SLOTTY SALAD

SLOW...

2011-09-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Nothing much happening here. I've been working on the D-Type from time to time, but it's going so slowly. I replaced the side panels at least...

SHORTNOSE D-TYPE Current Project

2011-08-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here's one I'm working on right now, well, on and off anyway. It started off as a Minialuxe D-Type from the early sixties. Minialuxe was a French company who produced mostly 1/43 plastic vehicles, similar to Norev. They made a few 1/32 cars, of which this was one, together with a Mercedes and a Gordini. MRRC distributed them as slot car shells, and they could be seen featured in some of their magazine ads from around that time. Over the years these shells become badly warped, and this one was no exception. I tried to have a go at one before but it failed when the paint stripper I was using melted the plastic. See here:
http://slottysalad.blogspot.com/2009/04/minialuxe-d-type.html
I originally gave this shell to Charles Lawrence out in Seattle, but he kindly returned it when I asked him if I could have a go at making something decent of it.
I was going to just straighten out the shell,but I think I've gone a little bit further than that now! It'll be far from perfect in the end, but much better than the sorry state it was in. I first straightened it out as much as possible using steam, then made cuts in the body to straighten it out further. I then removed the "hump" from behind the drivers' seat, as it wasn't in line, and also filled in the cockpit area because that needed to be redone too. There's not going to be much left of the original Minialuxe when I'm finished I think...

HAND CARVED JAGS

2011-08-07T19:32:00.001-07:00

hese two hand-carved Jaguars, a C-Type and a D-Type were probably carved sometime in the late to mid fifties. They are well detailed, and feature SMEC wheels and steering wheels. All I did when I got them was rub a bit of 3 in 1 oil onto them to bring out the shine and that's it.

RAIL CARS

2011-07-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of a few rail cars I was lucky enough to win on ebay a while ago. Actually I already posted these photos on Slotforum, but here they are again for your enjoyment. They all came with Merit BRM bodies, and there are two chassis, one aluminium and one stainless steel, with the other rail car utilizing a Scalextric sidewinder motor (same as the ones used in the early tinplate cars) that fits inside the Merit shell, which unfortunately, is broken. They are in pristine condition, even the motor wires look like they've never actually been soldered to the motor brushes. The tyres look unused too, but there are some faint traces of use on the wipers. They are superbly crafted, one could say over-engineered actually. Note the attention to detail in the design, e.g. the machined blocks with grub screws for holding the business end of the motor on the singe-motored chassis. The tyres are a mix of Tri-ang and Alf Walshaw, one of the pioneers or electric rail racing in the U.K..
There is also a very unusual steering mechanism using what looks to be a model railway solenoid with a connecting arm that fits onto the kingpin of the steering linkage. Some form of remote steering experiment?
They were originally found in a box in a charity shop! One can't help but wonder what wonderful stuff may not have made it that far and was binned?

Monaco Plans

2011-07-30T10:26:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything, but here are the Monaco plans. I still have to add the top view which should be done soon.

KIEFT DOWN UNDER

2011-01-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

Robin Briggs in New Zealand sent me some more photos of his Kieft that he's been working on. It's coming together nicely now and the addition of a driver really brings it to life...

MUCKY MERCEDES

2011-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

Well the Merc is finished apart from adding the windshield and trimming the rear axles. I made the driver by taking the Autoart head and sculpting the rest out of acrylic mastic putty, which I'm quite fond of at the moment, it seems like handy stuff to have around. The original diecast came with sticker-type numbers so I went and made a new set of decals for it and they turned out quite well, as did the Mercedes emblem above the radiator.
I have yet to try it on the track, but if it's anything like the other two diecasts I've done, it won't be extremely fast, but will have that feeling of weight and inertia that makes it interesting to drive.
Right then, now I'll start back on the Monaco, and the D-Type.

MERCEDES W125 Diecast slot car

2011-01-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

I had a sudden urge to do another diecast slot car, so I grabbed this 1/43 Brumm Mercedes that had been lying around for a while and went at it. As with most builds, it's taking a bit longer than I expected due to various annoying little problems (e.g. motor mysteriously shorting out for no apparent reason), but it's not far off being done.

