Slot cars

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rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok - finally... after some 3 months - the "Vault" is open again... only took 10 minutes - if the house was on fire... all this would be gone - no chance of getting it open for a quick grab and dash...

It's always a good feeling to find everything where I left it... I leave a little mark in a secret spot that tells me if it has been open without my knowledge (thanks Ian Flemming)..

These cars are stacked three deep behind the jewel cases of the front ones... behind that, are probably 20 aeroplane engines - some of them now rare.. only a couple of these have ever been in a model and run - most of them are still inside the boxes they came in and inside the oiled plastic bags inside the boxes.. might pull one out and show you another aspect of my hobby insanity...

On the bottom, you can see my most prized locomotives.. all hand built. The diesels are completely scratch built.. the steam loco's are white metal and brass kits... which I chose to use solder (Bismuth - it's the lowest melting point solder of all)... using "Laco" paste flux. Each of these loco's took me around the usual three months from start to finish - seems, that's a usual window period for a model - no matter what I seem to build.. be it slot car, locomotive or an R/C aircraft... I'm not a fast builder, but I do get there....

I spotted the two Torana's as soon as I pulled back the vault door... smiling at me from above - soon, very soon - they'll be on the worktop and a plan drawn out for making a start.
I have ordered my parts from "Armchair Racer" in Hotham Parade, Artarmon, Sydney... they are an excellent retail outlet with whom I have enjoyed many years of supply. If they can't get parts I want - I have to go overseas... this is on very rare occasions.


Ok - pic of the now opened "vault"...


006 The Vault mail.jpg
006 The Vault mail.jpg (181.63 KiB) Viewed 639 times


Back later with some close ups of the Torries... and I'll "rip" open a couple of cars and explain what has been done to "tune" them...


frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok - here we go.... some pix... the LJ XU-1 project...

First up, a look at the ceramic tile I will use to set up and create the chassis on... it has a zillion holes in it for ventilation - they are perfect for setting small metal pegs into it to place and hold items to be soldered...


001 ceramic tile mail.jpg
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Next up - set up plate... this is made of a sheet of 1/4" steel plate.. ground absolutely flat over a large piece of plate glass with wet/dry sandwiched between them and oiled using Inox MX-3... you can see a tiny little patch of surface rust on this.. I'm pretty disappointed.. and will have to grind it down on the plate glass again.
These are an absolute must if a chassis is to be set up true... with all four wheels and guide sitting equal on the plate...
The trick, is to work down all five so that you can press on any of the four corners of the car.. if a wheel in the opposite corner lifts at all off the plate, the wheel you are pressing on is too low... same deal with the guide - it must not lift the rear of the car when you press on it... all five must be parallel flat on this plate....



002 set up plate mail.jpg
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And here is the first car... my L-34 Brock/Sampson #1 car... it's a Scalextric model ... looks aren't too bad, but I haven't had a fiddle (yet).
The running gear is a shocker.. Moffatt's XW HO was released around the same time - the HO had a "sidewinder" motor arrangement (explain later).. the poor little L-34 got a poor relation in line arrangement..
They also supplied it with shocking tyres.. it slides around on Scalextric track like the tyres have oil on them... but, I didn't buy it to race.. it's a show model that also runs... like the XW ad XY HO's.. they won't go into competition.. collector's items.. and, we have Moffatt's '69 XW HO phase 1 coming towards the end of this year (extremely limited production run - if you are intersted, pre-order now through Armchair).

Ok - here's the L-34.. oddly numbered #1... he must have gone to 05 with the A9-X...
The model looks "wrong"... because it lacks the "Marlboro" signage..... there was a hic-cup with Marlboro and Scalextric about copyright and licensing.. they released this model without the Phillip Morris badging.. I have them on order - along with some for the LJ and LC.. although, I'm looking for pix of Brock's LC.. I don't believe it was in HDT livery... might be wrong, but I think the LJ was the first Holden released in that livery....

