News from Samson Classics

Samson Classics is pleased to announce a new product that should be in raceways now.

Branded as "Classi-Parts", these are called "Harry's Nuts". They represent a significant change in guide attachment design, possibly the first since we stopped melting screws into the post and started using a nut.

Available in aluminum or brass, CNC-machined for superior accuracy and alignment, these nuts are driven from the top rather than from the edge as with other hex-designs. This allows the nut to be larger in diameter for greater guide stability, and also means that they fit lower and can be more easily mounted and adjusted, as there is no need for space around the nut for the wrench. Especially on cut-down guides, this is a major advantage.

Additionally, the nuts are relieved in the underside so that the contact patch is restricted to the outer periphery of the nut, and the relief also allows space for those pesky little slivers of nylon that often come off a new guide thread.

The brass versions weigh just over 1 gram each; the aluminum parts are just under 1/2 gram each.

The drivers are branded as "Classi-Tools":

Initially these are available in plain finish only, with stainless steel drive pins assembled. On special order we can add a hole and setscrew on the back end to accommodate a hex driver, to turn this into a combination tool. Just specify the hole size needed (2mm for Koford tips, 3mm for Hudy tips, or 3/32" for some others).

MSRP on these will be as follows:

Aluminum nuts: $1.59 each, or $8.49 for a pack of six (packed with individual header cards)
Brass nuts: $1.75 each, or $9.45 for a six-pack (packed with individual header cards)
Combo pack (three aluminum, three brass): $8.95 (packed with individual header cards)

Drivers: $6.95 each (packed with individual header cards) Hex driver holes added for $1.95 extra.

Driver with six aluminum nuts: $14.95 (packed with individual header cards)
Driver with six brass nuts: $15.89 (packed with individual header cards)
Driver with three of each: $15.49 (packed with individual header cards)

Regular discounts on the packs and quantity discounts on the individual nuts will be available to bonafide raceways. 

Please contact Samson Classics at samsonclassics@gmail.com for more details.

Ultracal decal information and link

 

NEW EXCITING PRODUCT 

APPLICATION FOR USE IN:

MODELS * DIECAST * RC CARS * SLOT CARS  

EXCITING BENEFITS 

UltraCal decals are precision pre-cut and printed on an ultra-thin film. They can be peeled off their backing and easily applied to your project without use of water. It's that easy! UltraCal decals offer the following: 

• New super thin, innovative poly film material with a strong adhesive backing. 
• Easily conforms to irregular surfaces such as body details, contours, seams.
• Vivid whites in a decal that truly looks authentic.  
• Will not chip, scratch, tear or wrinkle.
• No need for clear coating - UltraCal decals already have the look of a clear coated decal. 
• Graphics look sharper, more crisp than other decals. 
• More vivid colors and backgrounds, with a painted look. Looks and feels like factory fitted, tampo printed numbers, characters.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER - SLOT CAR DECAL MG 3408

 

SLPL 40515908  Wheel    URANO  15.9 x 8.5    
SLPL 40515910      "             "          15.9 x 10
SLPL 40516208      "             "          16.2 x 8.5                       
SLPL 40516210      "             "          16.2 x 10  

New Sloting Plus Urano wheels are coming!

NSR founder passes

Condolences from Slot Car News to the family of Salvatore Noviello who passed away in an auto accident.

C.B. Design Racing Wheels Now Available in 17mm Sizes

C.B. Design 5-Spoke Racing Wheels

CB DesignSlot Car Corner has just added two (2) new sizes to our popular C.B. Design 5-Spoke Racing Wheels. If you need high-performance lightweight wheels for your LMP or modern GT car but don't want to sacrifice strength or appearance, the new 17x8 and 17x11mm 5-Spoke Racing wheels are for you. Lighter than the regular C.B. Design 5-Spoke wheels, they will help give you a competitive edge on the track. C.B. Design 5-Spoke Racing Wheels are also available in 15x8, 15x11 and 15x12mm sizes. For more information, please visit the Slot Car Corner website.

