Newest Track: The Schweizering - Part Five

Progress continues on the track as we move through the holiday season. I do miss the old days when I had extra vacation time and would take the week between Christmas and New Year's off...it would have allowed me to get more done. Nevertheless, I have been making some real progress.

Most of the work, as you can see, involves painting the landscape I've created. The bridge/ramp going up into the old city is essentially finished; there's some more detailing to do -- I want to add some flags and maybe some sculptures to the bridge support posts. The brick "walkways" on either side of the road are just printed texture sheet applied to the poster board base.

I've also been painting the mountain or "hill climb" area on the other side of the track. I covered the plastic cloth with a thick mud of latex paint, Sculptamold, joint compound and some bits of sawdust I gathered from the bottom of my wet/dry vac. I've laid some light and dark washed down over the base gray and then highlighted with some off-white. I think it's not looking too bad. I'm almost ready to start applying the grass and greenery...

Slot Cars Make Jalopnik's Best Car Toys List

Number Seven? Really? Well, we all know better - but it was nice to see our favorite car blog - Jalopnik - point out that slot cars make great holiday gifts. The bit features a nice photo of Jim Harlan's incredible White Lake Formula 1 Ring, which they have covered before and has to be one of the nicest tracks anywhere.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jalopnik.com.

"Why Santa Should Bring You One: There are more realistic driving experiences to be had than a slot car track, and some people would dare say there's no point now that you can race the 'Ring when you're 8 in your footie pajamas. Those people hate (in this order): cars, Christmas, America, Jesus, freedom. There's something visceral and fantastic about cooking a slot car in sharp corner and watching it careen off the track and into the cat. You don't get that with a video game."

True enough, although today's cars are a lot less likely to go flying off the track than the Eldons and Strombeckers of yesteryear. Whatever you think, it's nice to see slot car racing get some good publicity!

Nice! Pioneer 1968 Bengal Charger

Being a fan of endurance racing and GT cars, I don't have a lot of American iron in my slot car collection. But I will probably add this slick '68 Charger from Pioneer - which reminds me of a car my oldest brother had -- a '69 Dodge Coronet Super Bee in the same basic color scheme, with a 440 six-pack.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pioneer slot cars.

Also, as my son's favorite football team is the Cincinnati Bengals, I may buy it for him to race my black Carrera GTO against...

New Slot.It Additions Ready for the Race Grid

The first and only Slot.It car I owned was the original Audi R8C - which I gather has become somewhat of a collector's item. Mine is still in practically-new condition -- I ran it on my old track for a handful of laps, but while it was a beautiful car, I found it to be rather tail heavy, dodgy on the curves and generally, somewhat of a dog on my plastic track.

I subsequently found out that this car was perhaps better suited to longer, routed tracks...and while Slot.It has since improved the chassis design with it's more recent "reloaded" version, I doubt that I would buy another Audi. That said, it's clear that newer Slot.It cars are much improved over those first efforts, and recently I was very happy to add the new Sauber Mercedes CAO6e and the magenta Silk Cut Jaguar XJR12 CA13b.

PHOTO CREDITS: Slot.It.

You can bet I'm very eager to test these beauties on the new track; based on the general consensus of sloters everywhere, I am pretty certain they will perform better than my old Audi. That won't be for a little while yet, however--since The Schweizering is not quire ready for racing.

A Story of Boys and Their Car Toys

I came across this rather touching observation in the Toronto Globe and Mail by columnist Peter Cheney, who looks back at his boyhood love affair with cars and why the "pretend world" of models and toys was often superior to his adult automotive experiences.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Globe and Mail.com.

In the article, Cheney explains that the models and toys he enjoyed as a child represented an idealized version of real sports cars. Later--as an adult--he had several opportunities to drive or own the real thing, and discovered that they never quite lived up to what he had imagined as a child. From slot cars and Hot Wheels to model XKEs and pedal cars, he paints a nostalgic picture to which men of almost any age can relate.

"I couldn't fit in the cars, but these were some of the greatest driving experiences of my life. I was lost in my own childhood world of speed – my days were spent working on lap times, repairing shattered cars and building ever-more elaborate tracks, including a miniature Monza with a banked curve that wrapped around the furnace."

The article really does a great job of explaining the incredible "pull" of this hobby and why more and more grown men can be found playing with toy cars. I recommend reading the whole thing HERE.