L-34 on set-up plate.....


003 L-34 mail.jpg
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Next up - here it is.. the first one of two I have recently had sent to me "across the ditch".... the same chap molded my two Coopers.. there is another chap in Tassie who does them, but the NZ products are way out in front for both detail and quality.
These are not cheap - but there is no other way of getting an LJ... just to put you off a little more, my parts order went through today for the chassis components.. we don't have them all yet and we have hit the $300 mark for the two cars.... still more bits to order, but until I start the build - I won't know what parts next that will be used..... we have, so far - motors, guides, wheels, axles, bushes, pinions, crownwheels and tyres - these, along with the $8.50 shipping have come in at just under $300.... I'm guessing each of these models in parts alone will hit the $200 mark.. throw in 3 months of labor....... much easier to simply pick one of the amazing Slot-It or Carrera cars for $60 and avoid all this work - and expense...
Take a peek at Armchair Racer on the web... some amazing cars, and - in comparison to the outlay for these ... extremely cheap!

Ok - let's introduce the LJ.... and, in comparison - with the L-34 sitting on the set up plate behind it....


005 XU-1 & L-34 mail.jpg
005 XU-1 & L-34 mail.jpg (145.37 KiB) Viewed 630 times


Ok - that's a start.. I'll put one more up tonight.. close up pix of body detail and what comes in the "kit"...

frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Close up of what I will be working with to bring this little model to life...

Let's start with a close-up look at the front - from what I can see, there was a Chev badge on the grille of the car this model was protyped from ... I will be taking that out... as well as the number plate. It will need the little slim-line spoiler that was fitted to these Torries.. an angled affair which ran across under the front beaver at about radiator width...

Front -

006 XU-1 front mail.jpg
006 XU-1 front mail.jpg (101.43 KiB) Viewed 628 times

Next up - the rear. Not really happy with the boot-lid spoiler - it's too big for my liking, and angled backwards... from memory (pix will confirm) the HDT cars ran with spoilers which were almost vertical at the back... this one seems a bit "big" too.... I can easily trim this down to prototype...


007 XU-1 rear mail.jpg
007 XU-1 rear mail.jpg (96.74 KiB) Viewed 628 times


I am guessing, the model was molded from an existing white metal cast.. I don't know what that cast was modeled on.... but I firmly believe it was not a HDT car... more likely one which someone owned.. the Chev badge is a bit of a giveaway.. lacking the front spoiler is another. How I go with fitting it when the guide is in place is yet to be determined.... depending on where I decide to position the guide.. it could be further back or even in a cut-away under the front bumper.. we'll know more after I build the chassis and do some running on a track with it.. then we'll make the body fit over wherever it ends up...

Next.. the front door and fender detail - this is usually an achilles heal in models.. no-one seems to get those vents right - Munter has done a great job with these... the doors and quarter vent windows are really up there too.... so good for a resin model out of a mould...


008 front side mail.jpg
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Then, we get to the rear quarter - another great job....
The sloped angle of the rear is just about perfect. There is work to do under the rear quarter and around the indicator.
That rear spoiler is almost ugly... I have much work to do on this... we'll get there - be interesting to see "before and after" pix...
But, the rear sides are really good.


009 side rear mail.jpg
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Next up the front window - another usual problem child area.. this one is great - you can actually see the seal all the way around - a great effort.
The plenum vents are excellent as well.... no issues here, just a bit of an aperture clean up to finish the edge....


010 front window mail.jpg
010 front window mail.jpg (159.16 KiB) Viewed 628 times



Now we go to the rear window - another great effort... Munter does a great job of moulding.
He tells me that he has not put one of these together yet.. he has molded quite a few... wore out the first mould and his second one is about half life....
Rear window...