Track Braiding Made Easier...

Slot Car Corner Introduces Pre-Taped Track Braid

A Slot Car Corner exclusive - we've just made braiding a slot car track even easier!!!  We now offer 500 foot spools of our high-quality 1/4" tinned copper braid pre-taped.  Our pre-taped braid is a real timesaver - depending on your track configuration, this can save you several hours of work (the more corners in your layout, the more time pre-taped braid will save you).  We start by removing any residue leftover from the braid manufacturing process - this ensures the best possible adhesion when the tape is applied.  Next we carefully apply almost 3 rolls of the special 2-sided tape we offer to each 500' spool of braid (we include the unused portion of the third roll in the event you might need it).  Using our pre-taped braid, once you have routed and painted your gains, you are ready to start braiding!!  For more information, please visit the Slot Car Corner website.

Find the Right Super Tire....

Announcing Super Tires Selector Tool

Slot Car Corner and Slot Car Corner Canada now offer customers an exclusive online Super Tires Selector tool.  The Super Tires Selector was designed to make it easy to find the right Super Tires for a given manufacturer/model 1:32 slot car.  It can also be used to find Super Tires that fit many popular aftermarket wheels such as our own C.B. Design Wheels.  To learn more about the Super Tires Selector, please visit the Slot Car Corner or Slot Car Corner Canada website.

Audi Canada-Slot Mods "Painting Coconuts" video

Dave from Slot Mods expresses his passion for slot cars in this video from Audi Canada showing their slot track.  "This still exists, this is still fun... let's race"

LeMans Miniatures Renault... VAN!!!

New Renault Espace slot car. What's not to like?

Toy Fair Preview - All New from Carrera in 2013

Digital 124:
Ferrari 512S Berlinetta
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3

Digital 132 / Evolution:
Audi A5 DTM
AMG Mercedes C-Coupe DTM
BMW M3 DTM
Ferrari "New Enzo"
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
GreenGT H2

GO!!! / Digital 143:
Audi A5 DTM
AMG Mercedes C-Coupe DTM
BMW M3 DTM
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3

GO!!! / Digital 143 Licensed theme sets:
Mario Kart™ 7
Ultimate Spider-Man - Spider Speed Shifter
Ultimate Spider-Man - Goblin Getaway
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtle Trike
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Shredder Racer

New SRC Capri

The German Toy Fair Special Edition Ford Capri (item no. 900103) from the new Slot Racing Company will be a limited run of 500 cars and have a retail in the US of approx. $104.00.

Carrera Limited Edition D124 Cheetah

Here is the Limited Edition DIGITAL124 Cheetah (easy to adapt for use on analog tracks) that should be now available at your local hobby shop.

Carrera's model is based on a Bill Thomas authorized "continuation car" currently running in vintage racing, and at least once upon a time driven by author and novelist "B. S." Levy.

B.S. Levy's article about Continuation Cars and Replica Racers

The Cheetah Continuation Series Story

Photos by D. Kennedy.

Hardbody Camaro Build with Brian Meharry Part 4

While I wait for the clear coat to dry I can get started on the interior. Tamiya gunmetal is a little less boring than plain old black. The Tamiya PS series pants are made for vac-form bodies and interiors. The interior detailing and mounting tips shown here can be applied to any scale race car,

I use Citadel paints on things such as clothes, gloves and seat belts because they are a low sheen. They are paints from Games Workshop that are used to do board game figures used for example in wargaming. I dated a pretty attractive nerd a while back, and that's how I learned about these paints.

Here’s the finished interior. The helmet is Testors gold; I used Testors gloss red on the roll cage and fire extinguisher on this Parma interior.

Once the body, hood and grille are dry it's time for the final assembly. I've gone back to using shoe goo- I Don't know what it is about that stuff but it works very well keeping parts together and it remains flexible. I recommend using JB plastic weld to reinforce the inner fenders above the wheels. That is a major place where cars have the font end sheared off in an impact. Or just try not to hit anything. Good luck with that.

