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.