011 rear window mail.jpg
011 rear window mail.jpg (156.32 KiB) Viewed 628 times




Next - wheel inserts - these are amazing.. by golly, are they going to come up good.... I believe these are Tasman wheels... I was leaning towards "Globe" but in hindsight - I think HDT ran Tasmans...
The wheels I have ordered are aluminium.. 14.3 mm diameter by 8 mm width. The tyres will go out to 15.5 mm by 9 mm width both front and rear.
I can grind down the tyres to get the correct diameter on the tyre truer... and radius the outer corners to get the profile right.. all this is months away yet....

Inserts...



012 wheel insert mail.jpg
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Glazing - again, excellent effort. Just like that of the Cooper.... I have seen some shockers for vacuum formed glazing.. some of it has been bubbled -that is - has holes in it.. or pockets of air within the glass... these are clear and absolutely free of any voids.. they are going to set the model off when looking into the cabin...



013 glazing mail.jpg
013 glazing mail.jpg (222.6 KiB) Viewed 628 times

Ok - that's all that this program will allow me to add as attachments in one post... back soon with the final two pix...


frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Last post for tonight...


Cabin tray - this one is simple... no dash detail or fittings.... extremely light weight and very "adaptable' to what ever I want to add.
Sometimes, I'd rather they come like this - rather than have a great heap of "clutter" to get rid of so that I can fit what I want.. and not put up with something that has been added from another model..... it doesn't seem right that the interior of a Mini should be fitted to anything but a Mini.. but, I've seen it...

014 cabin tray mail.jpg
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And finally - no car should be on the track without a driver.. and as for a driver for this car - there is really only one who I have in mind... PB, King of the Mountain himself.

This body is darned good - it is almost PB himself... won't take much to add a bit of personality to this superb driver...
I'll drill, and grind out the goggles and paint around the area in flesh - then add eyes and finally fill the holes with Aquadhere.. flush back up to the goggles... it brings a figure to life... along with any little detail that can be added and anything large enough to be seen on a helmet....
As many would remember - when there was a co-driver - we learned to identify who was driving by looking into the car as it went past.... little things, but they all add up and bring a model to "life"...


PB...


015 PB mail.jpg
015 PB mail.jpg (141.79 KiB) Viewed 628 times

Ok - we've made a start..

This thread will be 3 months long, maybe more because I have to do a huge mod to the second body and make it an LC...

Chassis parts should be here by next week.. takes about a week to come down from Sydney... I'll lay all of those out and explain why they were chosen.. and how they are going to be fitted to a "yet" to be designed chassis... I'm currently in two minds... a "piano wire" chassis - or a brass cut and assembled one... this won't be a fast car.. it's too narrow for the weight it will end up being... I'll need to sit down with a calculator and do some "sums".. brass may put it out of a realistic weight.. piano wire might twist with the heavier weight of this larger body... we'll see.. long way to go yet..


OK - hope I have some followers through this build... it will come to life, but most will only look at pix when new posts come up ...

if anyone would like to join me in the build - I'm more than happy to walk you through building one of your own... just remember, you don't have to go to the extremes I do.. you can simply build a simple chassis and put wheels on it.. and mount the body - look great up on a shelf.. you can't get one of these in 1/32nd scale anywhere in the world - unless you build it yourself...


We'll start cleaning up the moulding tomorrow... wet day, nothing going on outside... more tools to show you.. mostly hand made...


frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok, been up into the vault looking for "Godzilla"... whilst up there - found this hiding behind the second row of cars....

001 group pic cars mail.jpg
001 group pic cars mail.jpg (246.71 KiB) Viewed 617 times

Back later with a strip down and short description of Godzilla....


frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok - two posts on this.. I'll try to keep to basic explanation.. with 7 pix in both posts...

Here it is - Godzilla... this model is the most powerful and sensitive model I have ever built... it is almost "un" driveable.
Without the SCP-2 controller - it would be too much to be able to keep it on the track... it literally "leaps" out of the slot under power...
It has a very high output and high revving motor.. which I have attempted to gain full use of by gear reduction - down the the maximum that Slot-It make for these "sidewinder" motor pod installations... and, as such - those rpms, and that torque - are a combination which is crazy to harness... hence - Godzilla....

