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Wye JUnioRs Some clubs are encouraging youngsters to leave their gaming behind and take up slot car racing. We take a look at one club doing just this, with some grateful support from Scalextric

on! Was what I told our layout artist as the first production sample of the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350 from Thunderslot turned up just before we were going to press

Pendle Resins On a recent visit we were surprised to see what an interesting mix of resin kits

SCALEXTRIC TO RELEASE PUMA WRC CAR - NOW!

Designed to the new-for-2022 FIA Rally1 technical regulations, the Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 is M-Sport's top-specification rally car – producing in excess of 500 bhp and 550 Nm of torque from its Ecoboost Hybrid powertrain. The British based team ran a quartet of these cars in WRC spec at round one in Monte-Carlo, with rally legend Sébastien Loeb taking the victory, and Craig Breen and Gus Greensmith both finishing in the top five. Scalextric have decided to give us an early Christmas present, by announcing

THE WRE IS BACK...

After an absence of 9 years off the international racing calendar, one of the world’s largest and prestigious slot race events, the WRE 24hrs is to make its return in 2023. Hosted by NSR this gruelling event for their Classic GT slot cars will take place over the weekend of 11-13th May with the start time of 15.00 on Friday 12th finishing 24 hours later on the Saturday. This is to allow racers the opportunity, should they wish, to visit the NSR factory on the Sunday, to join in with their 25th anniversary celebrations. There will be four 8-lane Ninco tracks set up inside the Teams from all over the world are expected to participate, which will be limited to 32 teams in all, made up of 4-6 drivers per team. I have done four of these World Racing Endurance events in the past, which while very tiring, is also an amazing experience, and I would like to think I could make next year’s event.

Teams should initially register their interest in going on the official website, https://www.nsrslot.it/assets/events/eventi.html

To comerorate this event NSR are to shortly release a special limited edition Classic Porsche 908/3. These models are normally only given to the teams who participate in the event, however as it’s their 25th Anniversary NSR have decided to make it available to the general public. The model limited to just 200 units will feature upgraded parts and fully set up to race, at no increase in price over the standard model, and NSR0301 is availble to order now. n

SIDEWAYS ASTON MARTINS NOW HERE

The first fully assembled and decorated GT3 Aston Martin Vantages from Sideways, are now available. They represent the team that competed in the 2019 running of the Le Mans 24hrs, with car number 95 being driven by Thiim/Sorensen/Turner, while Lynn/Adam/Martin drove the 97 car. With some GT3 slot car series in the UK now opening up to include the Sideways products, we can only see this brand getting even more popular. n

LE MANS MINIATURES

This French based company, who produce high quality RTR resin bodied slot cars, have a busy schedule coming up, with new models and some welcome re-releases due with us soon. While all five of the Le Mans Porsche 917LH’s make a comeback, as does two of the race Bugatti Tipo 59’s plus the 1975 Le Mans winning Gulf Mirage GR8, there are some new models too. These include the pair of Gulf Mirage GR7’s that raced in 1974 that are different to the 1975 car, which are must haves for collectors of Le Mans Slot cars. New liveries of existing cars include a Mark Donohue Sunoco Porsche Carrera RSR that he raced at the 1973 Watkins Glen 6hrs, partnered with George Follmer, and a pre-war Bugatti GP car. The latest Tipo 59 will be the Blue #14 car that Nuvolari raced at the 1934 French GP held at the Montlhery circuit, Paris. As usual, demand often outstrips supply of these desirable collectibles from this brand. n

SCALEXTRIC RELEASE RETRO BUILDINGS

Imust confess, I missed seeing these on show at the 2022 UKSF, and they have slid in under my radar, the new buildings from Scalextric are now in the shops. I say new, but there is no doubting that these resin buildings are based on the plastic versions from the early 1960’s. These have always been credited to being based on buildings that were at the original Goodwood motor circuit. However, the control tower reminds me of the one that was in place on the start/finish line at Brands Hatch, before they built the hideous Mansell Centre that blocks off spectators view of the Brabham straight. The Grandstand does indeed look very Goodwood’ish but then it looks like Grandstands seen at most UK circuits. Head of Scalextric Brand Simon Owen told me that while they may look like the old buildings, the injection moulding tools for those plastic structures have long bitten the dust, hence why they are now produced in resin. It’s not known at this stage if they are to produce any more other than these two. n

SCALEAUTO EXPANDS ITS TRACK SYSTEM

Just before we went to press, a box arrived with some more samples of what Scaleauto call their Pro Track System. This has been expanded to an unprecedented six radius of curves. This system is aimed at the serious home user or club that requires a wider and gripper surface than the typical home track, and as such there isn’t a power connecting track, so you have to wire in your own controller’s (most clubs do this anyway.) The track features a track spacing of 100mm (4” approx.) so it should accommodate 1/24th scale and with an overall width of 200mm it matches the size of Carrera track - a converter track to the German system is available. We will bring you a full review and test session using this track in the next issue -once we work out how to connect the controllers - Ed n

NEXT FLY CARS IN THE GAUGEMASTER LE MANS COLLECTION

After the two Porsche 911’s and then the pair of Ferrari 250GTO’s, Gaugemaster add to their Le Mans collection with a trio of Ford GT40’s. First of these will be the Ford France car #15 and also the beautiful Scudria Bear #63 both from Le Mans 1966. These will be joined shortly by the light green Strathaven car that raced at La Sarthe in 1968. As with all these limited edition Le Mans collection models from Gaugemaster, just 200 of each will be available. n

his is the 2023 national series for GT3 scale slot car models, raced on routed tracks across the country. The purpose of the series is to have fun with fellow enthusiasts, appreciate and envy the skill levels

FLYEM06 was the Scuderia Bear GT40 written off before the start of the 1966 race

Joining these will be the Strathaven car from Le Mans 1968, FLYELM07

READERS RIDES

Greetings from Guernsey

We received this email and pictures from Roy Snell on Guernsey

Hi Terry

First of all, I’d like to say how much I enjoy Slot Magazine which I have been taking for a couple of years now. In answer to “Do we like your articles and photos on Goodwood?” Yep keep ‘em coming! It’s not often we can afford to get over to the UK for a race meeting, so all are welcome! The articles you and your contributors present us with are always interesting, it’s just they have made me part with more cash!

