May 26, 2021
2 | Diecast Racing Report
In This Issue
Table of Contents Editor’s Notes Resources QuickTips
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Features Cover Artist: James Mason
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Tanks Don’tTread Lightly 6 Columns Mystery Box Challenge
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D’s Diecast Discoveries: GravityThrottle Racing 13 Built For Speed: Hot N Fresh
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Speed Spotlight: BlueLine Racing 16
Diecast Racing Report Extra is a publication of Kit Kayem LLC, 7511 Greenwood Ave N #112, Seattle, WA 98103, USA Comments or letters to the editor: comments@diecastracingreport.com Are you a writer, photographer, artist, or other ne’er-do-well? Drop us a line: submissions@diecastracingreport.com Staff: Jim Desaulniers, DeeZaster Jakk, Christopher (Kit) Kidder-Mostrom, Ali Kidder-Mostrom, Josh Paufler May 26, 2021 | 3
Editor’s Note What on Earth is going on here? Didn’t Diecast Racing Report just shift to being a monthly magazine? Why is there a second May issue? Well, you may notice that on the the cover there’s an additional word up towards the top: Extra. This is the first-ever issue of Diecast Racing Report Extra. While the regular magazine will be coming out only once per month from now on, when there is content that needs to be shared in a timely manner, or a feature article that missed the regular deadline or was cut due to lack of space, it will be released in a much shorter (usually 8 or so pages) Extra issue. The first issue of Vol. 3 of Diecast Racing Report will be coming out the third week of June. It’s going to be exciting and packed with great interviews, columns, and features. Some of those columns will actually be making their debut in this issue of Extra. This is our chance to show you what we’ve got coming up in our new format. The first thing you probably noticed was the front cover make-over. That’s the new design for volume three. The interior is getting a face lift, too. But we won’t be debuting it here until the June issue. The cover is just a sneak peek. As for the columns that are making their debut here
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today, we have the “Built for Speed Build Journal” which will be a monthly exploration of a recent build by a well-known modder. The modder in question will be changing from month to month, so we’ll get to explore the methods of many different modders! In today’s issue, we’ll see Josh Paufler’s build of a special car for Flat Rabbit Racing Club’s pizza delivery driver event.
Kit Kidder-Mostrom Editor-in-Chief
You’ll also notice that Jim Desaulniers has a new column that is focusing on his discovering new racing channels on YouTube and taking a closer look at their components. It’s called “D’s Diecast Discoveries”. Ali Kidder-Mostrom will still be shining her Spotlight on an up-and-coming channel each month, but it will no longer be part of the “Tournaments” section of the magazine. That section is no more. Instead, her column will be called “Speed Spotlight”. Her popular Mystery Box column will be here every month, too. So much good stuff coming soon. We’re excited to share a preview today!
Cover Artist
Cover Artist: James Mason The first-ever cover artist of Diecast Racing Report Extra is James Mason of Essex, England in the UK. He took the cover photo with his Samsung Galaxy S10, and did the editing on the Prisma app. The photo was taken in his back garden. “[The car is] on my decking handrail,” says Mason. “I got low down to get the perspective of the car against the trees.” “Photography has always been an interest, and I seem to have an eye for it,” claims the ship broker who also enjoys cycling (He usually does 80 miles each weekend!). Photographing diecast cars specifically is a rather new endeavor for Mason. He’s only been using the small metal cars for about six weeks. Like many others, one inspiration for getting into diecast cars was seeing the DRC on 3DBotMaker’s YouTube channel. But a major inspiration is closer to home: “I’m making a track for my nephew Jack,” he says. “I haven’t seen him for nearly a year and thought we could have a Hot Wheels racing weekend.” Sounds like a great time! While relatively new to diecast racing, Mason had hundreds of Matchbox, Corgi, and Hot Wheels cars as a kid. “Every week, I pestered my mum for a new one,” he confides. His favorite? The Chevy Redline pictured below. He managed to find it again while rummaging in the loft. We are certain that you’ll be seeing more of James Mason’s photography on display soon. And we wish him all the best with the J and J Raceway (Jack and James)!
