Slot cars

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rosco
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Slot cars

Post by rosco »

HI folk,
in another "life" that I live, I am into scratch building slot cars... not regularly, but sometimes "whimsical".
I have built two up so far which were well received in the fraternity..

I am about to make a start on two of PB's Torana's... an LC and an LJ.

If there is any interest in our forum, I'll carry over the thread from the slot car forum to here....
Moderators - kindly advise if this is inappropriate or not within guidelines..

frats,
Rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by Blacky »

Knock yourself out Rosco - I still have some Scalextric stuff packed away at my parents place in Sydney - my uncle , long deceased , had a track that filled a double garage at his house, suspended on ropes with a winch arrangement that lifted it up to ceiling height when not in use - used to love going to his place for a visit !!
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.


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rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Thanks Blacky - bit on today... (wonder what ((sic)) ) but hope to get the two Torrie kits down from storage this afternoon and start working out a plan.

I would seriously suggest you claim your Scalextric stuff.... more so if it is 70's period or earlier. They are pulling some amazing prices for cars - even damaged ones or with missing parts... you'd be shocked.
Track isn't such a biggie - most of the old stuff is well and truly warped now, unless it has been lovingly stored and stacked to prevent it.

Today, prices for slot cars is probably more affordable than ever... you'd be surprised what's out there and resin kits which are available for many Holden models..... sadly, not FB or EK (that I am aware of).

I'll keep this thread going, and probably cut/paste duplication of what I am putting up on the "Auslot" forum.
If you would like to take a peek at my previous build, a T-53 Cooper which Bill Patterson drove in the Tasman series - it is here... but, you'll need a day to read it... I tend to "write" a bit.. and there are hundreds of pix of the build. I model in 1/32nd scale.. which is what Scalextric is... the larger 1 /24th scale is ever as big as it used to be... but demands much more space for a decent 6 to 10 second/lap layout.

There continue to be commercial tracks available for running on.. they are not advertised much, but they most certainly are around.

Clubs offer tracks as well... and the associated events... I used to belong to the "Phoenix" group here in outer east Melbourne... but simply couldn't make meetings (wonder why) and dropped out.... got tired of sending a weekly apology.

This thread will be more attractive with some "eye" candy... next post will include some pix.

Thanks for ticking the thread off to continue... you don't know the Pandora's box that you have just opened... yet...

frats,
Rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by CHOPPED »

rosco
this was Monday :roll:
hurry up and post the photos :D
HEY IT WASNT ME
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

I was waiting for a bit of interest to show up...
Busy day today - will pull the security covers off the lock up tomorrow and pull some cars down...

Anything in particular you want to take a peek at?.... I've got around 30 cars.. maybe 40..
Some of them are what I picked up not long after starting work in 1970.... most recent was Moffatt's XY HO...
Couple on pre-order.. Brock's A9-X and Moffatt's 1969 phase 1.... and Hamilton's 911...

The two Torries are next on the building board...

Just to whet your appetite a bit... I'll put some pix up here of the little model I made of Bill Patterson's T-53 Cooper... it was a 3 month build,... almost every day and much of the evening went into this little car... all 3 3/4" inches of it...

Pix...
This is where it started out... on a ceramic tile - brass rear axle bracket and piano wire set in place ready to solder.
Measurements had to be pretty much within 1 mm either side of scale prototype for the series (Tasman proxy).


Cooper 1 rear bracket 002 mail.jpg
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Then the front axle mount and guide bracket were positioned... keeping everything in exact place until soldered was a challenge.




Cooper 1 front bracket 007 mail.jpg
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Temporarily fitting axles with wheels and tyres so that the guide height could be determined and soldered into place was next...
The tyres were glued to the alloy rims and a "tyre truer" used to get all four tyres down to within 0.5 mm of true scale diameter had to be done before I could set the guide height..... the height of the guide with braid fitted was set so that it made equal contact with the set-up plate.
That set up plate was made from 1/4" steel and a slot milled out for the guide...
Many might not know this, but Allan Moffatt had such a set up plate in his home workshop... it gave him an edge on most of the competition - he set each wheel and spring compression to suit the track which was to be raced on next....
If you have not read his book - I would highly recommend it... it is a very sad story - I felt very humbled for the man....
Ok - setting guide height on set-up plate...



