After 22 Years: An Inventory of The Collection

After running and collecting 1/32 scale for 22 years, I finally figured it was time to pull everything out of the storage boxes and do a proper inventory. These are mostly all endurance-type cars...early and classic Le Mans, Group C/ IMSA GTP, open 1990s - 2000s LMPs and later, modern LMPs and GTs, and a few Can Am cars and other cars as well. The process took a while, and I had one box in particular that I had a hard time locating.
 

I thought this table would be plenty big enough. I was wrong.

Looking through everything, there are some kits to convert, too. The minis I have are just fun to drive and I wanted everyone in the family to have their own.   There are a few other odds and ends...my lone American muscle car (a Pontiac LeMans with flames) and two Daytona prototypes that I never really warmed up to. They will probably go on eBay - or I might adapt the chassis to run one of my kit conversions.

Early 60s Le Mans, Classic Le Mans and some Can Am & open racers.

Now comes the job of organizing everything. There are about 180 cars (with 3 more coming in the mail soon) and I am planning on taking photos of all of them. Not a fan of spreadsheets, either - but I will have to find some software or app to keep track. I tested Greg Braun's Slotcars 2000, which seemed OK at first, but I'm not sure I like the interface, and the record page does not include the car photo. I do have Ultimate Racer, which also has an inventory system, but it's on an old PC. I think it is still freely available and can be downloaded for Win 10. I may look into the newer version.

Some Minis, odds-and-ends, and kits on the shelf below.

Regardless, the process is very time-consuming, and not one I look forward to...but it's winter, I don't have a track to run on right now, and it needs to get done.

Translation: Making This Website Accessible...

You don't have to be around slot cars for very long to know that the hobby is bigger in the rest of the world than it is in the USA. Most of the cars are designed and produced in Europe, manufactured in the far east, and there are enthusiasts on every continent. Having enjoyed the hobby for about 22 years, I enjoy looking at content and seeing publications from across the world--even though I may be able to understand only a little bit of what is being discussed. In most cases, I get the gist - and a picture is a picture in any language.

It really, really works!

Google translate helps me a lot, and that's why I felt it was important to include a TRANSLATE link on the site so our visitors outside the USA can enjoy the content to at least some extent. While there is so much great video content out on the web now covering our hobby, translation is not a feature commonly available on YouTube. But it can be used on websites like this--so I hope folks will make use of it. You can find it on the right-hand column of the website, under the WELCOME message. Just use the pull-down box to select your language and you'll see the page translated via Google's bet effort. Not perfect, but not bad either. So you just don't have to look at the pictures!

So You Want to Add a Tunnel to Your Slot Car Track?

For slot racers who like to focus on the scenic aspects of their track, tunnels have always been one of those things that can really add a lot of visual impact. Some of the best artists I have seen on the various forums manage to make the creation of tunnels look easy; in truth, what we are seeing is always the result of careful planning and thoughtful construction.

Everybody likes tunnels, right?

Often the temptation is to build a structure of some sort and mound a plaster effect over the surface, creating something that is supposed to represent a mountain. Depending on the size, design, proportions and materials, the end result may look good -- or it may not. Before starting, there are lots of things to consider:

1) Is the track going to pass through the tunnel? If so, will it be a straight section, or a curved section? A straight section is always preferred, because cars often de-slot on curves, and the combination of a curve and a blind spot in the tunnel will probably increase your marshaling duties.

2) Would a mountain or tunnel look right on your track? If you're doing a hilly or mountainous Alpine region, sure. Make sure your hill or tunnel feature fits in with the overall landscape of your track. Also - LOOK AT NATURE - you should try to ensure your land forms try to resemble something you'd actually see in the natural world.Think - if an engineer was building a track or road in that spot - would they actually create a 50-foot tunnel? Or would they just excavate or dynamite the hillside to open it up completely?

3) Always think of driver views, marshaling and ease of access. For long tunnels on a straight, some track builders have used an avalanche tunnel, which is semi-open at one side, allowing drivers to see the cars and retrieve them without too much trouble, if needed. It's a smart approach.

A real-world example of an avalanche tunnel

4) Don't think you need to run the track through a tunnel to get the visual effect. This was something I saw many years ago, where the builder was creating a mountain/hill track but did not want to "force" a tunnel into a limited space. Since it utilized a road circuit anyway, he introduced a tunnel at an "intersection" that fed onto the track. It provided the illusion and interest of a tunnel without having to compromise on driver views--and it looked natural. I used this approach on my last track, where it blended into the landscape smoothly.