I used a KTM motor with MRRC wheels and bevel gears. Tyres are Supershells on the front and some unknown ones on the back. The motor had to have a bit of filing down done on the magnet end to fit, and the inside of the body had to be filed a bit too to allow the brushes to fit nicely, and then the whole thing was held in place by gobs of mastic putty, which goes off really hard and is easy to work with. I was going to use a pin guide but in the end decided on a conventional guide (again MRRC), held in a brass bracket connected to the front end, the metal pin on the guide passing through the bracket and has a brass nut soldered on top to keep it in place. The front wheels are independently rotating, being held in place on stub axles made of short pieces of brass tube, inserted into the holes in the front of the body.
I need to trim the rear axles still, and add and paint some of the details, exhaust, bonnet strap, etc... I may weather it a bit too.
I was going to use an Autoart driver from a 1/32 C-Type, which was the perfect size, but after trying to modify it several times his hand fell off, then his arm, so I got frustrated and cut his head off. I kept the head and now I'm having a go at doing my own body, but at the moment it looks like an obscene blob of c@#p. Hopefully I can make it look presentable.
Anyway once the body is done I'll post a couple of more photos, then I'll get back on with the Monaco.

Finally here's a great video from of Hermann Lang at the Nurburgring in his W125 in 1962, narrated by Graham Hill...

HOT AND STEAMY BODIES

2011-01-13T04:29:00.000-08:00

One thing I do for fixing warped bodies and for bending plastic in general is to use steam. I just fill an old kettle, wait for the water to boil and that's it. You can regulate the temperature by how close you hold the body to the steam spout, but you have to be careful not to burn yourself, so I use an oven glove or a pair of tongs, or else I'm just very careful. I keep a slow trickle of water going in the sink to plunge the body into now and again to cool the plastic down. I bend it a bit at a time, steaming then cooling, until it's done. If you go too far you can just bend it back again. It's quicker and more effective than straightforward hot water.
Here is an old Minialuxe 1/32 Jaguar body shell that is thoroughly warped. I managed to make it a lot better using the steam method but unfortunately it still looks like a banana in plan view. I'm hoping to make a resin cast of it and try to fix the longitudinal warp by manipulating the cast, and/or the resin while the resin is still setting.
These old Minialuxe Jaguars were distributed by MRRC in the early sixties and can be seen featured in some of their product lists from that time.
(Thanks to Charles Lawrence in Seattle for loaning me the shell to work on).

It works well on old Scalextric cars such as this one, another D-Type, which had a bit of a warp that was cured in minutes:

Cheers.

MONACO UPDATE

2010-12-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

I've started doing some drawings for the body. Here's the side view, almost finished...

I've decided that it's going be front wheel drive, so I can eventually include all the lovely engine detail at the back. I've had a couple of goes at constructing a motor/axle setup but unfortunately they haven't been very successful for various reasons. The first one I did used a tiny Jouef motor but it didn't have any guts, the second was using a "Welkut" motor (similar to a K's Mk2 only smaller) but the glue holding the pole pieces on disintegrated after I soaked it in methyl hydrate to clean it...
I'm going to have a go at using sculpy for the bodyshell reinforced on the back with a thin layer of JB Weld. I'll carve a buck for the shell out of wood and make it slightly undersize so that I can have a go at covering it with the sculpy to bake it.
I hope it works!

A COUPLE MORE PHOTOS

2010-12-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple more photos I found on the net...

MY NEXT PROJECT George Hartwells Monaco Special

2010-11-30T12:54:00.000-08:00

This is it:

Built in 1947. Ridiculously small, with a wheelbase of only five feet. I've yet to work out which materials I'll be building it from but I think I know which wheels and motor I'm going to use which is a start.
"It looks like a clog!" says my girlfriend. Yes, or some kind of bathtub.
More details to follow...

MODEL MAKER & MODEL CARS March 1963

2010-11-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of articles out of this old magazine...

Standard Update

2010-09-18T19:17:00.001-07:00

Well the body is just about finished, I just need to add some colour to the taillights and put a "GB" sticker on the back and that's pretty much it. I really like this model a lot I think it has tons of character so I'm definitely going to get another one to do a green version of.
I screwed up the Monogram chassis beyond repair. I was holding it down and drilling the retaining hole for the bellend of the motor I was going to use because it was slightly too small (I was going to use a Parma motor). However I wasn't holding it tight enough and the drillbit binded and the whole chassis twisted (see photo). Unfortunately I didn't have another one and I thought I would have to buld one from scratch so I scanned the underneath of the body and using that as a guide I then drew out a template on the computer to use on a sheet of brass. However I was feeling like this was more work than I wanted to do this time, I just wanted this to be an easy build, but then I found the little plastic chassis front-end thingy that fits on to a wide range of old motors, pittmans, kemtrons etc... (see photo). It's just right for what I want. I just need to shim the bearings at the back to accommodate a 3/32 axle so I'll be JB Welding in a bit of brass rod in there. I should get it all finished tomorrow, fingers crossed.

