SlotCarMAG
FOR RACERS, COLLECTORS AND BUILDERS
A Racing Luxury: The love affair of
ISSUE 14 • VOLUME 3 • JUNE 2013
www.slotcarmag.co.uk
Graham Poulton and his Aston Martins
Max your pixels: Sample the tricks of pro photographer Doug Johnson
Dunlop Bridge:
Brett Jurmann draws the realism from the basic Scalextric Dunlop Bridge
Milan in Bratislava:
Milan Tomasek – Looks AND performance from scratch
HO LMPs:
Andy Player shows that the Mega-G chassis is made for LMP cars
a PCS 32 chassis! courtesy of
Pendle Slot Racing
New limited edition resin kit with seven liveries SRGB is pleased to announce the second in its range of limited-edition resin kit slot rally cars. • Toyota Corolla TE27 'Levin' • Ref: SRGB 0300 • Limited Edition of 40 kits + 10 RTR models • Kit Price £40 + P&P • 1.32 Scale Continuing with the theme of making slot rally cars that no-one else makes, this is the second project undertaken by SRGB (the first being the Skoda Fabia S2000 Evo). This model is once again mastered by Martin Field. Seven liveries are planned, three are available at this time and others will be added as soon as the artwork is completed and tested. The 7 liveries are: • SRGB-0301 – RAC Rally 1974 – Ove Andersson • SRGB-0302 – RAC Rally 1975 – Chris Sclater • SRGB-0303 – RAC Rally 1977 – Leif Asterhag • SRGB-0304 – Rallye 'TAP' Portugal 1974 – Ove Andersson • SRGB-0305 – Rallye 'TAP' Portugal 1975 – Björn Waldegård • SRGB-0306 – 1000 Lakes Rally 1975 – Hannu Mikkola • SRGB-0307 – Goodwood Festival of Speed – Midgley MotorSport.
Each kits comes with: resin body, resin spot lights, resin bumpers (front and rear), vac-formed windows, mudflaps, interior and your choice of decals. Designed to fit onto a ‘Slot Classic’ or ‘PCS32’ chassis (or, with adjustment, a Slot.it HRS2 chassis), body posts are already moulded into the body. Whilst the builder is free to choose his/her own running gear, SRGB has worked with RS SlotRacing (www.rsslotracing.com) to produce a complete kit including chassis, wheels, tyres, inserts and running gear (ref: JX1). The JX1 pack contains: Tyres 39b, wheels RSW005, inserts RS1318, chassis, motor, guide, axle and fixing screws. Front lights are supplied by Pendle (www.pendleslotracing.co.uk), ref: 4mm Circular Headlamp Lens with Chrome Surround PCSG4B. Decals are designed and printed by Gareth Jex using laser decal paper and all decals need to be cut to size. A combination of clear paper and white paper is used. Each decal sheet comes with enough spares to almost complete two cars!
Each kit comes with a few hints and tips on building and photos showing decal positions. To order your body send Gareth an email at the address below. Payment should be either via UK cheque, cash on collection or PayPal. Ideally kits will be collected from any SRGB Championship event, but Gareth will post out (via MyHermes).
Customers buying this model will be given priority on next SRGB model (due later this year) – Toyota CelicaGT 1600 RA22 – Ref SRGB 0400.
email: gareth.jex@2LK.com
www.SlotRallyGB.com
SlotCarMAG
FOR RACERS, COLLECTORS AND BUILDERS ISSUE 14 • VOLUME 3 • JUNE 2013
www.slotcarmag.co.uk
In This Issue:
Modelant
4
Milan Tomasek
22
PCS 32 Chassis
7
Graham Poulton
15
2 Pit Board:
15 GP Miniatures, Part 1:
South Downs SCC – If you just happen to be holidaying in Chichester, check out the permanent track housed in a Holiday Village!
Affair with an Aston – The Midlands, traditionally home of the British motor industry, now hosts Graham Poulton’s ‘Astons For All’ mission.
The First Ferrari – Modelant’s first foray in the world of slot is the Auto Avio 815, kindly investigated by Stuart Goddard.
That’s not real! – The problem with toys is that they are too plastic-like. Brett Jurmann couldn’t resist enhancing the lines of his bridge.
Plastic Fantastic – Perhaps the most successful easy-to-fit plastic chassis around... and YOU could win one too. Check out our competition!