Cooper #1 guide height 002.jpg
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We now come to fitting the motor/pinion/crown/gearbox....
Only two motors were allowed in the series.... but, you could "tweak" them - as long as you didn't open the can up.... I can go into this "tweaking" in great detail if anyone is interested - you can get nearly another 1,000 rpms out of any motor which comes out of the box (OOB).
Unlike early in line Scalextric gearboxes which used the end of the motor shaft to run within a slot in the crown wheel... we go a lot further with these models.... the pinion and crown are set by the use of spacers between the crown and both axle bushes in the gearbox frame.
These shims come in sizes down to 0.1 mm.... we aim to get all clearance removed... so that the pinon and crown are a perfect mesh.. it means big advantages in straight line speed. The little motors are probably the weakest of all 1/32 scale slot cars... it's the chassis and getting the absolute most out of every part of the car which makes them competitive... for anyone who has not looked at this - it is really another world... you would be amazed at the lengths some competitors go to in order to gain an advantage... right down to chassis which are telescoped in very finely tuned tubes.... short wheelbase under power - longer wheelbase when braking and cornering... slot cars have come so far since I was last in the hobby back in the 80's....


As for this model, the motors came from England, the wheels from Japan, the crown wheel and pinion from the US, the urethane tyres from Canada... I picked the best of the best for this model... tell you at the end where my little car came out of the field of 24 entries.. and a bit more about "proxy" racing... series was run all over Australia and also NZ... I think there were 10 events in total... I did pretty good for a first timer - but was seconds behind those who beat me... of course, I didn't see one race... this is what proxy racing is about.. the field of 24 cars were shipped from event to event... over about 3 months.. and then back home after the series....
Ok.. less words.. more pix....

Pic.... motor fitted temporarily and all five contact points being set equally.



Cooper #1 guide height 001.jpg
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There is a demand that certain detail be included in the model... I went a little bit further than most... making my own exhaust pretty much exact to that of Bill's Cooper... I also hand made the brass steering wheel and full instuments on the dash... along with ram tubes for the intake -which could hardly be seen...

This is the exhaust... the ruler shows you the scale I was working in...



Cpr exhaust 001 mail.jpg
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We also had to make up suspensions... including the dampers.
I made the full rear suspension including torsion rockers, arms and links - which I followed on a line drawing of the prototype... on the front, I only made the dampers with over-fitting springs.



Cpr rear susp 010 mail.jpg
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front... springs and dampers yet to be fitted....



Cpr frt susp 002 mail.jpg
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Back with more in a moment..


frats,
Rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by Errol62 »

Wow, the detail. Very neat little fabrication jobs. The suspension is for looks, not functional?


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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok - I'll add a bit more to this tonight... one more should get us somewhere near the body...


In this pic, we can see pretty much all of the chassis - I wasn't happy with the front springs and dampers - will show a pic of the revised and first attempt... there are nine components in each of the four spring assemblies..
The chassis has been airbrushed in Protec 1K etch, containing zinc chromate... I can no longer get this amazing etch primer... the "chromate" is now banned. I have a small container left of it which is reserved for slot car chassis building and scratch building of brass/white metal locomotives.

Cpr chassis mail 001.jpg
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Dampers/springs...



rear spring assy 003 mail.jpg
rear spring assy 003 mail.jpg (96.4 KiB) Viewed 674 times




The steering wheel. I made this by cutting the spokes out of a single sheet of brass, then bent a brass rod around a suitable diameter tube and filed the ends so that they would meet flush (special modeller's file for this)... once I had the rim, I fitted the spokes and soldered it together.
Made up a brass hub and drilled that out for the steering shaft.. fitted it and soldered the entire assembly together...



steering wheels 002 mail.jpg
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I don't think I was too far off the prototype ...




