SJ EPISODE 11: Track Build Guide #5 - Curbs & Cobblestones

Since part of our track runs through an old medieval city, much of it features cobblestone surfaces. While there are some labor-intensive methods of achieving this look on the track itself (primarily etching a pattern into the plastic track with a soldering iron)  I'm using something simpler for the street curbing and walkways. In this video, I'll show you how I do this with some Google image searches for a cobblestone pattern and some basic computer graphics. Add a little weatherstripping and you've got some nice curbs.

After the demo, we'll also take a look at a new addition to the garage, highlight some European YouTubers and see how you can enjoy worldwide content using YouTube's Auto-Translate feature. There's so much good slot car content out there, and language doesn't have to be a barrier to enjoying it! Check out the episode HERE.

Car Tunes with Pete and Joe

If you don't sleep in on Saturday mornings, I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and have a listen to Joe and Pete's semi-weekly chat stream CAR TUNES.  If you don't know, Joe created the Irreras Carrera channel on YouTube while Pete is the creator behind the Show-Me Slot Cars channel which hosts the chat. Both run Carrera digital, and they provide some entertaining banter as well as some helpful info on running digital setups.

In addition, they have also set up a Discord site that will allow the Slot Car community to host discussions ans "rooms" on a number of topics. It's a great way to gather and disseminate info as well as carry on conversations after your favorite live stream is over. Check it out HERE.

SJ EPISODE 10: Track Build Guide #4 - Guardrails, Barriers and Walls

You pay good money for your slot cars - and you don't want them flying off the track and getting busted into pieces. That's why we use various kinds of safeguards, like crash barriers, guardrails and other types of walls to ensure those slot cars stay where they belong. In this video, I'll share a couple of ideas I use to create good-looking items that will help protect your cars with a big, beautiful wall. LOL.

After reviewing those techniques, we finally dig into our Mail Bag to answer some questions (both the questions and the answers are all in fun) and I also talk about what we're seeing these days in terms of slot car content. There's a lot going on. Watch it HERE. Enjoy!

A Milestone for Slot Journal

Just wanted to take a minute and thank the slot car community and other hobbyists that have supported the YouTube Channel over the past year. It was only 20 days ago that we hit 400 subscribers, and over the weekend we went over 500. Considering that since May of last year (10 months) we've posted 9 videos and 2 shorts, I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

What's great is that over the fast several weeks I've been able to get lots of footage and photos in the can, so now it's a matter of organizing and editing all of that into some more episodes. I'm also coming up wiht some ideas for new segments, including a fun AI-assisted bit that I think will be fun and entertaining. Stay tuned!

My "Buy List" for 2024

Now that most all the manufacturers' 2024 offerings have been made public, everyone is making their "buy lists" out and many are sharing them on YouTube. This can be a fun exercise...up to a point. For my own part, I try to limit this topic to a brief mention on one of my videos.

In this case, my focus is primarily on Scaleauto - who has projected a few of the new LMH and LMDH hypercars for the coming year, including the Porsche 963, the Cadillac, the Peugeot and the BMW. In addition, Slot.it will be coming out with an Acura hypercar, and the new Carrera Ferrari 296 GT3 is also on my radar. I'm sure there will be a few other new cars that will pique my interest, but my budget will have it's limits. And limiting my interest to primarily Lemans/Sebring etc.endurance racers definitely helps.

Twitter to get "X"d out - Moving to Instagram

Even from the beginning, Twitter (now "X") has not been the best place to post content - at least not for slot car enthusiasts. There were enough accounts to make it worthwhile, but as time has gone on, fewer and fewer of them have bothered to post content there. The most prolific posters seemed to be several Japanese commercial tracks and stores, which always offered the challenge of translating whatever text content accompanied their (often beautiful) photography.

As a result, I've finally decided to post whatever additional content I have over on Instagram. I had opened an account not too long ago, but had only posted a handful of photos - as much a placeholder as anything else. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a number of folks in the slot car community are already on there - so I'm thinking this will be worth the effort.

Another factor in this decision was the fact that the owner of so-called "X" has generally ruined what was once a fun and engaging platform. I had accounts for several of my areas of interest in addition to slot cars. But the final nail in the coffin was when they removed the ability to post "latest tweets" onto your web page, which was an important component of my site's home page. In any case, while I am not deleting the "X" account, I will no longer post anything new there...I haven't been doing that for a while, anyway.  My next task is to delete references to Twitter on my web page and YouTube videos, and replace them with links to Instagram. The instagram page is at: https://www.instagram.com/slotjournal/