The color scheme I chose to air-brush it in is that of "Mothers" wax paste and other Mothers products.. being metallic gold with double white stripes..
It is clear coated over the top.. as we do with pearls and metal-flakes...


Godzilla.....



003 Godzilla mail.jpg
003 Godzilla mail.jpg (154.34 KiB) Viewed 614 times


rear...


004 Godzilla rear mail.jpg
004 Godzilla rear mail.jpg (144.58 KiB) Viewed 614 times


In the next pic, with the model on its roof... we see the underside.. what you can't see is the amount of work done from a retailed model - to get to this.... I'll strip the model and explain some of this, but not in too much detail..



005 Godzilla under mail.jpg
005 Godzilla under mail.jpg (198.49 KiB) Viewed 614 times



There has been a lot of work done in here... the body has been "gutted" - scalloping out weight from different places to better balance the model.
Strangely, the cabin interior "meat" was in exactly the right location (Slot It got this right) and reducing body fat from the surrounding body areas achieved the best end result....


006 Godzilla body internal mail.jpg
006 Godzilla body internal mail.jpg (193.14 KiB) Viewed 614 times



Ok - last one in this post... the chassis - by golly, there's some work in here.
The motor is firmly held by two brass screws and washers.. in a "pod"... the pod locks in the motor to the rear axle... adjustment is made to obtain the best possible mesh in the gear train... which can only be achieved by "shimming" the rear axle inside its two spherical bronze bearings... which are able to "roll" around in their housings in the pod... this ensures that the axle has absolutely minimal binding within the bushes... little things, but they all add up...
We can also see the two front mount arms on the pod... they are fitted "loose".. to allow the pod to float within the chassis. I'll get to suspension in the next post...


007 Godzilla chassis mail.jpg
007 Godzilla chassis mail.jpg (184.67 KiB) Viewed 614 times


Back soon..

frats,
Rosco
rosco
Posts: 2569
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:34 pm
State: VIC
Location: Melbourne

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

I have 8 of these GT-40's... all but two of them are Slot-It.. the other two are Scalextric - and they "stink"... they run, but they are more of a "kids" slot car.. they have no performance and slide around on pretty looking tyres, which do almost nothing to either give them traction, or any cornering ability.
The motors run hot and I spent (wasted) way too much time working on them.. the end result wasn't a great improvement to the overall model...

One thing which I do with Slot-It chassis'.. is to "relearn" the plastic... this is achieved by filing/scraping/cajoling anything "proud" on the underside of the chassis.. so that it will "lay flat" on a sheet of steel plate.... we lose a bit of detail and some of the manufacturer stamping.. but, for a good cause.

The chassis is then pushed down with a lot of force onto the steel plate by the fitting of rare earth magnets (hence the steel plate) at locations where there is any "buckling" or high spots..... when we are happy, we immerse it in as close to boiling water as can be safely and slowly poured over it until it is covered by about 2" of water..... this destroys the previous memory of the plastic as it was allowed to cool down from being poured at the factory - they simply don't have the time to do the same process we do.. these models are produced in their thousands... QC at Slot It is very good - but they are not looking for anything other than obvious defects... voids and obvious buckles, missing parts from frets etc. etc...

We then cover over the bath with many towels etc.. to hold the temperature for as long as possible.. 12 hours is a good period for the water (and chassis) to cool out...
What happens in this time, is the slow cooling process allows the plastic of the chassis to learn a new memory... and, when we remove the magnets - we hope that it is now laying absolutely flat on the set up plate.... now, we have a "flat" chassis... where all axle mounts should be in an equal plane.... or at least - equal across each axle mount.... the chassis is also now "true".. and we can go to work on setting up our measurements...