Swheel 000 mail.jpg
Swheel 000 mail.jpg (110.93 KiB) Viewed 674 times



Ok - we better get to the body... most of the chassis was done by now.. but it needed more added and adjusted to get a "floating fit" for the body.
Slot cars go an awful lot quicker if there is "float" between the body and the chassis... even just 1/4 of a turn of one mount screw can mean 1 second to a 7 - 10 second circuit... this is all done when tuning the car... and there is an awful lot to learn about getting the most out of every bit of it.....

The body - detail.... when you first look at this little car, you'll be forgiven for thinking this was how the resin cast came.... trust me, it didn't.
I spent nearly a week on it with a dremel and files... getting as much "weight" out of it as possible, it was almost paper thin in some parts where there wasn't any concern for stress... the section which needed beefing up was the mount post.. just forward of the windscreen... I had to build a lot of strength into that, without adding too much weight... the sides were scalloped out to remove "fat"... vents were made open...
Then came along my need for detail... you can probably pick up the rear hood as being a separate part from the front.. I cut the body in half at this joint.. that's where the prototype did - it pivoted on a rear axle lifting upwards from behind the driver. I made this pivot plate out of brass and drilled out the five bolt holes.. then filled them in with brass rod... the spring loaded "catch" at the front of the hood was also made and fitted.... I wound the spring "coil" around a brass rod and soldered the catch mount and retainer to it.. drilled out the body - then fitted it....

I also drilled out the body where the button panel retainers were and fitted brass rod into those...
What you can't yet see, is the four ram intakes for the carby's.. they are hiding under masking tape beneath the cowling... we'll see the effect these make to the look of the model later...

Also, Bill's car had a unique extra fitting - a vent in front of the windscreen... I made this out of brass... we'll see a pic of his car at Longford in 1964 a bit later on in this thread...

Pic.. it's been etch primed, primed and rubbed back to get all the little imperfections out of the finish... it's identical to what we do with our full size FB's and EK's.. takes nearly as long.. but the process is all in "miniature".. no dust mask required.. and much less mess to clean up.




block back 001 mail.jpg
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Next, we needed to put everything together - before committing to paint.... I fitted Bill before I painted him along with the steering wheel.... Bill sitting on the motor and the chassis in position under the body... we haven't yet set the single body mount screw ... the two sides of the body and cockpit were made to nestle down over the motor.. to centralise it on the chassis.... once that was done, the mount post could be drilled and tapped for the single brass counter-sunk retaining screw... as mentioned, the body has to "float" on the chassis to get the best out of it...


cockpit 001 mail.jpg
cockpit 001 mail.jpg (100.42 KiB) Viewed 674 times


Speaking of Bill.. we'd better show what I did with him..... the body which came with the resin kit was pretty ordinary... looked like a "chimp".. I spent about a day re-profiling it to get it to look almost human... then set about making up a helmet and goggles which were close to what Bill wore.... I painted his flesh and used Aquadhere to fill in the goggles... giving a clear finish.... this I learned from making headlights on model locomotives... I then hand painted the frame of his goggles with flat black using a tiny brush...


Bill 001 mail.jpg
Bill 001 mail.jpg (102.34 KiB) Viewed 674 times



The model is starting to take shape now... and we move back to the wheels.
The kit came with an impressive set of inserts (wheel centres)... they were exactly prototypical.. and I couldn't wait to fit them into the alloy rims/wheels... each one had to be filed down to fit.... but, they couldn't be fitted permanently yet.. this happened after the wheels were fitted to the axles.. that process is very demanding... getting rid of float and end play in the axles took a very long time... the track of the front and rear had to be within 1.0 mm of prototype for scrutineering.. I made it.


Wheels and inserts...


Cooper 2 wheels 001.jpg
Cooper 2 wheels 001.jpg (95.63 KiB) Viewed 674 times

back with one more tonight.. anyone still reading this?

frats,
Rosco
rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Errol62 wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 11:28 pm The suspension is for looks, not functional?
Thank goodness I wasn't punching this out just for myself...