May 26, 2021 | 5
Feature
Tanks Don’t Tread Lightly by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
Most of the time, diecast racing features cars that look like cars. There might be a fantasy casting thrown into the mix from time to time, and in wide open racing classes you may see a number of Zoom-In castings that have been sculpted into aerodynamic wonders. What you won’t normally see are tanks. Well, Rust Belt Diecast Racing sort of specializes in what you won’t normally 6 | Diecast Racing Report
see. Earlier this year they put out a call for tanks or tank-like vehicles that weighed between 100 and 300 grams. Those are some heavy requirements. The race video will be coming out soon. We wanted to feature a few of the builders, so we talked to Robert Manore of Monster Motor Sports, Chad Giron of G$ Racing, and Ryan Kelly of Uncle Elvis Racing about their racing/ fighting machines.
Feature only experience building a modified car was my DIRS 2021 entry which topped out at 44.6g, and my Party Wagon entry which weighed 45.1g. My Tankdozer ended up weighing 103g. So just barely over the minimum weight allowance.
Q: What inspired your build? A: I had just recently received my very first Hot Wheels
Robert Manore Q: What was the biggest challenge building for this tournament?
A: The biggest challenge for me was achieving the 100g
sealed case subscription from Grana Toys and it was the D case. Inside was the 2021 Speed Dozer casting. When I first saw the bucket on the front, it reminded me of my time in the military in a mechanized armor unit. I instantly thought I could use this casting as the base of my build …Then it was off to Kroger and Wal-mart to find a Tanknator casting!
minimum weight allowance. At the time of this build, my an open lane downhill obstacle course, I knew it should probably be as long and wide as allowed. Also, it should have a low center of gravity to minimize tipping over with the jumps and bumps. Since the standard diecast car is just under 1.25" wide, I knew I needed to make custom axles to reach the allowable width of 1.5" for better stability.
Q: What inspired your build?
Chad Giron Q: The rules declare that “There will be jumps, bumps and chaos. Plan Accordingly. How did you deal with it?
A: This was the first race I entered without knowing what the track looks like. Since it was going to be
A: I've watched a ton of videos on customizing diecast cars over the last few months to get tips and inspiration for my builds. I saw quite a few that added a working suspension with different materials. One in particular, used zip ties on an off-road truck to make an articulated suspension. I kind of put that idea in the back of my mind until there was an off-road style mail-in race. MacGuyver was homicidal and suicidal. They steal war machines from other races and then "Ork-ize" them. Unfortunately, Warhammer models are expensive. I did have a Professor Hulk minifigure that was a perfect substitute though.
Q: What part of this build was the most fun for you? A: The planning stage. My builds are always better in
Ryan Kelly Q: What inspired your build? A: Warhammer 40k Orks! I do not play, but I love
my head than in real life. A big, chunky, Ork war machine really let my imagination run. I made up all kinds of back stories and possible paint schemes for it before ever putting it together. Of course, the final product shows none of that, but that is what I get for waiting until the last minute to actually build it.