Hand-built gems from Bratislava – Milan Tomasek loves to build slot cars from scratch. SlotCarMag were delighted to interview him.
Feeling dirty? – Well, there’s no need. This rather good dry lube hits all the right crevices and leaves your cars in tip-top shape.
A Small Sensation – Andy Player stoops low and shows us that the Mega-G chassis is just perfect for these popular Le Mans cars.
Surely it’s all done with mirrors – No, not really. Here, Doug Johnson reveals a few of the tricks he uses to really enhance his small cars.
Alcohol’s A Gas – Dilworth blows the froth from his glass and Ophelia hovers with intent. Will this intoxicating feast really help steady his nerves?
4 Modelant: 7 PCS 32:
11 Dry Lube Extreme:
12 Photographing Slot Cars:
Hello everyone... Gaydon has come and gone, and thanks to all of you who took the opportunity to say hello to Marc and Ric who were on the SlotCarMAG stand. We also appreciate the kind comments regarding the Festival guide and the Club Directory we put together with that amazing support from NSR. I hope everyone got their free car ok! We must say thanks to on-the-spot photographers Phil Upton and Ian Bielby for the use of their Gaydon pictures here. Anyway, a little about this issue: I’m happy to see the return of the competition, the prize being a PCS 32 chassis; hopefully plenty of you will enter, as it’s a prize well worth having! I particularly like the look of the photography piece, as it’s something that has always interested me, and the article about that sporting icon, the Dunlop Bridge, is not to be missed. Finally, we hope to have a range of SlotCarMAG merchandise available soon, so please keep checking our website for news of that. Enjoy Issue 14! Wayne Tooke
18 Scalextric Dunlop Bridge:
22 The Other Milan:
26 HO LMPs: 28 Dilworth:
SlotCarMAG is an independent magazine for the Slot Car enthusiast. It is produced bi-monthly and available to purchase from either: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk (hard-copy, hi res digital) www.lulu.com/uk (hard-copy, print-to-order hi res digital with laminated cover) www.slotcarmag.co.uk (hi-res pdf download) For further information, please contact the publisher via email. Address opposite.
PUBLISHING / WEB: Wayne Tooke: info@slotcarmag.co.uk EDITORIAL: Ric Woods: ric-woods@slotcarmag.co.uk ART & DESIGN: Marc Abbott: marc-abbott@slotcarmag.co.uk SlotCarMAG is printed digitally by LDP Ltd
ldpltd@btconnect.com
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to accurately compile the information contained herein, SlotCarMAG or any of its contributors or advertisers accepts no liability for any errors and omissions or any inadvertent disclosure of any information not meant for publication. SlotCarMAG neither endorses or accepts responsibility for the reproduction of material supplied that is of sub-standard quality, such as photocopies, laser prints, pre-printed photographs, low resolution digital images etc, and reserve the right to refuse the use of such material, products or services of advertisers in this publication. Opinions expressed shall not necessarily be that of the SlotCarMAG. All information should be verified before being acted upon. Copyright: Contents of this magazine or our web site, cannot be reproduced in any way, shape or form without the written permission of the publishers.
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1
Pit Board
T
his newly formed club is based at South Downs Holiday Village, Bracklesham Bay, near Chichester, one of the Richardson’s Group Holiday Villages. Meeting at the venue known as Leisure 2, the Club races on an 8-lane, 150-foot lap length purpose-built track which was made in the Czech Republic about six years ago and was until recently stored in the Blackpool area.
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The track was acquired by Ant Hawkes, a long time slot racer, who is fortunate enough to have the Company’s approval to site the track in its present location, where it is also used by guests staying at the holiday village when club nights or special events are not being hosted. The track runs well and has an even power supply around the lap. It is powered by Rapid Electronics 40amp power
supplies – one per two lanes for open events, one per four lanes for club racing. We currently run mainly BRSCA classes but predominantly 1/32nd and 1/24th Falcon or Hawk-powered Production classes. At present we are evaluating some cars for hard body classes and considering holding an open meeting for them. We do have cars and controllers available for loan.