Audi Debuts New R18 Race Car

If it's not obvious yet, my favorite types of cars are Endurance Racers and GTs...so I was happy to see Audi unveil their newest Le Mans prototype, the R18 LMP1. The new Le Mans coupe will be the German manufacturer’s weapon as it seeks to claim its 10th win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June. Audi says the R18, which replaces the open-cockpit R15 TDI, is a completely new racer.

PHOTO CREDITS: Auto Week.

The car will make its racing debut at the six-hour endurance race held at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit on May 8. According to Audi officials, the decision to go with a closed coupe is purely a performance decision, since their testing has made it clear that closed cars now have a clear advantage.

Of course, any new slot cars of this type are always welcome! The comments regarding the design (at least on some of the slot car discussion boards) have been somewhat mixed; the design is clearly aggressive, but many observers aren't quite sold on the dorsal fin. At least--on a slot car--it would offer a handy spot to grab when you picked it up off the track!

Read more about the R18 HERE.

Fun in The Heartland: Community Gets Slot Car Fever

In Stacyville, Iowa, you'll find that cars and racing go together, but for one group of guys, it's taken on new meaning. At Gerb's Bar & Grill, owner Jerry Gerbig thought slot car racing might make for a fun and interesting diversion for his patrons (and their kids, judging from the photo) instituting a 12-week racing season that has attracted about 10-15 participants on racing nights.

Races last about 50 laps, with time trials begining at 8 and racing starting at 8:30. The track utilizes a digital system that can handle up to 6 cars - with each racer paying a $4 entry fee on race night.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mitchell County Press News.

"We see guys as young as fourth grade and as old as 50 racing," says race Chris Adams. "Also, we don't have the young guys race separate from the older guys. Everyone is mixed together."

I would guess here that the atmosphere at Gerb's is more like a neighborhood restaurant or English Pub than your typical bar and grill, so those who might raise eyebrows at kids racing in such an environment can probably rest easy. In any case, bringing young and old together to race slot cars can never be a bad thing!

Read more on the story HERE.

Video: How to be...The Model Dad.

Yeah - this video is kind of silly - but in a good way. Truth be told, a lot of us probably ARE this dad....but involving your kids in your hobby is a great way to build a strong family relationship and ensure that your children are doing something other than playing video games.

Thanks to Modelzone.uk for posting this on YouTube.

Newest Track: The Schweizering - Part Four

Over the last few weeks, I have been back at work on the track, switching mostly to the elevated, curvy sections opposite the "old city." Been laying a lot of plaster cloth and shaping some banks, hills and mountainous areas in the small space available; looks like a snow storm hit right now, but the painting and scenic work will come soon enough.


This being the Alps, I did want to add a "tunnel." I was going to originally have the track drive through a different tunnel, up along the wall, but the only suitable spot for that was where the shaped "riser" track sections are set end-to-end, to make an "up-and-up" straight going towards the top of the hill climb. Visually, this is a point of interest, and I didn't want to hide it under cardboard and plaster.


I instead have opted for a "scenic" tunnel, similar in concept to what he did at the upper corners of one of his older layouts (I forget which one). This is on a lower section of track, appearing to run off the main road and under the upper back straight. I'll probably drop a safety car there at the tunnel entrance, along with some sort of barrier and a policeman or two; I'm pretty happy with it so far.



Overall, I must say I like the way the plaster forms "firm up" the track as a whole and make the structure more solid and substantial. Yet it seems there is so much more to do...once I finish the plaster work and get the some basic painting done, I can finish filling/painting the track surface and get some copper tape down over the rails. I test ran cars for a while before I finally settled on this layout, but I want to get some cars back on the track and running again!

Beautiful New Peugeot from Avant Slot

Just came across this for sale on the Spanish site Todoslot - via a post on Twitter - the 2010 Oreca Matmut Peugeot. Definitely a sharp, colorful livery that I know a lot of sloters would like to put on the track.

PHOTO CREDIT: Todoslot.es.

Ford Brings Slot Cars to LA Auto Show

When the hobby can get exposure like this at a major event like the International L.A. Auto Show, it can only be a good thing. Ford brought this custom track to the show so the attendees (including journalists and other industry professionals) could have some fun, and it seems they did.

PHOTO CREDITS: jalponik.com.

The photos of the impressive display were provided by Jalopnik's Justin Hyde, who indicated that a lot of people seemed to be enjoying themselves - and acting like big kids. Great idea.

Newest Track: The Schweizering - Part Three

Just a brief update on our progress - the Pit/Grandstand building is shaping up nicely...it's turning out to be a fairly large structure - with three Artin grandstands, three VIP suites, a control tower and ten pit garages, the whole thing will be about five feet long. The basic structure is complete, but there's a lot of work yet to do, including the roof, back walls and interiors for the VIP suites, garage doors, lighting, etc. - but the photo below gives you a pretty good idea of where we stand.