I used the Shoe Goo to assemble all the body pieces. I put a small sheet of styrene in the front where the hood mates up to the body. I also used a sheet of styrene painted red to fill in the rear tail light openings.

Now that the body is complete its time for final assembly. The motor bracket on the Womp chassis is designed for 16D motors so we need to open up the bushing hole in order to elevate the rear of the TSR D3 motor that I will be using.

The rear of the motor is elevated so that the 8 tooth angled pinion is centered on the axle for best gear mesh. The motor is soft soldered below the front and on top of the bracket. I used one motor screw to secure it to the bracket also. This motor isn't going anywhere.

Here’s a shot of the complete chassis. I used to fill in the blank space with brass plate when stretching a Womp chassis, but that was when the extra weight was needed and the only motors available were 16d. Tires, gears and controllers are much better than they used to be too. I think the TSR D3 motor is well suited for this chassis. This motor runs in reverse, that's why the gear is on the other side. It's an advantage for left turn oval racing.

The lightest car that I race with an FCR chassis is 170 grams ; this one comes in just below 135. You can always add weight in the tuning process to suit your driving style. From the test laps that I took, I would race it as is.

Sponsor decals are Parma self-stick. I cut them out with a knife and placed them. I feel they hold up much better than water slide decals. After a few test laps, this car turns easy 2.6 second laps on our 85 foot tri-oval (my best time with my current cars is 2.78). Braking is very good with this car because it is considerably lighter than most FCR based models.

I put the car I built in the case at Mid-America Raceway for sale. If no one buys it I'll just take it out of the case and whup on y'all later. Building this car took me about 12 hours worth of work. With a little planning you could do the same or better.

I hope that you enjoyed this hardbody building series and will visit the Mid-America Hardbody Series page on Facebook. There are more tips and tricks there as well as race reports and building ideas.

Hardbody Camaro Build with Brian Meharry Part 3

I usually free hand paint my numbers with a brush and One Shot lettering enamels, but this is another method of making your own numbers. I draw them on blue painters tape, and carefully cut them out with an Ex-Acto blade.

Number masks shown applied to the body. When spraying the main color, make sure to use light coats of paint so that the paint doesn't bleed under the masks.

I'm about 5 hours into the build now. I'm going to do some simple pinstripe techniques next around the numbers and elsewhere on the body. 

I'm going to paint a couple of red lines on each side of the car using One Shot enamel. Notice how I left the masking tape for the numbers on the doors.

Once the red lines are dry enough I peeled off the straight masking tape. After that, I outlined the white numbers with red as well with a 20/0 round brush. I layed down a few white diamonds and star shapes in white. I'm going for the early 70' s short track look here. This car is a loose interpretation of a car that ran at Raceway Park on Chicago's South side.

The main color of this car is Testors Purple-licious from a rattle can. I used a little bit of yellow to make the numbers on the doors pop out a bit. I'm going to wait at least 24 hours for the lettering enamel to dry. The body will be coated with acrylic gloss, and the hood will be coated with a satin finish.

Here's the finished body mounted on the chassis as previously built. It's a good idea to check the fit of the body on the rolling chassis before moving on much farther.

In the next installment, Brian gets into some tips and techniques having to do with interior painting and motor mounting.

Scalextric 2013 Range Announcement

Scalextric broke with their tradition of announcing the coming year production on New Year's Day by giving Scalextric Club members a sneak peek at the 2013 range today.

Notable Scalextric cars featuring all-new tooling are:

C3419 1970 Dodge Challenger Trans-Am #77 Sam Posey 

C3423 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona NASCAR #71 Bobby Isaac

C3418 1967 Mercury Cougar Trans-Am #98 Dan Gurney

The 2013 Scalextric range announcements can be viewed here