Dazzling Thoughts on Modern Race Car Liveries

In real world sports car racing, there's a lot of excitement about the changes taking place in WEC, IMSA/GTP and the higher-level classses like Hypercar (LMH) and Hybrid (LMPh). With a growing number of manufacturers getting in on the action, many endurance fans are feeling like "the good old days" are again on the horizon.

Over the past few years, as some of these newer cars have shown up as RTR slot cars, opinions have varied in terms of how the cars look. While the modern full-bodied racers may not have the inherent beauty of a Ferrari 330p or the balanced look of a Porsche 962, they still have the curves and overall appearance that endurance fans expect. I still like them, although I an still not a big fan of the dorsal fins! Over the past couple of years I've added cars like the Lola B12s, Ginettas, Audi R18s and Toyota Hybrid, and am looking forward to adding more. The real world cars and manufacturers currently coming on board do vary in looks to a greater extent than they have over recent years. In fact, the new Peugeot 9X8 has a semi-fin and no wing at all!

That said, I do want to point out one factor that really makes a difference in how these cars look - and one which may influence slot car manufacturers as they make future decisions on which liveries to choose for production. Since the many "lumps, bumps and bulges" inherent in modern LMPs often result in a less coherent whole (compared to many older examples) I would posit that liveries which clarify the form and shape of the car make them not only more attractive, but also easier to identify. Take for example, the Porsche 963 below.

I find the result here to be very clean and good-looking; the paint work accentuates the body lines of the car and the overall look is very appealing. In contrast, I present the livery of the BMW M Hybrid shown below. The effect here is very much similar to the old "dazzle" paint that was used to hide the true form of military (and civilian) ships during the  World Wars. The thought was that painting anything like this made it not only harder to clearly identify a ship, but also for an enemy to target it. As you can see, the approach works. The BMW may be an attractive car, but it's really hard to tell with that livery, though it is colorful.

Note how the effect is similar to the old wartime "dazzle" pain [below]

That's just my .02--I'm sure our slot car manufacturers will turn out some beauties either way, but I think that maybe a slightly more traditional approach to race car liveries helps make them easier to ID and a bit more attractive. What do you think?

Back to Hobby Time as Retirement Looms...

 It's been over a year since I last posted - a lot has been going on. While Covid is not as big a deal as it was in 2020-21, I am still working primarily from home and that will  no doubt continue for the next 18 months, after which I will be ready to retire. I recently had a major job change...still working for the same electric utility, but in a different capacity. Also, we did a major bathroom remodel last spring which took a great deal of time and effort.

Now my attention has returned to the basement once again, and I am revising my plans for a new track. Last time I posted, I was contemplating plans to make a track that folded up against the wall in one section of our basement--a room about 10' x 12' that is off to one side. At the time, we wanted to utilize as much of the basement as possible for entertaining, but since then I have come to the realization that the space in question is not really needed for this, and that it could be re-claimed for my track space as before. 

Of course, my biggest regret is tearing out the old track I had in this space--which was about 70% finished - but I will approach the next effort with lessons learned and a better build-from-scratch approach, in terms of the table, built-in storage, integrated power and electronics, and other systems. In the end, I think I'll have a better result instead of something that was cobbled together on the fly. More to come soon.