I'm not going any further with this for now... but, I believed it important to reveal that it's really the chassis which determines how well the car can be set up... if the chassis was distorted or had a memory which did not flex in a uniform manner - we'd never get it to stay within those tolerances in running... no matter how much effort we put into the next stages of preparation....

I'll jump ahead to suspension now... we'll do the rear first.
What you can see in this pic, is the dual spring arrangement that is an additional tuning option with most of the Slot It cars..
The aim is to incorporate the ability of the rear axle to move vertically, but not laterally or longitudinally... we only want it to go up and down.
To do this, we must make the "pod" move as well.. and, with the motor firmly locked to the rear axle - it has to move up and down as well.
We fit springs on both sides of the axle... and allow some "riding" out of uneven track.... so, we sort of have "independent" rear suspension... not fully - but the axle can not only move up and down, but it can also move up and down at an angle...
I'm going to shock you when I state that this movement is only 1.5 mm from fully up to fully down.. but, the difference it makes to performance is simply astounding on plastic track... which is terrible for use as a level or even plane....


I'll shock you even further and tell you that on competition circuits and club tracks - suspension usually makes not one jot of difference... duh?
These tracks are made without any imperfection.. they may as well have been made with glass and covered with a textured paint... they are almost perfect.... usually made of wood and the guide slots routed out in three passes.. one deep, for the guide and two others into which continuous lengths of copper braid are laid down for contact... there is a slight recess from the track height down to where the braid is.. so that it is not unduly worn by tyres.. but not so much as to have those tyres "drop" into it ...... routed tracks do not make any noise as the models runs on it... no "clack, clack, clack" as the guide passes over joints between sections.. they are truly delightful to run on... and virtually any layout can be constructed.. with overpasses, tight curves, humps, spirals... it is only restricted by the designer's imagination.. I have driven on some amazing circuits... with added scenery and spectators you can almost hear cheering...


Ok back to suspension....
Pic..


008 Godzilla rear susp mail.jpg
008 Godzilla rear susp mail.jpg (143.15 KiB) Viewed 614 times


Ok - that motor... it has 280 gm/cm of torque.. the resistance of the magnets is huge.... when braking is effected, those magnets draw so heavily on the armature rotor that it loses speed very quickly... add to this, the electronic braking that modern controllers afford... the motor literally "snarls" when heavy braking is applied...
With Godzilla - we go even further.. that great gear reduction.... starting to get the picture... it is undriveable without a programmable controller.. the chaps at the slot car group hated this car.. it really showed each of them up for what their natural talent lacked..... none of them enjoyed driving it...... but, when I dialled in my settings to what I had learned... it "de-fanged" the beast... without greatly taking away much of the available power or braking... it had to be "electronically" choked... so that it couldn't "launch"...
In the next pic, we see the motor and the gear reduction.
This arrangement is called a "sidewinder"... as opposed to what I posted with the little Cooper.
The direct alignment of driving a pinion into a spur gear without any 90 degree matching affords more direct mechanical stability and contact. Wear reduction is another great advantage... with the axle shimmed in place - the pinion will run forever in exactly the same line on the spur and vice-versa..



009 Godzilla driveline mail.jpg
009 Godzilla driveline mail.jpg (149.94 KiB) Viewed 614 times



Ok - close up pic of the rear suspension adjustments.... you can see the two main coil springs.. one for each side. Adjustment for these is made using four screws.... two of them are clearly visible.. the brass ones... there are a further two minute Allen key screws which adjust the opposite end of deflection... it is between these two adjustments that we can set the travel of the axle.... with this model, 1.5 mm has been the best setting.
We can also change the springs for a different compression .. these are the stiffest available in the range... to withstand that torque and gearing... using any softer springs negates the suspension entirely under power.... it simply compresses as soon as power is applied.. and until speed reaches a "coast"...