In the recent article you wrote on collecting Fords, with your dad moaning about the new Escort having to be measured in metric sizes, reminded me as an apprentice Ford Mechanic being given £20 to get some new sockets and spanners! I also remember the launch of the new Capri and I recall well taking the first 3 Litre V6 for a test drive after I had given it its first service, but that’s another story! I bought my first Scalextric track in 1960 so I have been collecting for a while now! It is only now that I am retired, I have a permanent track (a Slot Track Scenics board) to keep my cars rolling you understand! I have sent you some pics of a few (thanks George Turner!) and a photo of my first attempt to become world champion in a Ford Anglia! - It did not happen. Keep up the good work Terry! Regards, Roy.

Thanks - Ed

An overall shot of Roy’s compact but detailed slot car layout.

SHOW US YOURS

If you want to see your work published in this magazine, please send your pictures in the highest resolution you can as email attachments, but no more than 2 or 3 pics at a time, to editor@slotmagazine.co.uk

However, if you want to send us more than a couple of pictures, and you are more than welcome, please use WeTransfer.com. It is a free and safe way to move multiple large files. It’s what we use here so I know it works! - Terry

Aussie Memories

We were also sent this nice letter from Chris Skeates.

Dear Terry

I am 70, live in Canberra, and often I buy Slot Magazine. It brings back memories of 60 years ago, when slot car racing was a big thing in Australia. As boys we would go down to our local track and watch the “rich kids” race on a commercial circuit. I once saw a car flip over and go out of an open window – the track was on the second floor so there wasn’t much left of it once it hit the road below! My friend got a Scalextric set one Christmas and I used to race round his place. Sadly, I was not able to save up enough to buy my own car, and stores often displayed slot cars that seemed so exotic, with me just able to buy the odd Airfix kit! Thank you, Chris

No thank you, for sharing your memories with us - Ed

Track builder Roy in a previous life, seen driving his own “real” slot car – A racing 105E Anglia!

BRM

A TRULY BRITISH AFFAIR

When I was young, BRM was at the forefront of Grand Prix racing, and had propelled Graham Hill to his first F1 driver’s world championship in 1962. It was also the springboard for a young Jackie Stewart to gain stardom as a future multi-world champion. The slot car producers were not slow in recognising the impact BRM was having in the world of motorsport, and a surprising number of models were produced at the time, not just in the UK and Europe, but also in the fast-growing US market. With the recent introduction of the fabulous P160 from Policar, we decided to look back at the slot cars made of this iconic British racing car manufacturer.

British Racing Motors, or BRM as it became known, as was founded in 1945 by Raymond Mays who had produced the ERA Racing and Hillclimb cars before the war. They started racing from 1951 and their V16 powered Type 15 was powerful and sounded unearthly, but apart from a couple of non-championship wins, it was not a successful project. BRM had to wait until the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix before they took their first world championship win. It was Jo Bonnier who drove the P25 to its first victory in Holland, with Stirling Moss coming a creditable 2nd in a privately entered P25 at that years British Grand Prix. The late 50’s was a time of change and BRM joined the rear-engine revolution, first with the P48, and then with the mega successful P57 of 1962. Graham Hill won four GPs in 1962 on his way to the world championship driving the P57, with a further 2 races in 1963. The P261 of 1964 raced until 1966, giving Hill and Stewart six GP wins between them. As the cars moved to the 3-litre formula of 1967, BRM’s H16 engine was

I took this at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed, BRM's first GP winner the P25

Graham Hill driving a P57 with the stacked exhaust pipes during his 1962 Championship winning season. The champ signed my 1969 British GP program while sitting in a P57 just as he went out to do some demo laps before the race.

At the same event was this P48 powered by the Coventry Climax engine before BRM started to fit their own V8 to this car

both complicated and unreliable and success tapered off. Their next win was at the 1970 Belgian GP, with Pedro Rodriguez driving the V12 powered P153, with its successor the P160 taking two victories in 1971, with Siffert and Gethin behind the wheel and a single win for Beltoise in 1972. After a few more lacklustre seasons, BRM withdrew from GP racing in 1977, after 30 plus years as an independent British team.

Unsurprisingly, one of the first BRM slot cars was a model of the front engine P25 from Scalextric. First introduced in 1961 - C59 was available in green, blue or red in the UK, while in France it could be bought in all these colours plus yellow. Being an early plastic car, it came with the nylon pin guide, however it did make a return in 1966 as C89. This was a Race Tuned version with an uprated RX04 motor, the revised chassis now fitted with a swivel guide and wider tyres. It was then re-introduced as C98 in 1992 as part of the Power and the Glory series based on the BBC series on the history of motorsport. Sadly, the open RX04 type motor had long gone, and it was fitted with a small S-can motor with adapters. From around 1963 onwards, models of the rear-engined BRM started to appear from fledgling US companies, although Lionel had previously brought out a very similar looking RTR P25 to the Scalextric car in 1/32nd scale. Suddenly we had models, of the P57 in kit form and in the larger 1/24th scale from Eldon and Revellwhile Lindberg and Strombecker bought out RTR BRM’s with stack exhaust pipes. There was also at least one kit of the P57 from Japan, as that country also started to make 1/24th kits, mainly for the US market. In the UK, the Stack-Pipe BRM was produced by VIP, while Supershells released a P57 kit with the option to have the raised engine cover, and then later they did the P261.