No, Clay - all cosmetic.. but essential for the guidelines of the series.
However, we don't go to the detail that some clubs insist on.. and modelers furnish...
I know of an F1 car which was in such fine detail that it furnished the 12 spark plug leads.... not to mention valves in the tyres...
We must remember here, these are at 1/32nd scale.. my little Cooper is just 3 3/4" long... the F1 car mentioned wouldn't be much longer, and probably narrower... there are some exquisite modelers out there.... and all these models run, and run very, very well....

Nice to have some feedback... I'll put another one up tonight then... should have it finished in the next post... I'll leave out a bit of the background detail... it probably doesn't carry much weight to those who just want to look at pix... I'm happy to post the intracacies of tuning, but it's a bit of a yawn if people don't need to know this stuff...

frats,
Rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Ok, I'll try to polish this off tonight.. not much more if I go in big steps...

I made mention of the intake rams previously - they were covered up with masking tape in a previous pic...
In this pic, prior to some of the body fittings being drilled and added.. I have fitted the intake rams...
I bought them from a supplier to bootmakers... I have oodles of them in differing sized for exactly this purpose.... they are shoe lace ferrules.. aluminium, which polishes up very nicely and looks the part.. see what you think...



001 intake rams mail.jpg
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So now, after skipping lots of stages in the build.. we have our last coat of primer on and about to be rubbed down. A final check that the chassis still fits and we are good to go with colour....



002 last primer mail.jpg
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And now the white acrylic lacquer has been air-brushed on... it's still wet and hasn't pulled down yet... the detail is partly hidden by the thickness of the paint.. this comes back once the thinners evaporate.. It takes about three days before I can mask up and spray the silver stripe down the centre of the car.. and also on Bill's helmet...




White acrylic lacquer 011.jpg
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Ok, we're getting close now.. the silver stripe has been applied, the running number "53" cut out and fitted and a clear coat applied to seal everything... Bill Patterson ran with the number "9" for most of the time he had this car... I couldn't get "9" for the first Tasman series I ran because I was "unplaced".... and went with "53" - in that this is a Cooper T-53... I later got my "9" after the series.. in fact, I could have used a lot lower number..... the top 10 place getters are entitled to use their finishing point in the series as entrant number the following year.. I had no problem getting my number 9.... which the car continues to show....
In this pic, you can see the masking removed from the dash.. and the front springs. Each of the gauges was made separately - all five of them.
We can also now see the Cooper badge on the nose of the model..




003 silver stripe mail.jpg
003 silver stripe mail.jpg (193.1 KiB) Viewed 672 times



And I'll wind it up now with some finishing pix... the model completed and as entered for the series...
Bill sits comfortably behind the wheel, the windscreen has been fitted and the body is now set in place floating on the chassis... the countersunk retaining screw is free to move within the chassis hole... it is really only there should the model de-slot or worse - leap off the track.... the body "floats" on the chassis - one of the many tricks to get fast times....
See what you think of the end result....



x final 001 mail.jpg
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x final 002 mail.jpg
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x final 003 mail.jpg
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x final 004 mail.jpg
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Oh - by the way, the little car finished 4th overall in the 10 event series... in a field of 24 cars... I just missed out on a podium by less than 10 seconds in the entire series.... so close, but no cigar.
As a trophy for my entry, I was awarded a brilliant model driver of Graham Hill.... I must dig it out and post it up... as soon as you look at it - you'll recognise him.. whether I actually make a model for him, unknown and not committed at this stage....


Goodnight, all....


frats,
Rosco
rosco
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Forgot...... here is a pic of Bill Patterson in the car at Longford in 1964...
I couldn't get him to sit low enough in my model.. due to the motor being in the way... but, I believe I did him credit in producing his car as a model...


CooperT53-Patterson-Longford1964-600x300.jpg
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Patterson 1965 Cooper T-53 Longford 002 mail.jpg
Patterson 1965 Cooper T-53 Longford 002 mail.jpg (122.8 KiB) Viewed 671 times


Now, I'm going to freak you out..... we took our caravan down to Tassie in 2016.... and toured the lovely island state.
I took my Cooper.. with the sole intention of going to Longford.... wait for it....