At the bottom of the photo, you can also see the "parking garage" underneath part of the track - where I plan to store some of my extra cars (especially some of the older ones that have no display case). Below, you can see a photo of the garage itself, showing the simple LED lighting that's currently installed.


Work on the structures is pretty much at a standstill right now as I complete the rest of the structural work on the track - including the elevations and mountain forms, painting and filling the track surface, and laying copper tape. I'll include some photos of that work in the next Schweizering installment.

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My Old Track: Circuit Schweiz-Baden

While we're hard at work on the new track, I thought I'd drop in a few photos of my first track, Circuit Schweiz-Baden. Below is the original description I included for an old RadTrax customer track contest:

"Schweiz-Baden was designed as a purely fictitious place, nestled at the foot of the Swiss Alps...just a stone's throw from the wooded forests of Alsace-Lorraine. The circuit was mainly home to Le Mans prototypes of the coupe and open-cockpit variety, though a wide range of modern and classic GT cars also ply its many challenging curves. The track was landscaped and includes a hand-painted backdrop, combined with several areas where painted scenery and three dimensional models blend together (see the village area). The L-shaped tabletop is approximately 4' x 12' along the back side and 3' x 6 foot along the right-hand side.


The main section contains a paper-clip arrangement, with the main grandstands and pits surrounded by outside straightaways--and at one end, the "Trinity Curve"...a banked section with three inside 60-degree curves (curve-straight-curve-straight-curve). This came about because some of the longer cars couldn't take more than two sections of the tight Artin banked curves at a time. The smaller table section contains the "esses"...raised on a upper level of track--all supported on a 4" layer of foam, which is covered with crumpled and painted landscape (kraft) paper--an old and very cost-effective model RR trick. Schweiz-Baden features a wide range of varying curves and level changes over it's approximate 58 ft. length, and believe it or not, sub-10sec. lap times are not that easy to come by--even with an out-of the box Fly.


TRACK DETAILS

The track is a hand-laid (no computer plan) Artin 2-lane setup, with custom-painted borders...and I also blacked-out the dotted-white-line separating the lanes. The power supply is from the Artin 4-lane set, it provides separate power to each lane, and I splice-wired the extra leads to double the per lane amperage from 1.5 amps to 3. That and the Parma controllers make a BIG difference in the overall enjoyment level. Look at the photos and I think you'll agree that it is indeed possible to design a unique and challenging layout with Artin track. (Okay, it did take three different sets...) Artin Lap Counter/Timer; Ninco, SCX and Artin barriers, with white board advertising barriers slipped into channel at edge of track.



SCENERY

The Control Tower, Pits, Medical Station and Beer Haus (concession stand) are hand-made from foam-core, cardboard boxes and clear plastic boxes. Many of the building exteriors are inkjetted onto large sheets of adhesive-backed paper, then applied to the structure. A mix of porcelain "collectible" accessories (I painted out the snow) and other painted toy buildings round out the architectural mix, which includes 3 painted Artin grandstands. The track signs blend old and new logos, along with local (Swiss & European) advertisers like banks, magazines, radio stations and even passenger railroads. My overall goal was to make the elements blend together as well as possible, with enough scenery to add interest and fun--but not to overdo it by trying to cram as much as possible onto the table."



As it turns out, the basic inspiration for the original track and scenic themes will be carried through on The Schweizering. Of course, the result will be better this time, we hope.

Monte Carlo Rallye Track for Sale Now on Ebay

Bill - or slotforum member jmswms - has established the highest levels of craftsmanship when it comes to building multi-level, scenic mountain rally courses. We've enjoyed many of his projects like his Targa Florio course - but this Monte Carlo Rallye track - built for a special Petersen Automotive Museum event in LA is really incredible.


Bill is about as good as they come when it comes to modelling mountainous areas, like the French Alps around the Pont des Miolans, which this track is based upon. Bill's probably forgotten more about scenic modelling than many of us have ever known, and each new project he takes on is a real wonder. Since the museum event, Bill has begun adding even more detail to this particular track, like the French village elements and additional lighting seen below.

PHOTO CREDITS: ebay.com.

Of course, it should be added that this fantastic Monte Carlo Rallye track is for sale, with part of the proceeds going to the MSFriends charity that co-sponsored the event. Check it out now on Ebay. To see more photos of the track and how it was constructed, visit the thread about it at slotforum.com

The Need for Speed — Without a Speeding Ticket.