The P25 was the first slot car version of a BRM to be released. There was a red version made by Scalextric in 1961. C59 also came in green, blue and in France, in yellow.

Released a year later was this P25 from the US Model Railroad manufacturer Lionel. Like the Scalextric version it was also a RTR model in 1/32nd scale. It is pretty hard to find today.

While BRG was the more popular colour, VIP also released a 1/32nd scale RTR car in the UK finished in this pale blue.

Around the same time Supershells released a 1/32nd scale stacked piped BRM in kit form. They would also produce a 1964 P261 as well as this P57 from 1962. SRM also did a P57 in the smaller 1/40th scale.

However

As

Meanwhile back in the US, Lindberg followed the trend with their version of the car in RTR 1/32nd scale.

With Strombecker also adding a similar P57 to their own RTR home set range.

it was the 1/24th scale slot car kits that were really popular in the States, with Revell quick to bring out their version, this was how the kit looked built up

was the norm, the company also supplied the model as just a body kit. Unbuilt ones like this are very rare today.

Another US model railroad company who dabbled in the slot car craze of the 1960’s was Atlas. They brought out this version of a P57 in 1/24th scale.

The Atlas BRM featured a neat brass chassis bolted to a Pittman style motor.

Exploiting the craving for 1/24th scale slot car kits in the US, some products started to arrive fairly early on from Japan.

This is a very rare un-built kit of the BRM P57 from Imai, which looks like it had an alloy chassis. Not sure the real car ever raced in white!

The P261 were next to be produced in 1/24th scale, mainly for the US market, this one being released by Eldon. The Eldon model featured an alloy chassis as shown here.

Even Cox produced a BRM. Again, it was a 1/24th scale model in kit form. Unbuilt and boxed like this they can fetch huge sums of money.

Built and a bit tatty like this one, does bring models like the Cox version into the realms of affordability. Note the corrosion on the magnesium chassis.

Atlas and Cox in the US brought out their 1/24th scale kits of the P261 by the mid-60’s, while MRRC in the UK had their fabulous 1/32nd scale kit of this car as part of their Clubman Special series, which later became absorbed into the Airfix range. The Airfix version continued into the 1970’s and had front and rear wings added which of course the real car did not have. In Europe we did get some BRM’s from the like of Policar and Jouef, but these were very Toy-like - I don’t suppose many today would want to show them off unless you are the most serious of collector.

In 1964, Scalextric released their first version of the car that had taken Graham Hill to his 1962 World Championship, the P57. It

was this car, paired with a Porsche 804, that were my first ever Scalextric cars. They came in a set given to me as a Christmas present in 1967. These cars shared the same small open motor and combined gearbox of the earlier Formula Junior cars, and as such have always been classed as FJ cars, even though these, and later Lotus 25 and Cooper that also shared these motors, were F1 cars. First released was the C72, which had the larger drivers head, chromed slotted wheels and a separate metal hooped roll over bar. It came in a variety of colours and was produced in both the UK and France. In 1966 Scalextric changed the car slightly as C85, with newer square holed yellow wheels (although some came chromed), a moulded-in roll over bar and a smaller drivers head. None of these P57’s is particularly rare as 10’s of thousands were produced over the 5 years they were available. We then had a hiatus of BRM slot car models,

although we did get a rather belated H16 version from Exin in Spain, which was briefly sold in the UK from 1971. I believe some were also produced in Mexico, all featured the open RX04 motor. There were many various types of wheels fitted to these H16’s, and a year later the models appeared as C37b, fitted with an un -prototypical rear wing. All these are rare today and command quite high prices - look out for copies of these cars released by Repotec in around 2002. Of note, SCX re-released this model as part of their Vintage Series in 2007 as reference 62550. While it featured a painted and printed finish, the Spanish company sold it as a P261. This was strange as the H16 was designated by BRM as the P83, and SCX further confused the issue by describing the P261 as the car that took Graham Hill to his 1962 World Championship, which it wasn’t - he won it in the P57, the P261 did not even appear until 1964, how odd.

Meanwhile back in the UK, Scalextric released the 1/32nd scale RTR model of the P57 as C72. They are known as being part of the Formula Junior series made in the Havant factory.

A slightly later version of the P57 from Scalextric featured different wheels, a smaller drivers head and a moulded in roll-over bar. It is seen here paired with an F1 Porsche 804, these being the first type of slot cars I ever owned.

Perhaps the ultimate 1/32nd scale UK BRM slot car in the period was the Clubman Special P261 from MRRC.

The underside of the Clubman Special BRM. Simple alloy chassis links the motor to the Ackermann steering unit.

The last BRM’s to be produced in period, albeit 4 years after they first raced, was Scalextric’s take on the P160, which came to the market in 1975. It was produced in Green, Red and White and came with a sheet of Yardley BRM stickers - these really are only correct for the white version. During its production it went from having a Johnson 111, to a small-can motor with adapters. It could also be found with either the five-spoke generic wheels or the F1 four-spoke types, both moulded in black and with the five-spokes option of grey. One curious thing about this shell is the raised outline of the Marlboro livery that the model never actually carried. These can be bought for peanuts and although basic, are quite good fun to race. As part of the Cartrix Classic F1 series, the Spanish company released a couple of the P25’s about 15 years ago. The dark green car was the 1959 Dutch GP winner driven by Jo Bonnier, with the light green car driven by Moss at the 1959 British GP. These were followed by two more models in these colours. As usual for the brand, they came on a Perspex angled display base in a tin box with a duster - all are extremely collectable today. As you can see from this month’s cover, Policar have just released their P160 and very nice it is too!

