Slot Car Buying / Collecting: What’s Your Plan?

It’s always interesting to see other people’s slot car collections. It’s not uncommon for enthusiasts to have a few hundred, and some folks have literally thousands of cars on the shelves. A lot get raced, some never see the track and some people will buy two of whatever they like—one to run and one to keep in the jewel case. The hows and whys run the gamut; some folks simply collect (as an investment) and other keep a strict focus on their choices and purchase primarily with racing in mind.

As I’ve mentioned before, I mostly restrict my purchases to endurance type racing cars, like you’d see at LeMans. It’s not that I don’t appreciate other kinds of cars—it’s just that I’m not as big a fan of other types of racing, and most of all, I simply can’t afford to buy EVERYTHING. But there are those who do.

Beyond that—and the fact that I run analog-only—I have a few other guidelines for purchasing:

1) For some cars, like Classic Le Mans and Group C, I may have at least 2 of every type, which could simply mean a different livery but better yet, a slight variation of a model. I also like to have variations on a model from different manufacturers (like a Jaguar XJS from Scalextric and Slot.it...or a McLaren 720 from Carrera and Sideways). I like even numbers.

2) I’m not one for buying the same exact car in a bunch of different liveries. Maybe two – but that’s about it.

3) If I can buy a new car without a case and save some money, I’ll do it. I don’t need another case for my shelf. My cars are purchased to run.

4) I’m not averse to buying a gently used car. Again, I’m not buying for investment. If a car is missing a mirror or two, and is in otherwise nice shape, I’m OK with it – I can make a replacement on my 3D printer.

A recent eBay purchase. Excellent shape except for the missing mirrors. We can fix that.

5) Driver variations – some sellers will charge more for a car that’s numbered to represent a specific (famous) driver. If this is the case and its stablemate is practically identical (but for the number) I’ll buy the cheaper option. I don’t feel like paying the premium.

6) If you haven’t figured out that I’m kinda cheap (I am) then understand I always look for a bargain. When I first started buying cars, Carreras went for about $30 and new Scalextrics for not much more. I think Flys were somewhere between $40-50. Though new cars are much better, there remains a psychological barrier that makes it hard to feel good paying more than $60 for a non-digital car. But I have bought some MR Slotcar, Revoslot, NSR and a handful of others that are closer to $100. With shipping, my SRC Toyota cost more than that—and the MR Slotcar Shadow I have on order will be close. It’s a good thing I’m “caught up” on most of the cars I’ve been wanting, because whatever is to come will be significantly more expensive than what I already have.

Already put my pre-order in for this baby. Not cheap - but what are you gonna do?

7) I try to patronize and support various online dealers. Often you can find great deals as long as you meet their free shipping requirements. I do shop price but good service also counts for a lot in my book. I scan eBay constantly for deals on older cars and used cars—but prices there can be crazy, too.

I’m curious what other people’s criteria might be for buying cars. Do you just “buy what you like” or do you have a special focus? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.

Car & Driver Magazine Features Custom Slot Car Track Featuring 'Animal House' and More

 We've all seen the work of Slot Mods Racing - they've produced plenty of awesome real-world-inspired slot car tracks. Featured on Car & Driver, the company's newest creation brings together The Blues Brothers, Animal House, Mad Magazine, and other pop culture icons to the small stage. This track isn't modeled on anything that exists in the real world - instead it takes inspiration from decades-old pop culture.

The new track, called Mad Cave Raceway, combines nostalgic movie scenes - including the infamous float parade from Animal House along with references to The Blues Brothers and billboards for Mad Magazine and Spy vs. Spy cartoons. As you can see from the photo above, the track even includes a custom car made in the shape of the cake float from the Animal House movie.  To read the original article, go HERE.

"Figuring" it out - Making Your Slot Car Track Come Alive

If you’re creating a scenic slot car track, there’s one thing you can add that will really bring your layout to life—and that’s adding some people. Whether it’s dozens of figures to populate a grandstand, a busy pit crew, some vigilant track marshals or just spectators wandering around, adding figures to your track really adds a lot of fun detail that can can look good and even tell a story.

Expert modeler and figure caster John Kit shows off some famous race car drivers.

For many years, the selection of figures that would be applicable to a slot car track was pretty sparse. Scalextric, Monogram, MRRC, Strombecker and Carrera provides very familiar (and limted) poses that could be placed around a track. While there were a few other options available, like a few metal cast figures and the inevitable Airfix/army man conversions, the available choices were mostly of vintage types—with 1960’s era Racing helmets and bareheaded pit crews, watched by spectators in old-fashioned clothing. Even the TV camera crews looked like something out of a 1950’s television studio. If you were modeling a modern track, it was a little anachronistic.