MODEL MAKER April 1960

2010-09-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Some snippets from a recently arrived old Model Maker (price two shillings, which is twenty pence nowadays I think). First is an article on making 1/40th scale chassis by Harry Hedges from Kalamazoo, which I particularly like as it's in line with my efforts in motorising Crescent diecasts etc... then the Go-Kart article by D.J.Laidlaw-Dickson which some people may find a good read, and lastly an intriguing ad for some early Supershells shells that I had no idea even existed. I really like these old Model Maker magazines, I may post some non-slot ads or articles because they are so interesting.

JOHN ROBINSON

2010-09-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well I just read the sad news on Planet Slot that John Robinson passed away from cancer. What a shame. I wrote to him just a few weeks ago as I am returning to the U.K. for a visit next month and was hoping to meet up with him while in Jersey. I suppose if it wasn't for him MRRC would have been consigned to the history books long ago when they closed down the old factory. Too bad he never got to see his beloved Cheetah produced.
Whenever I bought any vintage MRRC stuff off him he would always send at least double the amount of whatever it was. I think he did that with most people.
I really wish I could have met him...

Goodnight John, give my regards to Alban Adams.

Cheers.

P/P STANDARD EIGHT A little progress...

2010-09-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well I've finally started on the lovely little Penelope Pitlane Standard Eight.
There were no problems preparing the body, just a little very light sanding around the edges and that was it, apart from washing in detergent. I decided to go with a fictitious livery and this one is black, although I'm going to get another one so I can do a green one. I used acrylic primer and "Just Enough" acrylic spray paint from a little can bought at Home Hardware. Dries in minutes. I used Krylon Matt Acrylic spray varnish then a couple of coats of Johnsons Klear.
I think I'll have a go at opening out the air intake at the front to put a brass guaze grille in behind there. I found a photo on the web of one with a grille which looks good and I think it would definitely help to open out the front a bit, it would look better than just a shut-off intake.
Of course I still need to paint the indicator lights and add the interior and glazing etc, but that's all pretty straightforward stuff. The only problem that I've had is that I can only find two of the four ex-Eldon steel wheels I wanted to use. I may just use the MRRC ones instead, as shown in the photos, they look pretty nice. I was thinking of using an old Monogram brass chassis, which I may still do although I'll have to add 3/32 axle holders because the monogram has openings for 1/8inch axles.
Finally for anyone that's interested, I'm also posting these pages from an old publication called "The Autocar Road Tests" from 1953.
Cheers.

ROBIN BRIGGS' KIEFT

2010-09-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Robin in New Zealand is building a car with one of my Kieft bodies, as a little replica of the two-litre car Ronnie Adams raced in the 1954 TT at Dundrod.He is using a Penelope Pitlane FEa front-engine chassis, which is really for single-seaters, but the Kiefts had a central driving position and Robin hopes the FEa will allow him to have a reasonably deep cockpit. He likes his old 1970s slot-car parts and has modified the chassis slightly to take 1/8in threaded axles and narrow wheels, and a grub-screwed contrate.

More to follow...

NEXT PROJECTS

2010-08-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well the weather has cooled off and the humidity has subsided and I'm feeling more in the mood for doing some slot stuff. I've decided just to do a few fun projects next, before embarking on another bout of carving, filler-slopping and cursing. I have a bunch of bodies and bits and pieces crying out to be used and at the rate I'm going I'll be 80 before I get round to using them all.
So...
First off is going to be the great little Standard 10 I got from Penelope Pitlane.

It's a lovely model and a very clean casting that needs hardly any clean up, and comes complete with glazing and decals. I was going to send away for a Penelope Pitlane chassis too but instead I'm going to try to use an old Monogram brass adjustable chassis in it, courtesy of Ron Baron in Vanouver, (thanks, Ron), and a set of steel type wheels from a (Marx?.. Eldon?) stock car. They take 1/8 inch axles which is perfect for the monogram chassis. I vaguely remember these cars from when I was a child.

I also have this 1/24 Sunbeam Rapier Mk1 which started life as a friction toy but is a nice-looking body and will go well with my Austin Cambridge and Ford Anglia. I'm looking forward to painting it, I'm thinking a two-tone paint job will be good.

Then theres this Scalextric Jag D-Type which I want to paint and put a new motor and wheels on it. I've taken off any removable body bits and the lights and windscreen to clean it. I'm thinking of putting a Romford Bulldog motor in it, not that these were really used back in the day because it's a train motor but it's a nice reliable little motor and I have one that needs to be used so what the heck...

More soon...

ALFA ROMEO TYPE 158/9 Profile Publications

2010-08-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've just added page 5 which I missed out first time round. Many thanks to Robin Briggs in New Zealand for sending me this. I also recieved a great little Mardave shell from the sixties from him too which I'll be posting this weekend. Cheers Robin!