While BRM were known mainly as a F1 team, they did make a couple of forays into sports car racing - between 1963-1965 they tried unsuccessfully to race a Gas-Turbine powered coupe at Le Mans partnered by Rover. The 1965 version of the Rover-BRM was not an unattractive car, but apart from a couple of resin kits, this car has been overlooked by the slot car producers. In 1970, BRM ventured into the world of Can-Am and entered a Castrol sponsored car, the P154 for just one season. This was available as a slot car from Spanish producer MG Vanquish around 15 years ago, this plus a black and a red version are highly collectable.

So, here we have BRM - a British motor sporting legend - through the years and out there to collect. n

motor

“a British

sporting legend - through the years and out there to collect...”

A later version of the MRRC/Airfix P261, which was now fitted with a clip in can motor but still retained the steering unit. This was a nice-looking representation of a 1960’s F1 car.

Exin in Spain brought out a version of the H16 (P83) which was available briefly in the UK. As was the practice back then, the Spanish Scalextric release C37 featured the open RX04 motor. These rare models fetch a good price today. Look out for copies released by Repotec post 2000.

The Exin P83 model was re-released in 2007, however they made a complete botch of the description. It wasn’t a P261, and Hill won the 1962 Championship in a P57! Still a nice model to look at.

Released in 1975 was the 1971 P160 by Scalextric. This was one of their F1 budget range models and they sold 1,000’s and 1000’s of them. Even mint boxed models can still be bought cheaply, almost 50 years on.

First seen as C59 and C89 in the early and mid-1960’s, Scalextric re-leased their P25 in 1992 as part of the BBC Power and the Glory TV series. These cars differed from the 60’s versions as C98 had spoked wheels and not the original BRM style alloy type and had a small can motor.

Earlier versions of the Scalextric P160 came fitted with the Johnson 111 motor (left) while later cars had a small can type, fitted with adapters.

In

A publicity shot of the latest classic F1 from Policar - the 1971 Yardley-BRM P160. There will be a Marlboro version available early next year, that was never offered by

Post 2000, Cartrix started to release classic 1950’s Grand Prix cars - which included a BRM P25. This was the 1959 Dutch GP winner, driven by Jo Bonnier. Most models came in a neat tin box, crystal angled base and a duster. These are highly prized by collectors today.

Another Cartrix release was the car Stirling Moss drove to second at the 1959 British GP and is understandably very collectable. The company also released this livery as car 11 driven by Hans Hermann, and another in BRG which was the P25 of Harry Schell carrying number 8.

Where are you - my pretty? The 1965 Rover-BRM Gas Turbine driven at Le Mans by Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart has never been made as RTR Slot car - shame. If you want one, then look to the kit options from Pendleslot.

a complete diversion from their F1 efforts, BRM went Can-Am racing in 1970 with their P154. This was re-created by MG Vanquish as part of their Can-Am range over 15 years ago. These models are increasing in value all the time.

Scalextric back in the 1970’s.

Policar gives us the Jo

Timed perfectly with the collecting feature on BRM in this issue, is Policar’s much anticipated release of the 1971 BRM P160. Finished in the Yardley for Men livery, which jumped to McLaren for 1972, this is the car that Jo Siffert won the Austrian Grand Prix held at Spielberg in, now the Redbull Ring, in 1971.

The P160, designed by Tony Southgate, was a development of the previous year’s P153, but now featured a distinctive and rather attractive, in my opinion, sloped nose. The cars were still using their own 3.0L engines in grids, now mostly made up of V8 Ford Cosworth DFV’s, and had its distinctive V12 sound. The car won two Grand Prix in 1971, the forementioned Austrian race, with Peter Gethin winning the following race in Italy. This featured the closest ever finish in Formula One history, with Gethin ahead of Ronnie Peterson by just 0.01 seconds. That wasn’t the whole story, as five cars were in contention at the finish and were jostling on Monza’s wide start/finish straight. All five were separated by just 0.61 seconds with Francois Cevert in third, Mike Hailwood fourth and Howden Ganley in fifth. Imagine how Ganley felt - if he had only found another 0.62 seconds

on his last lap. And yes, I do remember watching this on TV - BBC showed it live (which was rare back then) in Black and White. It had commentary from Raymond Baxter, who was normally cool as a cucumber, but was going a bit mental as the five cars came around the Parabolica for the final time. The following season, Siffert, who had been tragically killed in his BRM at a non-championship race at Brands Hatch the previous October, was replaced by Jean-Pierre Beltoise. The Frenchman won the 1972 Monaco GP in the now Marlboro Sponsored P160, giving BRM its final victory in F1. Niki Lauda drove for the team in 1973, sometimes in the revised P160B before moving to Ferrari in 1974.

I call this my Monaco overhead shot and its one of my favourite angles to take shots of F1 slot cars.

I took this at the 2021 Goodwood FOS. This P160 is in the Marlboro livery the car carried in 1972, note the high airbox now fitted to the engine inlets. Note the high airbox now fitted to the engine inlets. Behind it is the earlier P153 BRM which we can now confirm Policar will also produce at a future date.

The same car on the move at the FOS. Policar are bringing out this version early in 2023.

