slot.it cars but this one has a toothed
drive belt to power the front wheels.
½½ Tech Tips: How The Slot.
It 4WD System Works
The toothed drive belt runs down the side of the chassis just behind the wheels.
The tensioner is designed to be adjusted to maintain optimum belt tension so no
adjustment is necessary.
Each front wheel has a special ball bearing that only allows the wheel to rotate in
the forward direction---the front wheels only turn freely whenever the front wheels
are rotating slower than the rear wheels. The front axle also has the same spherical
bearings as the rear axle because the axle itself rotates at same speed as the rear
axle---it is only the wheels themselves that are allowed to “free-wheel” when the car
is slowing down. The inner race of the ball bearing is locked to the axle with an Allen
screw in what looks like the hub of the wheel.
Those one-way ball bearings are, in effect, a
differential that allows the front wheels to have
power only when that power can be transferred into
traction. Because the two wheels rotate separately, the
bearings act as both a front-rear drive differential for
the toothed belt drive and a left-right differential for
the front wheels. You can check the action for yourself
by simply slipping off the drive belt (to remove the
drive belt completely, you must remove the right front
wheel and the screw that retains the belt-tensioner).
Spin each of the front wheels forward, then try to spin
them backwards and you will see that the entire front
axle must spin (with the drive belt in place the rear
axle would spin as well). The front axle does have
Allen screws in the top and bottom of each bearing so
you can adjust the “ride height” so the pickup blade
is as deep in the slot as possible. The ride height
adjustment is critical on this car because you want
to be sure that the front axle’s upward movement
is limited and that all four wheels are touching the
track. Since the front adjustment only controls the up
and down movement of the axle it does not effect the
toothed belt tension. The pickup is supported by the
rigid top-mount bracket used on the Slot.it LMP Lola
and some of their other new chassis.
The extra black plastic piece that runs along the side of
the chassis acts as a tensioner to keep the toothed drive
belt engaged with the front and rear drive teeth. It is not
adjustable because the wheelbase is not adjustable.
However, it is important to keep the motor pod screws
tight or, if you loosen them, do so just enough so the pod
has barely perceptible movement (which is the maximum
movement needed even without the drive belt).
We ran the new 4WD Slot.it Audi R18 e-tron quattro against an untested out-of-the-box Slot.it 2011 Audi R18
ultra (a replica of 2011 LeMans winner in the May/June 2013 number 69 issue) briefly on the Carrera Laguna
Seca track (in the July/August 2014 number 76 issue). We will run a full Race Track Test on car in next issue. The
four-wheel drive version is quicker when both have downforce magnets. If you remove the downforce magnet it
will be necessary to add enough weight to the front of the chassis to keep the front tires in contact with the track to
overcome the spring tension of the guide brushes and the rear tires’ efforts to lift the front of the car.
The 2013 Slot.it Audi R18 e-tron quattro is a different car than the 2011 Audi R18 ultra. The front fenders and cockpits appear to be
similar but virtually every panel and corner and seam is different on the two cars. The 2013 car is about 6 scale inches longer in the
rear, it has slightly larger rear wing and the tops of all four fenders are open. Slot.it is has recreated both cars with incredible accuracy.
The first Slot.it 4WD Audi R18 e-tron quattro is decorated to
match the all-black car that ran at the LeMans Test Day in 2013.
Model Car Racing 53
New Cars
Shipped Recently
These are most recent shipments of new cars and products.
Note that nearly all the cars announced for production in
2015-2016 are on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the
left link “All New For 2015-2015 From The Toy Fairs”.
The Slotwings (Flyslot) 1975 Brabham BT44 arrived
too late for a full article but we will have more
information in the next issue.
Ninco 50658 Citroen C4 ‘Kubica’ Sport
Slot.it SICA09F Porsche 956 KH "Momo"
Ninco 50657 Seat Leon ‘Polar’ Sport---there’s an
article on the model on pages 21-23 of this issue.
Flyslot has shipped both the first painted version of
BMW M1 the second in their series of cars with Avant
Slot chassis with separate motor pod and inline motor
but plastic wheels and gear hub.
Slot.it SICA11G Alfa Romeo 33/3 2nd- 1971 Targa
Florio #2
NSR 1193AW BMW Z4 GT3 silver
Slot.it SICA25C Porsche 962 IMSA 1st- 12h Sebring
1987 "Budweiser"
NSR 1191AW Corvette C6R #11 Exim Team China
MMK 64 Allard J2 USA 1951 #14 black (from www.
electricdreams.com). There’s an article on all these
new MMK Cad-Allards on pages 9-12 of this issue.