H.R.G. with grille (finally)...

2010-08-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

After a long wait I finally received the photo-etched grilles for my Hurg from Graham Poulton in the U.K.. They were well worth the wait though and I am very pleased with them indeed, in fact I think they look bloody great! Thanks a lot Graham. Now the Hurg is finally complete. Well actually I still need to repaint the driver in the proper colours, and I really should make the proper period helmet with the full face visor, I also need to re-attach the rear view mirror BUT apart from those little things it's done and now I'm going to move on to other projects.
I've decided I want to create a set of cars that might have been seen at events like Dundrod in the early-mid '50's, and so to that end I'm going to begin carving the next car soon.
In the meantime here are some photos of the Hurg grille, and how it looks on the front of the car. I've posed it next to my SMEC Jaguar XK120, which is fitting as of course the Hurg too was originally a SMEC creation:

CHASSIS ALMOST DONE

2010-06-28T18:47:00.001-07:00

I was hoping to get the chassis totally finished tonight but it's been too bloody hot and humid and I've spent most of the evening lollygagging about, just about able to move my eyeballs and my finger on the remote for the TV. However I managed to work up enough energy to take these few snaps of the present state of the chassis.
It's almost done. It just needs some trimming to the axles and generally tidying up.

Hurg Chassis

2010-06-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

I did a little bit more to it. It looks so old-fashioned that I think it would be good as a rail car chassis. I'll hopefully get it finished this weekend. I changed the original motor to another K's Mk2, which still had both ends of the armature shaft intact, as I thought I might have a go at doing 4wd. Then I realised the motor was too close to the front axle to accommodate the gear. I haven't done any soldering at all on this yet, I've been using JB Weld.

JUST A CAR GUY

2010-05-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a really good blog called "Just a Car Guy, things with wheels that are cool". This post features some amazing sculptures by a guy called James Corbett, and there's some nifty-looking boats in there too:

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009_09_08_archive.html

HURG CHASSIS

2010-05-24T19:03:00.001-07:00

Well I changed my mind about using a can motor and I'm going all vintage, as is my wont. Doesn't look very pretty at the moment, I'm basically just making it up as I go along. K's Mk2 motor, somewhat modified with conventional brushes and brush spring JB Welded to the top. I have a small u-joint that I'm going to use to connect the gear shaft to the motor. I'll be using MRRC brass bevels and MRRC wheels and inserts. It should look good alongside the SMEC Jag which has similar wheels and inserts.
More pics as I progress...

BUILDING MODEL CARS WITH BODY SHELLS Model Cars 1965

2010-05-23T19:26:00.001-07:00

SILVER WHEELS

2010-05-18T13:46:00.001-07:00

On paying closer attention to the reference photos I saw that the wheels were most likely silver, not black or green. It looks better like this. I've just loosely placed them here for photos. The driver is only lightly fixed in too because he's the wrong colour and has the wrong type of helmet. I'll change him when I find out the right colours.
There also seems to be a tonneau cover being used on the reference photos too. I'll add that if I can find out what it looked like and how it was attached.
Right then, now for the chassis...

LPD659 DEATH AND REBIRTH

2010-05-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some great photos of the Hurg as it was in the late forties/early fifties fitted with an Aerodynamic body. Also several of shots of it languishing all forlorn in a scrapyard in Otterburn, U.K., alongside some other pretty desireable but sad old wrecks. Then some more recent shots of it being totally rebuild as a standard-body HRG after being rescued.
Many thanks to Barry Paine.

HURG WITH WHEELS

2010-05-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Another blurry photo I'm afraid. I replaced the rear view mirror with a more decently proportioned one made from bits of styrene with some foil tape on the front. I just need to paint the driver and of course attach the grille and the badges. The wheels are from an Autoart C-Type which look o.k. I think, the bosses need to be silver though. They are just loosely placed in position here to get some idea of what they would look like. Thankfully the axles on the Autoart Jaguar are not knurled which and they twist off quite easily (Actually maybe that's not so good!). I may try some of Peter S.Thomas's etched wheels on any future ones. Now I need to start thinking of what kind of chassis I'm going to do.

HURG UPDATE Body almost done

2010-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Hurg gets closer to being done. Well the body anyway...
I just need to add the driver and the front grille (there's a printed paper copy there right now), and also give it another coat of Klear. Looking at the photos I see I need to reset the glass in the aeroscreen, and I'm not really happy with the rearview mirror, it seems too big and clunky. So I'll probably end up replacing it.
I'll see if I can take some better pictures tomorrow.
I recieved a CD from Barry Paine in the U.K. with some great reference material about LPD659 on it. There's lots of photos and information regarding it's history and restoration, so I'll be posting that tomorrow too.
G'night.