Jo Siffert BRM P160 And rather fabulous it looks too!

This model has been on the cards for some time now, at least two-years, and on first look it’s been well worth the wait. As usual, the model features the excellent paint and printing that we now take for granted on a modern slot car - along with all the detail that Maurizio Ferrari and his team in Reggio Emilia can throw at a classic F1 slot car. The model now joins the March 701, the Lotus 72 and the Ferrari 312B2, and with the Ferrari 126C2 due within a couple of months. This will take their F1 range to five different cars. However, do remember Policar also model many variations of the real cars - for instance there are three different models of the Ferrari 312B2, and to date including this BRM, Policar have released 15 of these wonderful classic models. So impressed I am, that it may not surprise you to know I have all of them!

Apart from their looks, these cars continue to amaze on the track where their extremely lightweight and high revving motors are a joy to drive on most surfaces and that’s even without a magnet fitted to them! If you have

not yet tried one you are missing out on a great slot experience, trust me. This version is selling fast, but if you do miss it, get your order in now for the next release of the P160, this time it will be the Marlboro liveried car which Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco GP. It is due early next year – and I for one can’t wait for that to be added to my collection! n

Policar go to town on the details. We believe these exhaust manifolds are 3D printed.

The shovel nose of the P160 was, in my opinion, one of the nicest looking of the period.

The rear shot shows off the large rear oil reservoir. The way it’s finished looks very like the original alloy tank.

A close-up of Mr Siffert, who sadly died driving a P160 at a non-championship race in late 1971.

The crystal sharp printing, that we now demand on our slot cars, does not disappoint on this model from Policar.

The underside of the BRM showing the narrow pod fitted with its slimline motor.

With the body removed you can see the standard but intricate gearing which allows Policar to model the rear of their classic F1’s, with no ugly bumps to cover a rear contrate gear.

The all-up weight is a paltry 50 grams, some touring/GT body shells can weight close to that on their own!

While not 100% confirmed, we believe that in the future Policar will also bring out the P160 with this revised nose. A certain Niki Lauda drove for BRM in 1973you can see him tell the team how to improve the car in the Movie “Rush”.

Definitely

one for the classic F1 collector - a real beauty!

Due out in early 2023 will be POLCAR08B, the Marlboro car that Beltoise drove to victory at Monaco in 1972.

The United Colours of Hatton!

Ihave written about a few F1 car builds in these pages previously and now I decided to do my most complex build so far – for me anyway. I am not at the skill or confidence level as other builders, such as Philip Prestage, who are quite happy to hack bits off and graft bits on to produce superb mini replica’s, but I am getting better and more adventurous - slowly! Certainly, F1 seems to be well catered for at the moment with kits from Policar and now Scaleauto and suitable decals are also readily

available from vendors such as Kevinoz and Pattos. It is just a matter of deciding what you are comfortable at having a go at.

For this build I decided to stretch my spray-painting skills with the Benetton B190 in multiple colours and very simple hacking mods to the new Scaleauto low nose F1 90-97 white kit (Ref SC-6251). First off I looked at multiple pictures on the web to find a livery that I thought I could take on and then I located the decals from Kevinoz (kevinoz-decals.com) and

the kit from Pendles (www.pendleslotracing. co.uk). I also contacted Kevin directly to ask for his advice on what paints to use for the build as he has always been most helpful in this area and in general advice – thanks Kevin!

So, now I have all the bits it’s down to business. Usual stuff, make sure you have all the parts as sometimes there are parts missing. Next check all the parts for any rough edges etc. and trim as required. You may find it easier to leave some of the parts on the

Regular contributor Mark Hatton shows us how he turns a plain white kit into one of the most recognized liveries of the late 1980’s

The real ex-Piquet Benetton B190 seen at Oulton Park time-attack in 2013. And very colourful it was too!

spruce tree to paint and then remove them later such as wing mirrors and wheel inserts. You can then touch up any small arears prior to fitting. For this kit I needed to strip down the chassis as well as it was grey and it needed to be black. I needed to trim off the barge boards as the Benetton B190 did not have any. I then washed all the parts to soak in a warm Fairy liquid bath for 30 mins or so, rinse in warm water and then leave to dry in the airing cupboard overnight.

sThe basis of this model was the Low nose Formula 90-97 kit from Scaleauto. While they don’t have a distributor in the UK Scaleauto products can be purchased from Pendleslot Racing.

Before I painted the chassis black, I removed the barge boards as the real car did not have any. You can use a sharp knife or scalpel but watch your fingers! Alternatively, use a pair of snips/cutters and then trim down any rough areas.

Spray painting and easy bit first to spray either grey or white undercoat depending on what the topcoat is going to be. For this I spray painted the main body white and all the other parts grey. Once dry the front and rear wings were painted black – easy so far. Now the fun begins as the main body is four different colours and this was my major challenge as I did not need to do any chopping of the body as the Scaleauto kit was fine as it was in my eyes. In the past if I have not been able to separate the individual parts to paint different colours then I have tended to just do two colours. I paint say the whole body first in the lightest colour and then mask off and paint the darker colour. Example: some time ago I had an SRC Capri body that I wanted in green with twin white stripes over the bonnet and roof so I painted the whole body white then masked off just the lines and painted in green. To my surprise it worked very well with crisp lines but for this build I did not think that approach would work quite so well.

This meant that I would start with the white body and then just mask off as appropriate just for each colour. The body painting pictures will show you what I mean. Trouble is that means very crisp lines are required and I have found that the paint and masking tape do not always co-operate in this area and the lines can be a bit fuzzy, which is not ideal, or the paint can bleed under the tape if you do not push it down properly. The other major issue I have had in the past has been that when you take the masking tape off, you can end up pulling the paint off underneath with the tape – been there too! So, a few painting trip wires and obstacles to overcome then!