watching YouTube videos of folks painting minis. Orks are fun. They are militaristic scavengers. MacGuyver, if May 26, 2021 | 7
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MYSTERY BOX by Ali Kidder-Mostrom
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hat inspires you? My team “Just Another Pop Culture Reference” is just what it sounds like. But, let’s be honest there is just SO MUCH to choose from when it comes to the world of pop culture. Sometimes, it helps to have a bit of guidance, some selfimposed limitations, to help inspire creative design. The goal is to create one car per month, each with a random paint color and pop culture theme selected by roll of the dice. Also, there will be a unique challenge for each car (basically the reason I
turned to the box) just to keep things interesting. This could be a technique to use or race to prep for or, well, the sky’s the limit! GaslandsTV just added racing to their repertoire and I promised to send a car into that fray. So, this month’s challenge is building a Gaslands-style car that can also kick-butt on the race track. Also, from a comment on the first Mystery Box video, for an extra challenge I’m highlight drilling, tapping and weighting techniques a bit more this time around. If you have a challenge you think I should do for a future mystery box, just reach out to Diecast Racing Report or drop a comment on the Mystery Box videos on our YouTube channel. Challenge: Build a car to race at Gaslands TV Die Rolls: Theme: TV (6) Color: Blue (12)
Build/Design Notes: Spring has sprung and this month I dug it the box of brown paper bags to pull out a yellow Maisto VW Beetle… not what I was expecting, but not a bad place to start. The form of this car is a little different than your more common Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars, but it still drills 8 | Diecast Racing Report
apart the same. Unless you want to take a soldering iron to it, there are two basic ways to open up a car. Drill with the 5/64 bit first and then finish with the larger 9/64. Or use the 9/64 bit and wait to use the 5/64 bit when the car is apart and you’re drilling out the post for tapping. I prefer the latter, but using the smaller bit first can lead to a nifty trick where the rivet edge comes off in a nice clean ring. A key difference you’ll find in alternate brand cars like Maisto or Greenlight is extra brackets for windshields and such. Removing them is basically the same as drilling posts – all you need is a drill and some care, so you don’t crack the windsheild in the process. I didn’t keep mine in the end, but better safe than sorry. The wheels that came on this car just won’t do for racing, so I turned to my wheel farm and found a great set of blue Trap5 wheels, from the Hot Wheels La Fasta. If I’ve learned one thing in my time modding, it is – do all your drilling and tapping before investing more time in the car. So, after stripping the paint, that is exactly what I did. We purchased our tap and associated 2/56 screws from Brightvision Wheels, in case you’re curious.
Column Using a tap is pretty easy – just put the tap in as straight as you can and apply just a bit of pressure while you turn it clockwise to cut your threads. Be sure to do a slight counterclockwise reverse turn on occasion to release the pressure. If you don’t you could break a tap out in your peg. It’s only happened to me once, but yes… I am still bitter. Some folks use oil or another lubricant for this process, but I’ve never found that to be necessary When I rolled Blue and TV, the decision was basically made for me that I was building a TARDIS from Doctor Who. Because I wanted a Gaslands styling, I used armor plating to bring a box-like paneled look to the otherwise round vehicle and a small gear to replace the top light with a top blade. I’ve never built a Warden-sponsored car before, so I thought that would be fun. The idea behind that team is that the driver is a prisoner welded into the car and racing for a chance at freedom. So, the armor plates went right over the door crack and I also added bars over the two side windows, using old cut axles. After a spray paint coat of Krylon’s Satin Deep Blue, I used three different shades of blue Testors enamel paints, to add a bit of extra depth and TARDIS-y detail. Other detail painting included the door placard, BAD WOLF on the boot and some
blood splatter off the top blade. When it came to installing the axles, the divots in this base weren’t exactly straight on this car, so thankfully I had the axle jig from Redline Derby to use when epoxying the axles into place. I stripped the chrome off the base using 409 (check out the February issue of Diecast Racing Report if you want all the details on that) and cut off the front bumper to prepare it for racing. Whenever possible, I want to try to build to the track. GaslandsTV has doozy of a track. It’s a road course that starts with the steepest drop, dubbed rather appropriately the Sui-slide, so I’m going to need no obstructions and really well distributed weight.
run down this course so I’m not sure exactly what weight would be ideal, but I’m pretty sure my starting 25.6 grams isn’t it. I ended up getting up to 53.8 grams, which included tungsten bars along the bottom (to keep my center of gravity as low as possible) and a little build-up in the back to center my weight over (or at least near) the rear axle. This is less crucial for a road course than for a drag strip, but hopefully it will give a nice burst of speed coming off the Sui-slide. This car is already in Canada ready for its Gaslands TV debut. Hopefully, her performance will be FANTASTIC.