HURG/KIEFT UPDATE

2010-05-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

I finally got round to making some decals for the Hurg. I am hoping to be getting an etched grille kindly made by Graham Poulton in the U.K. which should enhance the appearance of the front end somewhat. I'll hold off putting the badges on the front until it comes so I can position them right. I just need to paint the lights either side of the number plate holder at the rear, and make a rear-view mirror for the windscreen area, and attach the windscreen glass. Oh and put tape on the headlights.
I'll be making a daschboard this week out of some thin aluminium so hopefully I'll have the interior finished by next weekend.
I also started on the Kieft. I primed it and hollowed out the grille area so I can put a dummy radiator in there behind the (very fragile) scratchbuilt grille. I don't know how long this will last before getting broke, probably not very long at all so I may not use a very strong adhesive so as to be ready for when I have to replace it.

LPD659

2010-04-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a page from the Association of Singer Car Owners site regarding H.R.G. LPD659 at various stages of it's career. I have been in contact with the present owner, Barry Paine, who hopefully is going to supply more information about this car.

The original page can be viewed at:
http://www.asco.org.uk/page176.html

HURG UPDATE

2010-04-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well I finally found a reasonable sized bottle of Castrol Super Clean to strip the Hurg. I thought that Canadian Tire had stopped selling it but thankfully they haven't, and it was the small bottle too, not the genormous jerry cans that I saw at Walmart. After an overnight soak all the paint just washed off and any residue was cleaned up with a vigorous going over with a soft brush. I placed the body on a metal stand and put it on top of the stove to dry. When it was thoroughly dry I primed it with flat matte spray paint (fast-drying acrylic). After that had dried I then sanded it using fine wet and dry. Then I mixed up some Polyfilla and Micro Krystal Klear and a small drop of water to a creamy paste and, using a small brush, painted it into any small pits and blemishes that I could see. I dried it off on the stove again then sanded the filler down with, again, fine wet and dry. This method of usng Krystal klear and Polyfilla to fill small holes works well, it dries very fast and after sanding, a small wipe over with a damp finger (preferably your own) ensures a smooth finish. I then gave it it's first coat of green paint (moss green acrylic) and placed it back on the stove top to dry. It's not looking too bad. Next I'll be doing a bit more tidying up, drilling a hole in the boot for the handle, fixing the aeroscreen on, and then I'll give it another coat of paint.

FPF KIEFT BRISTOL

2010-04-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Steve Francis from FPF models sent me this copy of my Kieft a few days ago. It's the latest FPF model. The casting looks nice and crisp and Martin Field (Clubspecial on Slotforum) did a great job of sharpening up the louvres and panel lines, and also working on the exhaust area to get the right shape (it being slightly wrong due to the lack of photo reference while I was making the body).
Anyway there's lots of reference here on this blog for anyone interested in making this model.
Here's some pics:

FPF LAND ROVER

2010-04-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I sent a 1/32 Land Rover ambulance off to Martin Field in the U.K. to be used as a donor for a new FPF model. It was a good model overall but lacked some essential details. Martin and Steve Francis did some work on it and I got a picture from Steve today of the first of several versions. It looks great! I think I'm going to turn mine into a burger van though...

FPF Models can be found at:
http://www.wix.com/MrTinsmith/FPF-Models

SAD HURGS

2010-03-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

I recast the Hurg and it turned out quite well. I decided to have a go at painting up a shell and started off working on the interior of the cockpit area. However I soon realized that that may cause a few problems when it came to painting and it would be better to do the outside of the shell first. I cleaned up the shell and filled in some small pits and blemishes, primed it, and when the primer was dry and had been sanded I gave it it's initial coat of paint. (Moss Green). However the paint reacted strangely and became crackled, so I scraped off what I could and now the body is sitting around looking sad until I can get to Canadian Tire to get some Castrol Super Clean to soak it off. I hope to have it looking reasonably nice by the weekend.

This next photo is of the car I'll be modelling it on. 1947 Hurg chassis W110 here seen at Silverstone for an eight-clubs meeting on the 6th June 1953, driver Ron Goodearl. Ron is still around and helped me identify one of the badges on the front of this car, the one on the left. It is the Chiltern Car Club badge. The one in the middle is the BARC badge and the one over on the right is unknown but "insignificant" according to Ron.

This next photo is of the same car at the Tulip Rally, 1950, driver Brian Holroyd.

This next photo was taken some years later after W110 had been abandoned and left to rot. I'm happy to say though that it was rescued and restored to pristine condition as a standard-body H.R.G. I did have some photos of that one but I can't find them but I'll try to include some with my next post.