I used a tunnel like this on my old track - it blended right in and looked natural.

In short, tunnels can add a lot of interest if designed thoughtfully and made to look as realistic as possible.Overpasses can involve some of the same types of challenges, but they are often necessary (as a matter of track design) and can be kept to a minimum with good planning. The key is to look at what's out there in real life and try to design accordingly.

LMP Racing Stable Continues to Grow

I've spent much of the past month or so getting caught up on cars that I may have passed on when they first came out. While I can occasionally get a good deal on some NOS (new old stock) I don't mind purchasing a gently used car if it's intact and shows little effects of track time. Sometimes these can be found at dealers, and eBay too, of course - though the prices on even some used cars can get pretty ridiculous. The price on this DHL Porsche Spyder was quite good - it was listed as used but it looks practically brand new. The Fly Racing Lola B98/10 was a great deal on an NOS car that was created as a special racing version - it has a hotter motor, lighter body, aluminum wheels and a vacu-formed driver and cockpit. We'll see how it does on the track.

The Spirit Courage C65 was also an NOS buy - I probably paid about what it cost when new, which is not bad since I've seen it listed on eBay for $15-$20 more than I paid. Though they are not known to be awesome runners, the Spirit card look great and I really like the red and black livery.

Since it will be a while before I have a track to test anything on, any kind of reviews will have to wait. Nevertheless, I'm feeling pretty good about filling up some of the open spots in my collection, and the class of 1999-2010 LMPs I've been able to acquire is getting pretty extensive, as is my collection of Group 6/IMSA-GTP cars.

Avant Slot Looking to Build on Growing List of New LMH / LMDh Cars

I sometimes laugh and tell people I am "All Endurance Racing - All The Time" - which is kinda true - from the early 60's to the present day, I love my Le Mans and IMSA cars. Even with a relatively tight collectors focus like that, there are still so many cars out there...and the growth of 3D printing has put even more of them in reach.

That said, it is good to see that at least one slot car manufacturer has put a flag in the ground and has plans to produce some more of this growing list of WEC / IMSA Endurance Racing cars. I saw this announcement from Avant just recently, and it is an ambitious release list, to be sure. In real life, endurance racing is seeing a huge influx of new (and old) LMH/LMDh participants, including Porsche, BMW, Peugeot, Ferrari, Cadillac, Acura, Glickenhaus and even Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini!

I'm sure some of these cars will be (or already have been) modeled by some of our 3D printing superstars, but it will be nice to see some new products from our slot car manufacturers, too. SRC will be producing a Porsche 919 soon and Slot.it will add an LMH Oreca car as well. That will no doubt be used by many privateer teams, thus allowing a wide array of liveries. Acura is using that chassis, so maybe that will be a car we can look forward to. Let's hope!    

Catching Up on The Collection

Every time I get away from the hobby, a lot of new slot cars come out that I will inevitably miss - and I will have to go back and "fill in the holes" in my collection. If I'm lucky, I won't have waited too long and the cars will still be available on eBay or at online shops for a manageable price. I don't try to collect everything; my main areas of interest include early 60's LeMans, Classic LeMans, Group C and IMSA GTP cars, Modern LMP and GT cars and the newest Hypercars - as they become available, I hope.

While I appreciate Formula 1, there are just too many cars to add and too little money. NASCAR and Rally are not my thing, nor are DTM or Trans Am. Group 5 cars have never appealed to me either, as I don't like the look of the "tacked on" aero-effects of the period, which feel like they were fabricated from sheet metal and attached to stock body panels with rivets...

I was really happy to get this Slot.it Audi for a nice price.

The simple truth here is--like Clint Eastwood once said--"A Man Needs to Know His Limitations." That goes for the wallet as well. For me, it's best to focus on the kind of cars I like and try to get a fairly wide (if not too deep) range of cars. That means a couple of liveries for most types, from each manufacturer, or slightly different versions of cars, if they exist. I find just keeping up there can be a challenge.

 

 

For example, I bought a Slot.it 2011 Audi R18 a few years ago, and was able to add a companion 2012 e-Tron recently in a nice complimentary paint scheme. My Group C/IMSA cars saw the addition of another Toyota 86C and a companion March 83 G to match my other March.

 

Likewise, I was able to keep up my GT collection by adding a Carrera Corvette C8, a very sharp McLaren 720S GTE and a new Slot.it Maserati MC Gt4. I've added some other as well, but I'll save those for another post. My goal is to get "caught up" enough so I can just focus on adding new cars as they come out--which might mean adding one each month or every-other month. We'll see.