I had already decided that between every paint cycle I was going to leave the paint to dry for a week. This meant that it took me six weeks just to spray paint the main parts – but worth it in the end from my perspective! So white body and black rear wing masked off as required, I then sprayed blue, left it to dry and then removed the tape. Now this is the first time I have used Tamiya TS spray paints and what a revelation. It dried quickly and when I peeled off the tape I had just fantastically crisp lines! Boy was I pleased and stuck it under the nose of my (adult) son and proclaimed what a brilliant job I had done. He then looked at my effort, compared it to the picture(s) I was using as my guide and said (with some amusement) that I had got the line in the wrong place!

Some extreme foul whispered adult language followed from me and mild laughter from my son who just suggested that “I try again and maybe do it properly this time!” So I did and it worked out OK second time round.

Now onto the red, after a week’s wait, and the masking started again. Each time I did this it generally took me at least 60-70mins just to mask the correct area off before about 20-30 seconds of total spray painting could ruin everything! I usually do two coats, sometimes

Here you can see how I sprayed the body after the white undercoat had been applied. I started with black for the front and rear wings. The rear wing was then masked off along with the rear of the main body and blue was applied. I then masked off the red area followed by the green. Finally the engine cover and front wing endplates were painted yellow and a blue band applied across the nose.

This is what you don’t see! I proceeded to use paint inside the front of the nose and then all around the side of the driver cockpit area and extended down towards the rear of the engine cover area. This gives uniformity once the driver cassette has been installed if you looked around the gaps.

three depending on how the colour looks when dry. To my surprise the lines were about as perfect as I can get with no bleed onto the blue and just a crisp and clear finish and no paint peel either. I did have a couple of places where the odd bit of spray had gone where I did not want it to go but not over the previous colour. This could be resolved by mild scraping with a scalpel. The following week it was onto green and same again. Lastly, I had to do the yellow but the week before I had just painted the remaining white part of the body shell all green. Now, after masking off the top of the engine cover and a band across the nose, I used white undercoat first in both areas followed by yellow for the top of the engine cover and the blue band across the nose. At the same time I did the front wing outside end plates white then yellow.

As I said earlier, the Tamiya TS paints gave fantastic results and in future I am going to use these as much as possible. It really showed up with the yellow (not Tamiya paint) as when I peeled off the masking tape it was a bit like a certain pizza advert where a slice is pulled out and the cheese just stretches before it breaks off. That is how my yellow paint looked in miniature as I peeled the masking tape off! The blue on the nose – perfect separation. However, it all worked out OK in the end but nowhere near as well as the Tamiya paint –lesson learned again!

With all the waiting in-between spray painting it gave me plenty of time to decide which driver I was going to select, either 19 Alessandro Nannini or 20 Nelson Piquet for the 1990 B190 I was trying to recreate. No brainer really for me as I was never a Piquet fan and Nannini often produced an entertaining Sunday afternoon F1 drive! It also turned out that it was the easier helmet colours for me to try and paint so that was settled. So, driver parts and cockpit painted and assembled and ready to be fitted later. The chassis was also complete from the point of painting black as were the wheel inserts, wing mirrors and so on so I just needed to get the decals slapped on before final assembly.

So all painting complete, the front and rear wings glued in place and onto my favorite part which is applying the decals which can, if you are not careful, end up a minor disaster as well! At each point, before applying the next colour I was checking to see how the decals would fit and to make sure they would

be enough room so that they did not go over onto two colours, unless they were supposed to. Finally, I would see if all my patience and planning were correct?! Mind you before that I had to cut the decals out which was its own little challenge when you have white decals on an almost white background decal sheet.

The completed model with decals applied. These were a set for the Benetton B190 supplied by Kevinoz.

All the parts except the rear wing. You can see the separate motor pod, motor and rear axle that’s been removed. The wing mirrors are still on the original sprue and the black wheel inserts are waiting to be installed. The driver parts are complete along with the front suspension and guide blade all waiting to be built up.

A close up view of the cockpit enables you to see the buttons on the driver’s steering wheel and the dashboard detail. Both of these decals were taken from a Policar Monoposto kit.

Anyway, that all worked out OK and so did all the spacing and painting that I had carefully done before hand except for one little thing. I decided to apply the nose decals all as one piece as found on the decal sheet which looked fine when I applied them but once it dried it had pulled the “AutoPolis” part on the blue band off center and pulled it slightly more to the nose. Not the end of the world but mildly frustrating/annoying. The decals were also applied over three separate sessions so as not to move drying ones which I have done in the past as well – duh!