Incidentally I'd like to thank Ron Goodearl, and Peter Mitchell of the H.R.G. Association for information regarding this car. Also Peter LLoyd for rummaging around in his shed and digging out an actual Chiltern Car Club badge to scan and sending it to me.

RAIL RACING Chapters 1 and 2

2010-03-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

RAIL RACING Chapter 3

2010-03-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

RAIL RACING Chapter 4

2010-03-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

I want to get this finished off. I cast the Hurg and it looks o.k. except for the grille which is too thick, but I think I've worked out a remedy by printing onto thin aluminium tape, much like the original SMEC method. I'm going to start work detailing and painting a bodyshell next week with full interior, so I'll be posting photos soon.

RAIL RACING Chapters 5 and 6

2010-03-16T20:20:00.001-07:00

RAIL RACING Chapter 7

2010-03-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapters 8 and 9

2010-03-05T10:31:00.001-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapters 10 and 11

2010-03-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapters 12 and 13

2010-02-25T22:31:00.001-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapter 14

2010-02-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

I was considering missing out the chapters that dealt with diesel rail racing, but then I thought it would be a shame not to scan the whole book, and I'm sure most of those people who are interested in the history of slot racing will want to see them...

RAIL RACING Chapter 15

2010-02-22T21:06:00.001-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapters 16/17

2010-02-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

RAIL RACING Chapter 18

2010-02-18T08:42:00.001-08:00

MODEL CAR RAIL RACING D.J.Laidlaw-Dickson 1957

2010-02-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

Back to front, last chapter first...

ELECTROTOR Vintage motor

2010-02-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

Back in the late forties, SMEC (Scale Model Equipment Company) came out with a motorizing kit for their 1/32 scale wooden car kits. This is the motor they supplied with the kit. It was used to convert the kits to enable them to be used for round-the-pole racing. I got this one courtesy of Charles Lawrence in Seattle and I'm probably going to use it to convert the SMEC-based wooden buck of my HRG aerodynamic. I'm also posting some photos of an old SMEC kit that was converted by this method. These photos are courtesy of Slotforum member Couserslot (I'm not sure of his real name).
Cheers.

ANOTHER ANIMATED BANNER

2010-02-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

I had a request to do another animated banner so I came up with this. There's a couple of little things to do to finish it off, but it's pretty much done.

FPF MODELS LOGO

2010-02-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

I did this animated logo for FPF Models (what was FF Models). I ended up doing several versions but I'm not sure which one they'll finally put on their new site. This one does repeat but it takes a while to do so. The cars are supposed to be based on Austin Seven Ulsters.

RAIL RACING ARTICLE FROM "THE EAGLE BOOK OF HOBBIES" Walkden Fisher 1958

2010-01-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

Some great stuff on rail racing kindly supplied by Martin ("Clubspecial") Field.

April 1964 Gears and things

2010-01-22T20:28:00.001-08:00

December 1967 Broadspeed Anglia

2010-01-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

January 1965 Austin G.P.

2010-01-22T20:11:00.001-08:00

July 1966 Two speed gearbox

2010-01-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Universal Joints March 1965

2010-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Simple chassis March 1965

2010-01-22T19:23:00.001-08:00

Lotus 56 October 1968

2010-01-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

Birmingham G.P. June 1967

2010-01-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Oaklands Park June 1965

2010-01-22T18:41:00.001-08:00

K's motor ads June 1965 and February 1967

2010-01-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

Pete Mortimer monocoque Lotus February 1965

2010-01-22T18:15:00.000-08:00

February 1966 Mike Pannett concourse winner

2010-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

Below are more recent shots of Mike Pannet's wonderful Austin and also a couple of shots of his equally brilliant Lotus 49, itself a concourse winner in it's time. Both sets of photos reproduced here by kind permission of Tony Condon.

Aug 1966 Simple Steering

2010-01-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA Past and present

2010-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a page from November 1964 Model Cars magazine of the "Long Island Racing Club" in Ottawa, which apparently was one of a number of clubs in Ottawa at that time.
I wonder what "MRRC rules" were?

And this is a photo of the present-day slot track belonging to the Scale Slot Racers of Ottawa, which is, I think, the only slot club presently in Ottawa. It's a 148 foot track in a room tucked behind a model shop. I visited there about two years ago and the people were very friendly indeed.

Here's a link to their website:
http://ssroclub.webs.com/

EARLY MRRC AD From Model Cars April 1964

2010-01-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should have kept this for April 1st?

HURG DONE

2009-12-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well it's done, apart from a little bit of filling and filing, it's ready to be cast. I'm still not too happy with the grille, it would look much better with an etched one, so maybe this year I'll learn how to get them done.
Anyway, Happy New Year!