Came across a nice article in the Suburban Chicago Glen Ellyn News about Chicagoland Raceway, where owner Mike Swiss - a five-time national champion and a two-time world champion - invites all ages and skill levels to join in on the fun. The facility holds races that are open to the public every Saturday night, where two racing tracks are hooked up to a computerized system that tracks a person’s number of laps, their best time and last race time on a monitor.

PHOTO CREDITS: Mysuburbanlife.com.

While Swiss will get in on the action during the Saturday night races and take on his customers in a friendly race, the chances for success againsy him aren't in your favor: he's been traveling around Chicagoland racing competitively since the age of 14. He’s also traveled to South America to race, and spent 19 years working for Koford Engineering, a slot car component manufacturer, for 19 years.

Hats off to Mike for his past successes and his hard work in promoting the hobby! Tom find out more about Chicagoland Raceway, check out their website.

Now if Carrera Would Only Make THIS Ferrari...

I just came across this on Jalopnik - it's the racing version of Jim Glickenhaus's wicked Ferrari P4/5 - which is currently under construction. Set to compete in next year's 24-hours of the Nürburgring, the car--dubbed the Competizione--will incorporate the suspension and V-8 drivetrain of an F430 GT2 ALMS racing car under bodywork like that of his one-off, Pininfarina-built Ferrari Enzo.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jalopnik.com.

I think this would make an incredible slot car - hopefully Carrera (who owns the current rights to Ferrari) will agree, assuming the car does run at The Ring and hopefully at some other races (LeMans would be nice) as well. While many of the current available modern Ferraris are nice - this would be a real step up, in my opinion.

Scalextric Super Racing System (SRS) Cars

They are not easy to find now, but the lexan-bodied Scalextric SRS cars were not only good performers, but for many years, they were the only game in town in terms of more exotic endurance racing cars like the Lancia LC2, Nissan R89C and the Peugeot 905. Now that some of these cars are (or will be) available in high-quality hard body shells from manufacturers like Slot.It, LeMans Miniatures and others, we have options that look a little better and offer more durability. Nevertheless, these cars from the mid-80's/early-90's still look quite good, perform well, and still have significant value for collectors. The chassis are super lightweight, and the strong motors and lexan bodies deliver excellent racing performance. These examples are in very good shape, sans the obvious yellowing of the Lancia Body, which was originally pure white. I've seen some that are still nice and white - so I don't know if this one was exposed to too much sunlight or perhaps had been clear-coated...with something.

Hobby Growth: Open Day at Bexhill

Every once in a while on the slot car forums, members will discuss various ways that we can attract more people to the hobby. You'll always come across a few interesting ideas, but sometimes it can be as simple as opening the club's doors to the public and inviting them to share the fun.

That's exactly what the Bexhill [UK] Scale Slot Car Club did when they held a special open-to-the-public event at White House Farm in Netherfield, near Battle. The club's Open Day attracted people from as far away as Devon, according to Martin Douglas, the club’s chairman.

“The open day was a success and we had people coming and going all day," he said. "There were always at least a dozen visitors inside. A lot of young people with their parents came, as well as those who had not raced slot cars for 40 years. We have had a lot of emails since the weekend asking about club membership.”

Hats off to the club for doing their part to expand the hobby!
PHOTO CREDITS: Bexhill Observer.

VIDEO: The Porsche 917 Was Scary Fast

Forty years on, many still marvel at the legend of the Porsche 917. I came across this great video courtesy of Jalopnik, which notes: "The Porsche 917 is what happens when Ze Germans focus all their energy on global domination... in a good way."

Porsche 917 from Mee on Vimeo.

I have a couple of Fly classics in my collection, but watching this really makes me want to get a few more. Still looking for a good deal on a 917 long-tail...

Newest Track: The Schweizering - Part Two

In planning, it was clear that rather than placing drivers at the inside of the "U" where they would just block each others' view, it was decidedto just "hang" the drivers station and the control PC from a steel support pole (already there) placed back far enough to give a good view of the track while still allowing drivers to move forward for marshalling. I'll run the cabling and wire-work either up and down across the ceiling or in a cable channel across the floor. The monitors for race control will be mounted just under the track surface, at the bottom of the "U" - and tilted slightly upwards - where I think they will fall into the drivers view a little better than if I was to hang them from the ceiling.

THE MEDIEVAL CITY - AFTER PAINTING THE CASTLE STRUCTURE AND WALLS.