So far, I’ve only seen stock cars
See the Video! Just Another Pop Culture Mystery Box on the Diecast Racing Report YouTube Channel! May 26, 2021 | 9
Resources
Quick Tips Finishing With a Top Coat: Glossing Over The Details You’ve painted the perfect car – now what? If you want to protect your precious paint job then you’ll want to add a clear top coat. But, for a new modder, you may not know where to begin. Don’t fret! Just check out these quick tips to learn some tricks of the top coat trade. 1. Explore the possibilities. There are many, many options for applying a clear coat to your build – lacquer and enamel and acrylic, oh my! Before you take a gamble on which product to buy, you can see a review of some of the spray-on options (including spray quality and detailing bleed) in DZMaven’s video “Gunpla Special – Top Coat Showdown”. 2. Keep it light and keep it layered. Spraying on a top coat takes a light touch to get a smooth surface, but spraying on multiple layers can add up to glossy success! What to Repair gives tips about applying a good spray in the video “How to spray paint – Diecast cars or anything else – Tutorial”. 3. No paint? No problem. If you want to build a car with a bare metal look that will last, you can apply a clear top coat just like you would over paint. It also 10 | Diecast Racing Report
provides a great surface for detail painting. See how baremetalHW does it in “How to get a Stainless Steel finish on a Hot Wheels Custom Delorean”. 4. Use what you have. If you already have it on hand, clear nail polish can be applied as a cheap and easy way to add a lacquer layer to your diecast car. In our video “Mystery Box Build: Shazam! (Painting with Nail Polish Challenge)”, Diecast Racing Report does just that.
5. A special project means special treatment. Not all builds are created equal. If you are doing a special project, you may also need to follow a special top coat process. As an example, if you’re “painting” with alcohol inks, you’ll need to set the ink before sealing your car. In “Sealing Alcohol Ink”, Alcohol Ink Art Community shows you the products and process you’ll need to make that special build turn out A-OK.
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D’S DIECAST DISCOVERIES
Gravity Throttle Racing by Jim Desaulniers
Like many of you, I troll the depths of YouTube, scour the channel guide at RedLineDerby, and keep an eye on the “Track Spy” section of the DRN (formerly DSPN). With all the time dedicated to my own channel, I’ve found I have to be a discerning consumer of diecast racing content (either I watch all the channels or I actually produce my own content). That being said, it’s tough for me to get invested in a new channel unless the host is really able to differentiate it from everyone else. Like 725+ of you, a few weeks ago I came across Gravity Throttle Racing. This channel is so new to the scene I literally just submitted them to be added to RedLineDerby as I’m writing this. That being the case, the fact that they’ve already garnered 725 subscribers should say something about the quality of this channel. So, what’s the big deal? Many open / road course channels run rally events, but few are dedicated to this type of racing (DRC Racing is a great homemade example). GTR does that, and takes it a step further by incorporating a bunch of cool elements most of us talk about but haven’t found a way to incorporate into our tracks. “Shavano River Canyon” is a totally unique homemade course that incorporates multiple materials and elements. The self-described difficult and technical course is totally that, and then some. The start area is pretty awesome in that there’s no visible start gate. The cars just seem to start rolling (something magnetic beneath the track, perhaps?) It begins with your typical dual single-lane track for a short initial downhill that leads into a 90 degree drift turn. You read
that correctly, they’ve got drift turns. Plural! Cars then travel down a fairly long open-track straight (probably coroplast, but nicely designed to look like a 2 lane road) and into a typical crash racers-style 180 (a little more than 180 as we all know). The track goes “off road” at that point, with cars funneling into a barely 2car wide chicane, through a tunnel, then back onto a single-lane before hitting the second drift turn. The final straight often seems to make or break a great run. 2+ cars wide, it’s assembled from various materials with a stair-step “egg beater” section leading to the open finish line. Speeds aren’t terribly fast, but that’s not what this track was built for! The cars really look like they’re navigating a rally course! The inaugural event at GTR is an inhouse rallycross event featuring head-to-head matchups of various Honda Civics. Drivers earn points for hitting checkpoints, completing laps, and finishing first. So far we’ve only seen single car and head to head runs, but my guess is this track will be insanely entertaining with a 4-car group. There are quite a few Overall Channel Rating (out of 5) DNFs, but that’s //// ok! No chaos, no fun! The videography is that of someone who knows what they’re doing. The lighting is great, the camera angles are good, and the editing is on par.