54 Model Car Racing
Slot.it SICA23D Porsche 911 GT1 EVO98 'Mobil' n.25
-2nd Le Mans 1998 Slot.it SICA03H Porsche 962C LH
'FATurbo-Express’ 24h Le Mans '93
MSC 6020A/O MG Metro 6R4, Rally
Canarias 1991, Camel
GMC A108 RTR Renault Alpine A108
#122 Tour de France 1960 (from www.
electricdreams.com)
Scalextric C3596 Chevrolet Camaro
GT-R
NSR 1186AW AUDI R8 LMS SpaFrancorchamps 2014 Winner #1
The Carrera 21224 Control Tower can
be attached to the 30357 Digital 132
Position Tower or used as a standalone building for any analog track.
Scalextric C3604 McLaren 12C GT3
Racer Sideways SW32 GP5 Porsche
935/77A Jagermeister
Scalextric C3602 Maserati Trofeo
Scalextric C3606 BMW Mini Cooper S
Cartrix 0916 Talbot Lago #18 1950
British GP, Belgian Team, driver Johnny
Claes
Carrera 61275 AMG Mercedes C-Coupe
DTM, driver David Coulthard, 1/43
scale
Carrera 61180 AMG Mercedes SL 63
Safety Car 1/43 scale
½½ 1/24 SCALE
BRM 036 'Sunoco' Team Penske Ferrari
512M #11
ScaleAuto SC7059 'DHL' BMW Z4 GT3
#40, 1/24 scale
½½ 1/43 SCALE CARS
Carrera 41367 Audi A5 DTM, driver
Mathias Ekstrom, No.3 Digital 143
The Carrera Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, "AF
Corse No.54" in analog as 27481 and
(with working headlights and tail lights)
as 30715.
Scalextric C3663 Audi R8 in unpainted
black for custom-painting
Carrera 41368 BMW M3 DTM, M.
Tomczyk, No. 1 Digital 143
Cartrix 0945 Lancia D50 #26 Monaco
1955 with separate sponson sidetanks
from the original Lancia build. We’ll
have more on the car in the next issue.
Scalextric C3586A Australian Mini
Cooper - Touring Car Legends
Carrera 41369 AMG Mercedes C-Coupe
DTM, J. Green No.5 Digital 143
MSC 6042 Subaru Impreza WRC #3
The Carrera Shelby Cobra 289 Hardtop
coupe 1963, "No.03"in analog as
27482 and (with working headlights
and tail lights) as 30716.
NSR 1190AW Mosler MT900R EVO5
anglewinder NSR Racing #64 2nd
Anniversary is available as an inline,
sidewinder or anglewinder.
The Carrera 27484 Porsche 904
Carrera GTS "No.47", Nassau 1964 in
analog as 27484 and (with working
headlights and tail lights) as 30718.
Model Car Racing 55
Coming Next Issue
The September/October 2015 number 83 issue of Model Car Racing
will be on sale August 15, 2015 and it has the articles you asked for:
SlotMods are the model car race track
master builders, with scenery that is as
realistic as the 1/32 scale cars that race
on the track. Their Vernola Raceway 9 x
13-foot four-lane Laguna Seca inspired
design is the featured "Your Track” in
September/October 2015 number 83 of
Model Car Racing.
• Digital Racing Pros & Cons---All the systems and brands
• Build your own wood track, step-by-step; designing the track
• Scalextric 2014 Formula 1 Mercedes F1 W05
• Scalextric 2014 Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes MP4-29
• Scalextric 1968 Brabham BT26A-3 Formula 1
• Slot.it 2009 Lola Aston Martin LMP1 LeMans
• Track Tests (Out-of-the-box):
– Slot.it Four-wheel-drive Audi R18 e-tron ultra LeMans
– Ninco Seat Leon Cup Racer
– Flyslot/Avant BMW M1
• Race Track Plans:
– 2-Lane Formula 1 Hockenheimring Track on an 8 x 16-foot tabletop
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56 Model Car Racing
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Get SIX issues of the digital Internet version available
on your laptop or desktop for just $19.95
Get SIX Issues on your tablet (This version must be ordered direct from Apple, Amazon,
or Readr---we cannot bill you and no ‘Bundle" with the paper version is available.
NOW AVAILABLE FOR iPads and Kindles
We cannot process orders for ether iPad or Amazon downloads—they must be ordered directly from the Apple iTunes store or Amazon Kindle.