It took a lot of trial-and-error when it came to getting the paint job on the castle and city walls just right. A combination of dark washed and light dry-brushing seems to have provided the right effect, and I an pretty happy so far. The castle sections are really the centerpiece of this old town - everything else kinda follows; The tower will get a shiny finial on top of it's verdigris-copper dome, and it also needs a good wash to simulate some corrosion. The rest of the town buildings will be a little lighter and brighter, with some hanging flower baskets and window boxes (this IS Switzerland, after all. I'm also working out how to light the buildings here as well, and am getting ready to start the stone ramp/bridge that heads up into the town.

THE MAIN STREET THROUGH THE CITY - TRACK FILLING AND PAINTING HAS BEGUN.

I've also altered the plan a little already. I needed to take a length out of the back straight in order to leave enough room for my track borders on each side of the room. Here is a revised diagram (below). The Curves are all R1s (17) and R2s (16) - I use them in different combinations to try and keep things interesting. On the diagram, the R1s have the dotted line - the R2s do not. (the diagram is from Ultimate Racer 3.0) I also use 22 full straights, 1 half straight and 3 double-length hump-back straights (normally used to build overpasses) for the rest. The diagram switches out a full for a half straight on the left side, just to keep the layout clearer.

THE REVISED TRACK PLAN (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

The curvy side at left gradually rises to just over a foot or so before heading back down through those esses. The "hump" tracks are used in an "up and up" fashion, heading up the hill climb, rather than in the normal "up and down" way. More on my progress later...

If You Look Close Enough, You Can See Slotcars in this Photo

I came across this, uh...interesting...bit -- courtesy of The Sun online. They delivered a nice video and slideshow featuring Page 3 beauties Sam and Mel, showing off Scalextric's Quantum of Solace race set. Though the set nor the photo feature are new, I hadn't seen them before, so I thought I'd post a photo here.

PHOTO CREDIT: thesun.co.uk.

To see the rest of the photo slide show, and an accompanying video - check it out here. Who says slot cars aren't sexy?

Newest Track: The Schweizering - Part One

Having started this blog journal, one of the primary thing's I'll be focusing on is the construction of my new track, The Schweizering - this will be built from all the Artin track I have accumulated. The track will have the seams filled and will be painted as well, with copper tape applied over the rails. The room space I have to work with is about 12' across and 10' deep.

THE TRACK AS IT ENTERS THE WALLED MEDIEVAL CITY.

This new track will be set in the alps - and has three distinct parts. At the right, the track heads up a hill and through a sort of city gate into a Swiss town dating from the medieval era. Through the town, it heads back through a turn and down to run below the ancient city walls, then under the bridge at the barbican and around toward the new portion of the track, located at the rear of the layout. In contrast to the city, this portion will be very modern in appearance, anchored by a large pit/grandstand/tower structure. Working pits would be nice - but I'd have to route-and-rig something from scratch, and I'm just not ready for that right now.

THE BASIC TRACK PLAN (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

The left side of the track will be more open space, with trees, and where the alpine terrain is more in evidence - with a short tunnel and some substantial rock work. This portion will gradually rise up a foot or more toward the "esses" at the bottom of the diagram, then back down toward the center of the "U" - across the table and then back up into the city again. On the hilly (left) side, I am also tempted to model a cable-car and platforms - running up to the high end of the track. It will probably be a static example, though, since I haven't figured out the rigging yet - and unless I had it on a delay and timer, would probably be too distracting going back-and-forth very often.

At first, I was planning to scratch-build the town, gate, but then I came across a great old 1:32 scale castle that was sitting under a bed in the spare room...where its been for about 10 years. German-made (Jean Hoefler, I think) I had bought it for my son over 15 years ago, but he practically never played with it. After inspecting it for a few minutes, I took it apart and started playing with the parts and pieces until I found a combination that started to look right. (See top photo).

That's all for now. I'll update more on the progress so far in the next post.

Grand Opening at HotSlots 1/32 Slot Car Shop

I've always had good service from the folks at HotSlots 1/32 and I see they are having a Grand Opening on Saturday, Nov. 6th at their new location at 1809 Philo Rd. / Ste. A - Urnana IL 61802. I've never had an opportunity to visit the store yet, but it definitely looks like it's worth an extended road trip!

There will be slot racing all day with prizes given out to racers and attendees as well. Races will be held on their 4 lane Carrera analog track set.

PHOTO CREDITS: Hotslots 1:32.

Get all the info on this exciting event HERE.