Track Design
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Diorama
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Videography
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Voiceover
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Racing
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LINK: Gravity Throttle Racing: (https:// www.youtube.com/channel/ UC0g6iDm1VDuWyeKkGAVn4_w) May 26, 2021 | 13
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Built For Speed Build Journal: Hot N Fresh By Josh Paufler
As most of you know, I love building weird stuff. So, when the Pinks Delivery Race popped up on my radar over at Flat Rabbit, I had to jump on it. I delivered pizzas when I was a kid in my old beat up station wagon. To this day, it was one of my favorite jobs and my all-time favorite car. I wanted to replicate that while adding a twist of apocalyptic flare to fit in barside at Pinks Pizza in New Westrock. I decided to build a mobile brick oven pizza delivery vehicle. I started with my roots in pizza industry, a station wagon, generously donated by Paul Gruell of Mayfield 41. From there, it was just a matter of building the oven. I was originally going to use HO scale bricks from a train diorama set but the thought of gluing each brick into place made me dizzy. I looked up
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pictures and videos on how to build a real brick oven and stubbled upon an adobe oven, made from clay. I figured that would be my best bet. From there I went to my trusty Milliput, a two-part epoxy putty that air dries to hard-as-rock. The material is very easily molded and, with a wet finger, easily smoothed. Once I had the structure of the oven roughed out, I put it on the scale, only to find that it was overweight by about 10g. I wanted to add weight to the floor of the wagon to counterbalance the oven so I trimmed about 20g off the oven and re-sculpted it into the final form. What’s nice about Milliput is that it’s stiff enough to mold but you also have lots of working time. After I had the form I wanted and it was at the correct weight, I carved the mortar lines into the brick using the pointed end of a tweezers. After letting it dry for about a day, I went in with some acrylic paints and
detailed the oven. Spraying it all with a matte finish gave the bricks a nice sealed look like what I’d seen in my research pictures. Recently, I found a great little product for making oily looking parts on cars. It’s an acrylic chalkboard paint. I found it at the dollar store with the intention of building a car you could write on and erase. After trying it out on the wagon, I loved the results. I
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simply globbed it onto the panels and wiped it off, repeating until I got the desired look. It’s not glossy so it really looks like an oily, greasy mess on the car. As that was drying, I applied the same technique to the interior to give it a well-worn look. I added weight to the floor after carving out a pocket under the seats, did my usual wheel
work and the base was race-ready. The only thing missing was the Pinks Pizza branding. Brian at Flat Rabbit provided drivers with the Pinks logos to adorn the vehicles. I used his logo and made it a little brighter so I could apply the chalkboard wash to it. I printed them out on sticker paper, applied them to the doors and gave them a
hit of chalkboard paint to oil them up. Next, I used a matte pink acrylic paint pen to scrawl “PINKS” across the hood in a graffiti style. I continued the detail work by adding spiderweb cracks to the windshield and sunroof using the tip of a utility knife. I’ll make a video someday showing the technique. The finishing touch was a little puff of pillow stuffing, spray painted black, to simulate smoke coming out of the oven and Hot-n-Fresh was born. I was really happy with the way this build developed. You just have to let the car speak to you and see where it goes. These days, you can find Hot-nFresh parked outside of Pinks in New Westrock waiting for a race or the next pizza order.