Paper Edition NOTE: if you do opt for the iPad or Kindle editions and you also want the paper edition, you must ALSO purchase the $35.00
paper subscription---there are no “bundle” packages that include paper and iPhone or Kindle web editions.
If you simply want an internet edition that you can read on your lap top, that is included free with the paper edition subscription but it
cannot be downloaded---only read or printed. You also have the choice of subscribing to only that Internet edition (with no paper copies
and no iPad or Amazon Kindle versions) on our website www.modelcarracingmag.com but that version is NOT downloadable (it can be
printed, however).
Model Car Racing 57
82
Autoworld Ad
Books & Back Issues:
All of the books by Robert Schleicher are currently out of print.
We have no paper copies of any back issue. You may be able to find some paper
back issues at some of our dealers on the www.modelcarracingmag.com website, and Electric Dreams (www.electricdreams.com) has most of them as well
as a few of the number 1 through 6 issues (from 2002) with a Scalextric Limited
edition Cadillac Northstar LeMans car.
Internet versions of issues number 55 through 69 (all the issues from 2011, 2012
and 2013) and issues number 70 through 82 are available at $4.95 each direct
from the Apple iTunes store for the iPad, but only as readable and downloadable
copies.
We have tried to keep the most significant material in print because photocopying
back issue articles is not an option. The most important tuning and race setup
information is on the www.modelcarracingmag.com website under the left hand
link “New To The Hobby” as well as information on 1/43 scale vs. 1/32 scale. All
of the Race Track Test results from issue #1 through #72 are also on the website
under the top bar link ”More Information” then in the left box “Race Car Tests”
and there is information on selecting a specific brand of track. All of the articles
on digital racing, on visits to “Your Tracks”, 4 x 8 and 5 x 9-foot 1/32 scale plans,
4 x 8-foot HO plans and additional features from issues #44 (March/April 2009)
through the current issue are available on the website under the top bar link
“Sample Issues”. These are readable and printable but cannot be downloaded
for security purposes.
All of the articles from the first 72 issues are indexed under the top bar “More
Information”, then scroll down on the left to “Model Car Racing Index”. The index
58 Model Car Racing
is searchable (with Safari, Firefox and others) under the top bar “Edit”, then scroll
down to “Find”.
However, most of the articles from any of these issue are only available in the
full paper or iPad issues, including the larger plans for “Real Race Tracks On A
Tabletop” and the majority of articles comparing model cars to their prototypes,
with the history and provenance of over 300 cars including the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
and 90s Formula 1 cars, Jaguars from XK120 to C to D to E to XKR, most of the
GT, sports and Formula 1 Ferraris and Porsches and more.
The majority of the material (including all of the race track plans and visits to
finished home tracks) that appeared in the in the January/February 2005 through
November/December 2007 (numbers 19 through 36) issues of Model Car Racing is in the book SLOT CAR RACING IN THE DIGITAL AGE. Similarly, much of the
material in SLOT CAR RACING, TIPS, TECHNIQUES & TRACK PLANS was first
published in the magazine in the January/February 2003 through November/
December 2004 (numbers 7 through 18) issues but both of those books are no
longer in print and no reprints are scheduled. At present, no additional books are
in preparation.
There are two other earlier books on model car racing (also by Robert Schleicher)
that contain additional material that was not published in this magazine but both
books are long out of print: RACING AND COLLECTING SLOT CARS was published
in 2001 and the SLOT CAR BIBLE in 2002.
To subscribe to Model Car Racing magazine, click on “SUBSCRIBE” on the top bar
the www.modelcarracingmag.com home page.
NOW PLAYING
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The lights dim…the popcorn is crunching…and the
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Auto World’s ThunderJet Release 15 features replicas of
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Available at your local
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GENERAL MOTORS Trademarks used under license to Round 2, LLC. PLYMOUTH, CHRYSLER and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress
are trademarks of FCA USA LLC and used under license by Round 2 LLC. © 2015 FCA USA LLC. Dodge and related logos, vehicle model names and
trade dresses are trademarks of FCA USA LLC and used under license by Round2 LLC. © FCA USA LLC 2015. Christine ™ & ©2015 Columbia Pictures
Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. Beverly Hills Cop ™ & © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. Vanishing Point © 2015 Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. AW AUTO WORLD and design is a registered trademark of Round 2, LLC. ©2015 Round 2, LLC, South Bend,
IN 46628 USA. Product and packaging designed in the USA. Made in China. All rights reserved.

Carroll Shelby`s Formula 1 Maserati

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