Parts/items required/used:

• SC-6251 F1 90-97 white kit low nose

• Kevonoz decal set Benetton B190

• Policar monoposto kit steering wheel and dashboard decals

• White undercoat paint (Halfords)

• Grey undercoat paint (Halfords)

• Gloss black paint (Halfords)

• Tamiya TS-8 Italian red

• Tamiya TS-35 Park green

• Tamiya TS-23 light blue

• Valspar 1130 buttercup yellow

• 6mm Model Craft flexible (white) masking tape

• Vallejo masking tape – various sizes

• Humbrol acrylic red #19 (rear light)

• Humbrol acrylic black #21 (wing mirrors, body interior, helmet detail, seat belts & touch up)

Once all the decals were fully dried then it was a couple of coats of Humbrol clear varnish and onto the final assembly. This involved refitting the motor pod and the guide blade plus soldering the wires in place in the eyelets. The front suspension part was glued in place in the main body as was the cockpit driver cassette (as I call it) and then finally the wing mirrors. The front axle and wheels were popped in and finally the wheel inserts were pushed in and lightly glued in place. The main body was then attached to the chassis. All done and was I pleased with the results? I would have to say yes as even though I had not done any drastic surgery to the kit getting all the painting correct was a big challenge for me. Now for my next project I will be doing… well I have a couple of ideas, but it may take me a while before I finish them! Why not have a go at your own build and send it into the magazine as Terry is always happy to showcase every one’s work in the Slot magazine Readers Rides section for us all to enjoy. – All the best Mark n

• Humbrol acrylic aluminum #56 (wing mirrors, helmet & seat belt buckles)

• Humbrol acrylic blue #14 (driver)

• Humbrol acrylic green #38 (helmet and driver race overalls detail)

• Humbrol clear gloss varnish AC7431

• Humbrol Clearfix glue AC5708

The front view clearly showing the blue band across the nose that was painted on using Tamiya light-blue spray.

Probably my favourite view of the whole model is the top-down view as you can see all the different colours and how the breaks follow the lines of the body. From this angle even the original red motor pod does not look to out of place.

If you are a regular reader, you may remember seeing his wonderful early pioneer Edwardian Racers which he built from kits supplied by George Turner Models (GTM). You will see that in this collection many more cars are from GTM, and Rod tells us that they now come with a dedicated chassis supplied in the kits, which recently are high quality 3D printed and they also now supply wheels for the kits. As well as GTM

he also builds kits supplied by Pendleslot Racing from their ‘Penelope Pitlane’ and ‘Racing Replicas’ resin kit ranges. When I quizzed him on the motor’s he uses in his models, Rod replied that he only fits a standard Mabuchi S-can or Slim-Can type, of no more than 20k rpm. As most of his work is sold on, he leaves any tuning to his customers, however he does confess that most are destined to be 'Shelf-Queens'! n

FORD 'POP': Freestyle modified rally car. This E93A Ford typifies much of Rod Grants work, which is often based, like here on kits supplied by George Turner. We have to say that we never tire of looking at Rods work at Slot Magazine.

LOTUS 18: This represents the Stirling Moss Monaco '61 winning car. It is based on a Penelope Pitlane Kit by Pendle, and is fitted with a nickel silver chassis, and alloy wheels.

JAGUAR SS100: This is a freestyle paint job and is also based on a Penelope Pitlane Kit by Pendle, and fitted with a nickel silver chassis, and painted classic fine spoke alloy wheels from Pendle.

LOTUS ELAN: The Elan is finished as a slightly weathered freestyle rally car version. It has been built around a GTM resin kit.

BENTLEY BLOWER 4.5L: 1930 French GP. Another of Rods models based on a Penelope Pitlane kit, which features a nickel silver chassis, and painted vintage spoked alloys by Pendle.

SUNBEAM ALPINE: This model is a tribute to the works Sebring 12hrs cars from 1961. It has been put together using a GTM kit and features classic fine spoke alloys.

ALPINE A220: Le Mans 1968. Based on an Ocar body kit, the model features a PCS32 chassis.

JAGUAR MK1: Freestyle design. Influenced no doubt by the many Jags of its type, Rod has created a saloon racer in keeping with the Goodwood Revival meeting. It is based on a GTM kit with Pendle alloys fitted with resin 'Minilite' inserts. The 'Coombs' style body has bonnet louvres, and 'Bare Metal Foil' was applied to the grille. We have for years been gobsmacked that as yet, nobody has produced this as a ready to run plastic bodied slot car.

MINI MARCOS: 1966 Le Mans. Another GTM kit of one of the smallest cars to have ever race at Le Mans. Finished with a 3D printed chassis and wheel inserts.

JAGUAR 'E Type': Freestyle. GTM again supplied this body and what a mean look Rod has achieved with it, we like this a lot! It also has the 3D printed chassis and wheel inserts.

FERRARI 156 AERO: As raced during the 1963 F1 World Championship. This is a complete kit from Penelope Pitlane by Pendle. What looks like a Le Mans Miniatures Enzo Ferrari figurine looks on.

LANCIA D24: 1953 Carrera Panamericana winner. Rod used another of GTM’s kits to produce this neat looking sports car driven by Fangio. Its fitted classic fine spoke alloys by Pendle, with the driver’s head by 'Immense Miniatures'.

MGA: Freestyle. This tribute to British racing sports cars of the 1950’s is a 'Racing Replicas' kit by Pendle. It has a nickel silver chassis with classic fine spoked wheels.

ROVER BRM: Le Mans 1965. This was the two British companies third attempt to race a gasturbine powered car at Le Mans and is how the car appeared at the April test weekend, driven by Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. It is a Pendle kit with a Gom chassis and wheels.

Slot.it have a touch of Klasse!

With the release of their DTM C-Class Mercedes

When I saw Slot.it was to go touring car racing with their DTM Alfa 155 back in 2015, I automatically thought that like Ninco, over 20 years before, they were going to pair it with the C-Class Merc. However, Maurizio Ferrari had another idea and instead gave us the previous Mercedes DTM racer from Stuttgart, the 190E. Since then, we have had the Opel Calibra from them, and now it’s finally time for the C-Class.

The DTM, or Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, has been in existence since 1984 and is considered to be the pinnacle of Touring car racing across the world. It has attracted many manufacturers, tuning companies, and top drivers over the years, and continued to thrive today hosting huge crowds at not only German, but international races.