It took me ages to locate the entire former international race circuit - I logged everything using GPS for others to find the full 4 mile circuit.
Most of it is still there, but since Symonds Plains is now the Tasmanian circuit - poor old Longford (which must have been an amazing circuit to both run on and spectate).. has been let go.. in fact, it seems that the locals are trying to hide it... only the pub at "pub corner" has any information, but an awful lot of collectables and memorabilia..

I found Tannery Road.. and placed my little Cooper down on the former circuit.. and took this pic....




025 #53 Cooper on Tannery Road.jpg
025 #53 Cooper on Tannery Road.jpg (114.06 KiB) Viewed 671 times




And whilst I was taking my pic, our companions took one of me in the process....



ground shot mail.jpg
ground shot mail.jpg (158.99 KiB) Viewed 671 times

Goodnight, all....


frats,
Rosco
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Harv
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Re: Slot cars

Post by Harv »

Bill passed away in 2010. I reckon he would have been tickled pink with that model.

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Re: Slot cars

Post by Errol62 »

Very impressive. I knew you have the temperament for detail but you must have a steady hand, by crikey!


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Re: Slot cars

Post by igor »

Certainly fun times Rosco and "got the shot" as well :clap:
Keep up the good ...great work
Roger
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Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

Thanks fella's.... yes, Bill passed away the year I retired... I'd have love to have caught up with him during his life... but he left us well before I had any intentions of scratch building slot cars... let a lone his.
Bib Stillwell owned Bill's car before him... I think Bib did better in it, but Bill had some good lap times as well... his dealership prevented him from getting too serious about racing.

I'll include a pic of the layout we set up when Bathurst is on... it's about a third of my track. We can't lay it all out anywhere in the house where you can see it all from one spot...

I am extremely disciplined in that it is stored in original packets and wiped down regularly during the weekend. I use "Inox MX-3" on the running rails.. and leave a film of it on them when put into storage. The packets are stored in the original boxes upside down, so that they lay on their track side... and then in containers and stored away in a double wardrobe... that's just the track.
I have enough to run 8 lanes in Scalextric.. but we'd never set that much up.

Here's the usual layout I put together - takes me two hours both setting up and packing up.. it's about a 7 second circuit for most of my cars.. 6.2 is the best I've ever done on it... with "Godzilla"... a Slot-It GT40 Mk 2 that I made into a weapon... so touchy, that blokes at the slot car club were frightened of it.. it would "launch" if full power was applied... even when running at speed then hitting full power - I have it tamed now, by the use of a new pair of controllers - I'll speak of those later...
There are some club tracks that have "dips" and "hills" in them... it would de-slot cresting the hills.... motor is a 30,000 rpm with about 280 gm/cm of torque... I geared it right down to a very low ratio to make use of the rpms... but with all that torque and the low gearing... it literally "launches" on anything above about half power..... might find a pic.. could be the next "topic" in this thread...


Pic of layout...


09 Oct 2016 track mail.jpg
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Track boxes...
The track is in boxes from the floor of this wardrobe to the top shelf. On the top shelf, the top box is full of spare parts. (By the way, can anyone spot my set of 5 Dragway wheels and tyres in this pic? - they were in storage when the old bus was up on blocks. I hadn't fitted them yet.. this was back in 2016).


track boxes mail.jpg
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On the end of another shelf in front of this desk where I do my work and punch out novels - I have small containers and small jewel case boxes with designated parts for building models.... my working tools are scattered around the room... I know where every one of them is, but to anyone coming into this room - it's a nightmare to negotiate a path through it.




001 spares mail.jpg
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Most of this small scale modeling is only capable using micro-scale tools... without drills and what is called a "drill vice"... much of my work is probably too difficult - I have a number of power tools in this scale as well.... "tyre truer", a number of designated Dremel machines and this lovely little cut-off saw.. into which I can fit either a steel toothed blade for wood, or a number of different cutting discs...