GENUINE MORGAN PEDALCAR

2009-12-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

Something for the kids from the Morgan car company...

http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/sales/pedal_car/super_sports_junior.html

LAZER EYES

2009-12-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

This has nothing whatsoever to do with slot cars. This is what I'm like if I've had too much coffee and people p#$%s me off!

SMALL BUS. It's underscale. However...

2009-12-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well having given the old bus a good going over with a ruler, I found out it's actually underscale. It's actually about 1/36, which is noticeably small when put up against 1/32 cars. However I'm still going to do it because as a scenic item it should still look good if placed at the back of a layout. Plus I found a Jaguar Mk1 (?) plastic body which is exactly the right scale to fit. I'll eventually make a couple of copies of the Jag, so I can hopefully put one inside the bus on the lower deck, and have the other two as slot cars.
Here it is, still looking a bit rough at the moment. I'm hoping it will end up looking toy-like.

It'll hopefully end up something like this. It should look good with vintage adverts on the sides...

GREAT FLICKR SITE For car transporter reference

2009-12-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

I found this guy's great flickr site. There's some brilliant reference for car transporters and other cool stuff too.
Caution: Partial nudity!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brimen/show/

HURG GRILLE

2009-12-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well I finally did a grille that I'm fairly satisified with. Next I'll put some louvres on the sides and then I'll be able to clean it up and see what it looks like with a coat of primer.

VINTAGE RT BUS TRANSPORTER

2009-11-29T19:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to post anything here for a while because we've been busy moving to a new apartment. Things are still a bit chaotic with half-emptied boxes of stuff everywhere, but it's coming together now and it looks like I'll finally have enough room to set up a slot track.
About a week ago I unpacked this toy bus which I had bought off ebay intending to turn it into a transporter. It wasn't really meant to be my next project but then I started messing about with it and it looks like it is now. I intend to get it to the point where I can resin cast it, then work on resin shell to finish it off. I'll cast it in two parts, the top and bottom.
Some time ago I posted some images of the same model that I'd altered in Photoshop to see what kind of designs I could come up with. I've included one of them here to show what I intend the finished result to look like (the "Trellis Thicket" one).
I haven't forgotten about the Hurg. I hope to get that finished soon.

KIEFT MG

2009-11-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

Couple of pics...

CORGI BEDFORD CA (From the Scalextric website)

2009-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

This is cute. Too bad it's not 1/32...

http://www.corgi.co.uk/shop/278/bedford-ca-van--scalextric-dg173012/?from_categories=days-gone

KIEFT (Elusive exhaust-area reference pics)

2009-11-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a few reference pics for the exhaust side on the Kieft Bristol which I wish I'd had when I made mine...

ONE-FORTIETH SCALE CAR RACING Model Maker, February 1958

2009-10-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

An old article on motorizing Cresent diecast cars, and a period advert for Crescent diecasts...

CHARLES WOODLAND (Slot car pioneer) Model Cars February 1967

2009-10-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article. Actually to tell the truth I'm not really sure what it's about. I think it's about racing early battery-driven model cars.
Charles Woodland was an early slot racing pioneer. He built the Maserati shown in these photographs, which was the forerunner of most typical slot/rail cars that were to follow.

His writing style is, um... interesting.The motor he used on the Maserati is a Zenith. I'm pretty chuffed because I won the exact same one today on ebay. I'm looking forward to perhaps incorporating it into my rail car that I will build eventually. If it runs alright. It's ancient.

HURG (starting to look more like one)

2009-10-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

I finally made a grille, and I've started putting the louvres on the sides. It's looking a bit more recognizable as an H.R.G. now.

H.R.G. update.

2009-10-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Still coming on slowly. It looks a bit messy right now, but should look o.k. when it's cleaned up.
Also, I was thinking of doing a D-Type next, but I've changed my mind. Instead I'm going to do one of these...
Much more better!

H.R.G. shutlines and louvres

2009-10-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've started putting the shutlines on, and the louvers on the bonnet. I have to make some louvers for the side panels, and then build a grille...

H.R.G. basic shell.

2009-10-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

I made a cast of the basic shell for the Hurg. It turned out o.k. but there's still a couple of areas that need a bit of cleaning up and shaping/filling, mostly around the rear wheel fairings.
After that I can start working on the louvres and shutlines, grille, etc...

STOCK-CAR RACING IN BRITAIN http://www.oldstox.com

2009-10-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

I want to plug this site:
http://www.oldstox.com/
The homepage of David Kipling.
There's tons of great old photos of stock cars, with a bit of non-stock stuff thrown in too.
Here's a good one of a Fiat 600 body on a Bedford chassis with an Oldsmobile "Rocket" engine, with a Ferrari SuperAmerica gearbox!