The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
The outright lap record is 4.6 seconds, but 1/24th production cars with Falcon or Hawk motors lap in around 6 seconds. Most racing is done on a segmented basis with all drivers running on all 8 lanes. Prior to its present form, South Downs Slot Car Club was founded on the portable exhibition track on loan from Pinewood Raceway at Wokingham, but other than being used as a test track for the National BSCRA events in 2012 it did not start operating as a club until the arrival of the new track in 2013. Anyone interested in club racing, oneoff hosted events or corporate
Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders
days/evenings should contact Ant or Tony using the details below: : Tony Davey – 07815 655679 bigtone9@hotmail.co.uk Ant Hawkes – 07767 412121 anthawkes.aol.com
and the club is based at: Richardsons Holiday Village Bracklesham Bay West Sussex PO20 8JE
3
FERRARI THE FIRST
THE AUTO AVIO 815 BY MODELANT,
INVESTIGATED BY STUART GODDARD
T
he hand-built ‘collector’ slot car niche market remains a relatively strong and very interesting part of the slot car hobby, with new models appearing with pleasing regularity despite the less-than-affluent times in which we find ourselves. These limited-edition, highly-detailed, highly-collectible and therefore highly-priced models would seem at
past. Modelant has been anxious to point out that ‘traditional’ methods have been used in the making of this car (by which they
mean no CAD technology and the like) as they wanted to retain some of the original ‘soul’ in the finished product. I would also add that it’s what they are good at, so why change to hi-tech just for the sake of it? What you get is a beautifully finished resin replica with lovely detailing, and which looks great on the track, or the shelf next to the track. For those unfamiliar with the Auto Avio 815, the car came about as a result of trading restrictions placed on Enzo Ferrari after he had left Alfa Romeo in 1939. Enzo Ferrari had run the competition side of Alfa, and when he
first to run contrary to the life of thrills and spills that an average RTR slot car might expect, but thankfully, much like those valuable full-size classics that are regularly raced, there are owners who are prepared to use them for their intended purpose, and amen to that! The Auto Avio 815 is the first release by Modelant, a company based in Catalonia, which makes up the north-east corner of Spain. The company might be new, but there is plenty of accumulated experience in slot cars and model making, with main man Albert Jobal having involvement with Cursa models – another limited-edition manufacturer – among many others in the
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The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
PCS 32 Plastic Chassis Sensation by Ric Woods
Some months ago, SlotCarMAG reader Jon Barrowcliffe got in touch, suggesting that we should do an article on the PCS chassis. Quick to spot a good idea and always eager to please, here we go…
T
he PCS 32 chassis from Pendle Slot Racing (www.pendleslotracing.co.uk) has very quietly been one of slot racing’s great success stories over the last number of years. It has become the obvious choice for the turning of classic car shells into slot cars, which in turn means that there must be more old Airfix kits than ever before being thrashed round slot car tracks up and down the land! Simplicity and flexibility are behind the PCS 32’s success, and very probably the fact that you can have basic one for only £6.75, or £9.95 for the ‘Step 2’ version, of which more anon. In the basic chassis pack you get the chassis main frame (motor mount and axle bearing holders), the sliding guide holder/ front axle mount (this adjusts the wheelbase) and front axle spacers. The ‘Step 2’ components comprise
side outriggers for the chassis (these glue to the existing chassis sides and can provide a location for lead, or can be drilled and used for body mounting – a couple of the cars in the photographs have this), there’s a longer front element (ideal for cars
Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders
with a longer wheelbase and with a greater guide ‘lead’ in front of the axle) and some additional front axle locators. While we’re on the subject of body mounting, this often-tricky process is steadily becoming simpler because more
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by Marc Abbott
Dry Lube:
There’s now no excuse for dirtiness!
