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.
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Expert modeler and figure caster John Kit shows off some famous race car drivers.
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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.
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You'd have to admit these Carrera figures are an improvement over the old stuff :-)
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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.
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Some examples of figure files available from Dolphin Studios on Cults3D.com
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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.
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Some of the track spectators I have printed on my filament printer. Time to paint!
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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.