003 cut-off saw mail.jpg
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Tyre truer... I can go into quite some detail about using this - it "trues" up the running diameter of both wheels and tyres. I'll leave for now with a short explanation that by gluing tyres to wheels and trimming both so that they are perfectly round, and of equal diameter across the axle - gains of 2 seconds/lap are usual.... most of the proprietary manufacturers are stuck between a "toy" and a racing "model".. much attention is applied to detail of the body - sadly, most of them produce poor running quality models..... "Tuning" a model is hardly related to the motor, but more so to the actual running of the car.... there are literally 100's of places to look and correct/adjust when purchasing a model out of the box (OOB) before setting it into competition... wheels and tyres use up a great percentage of this.... just by putting a "radius" on the outer edge of the tyre can improve cornering to almost twice the speed and induces a "drift" rather than a de-slot or topple..... the degree of radius is directly related to the weight ratio between the front and rear axles.. and the length of the wheel-base.... and track of both axles...



If you want to get serious about getting the most out of a model, this tyre truer will take you a long way up the ladder.


004 tyre truer mail.jpg
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These are some of my drills... the smallest one I have is a #80... it is about half the diameter of a human hair - needless to say, these are used with great care... half a turn at a time and withdraw...


002 drills mail.jpg
002 drills mail.jpg (162.1 KiB) Viewed 648 times



I'll close this segment off with probably the one "physical" connection we have with racing... the controller.
When I returned this last time (2015/6) - I was still using my old Scalextric hand controllers... not the original ones I bought when I was a kid (still have them, collectables now) - but a later version.... I did some electronic work inside both of them and made some connections which allow me to use backward EMF.. as a brake. Simply by connecting the positive and negative rails - I was able to get cars to "dynamic" brake.... and it gained me around a second a lap... between having this crude form of regen/retard and not... it didn't work with all cars... only those with the old full field winding and large magnet motors (you remember them, they had blue casings and were standard "race tuned" motors in the early Scalextric range.

This braking did nothing for the modern "can" type of motor... if it did, I didn't notice it....

I made up fibreglass resistor frames and "wound" my own resistors... I had to - the can motor powered cars would "launch" as soon as I pulled on the trigger.. they are so efficient... so, I invented a resistor winding that I could switch between the old motors and the new can ones... which I thought was quite ingenuitive... I also set up a mixing box into which the controller first plugged into ... and this allowed me to toggle both from "coast" to "brake".. modes... all it did, was connect the positive to negative rails when power was removed... another little invention which "worked"...

All this was wasted... when I joined "Phoenix" slot car group... I "saw" what I wanted..... forget the old resistor controllers - these new things were simply stunning.. and I was nowhere in the ball park with my old controllers... cars were passing me left right and centre - and I knew that my cars were competitive... it had to be the controller..

I did a bit of humble asking and was literally shocked (pun intended) as to what this new breed of controller afforded...


They were fully digital.. and the number of control settings was a little over-whelming.... not to mention, when running on digital tracks (we'll get to that later)... you can change lanes... and up to four cars can be running along the one lane at the same time - each under the complete control of the driver of each.... we build "pit stops" and "fuel stops" into races on these digital layouts... failing to take one results in your car simply "stopping" or running out of "fuel".... I'll get more into that later - but, I am not "digital" here.. just analogue.. for now.
We'll also get into the setting up of race timing.. all shown on a nearby monitor with sound (using a great LED TV on the wall is common practice).


For now, I'll show you the controller... then attempt to explain some of the functions - you'll very quickly understand why my old "resistor" controllers with "dynamic brake" were outdated years before I even started conceiving them...

Pic...



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Where do I start with this?... ok, probably the "trigger" is as good as any....
We no longer have "contact" control ..... the end of the trigger inside the handle has a magnet on it... when the trigger is moved, this magnet causes "something" in the circuitry to increase or decrease the amount of output... only the ball bearing in the trigger and a small return spring are felt when operating... there is no sound either.. maybe a slight noise when you reach each end on the stops... but they "feel" and "sound" motionless.
The trigger is adjustable.. with a soft pad fitted over the lever.. you can choose between a long trigger (for finer control) or a short one...

Next.. those "dials" - and what they do...


I'll keep it simple, and won't explain each one, unless asked to do so... this, is simply amazing!