See it here:http://www.oldstox.com/MoreSeniorF1s.htm
And this one is a Falcon Mk2:
It also has some good links, like this one for Pathe News Brighton Speed Trials:
http://www.oldstox.com/images/films/BrightonDrags.WMV
Here's some stock-car models:

Ripping stuff!

RALLY CIRCUIT Model Cars, March 1968

2009-10-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

H.R.G. Coming along...

2009-10-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on cleaning up the body some more. It's starting to look a bit more presentable now.

ODD'S ORACLE "Club Special's" Blog

2009-09-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Martin Field, otherwise known as "Clubspecial" on Slotforum, now has his own personal soapbox in the shape of his very own blog. The outspoken driving force behind "FF-Models", purveyors of fine scale resin models, reveals his sensitive artistic side with his wonderful colour renditions of vintage boat engines (see below), and no doubt along the way will also be adding some fine colourful prose to entertain us with.
http://oddsoracle.blogspot.com/

H.R.G. Aerodynamic update

2009-09-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Not looking very pretty yet. Still working on getting the basic shape down...

REFRESHMENTS

2009-09-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

The HRG is going slow...
In the meantime however I won this old plastic caravan on ebay. Approximately 1/32 scale, I doodled around with the image on Photoshop, just messing around to see what it would look like as some sort of canteen or refreshment vehicle.

SCRUTINEERS CHART Model Cars magazine, Dec. 1964

2009-09-06T10:07:00.001-07:00

LOTUS 18 February 1965 Model Cars

2009-09-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

I've given up on calling these things "Blasts from the Past". Here's a Lotus 18 that came third(!) in concourse at the first British Model Car championships in November 1964. K's Mk2 motor.

H.R.G. AERODYNAMIC ref pics

2009-09-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

There's not many to be found it seems.

HURG UPDATE

2009-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well I've started.
This time I'm using lots of photo reference and just checking the plans occasionally.
I don't know which I prefer, obechi or basswood. They both have some nice qualities. Obechi is easy and fast to carve and sand it seems. Basswood has some resistance though, you can really get "stuck in" with the carving.
Whoever owned the model back in the fifties had done a bit of shaping in the cockpit area but had cut it a bit low, but that's not hard to rectify.
So no big problems so far, let's see how this progresses. I'm enjoying it, which is a good sign...

CHEAP GEAR

2009-08-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

I found these toys today on sale at a local toy shop. You wind them up and they vibrate all over the place. On closer inspection I saw they had some pretty useful brass pinions and gears. I use vintage stuff for the most part, and the contrate gears in these look just like the old Eldi's which are really hard to get. Some cool looking spur gears there too.
http://www.kritteria.com/

H.R.G. from a S.M.E.C. kit...

2009-08-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well lets see what I can do with this pile of twigs. I have the wheels somewhere in a box.
I'll carve it then resin cast it.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST #2 from Model Cars magazine, May '64

2009-08-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here's an article on constructing a "simple chassis" for a BRM '62 1.5 litre. From "a new series mainly for the beginner" by Walkden Fisher, who was a very talented artist, but who's technical drawings were not always spot-on, apparently. His chassis were undisputedly very nice, and I'm including a couple of pictures here of a chassis of his that is on display at the small slot and rail car museum at Brooklands. I hope Jeff Davies doesn't mind me using them.
I've not really been doing much with slots lately, however I will be carving an H.R.G. from a SMEC kit, and finishing off one of the Kiefts when I get my wheel inserts. The rail car is on the back burner due to lack of o gauge rail for the chassis, and I still want to paint up my Devin at some point.

Also I'm posting this picture of one of the latest FF -Models BRM shells which I'll be buying soon and I'm looking forward to adding it to my slowly growing collection of resin shells.

FF models can be found here: http://ffmodels.webs.com

GREY KIEFT

2009-08-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

I like how this one turned out. I'm running out of number plate decals though. The front plate is from a Matchbox Aston Martin Ulster, and the rear is the registration number of my dad's long-defunct Hillman Imp that he had when I was a kid. I still need to add a windshield and put the details on the Kieft badge.

GREEN KIEFT

2009-07-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

I've been going really slow on this one. I do a little bit now and again when I'm in the mood. I just need to properly attach the windscreen and then I can start on the cockpit interior. These aren't the actual wheels I"ll be using, I'm hoping to get some proper inserts for scale 15 inch wheels. They'll be red though, because they look so nice...

KIEFT PICS FOR REFERENCE Kieft MG, Kieft Bristol et al...

2009-07-12T20:41:00.000-07:00