May 26, 2021 | 15
Spotlight
BlueLine Racing By Ali Kidder-Mostrom
In 2021 here at Diecast Racing Report, we’re shining the spotlight on some lesserknown (or at least lesserfollowed) track channels. Each month, one channel will get a full month of race write-ups alongside our established tracks. With so many tracks, there is no way for anyone to catch all the racing action, but this should spread the net a little wider. Hopefully, one of these new channels will catch your eye and become a favorite worth following. This month’s featured track is BlueLine Racing… https:// www.youtube.com/channel/ UCATVzjJnor8p9q_B57d8vdw
Though the 60 gram Modified Circuit has moved on, BlueLine Racing wasted no time in getting another tournament going. This time, it was the Choose Your Ride tournament of 18 stock cars, sponsored by Scale Racing Channel. Viewers had the opportunity to call out the car they thought had what it takes and, since these mostly metalmetal cars were all stock, it was a
test of how good racers were at gauging the merit of a car right out of the package (with graphite, of course). The MBX AMG 500 and Sol-Aire were both clear favorites. And, with the AMG’s large, square features and the Sol-Aire’s rocket-like appearance, these two cars could not look more different. However, in the first half of tournament racing, both put up times in the top half of the pack. They then continued on into the final four... and then into the finals. The
AMG’s performance was consistent throughout and somehow the SolAire’s performance only improved over the course of multiple laps. It seems the viewers of BlueLine Racing’s content really know how to pick ‘em. Then, a week ago, there was a little something special when BlueLine ran Sunday Night Qualifying at the Northeast Beast. Though it was titled “Rodger Dodger Sunday Night Qualifying” we got to see a variety of models in this quick run down the track. To get things started, Special Guest MDG brought a Jack Hammer and a Mustang to the party. Though the small Mustang did its best to keep up, ultimately the green Jack Hammer’s 40 gram advantage (97.7 grams to the Mustang’s 57.7 grams) proved that while weight isn’t everything in a downhill race… it’s still a lot. And so, the Jack Hammer walked away with every lap and an overall faster time.
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Spotlight If this night of speed testing proved one thing, it is that BlueLine Racing is a very consistent modder. Of the four cars he ran down the track, three had a time of 1.873 or 1.872. Only the Rodger Dodger 2.0 came in slower… and not by much (at 1.885). The two Rodger Dodgers are headed to Bayou City Diecast Raceplex, so to see them in action again you’ll have to check out that track. This channel is great for fans of: – Epic summer racing series – Tradi�onal, no-frills drag strip racing
We’d love to hear from you! To nominate a track for “Speed Spotlight”, just drop a line to comments@dicastracingreport.com. The rules are simple: 1) the channel must have fewer than 500 subscribers 2) they must have some sort of demonstrated commitment to putting out content 3) it should be fun! Rule #3 is really Rule #1. Recommend whichever track makes you smile: narrative-style videos or just straight-up racing, new to the scene or a long-time track, high production quality or keeping it simple, drag strip or fat track or something else. Each month we’ll pick from the nominated tracks to bring you something new!
– Racing against the clock
Future Issues of Diecast Racing Report Extra Will Be Patreon Exclusive We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Diecast Racing Report Extra. Diecast Racing Report and Diecast Racing Report Extra are made possible through the support of our patrons on Patreon.
Other perks of being a patron?
We will be shifting a lot of content to being patron exclusive with our new format.
• Patrons get a bound hard copy collection of each year’s issues as an anniversary present from DRR for free! (other folks can buy it)
Diecast Racing Report Extra is one of those new exclusive things. For non-patrons, we will occasionally release one story publicly when Extra comes out, but otherwise, it’s content only for the folks who make the magazine possible.
• Patron-only livestreams of Kit’s Corner, a new monthly webcast and Q&A session from the editor of DRR, starting in June.
• Only patrons get a downloadable version of every issue of the magazine.
• Input on future features and content in DRR
Support “Diecast Racing Report” through Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/DiecastRacingReport May 26, 2021 | 17
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