We have many options here.. we can adjust the "initial" power output setting.. so, if we have an old "Scaley" car with a great big chunky magnet which takes 1/2 an amp to get the car moving.. we can dial up the setting so that as soon as the trigger is pulled - the car moves off...
Or, we can set it for a modern "can" type motor which is so high output and efficient - using an old Scaley controller would see it leap down the straight and into a barrier on first contact...

Next, we have "traction control".... this allows us to set the rate of acceleration.....at 100%, some models will be almost uncontrollable... they simply have too much power, torque and grip to be able to get any satisfaction out of driving them... traction control allows us to set the rate that they both accelerate and brake (we'll get to brake shortly)... for a "hot" model, we wind down this traction... and it ramps up on either a straight line or a curve... or we can further adjust it so that this is parabolic... Both these you'll find in the many aspects of "power trim" and "curve"...... the effects are that it is less sensitive at low speeds and more sensitive at higher ones... or as a straight line reduction in acceleration vs time...... too much detail for this part of the thread....


Next up, we have "lane changing"... two arrowed buttons which, when running on a digital track - allow you to pre-set changing lanes.... a press of either button before reaching the "points" will program the digital chip in the car to switch them as it is about to reach them..... also used for access to the pits. I don't run digital track here.. It wouldn't take much to change to it, but there is expense involved... I love my cars, and at this point in time - I do more "modeling" than racing... perhaps, if I had a designated permanent layout - I'd go digital... but not for now...


Brake - this one is what has brought racing into a new era..... I didn't believe it at first, until I saw (and heard) it.... they can almost stop like a model train on a track which has had the power switched off... it is almost immediate, with only a small amount of over-run....
But, the effect is simply stunning... a model will "brake" as well or even better than it will accelerate.... from full tilt down a main straight to an almost stop can be done in less than a few track pieces... and the "snarl" it induces from the motor and gears....
I have been assured that it doesn't put full power into reverse. but somehow manages to reverse the field in the motor digitally through the controller .. there is absolutely no burning of the commutator.. but this "braking" simply has to either be seen or experienced to appreciate...

You can set your brake up to almost any degree.. or even leave it off. You can set it up so that it applies only when the trigger is released or in conjunction with using the brake button with your thumb..... or, you can set it up so that the brakes apply gradually.. or, set it up so that it brakes only down to a certain speed then holds that speed..... for the first time, we almost now have "two pedals" in slot car racing....
Many people race their cars with two hands on the controller.. with the thumb of their other hand to control lane changing and braking...

We have come a long way since the old Scaley thumb pump action resistor controller - which got very hot if you closed your hand over it or ran continuously at mid throttle settings.. making all the windings disspate power..

The controller needs a different "module" for digital racing.. it is a simple cartridge that replaces the analogue one... and only takes seconds to swap over...

There are more controls and switches in the controller to explain yet.. but, for now - that's probably enough.... getting your head around setting it all up takes some doing....
And.. each car has a different setting... I have a little note-book I carry around that has my settings for each car ..... the 1,000's of laps done with them using a digital track timer allows you to find "your" optimum times with each given car... my best, on the layout previously posted is 6.2 seconds...

Just a bit about track layouts, to finish this off....
We aim for a layout of from 6 to 10 second lap times... any more, and a "rhythm" can't be found easily... any less, and it gets boring...
We need challenges, and also built-in places to gain an advantage...

As with full sized cars.. it's not the fastest in-line speed of a car that wins races... it's consistency and smoothness... this is entirely true in slot racing... anyone can pull a trigger back and set land speed records in a straight line.. but a racing driver is able to hold a car at high speed over the entire circuit... and do it "smoothly".... this is what we call "rhythm"... and getting that rhythm for each layout takes a bit of learning.... mentally, a 10 second layout will drain you after only a 50 lap race.... a 6 second one in perhaps a 100 lap race...
Bearing in mind, 100 laps at 6 seconds is only 10 minutes... in racing, that goes very quickly..... throw in the de-slot and spin out...