L
ubricant is defined as: the process, or technique employed to reduce wear of one or both surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each other, by interposing a substance called lubricant between the surfaces to carry or to help carry the load (pressure generated) between the opposing surfaces. The interposed lubricant film can be a solid, a solid/liquid dispersion, a liquid, a liquid-liquid dispersion (a grease) or, exceptionally, a gas... Yeah, yeah, yeah, but all I know is that the back end of all my slot cars tends to get mucky, and it’s all the fault of that oil or grease. I’ve seen guys using all manner of things (some of which are very closely guarded secrets, but I’m sure they have just nicked Aunty Beryl’s sewing machine oil) in order to gain some kind of slippery advantage. Yet we all generally end up in the same place; a mucky rear end that needs a good dose of flammable liquid to displace the mixture of the oil and tyre debris, plus of course any other detritus that has been lying on the track. I was very interested to hear of this new lube... well, it was new to me anyway. I’ve watched an advertising video of the DRY FLUID EXTREME being used by a chap flying model helicopters and it seemed very impressive (as an advert would make it, obviously), so I got hold of some (from Pendles: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk) and was intrigued when two different bottles turned up in the post, one bottle being for the gears and the other for axles/bearings. The lubricant puts what the manufacturer describes as a film of ‘nano particles’ on the treated parts. These act like tiny ball bearings, so the car should run more smoothly, with less wear. The two types have a different particle size, with the thinner fluid of the axle/bearing variety having increased capillary action. Seemed simple enough, although fortunately I did read that the formula must be applied to a clean dry surface, otherwise its properties couldn’t function properly. I located a car that hadn’t seen the light of day for a while – a Slot.it Nissan – and took the body off to check for dirt... yuk, why did I pick this one? I can’t remember the last time I used this car, but it must have been for an endurance – the car was silver on the outside and black on the inside. Not a good starting point! Looking at the instructions again, I realised that the important bits were slightly leaning towards a Germanic lingo. So a quick call to the German Embassy (Really? – Ed.), revealed that Ric, our editor, is fluent in at least fourteen languages... some of them not of this world, but luckily German was amongst them. He informed me that the alcohol-based lube needs to be applied with the supplied brush and/or narrow tops and then I should wait a short while for the solution to dry, as the alcohol evaporates. I can see why this would be the case, because in order for the liquid to work, it needs to sit where it should be sitting,
Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders
NOT being spun away onto the bodywork by an impatient racer who takes great delight in revving his motors all day long. Remembering the helicopter advert, I applied a small amount of fluid to all teeth (the car’s, not mine) and also some from the sister
Initially applied lubrication dries to a white coverage
bottle to the relevant axle points. I then went and hoovered the inside of my family car out before coming back to inspect the gears again. As promised the teeth now had a very slight white coating to them and seemed to be perfectly devoid of any moisture. Nissan, back together and on track... was performing just like it should: Quick, super handling and... quiet. This did seem like a good omen. I decided to do around 300 laps just to make sure and then took the body off. A minimal amount of tyre rubber, caught in hard-to-get-to places, but as the tyres were wearing down, it was obvious that the small balls of black stuff were being left out on the track rather than stuck to the inside of the body shell and chassis. Happy? Yes I was! Another thing to think about: Over the years, how many of your motors have started to smoke because the commutator has been badly gunked up with oil? Perhaps not many if you’re a fanatic about cleanliness, however, you will have had a few. This product may just be the thing to help prevent those frustrating moments when you car suddenly stops and the dreaded blue smoke appears from inside the car. Do I like it? Yes I do!
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PHOTOGRAPHI I
was a commercial photographer in Toronto, Canada, for over 35 years before retiring seven years ago. Back in the good old days of film, things weren't nearly as easy as they are now that digital has come along. Like a lot of old timers, I never thought digital would ever be as good as film...was I wrong! I am not the kind of guy that has a lot of “camera jewellery”...that's not to say I don't have good equipment. However, when I take pictures of my little cars, I usually use my travel camera...a Panasonic Lumix FZ200. That little prosumer ultra-zoom camera features a Leica lens. 25mm wide angle, up to a 610mm telephoto. For slot cars it is ideal! That being said, I loaned it to my neighbour, who is on a twomonth tour of various parts of the world...so I am forced to use my Sony a99 DSLR, with a Tamron 17-50mm macro zoom.
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The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
GP MINIATURES part one
by Ric Woods
“Beautiful sleek body styled by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan. Wide radiator air-intake has mesh grille. Plain bumpers wrap closely round. Large headlamps with side and indicator lamps below, straightthrough wings to vertical tail-lamp clusters. Gently sloping bonnet has large intake on top for supplying air to carburettors; small air outlets in body sides. Wrap-around windscreen and very large rear window. Roof line slopes gently down to rather square rear contours. Wire wheels with “knock-off” hub-caps.”
T
his is how my 1961 edition of ‘The Observers Book of Automobiles’ described the Aston Martin DB4. The six-year-old Richard Woods was utterly captivated by this car, with that wonderfully eager look to the front end, not to mention the “140 mph plus” top speed quoted in the specification. Dad’s new Austin A55 wasn’t even from the same planet. It was with eager anticipation, therefore, that I set out for Walsall, in the West Midlands, to see Graham Poulton of GP Miniatures. Brilliantly contrary to what the whole world expects from those initials, Graham’s company has thus far dealt not in Formula One cars, but almost exclusively in models from what might
Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders
15
Dunlop Footbridge Scalextric
by Brett Jurmann
I am always after a neat bit of scenery for my track, and few things are more iconic than a tyre-shaped footbridge. I had previously tried making a my own out of mdf sheeting, but it was very rough and unsatisfactory and soon consigned to the bin...