In the 2000s, things got better, as Carrera, Scalextric and a few other manufacturers updated their figures to more modern-looking examples—with helmeted pit crews and fewer spectators wearing mid-century era suits and ties or dresses. While it was an improvement, the prices could be pretty steep. Some advanced modelers employed old school resin casting and conversion methods to great effect, providing some extra variety and unique poses they could use on their own track.

You'd have to admit these Carrera figures are an improvement over the old stuff :-)

In recent years, however, the advent of 3D printing has caused an explosion in the number and variety of poses available to the modern track builder. Today one can find literally thousands of varied spectator poses as well as a wide variety of pit crews, drivers, track staff and many other useful types. These figures can be purchased painted and finished or unpainted, depending upon your preference and skill level. For those who own s 3D printer, there are a wide range of choices available in ready-to-print .STL files that you can output in any quantity you like. Many of these files are freely available on websites like Thingiverse, and others can be purchased on popular sites like Cults3D. Try searching for things like "figures", "people", "crowd", “man", "woman" – but be prepared to wade through lots of fantasy figures, etc. to find what you like.

Some examples of figure files available from Dolphin Studios on Cults3D.com

The results you get will vary, depending on the type of printer you have and your level of experience. FDM, or filament printers, use large spools of plastic (usually PLA or polyactic acid) and are capable of printing pretty good figures if you learn how to dial in the settings (temperature, layer thickness, support structure) just right. It took me a while to fine-tune my own settings, but once I figured it out, the output was quite good.

Resin, or DLP printers, use a different process that exposes a UV light-sensitive resin layer-by-layer to create a figure on a build plate. Like the various types of plastic available for filament printers, there is a wide range of resins to choose from, depending on your needs. Also, working with resin can be a little tricky, since it requires careful handling and disposal. That said, resin printers can provide a higher level of quality than filament printers—and this is one reason why it is the most popular printer for those who print very complex and detailed fantasy and gaming figures. As always, getting the print settings just right and learning by trial-and-error will lead to good results.

Some of the track spectators I have printed on my filament printer. Time to paint!

My own experience has led me to use both free and purchased print files for most of my figures, which will supplement the dozens and dozens of vintage and more recent figures I had collected over the years. I have both FDM and DLP printers, though I have mostly used the filament printer up to this point, since I have been able to get its figure output to be very consistent in a short period of time.

To see some really excellent track figures, creative ideas and discover some good resources, there are a few Facebook groups you may want to check out:

Scenic Slotcar Figures

Scenics & Slot Tracks

Boone’s Slot Car Garage

STNE Scalextric Trackside NE

Over the coming months, I’ll highlight some of my own figure projects and provide some pointers on getting the most out of your printer, as well as some examples of conversions and repairs I’ve made when the printer’s output was a little less than perfect.

Now Hear This! And Watch, too...

Most of us in the Slot Car community tune in to hear the latest news each Friday from Dave Kennedy. Though he's recently undergone some medical procedures and is still recovering (successfully, it seems!) Dave is still taking some extra time to drop in on various chats and keeping us up on what;s happening. Inspired by the President's annual State of The Union address, Dave decided to take a few minutes to talk about what's happening in the hobby--the good and the not-so-good (it's mostly good) as well as where things seem to be heading.

Along the way, he offers some insights about digital, how track scenery adds to the hobby and its enjoyment, the rise of 3D printing and cottage-industry manufacturers, and some other topics of interest that will be sure to capture your attention. As always, his observations are grounded in real industry experience, practicality and common sense. Check it out!

Flashback: When the BBC Highlighted a $300k Slot Car Track

Apparently this video was from some years ago - but I believe it's the first time I happened to come across it. This was an offering from the US luxury department store chain Neiman-Marcus. The slot-car track was created by Slot Mods USA (no surprise there) that has designed tracks for people like Jay Leno and racer Bobby Rahal.

 

The build also included pit crews, buildings, trees, grandstands and even aluminium Armco barriers. For the price, the custom track also featured the kind of electronics typically reserved for the real thing. While most of us will never be able to afford to buy something like this, it's a great source of inspiration for those scenic maters who like to create this type of thing on a more modest level.  Check out the video HERE.

Scenery in A Limited Space: The Streets of New York

Where space is plentiful, talented builders can use it to create some truly impressive structures to enhance the look of their racing layout. But where space is at a premium, and the table or room dimensions create challenges, it's possible to find some really great solutions that help deliver the three-dimensional illusion we are all looking for.

YouTuber Lees Slot Cars (Slot Cars on Facebook) has managed to do exactly this with his New York Street Race backdrop. With only a few inches to spare, he has created a pretty convincing street scene, with excellent building facades of hotels, commercial buildings, shops, apartments and more. The fact that he uses actual photographs is the key to the sense of realism here, and gives a sense of depth to what is essentially a flat surface. Lee does a nice job of explaining his process, which is easy enough for just about anyone to follow.  Be sure to check out his process here: How I made my 1:32 scale Scalextric slot car New York scene back drop