At events, we have "track marshalls"....these are actually active people... usually other drivers placed at various "likely" locations around the track.
Their role is to re-slot (or find) an errant model... there is no "rush" in this - a lot of damage gets done to cars in any rushed attempt... we all respect each others' models.. and place them back on the track when it is both safe, and clear..

Also, on a club layout... the lanes are "colour coded".... your car has a colour sticker placed on it gently designating which "lane" you are running on.... this is only on analogue tracks... with digital - everyone can run on every lane.

Most circuits have 6 lanes.. some 8 and some of the smaller private ones, just 4....
All lanes, whether digital or not - are colour coded... for analogue purposes.... marshals simply pick up a car and put it back on the same coloured lane that is on the car... preventing "doubling" up of two cars on the same analogue track... does not apply to digital.. you can "plonk" a car down on any lane if it is safe and clear to do so... the controller will identify the chip in the car and feed control to the sole driver of that car...

Ummmm.. think that's about it for now...


with winter coming, and all of us in lock down - this hobby is one which can afford any aspect desired to get through the cold and wet of winter...

Surprisingly, it is now quite a cheap and affordable hobby.... compared to sapping the living daylights out of every cent we could earn when younger.

Cars are very cheap... but, be warned - the massive difference in both quality and running between brands is ridiculous.
As an entry - the two brands which I recommend to newcomers are "Slot-it" and Carrera... Carrera are European - they run very well, but not particularly "fast"..... they are a quality product with much engineering foresight and extremely good mechanicals.. their body detail is exquisite... I have many such Carrera models.
Slot-It are for "racing" people.. these cars are almost without exception - very fast OOB (out of the box). Almost every one of them is "tunable" to your own demands.. there are "kits" available to "tune" each of them... changing tyres, gears, suspension, motors, modules, bearings, guides ---- and it all "works"....

As a third, and a long way back - our dear friends at Scalextric... now out of China... they are a compromise between body detail and running... more balanced towards looks... you can get a lame one (I have had two out of about the 10 I own).. but, it's not the end of the day - they are "fixable"... they will all run OOB... QC has some control over that - but you'll quickly find you have a "lame" one if it takes more than half your throttle to get one going.... they should "leap" into action as soon as the trigger is pulled.. if not - do a check and roll the wheels looking at the underside.. you will usually "find" something which is binding... gears pressed to hard together, motor out of alignment, tyres rubbing on cabin insert or body... or, all of these and more.... you won't get this issue with Carrera or Slot-It.


Next post, I'll show some of my cars.... when I unlock and remove the vault cover.... by golly, there's some stuff up in there... I dread a house fire...

I'll pull a couple apart and show pix of what has been done to them... what works, and what has to be done to make them both more "driveable" and fast..... my usual practice is to completely strip a new model - and "jig" it up... sometimes "resetting" the plastic chassis over a 12 hour period in boiling water .. with it fastened flat to a solid piece of iron with magnets holding the chassis down flat on it.... and cooling it out over time to "reset' the plastic memory... this, and many other things - is what makes the difference between a fast car.. and a slug which simply won't hold on.....

I'll discuss a bit about track too.... and what club layouts are made of....
With Scalextric "assemble" track - it does not have the same high quality surface and degree of being true that club or "routed" tracks do... and as such, cars struggle to get any real performance out of undulating and uneven plastic track.... the "new" Scalextric track does not have the same rough grip that the older version did.. and unless tyres are trued and good quality tyres are used... cars will slip around on this new stuff like they are running on their rims... I'll get to that as well... and make mention of fitting "suspension" to motor "pods" so that the model will better follow and grip to the uneven surface of plastic track.. all this is available for tuning Slot-It models... and can be incorporated with some considerable work into other brands....


Ok - that's it for now.. hope I still have some following this thread?


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

Re: Slot cars

Post by rosco »

igor wrote: Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:13 am Certainly fun times Rosco and "got the shot" as well :clap:
Keep up the good ...great work
Roger
Thanks Roger, long time back now and in great company...... and, in another world compared to today....

I'm not mad, as I keep telling people - but I get some strange looks on making the statement...

frats,
Rosco
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