010 Godzilla rear susp adj mail.jpg
010 Godzilla rear susp adj mail.jpg (141.36 KiB) Viewed 614 times



Ok - front... it has adjustment as well.. we need to be able to set the height of each end of the front axle as well.... there are tracks which have very tight curves on inclines..... with these, I set the axle up by 1/4 turn of the Allen screw on each side... it's not much in the grand scheme of things... probably 0.25 of a mm on each side.. but, it makes a difference as to the speed that the model will go around a tight corner.. if left absolutely flat - the outer tyre can cause the inner rear to lift.... and we get unequal weight across the rear axle.. the outer rear tyre will then "bite" into the track and topple the car over.... keeping both rear tyres on the track allows the rear end to give indication in "drift" that it is about to let go...

front axle adjustment screws....again, one brass and one Allen each side.




011 Godzilla front susp mail.jpg
011 Godzilla front susp mail.jpg (136.24 KiB) Viewed 614 times







Ok, that should do it... I can go into a lot more detail and will do so if there is any interest.... but, for now - I've probably gone way too far already.


Next, to show you the detail these Slot-It cars come with - take a peek through the beautiful studded side window at the dash, console and general cabin layout.... this is really up there with the best of what is available in retail.... they are a beautiful model - and this GT-40 is probably one of my favorite models from that company... it must be - I have six of them...



012 Godzilla dash mail.jpg
012 Godzilla dash mail.jpg (141.25 KiB) Viewed 614 times



Ok - this is also another great feature the company adds... the mounting of the model in its jewel case.
I have been doing this for years..... people ask me what my adding "icy pole" sticks to my storage cases is for... and I tell them - to keep the model up off the floor of the case... specifically - the tyres and wheels.... tyres get a "flat spot" in them if the model is screwed down onto the base and left there for more than a few hours... these flat spots are identical to having locked up a brake in 1:1 competition.. your times simply go out the window as the tyre makes and breaks contact with the track...
We can see in the pic below, that the model is locked into position up on a raised section - the tyres are well clear of the base...


013 Godzilla case mount mail.jpg
013 Godzilla case mount mail.jpg (210.94 KiB) Viewed 614 times


And, to bring this to a close - the rear of my box... I put little labels on things to tell me what has been done and when it was done.
I simply can't remember what has been done to all my models... there are probably 40 of them now, with another two about to be added... the Torries...

In this pic, we can see that I have "tuned" or modified this model twice now from when I first built it... we've done a bit of work with suspension - it suggests that there has been an issue with the rear right having dropped and that "float" has been included in the axle shims.... sometimes, in a long race - the axle will heat up and bind... we set shims so finely (down to 0.2 mm) that this clearance can be removed due to heating up of the axle i running... remembering that this model has a lot of power to tap into... and it is both in powering and braking ..... the axle has been re-shimmed to allow a little more float at running temperature... we also see that the last tune-up was just short of 2 years back... possibly, the last time this car was used...


014 Godzilla note mail.jpg
014 Godzilla note mail.jpg (177.74 KiB) Viewed 614 times



With so many, and I love them all.... I usually only pull down a dozen or so from the vault for any given event weekend... I never put them back into storage without a full inspection and cleaning out of the oil and braid.... and a light re-oil (Inox MX-3.. think I mentioned that?)... then tucked away back in their jewel cases and sent back into storage...


Ok - guess that's it for a while now - until my parts come down from Armchair...
If anyone want to look at anything in particular - or a particular model - bang up a post here and I'll oblige....

frats,
Rosco
Blacky
Posts: 12171
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:58 am
State: WA
Location: up in the Perth hills

Re: Slot cars

Post by Blacky »

I have one of those Cavalier models somewhere - havent seen it in years ..... I am nowhere near as organised as you Rosco :shh:
When you're faced with an unpleasant task that you really don't want to do, sometimes you just have to dig deep down inside and somehow find the patience to wait for someone else to do it for you.


Foundation member #61 of FB/EK Holden club of W.A.
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