Enhancement
“ ” Most people instantly recognise the giant Dunlop footbridge before the Esses at Le Mans
B
ut when Scalextric did another release of their footbridge, complete with Dunlop advertising, I had to have one. Scalextric went to some effort in making the mould for the bridge, including a tyre-shaped bulge and the steps for the pedestrians. It’s quite pleasing to the eye and a handy item of scenery in an era when not many hobby manufacturers make reasonably priced pieces.
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Unfortunately for me, when creating my permanent track scenery I failed to allow a suitably flat location for the footbridge and so it went back in its box and sat unused for a while. That was until I decided to make a diorama for photographing slot cars. Most of my slot collection are historic prototype sports cars, so it was inevitable I would give my diorama a Le Mans theme, and nothing says ‘Le Mans!’ as much as a Dunlop footbridge over the track. Most people instantly recognise the giant Dunlop footbridge before the Esses at Le Mans, however there used to be a smaller one at the entry to Tertre Rouge
corner, similar to the Scalextric model. I considered that making an exact replica of Tertre Rouge might look odd for non-Le Mans cars, so I deliberately swapped it to be a left-hand corner. So, using Tertre Rouge as a guiding theme, I set about making a section of racetrack. Once the base was constructed and scenic vegetation applied, I pulled the footbridge back out of its box and put it in place. Comparing it with my diorama, the footbridge now looked very toy-like. While the moulding is quite nice, it still presents as being made of plastic. The black surfaces are also shiny and the yellow ones are a little translucent. Scouring through books on the history of motorsport, I checked for photos of
The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
MIL
The other
F
or a good many years now, Bratislava-based Milan Tomasek has had almost legendary status in slot racing world. Never one to go out of his way to seek publicity, he quietly gets on with the job of building wonderful 1/32 scale replicas completely from scratch – cars which look great but which are designed to be top performers on the track. We managed to drag Milan away from his workbench for a few moments... How and when did you get into slot car racing? I was one of those little boys who loved to play with cars (before video games came). I often used to modify the cars to achieve the "racing look". My first "slot track" was drawn on a large sheet of paper and there I organised my first races. When I was 12, I got my first real slot track with just one slot car which was the only one available for a long time during communism. It was not much fun with only one car, so I started to convert the available toy cars. This was not enough so I decided to make the cars of my dreams. I tried many times and mostly the cars were made of paper. Even if it wasn't 100% perfect, it was original and that was satisfying for me. I remember also writing an essay at grammar school – its theme was the slot track :) In my teens, I was rather focused on girls, music and other hobbies and for some time I forgot about the slot cars. I came back to it only 10 years later, just for fun. At this time I still built cars from paper, but each car took too long because I had to start every time from the beginning. Then I was influenced by my friend, who used to make models by means of vacuum forming, and he taught me a lot. Since then, it was a new era for my slot cars.
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The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
LAN
Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders
23
HO
LMPs by Andy Player
AFX Peugeot 908 on the Kastelburg Raceway (picture: Racemasters)
T
he Le Mans 24 hours is the highlight of my motorsport year. It is quite unlike any other race on the calendar and I've followed it closely since I was a kid - in the days when Porsche and Ickx dominated at La Sarthe. Americans have an obsession with the race too, with HO manufacturers producing cars from Le
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Mans since the early days of the hobby, and that continues right up to today. AFX have recently followed a complete roster of 1966 Ford MkIIs with the modernday Peugeot 908s and Audi R10s. The original six Peugeot and Audi liveries were of the cars that ran at Le Mans in 2008. Of these, the #2 Audi and #9 Peugeot are set-
only cars, making them very collectible. New releases for Christmas 2012 were the all-black Audi test car and the race-winning #3 Peugeot from the 2010 Spa 1000kms. The AFX LMP bodies run on the long wheelbase Mega-G chassis. This new chassis was designed to be as low as physically possible so that realistic,
The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG
UK SLOT CAR FESTIVAL – 18th MAY 2014!!!