Without doubt the introduction of

the then current DTM models from Ninco in the 1990’s changed slot car racing for ever. Racers were so impressed with this new Spanish kid on the block, that they lapped up anything released from the Barcelona based outfit, dusted off their controllers and went to find clubs to race them on. It’s generally believed that Ninco rejuvenated the slot car racing hobby and opened to door for many other companies to follow.

A game changer from the 90’s. This was the DTM C-Class from Ninco.The 190E in the foreground was Slot.it’s first DTM Mercedes

It is now almost 2023, and things have moved on and sadly Ninco as far as slot cars go, is now a name from the past, but Slot.it are definitely still with us, and continue to bring out multiple new tooling’s every year. Their products and of their sister company Policar, cross the boundary between being built to race and still appeal to the collector market, not an easy thing to do well. The detail, paint, and printing on Slot.it cars has always been first class and wherever possible, the models feature changes in the bodywork mirroring the real cars. Can you believe they have released 3 different versions of the Alfa 155; most would

A nice low stance means it is a great handler

The Slot.it C-Class looks the part, and so more detailed than the Ninco product

Slight disappointment, with no lower grille it exposes the pickup wires.

The “bomb sight” on the bonnet is from etched metal

not have noticed. This new car follows the other Slot.it DTM cars by having a separate inline motor mount fitted with a 21.5K rpm S-Can motor, and height adjustable front axle. I have raced their Alfa and Calibra, with both being very capable touring cars down at our club track, and while I haven’t tried a 190E, I am sure that it, and this new Mercedes will also be a match for the other Slot.it DTM cars. So, while I wait to race this at the club, a few laps around the Policar test track on the carpet proved it to be a joy to drive. A neat touch is stuck under the baseplate there is a spare (decorated) rear spoiler, to replace the one on the car should it get broken.

The model Slot.it decided to launch their C-Class with, is the plain yellow ProMarkt car that Jorg Van Ommen won the 1994 Hockenheim round of the DTM. However, I am sure that they will also bring us some of the more colourful and interesting liveries that the C-Class also carried at a later date. n

This was the view Van Ommen showed the DTM field at Hockenheim

The all up weight is 72g – with the body on its own just 20g

The familiar flat underside of a Slot.it Classic DTM carThe model has a 21.5k rpm S-Can motor in an in-line mount

Can’t help but think this would be easy to replicate as a real (road) car

THE2022USNSRCHAMPIONSHIPS

Words by Paul Pearlman - Photo’s by Ray Lego

Our journey to the 2022 NSR National Race, hosted by Cloverleaf Racing in Michigan, started the morning of October 6th. - but the preparation really started shortly after the 2021 race was completed. Al, Ray and Paul started out early in the morning so that we could be in Michigan later in the day. We travelled from New Jersey to Michigan, which is about 642 miles (1033 km) and took about 10 hours. The trek took us through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and into Michigan. Mike M. who moved to central PA, also left that morning and was a few hours ahead of us. Other members from our club, Robert and Ray M. left on Thursday evening and made it to Cloverleaf Racing on Friday. Our road trip was a blast and we got to see some beautiful parts of the country.

The NSR National race brings out some of the best slot car racers in the country (in my opinion) and was a blast to participate in. Racer’s attending had to think about what car to run, motor size, gearing, chassis, weight... you name it. Then, when NSR came out with the McLaren (for the GT class), it threw a monkey wrench into the works. Do you stay with the AMG? Audi? Corvette? or try the McLaren? So many choices, but as they say, choices are good to have. The racers came from New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio,

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Competitors racing on the Cloverleaf King inspired 4-Lane track in Michigan.

Four Amigo’s who made the journey from the New Jersey Metro – L to R Paul Pearlman, Ray Lego, Robert Holt and Ray Mcenna.

Scrutineering is an important and necessary process at all major race meetings. Here we see a Porsche 917K being given the once over.

Pennsylvania and of course Michigan - where it was held at Cloverleaf Racing. Three classes were run with NSR Vintages (10 min heats) up first on Saturday followed by NSR F1 (3 min heats). Sunday was dedicated to running the NSR GT class (10 min heats). Having participated in this event in the past, I can tell you that the days are long and by the end you are looking forward to a great night of sleep. But don’t get me wrong, those long days are fun. What’s not to like when you are testing and tuning slot cars with a great bunch of racers. Some of us enjoyed a nice steak dinner at a place called the Black Rock Restaurant. Great place to eat and they even let you cook your own steak on a 755-degree volcanic rock. You also need to try their Volcano dessert.

Cloverleaf Racing opened on Thursday to racers so they could start to tune their cars for their technical wood track. A few people showed up to get a feel for the track. Friday’s test and tune session was for the out of towners who do not have much time on the track. Many of us showed up at 8:00 am and worked on all three classes until Cal shut down the store around 8:00 pm. Believe me, if we could we would have stayed a lot longer, but the guys at Cloverleaf needed a well-deserved break. Cloverleaf, NSR and Professor Motor provided very nice prizes for the participants and podium winners for all three classes. Prizes ranged from brand new NSR Cars, motors, NSR mats and extremely nice hard engraved plaques made by Matt G (AKA Bear). Everyone who participated in the race got something. They gave away cars, motors, NSR parts, mats, etc.

During the year, Andrea from NSR, traveled to the US to visit several locations including Mike Stott and the group at Cloverleaf. In Italy, they run mostly on Ninco track and as many people know, tuning for plastic is very different then wood. Andrea mentioned that racers in Europe do not use much weight and run-on stock NSR rear tires. When he tried an F1 car out on the wood track, he quickly understood why on wood you use weight, a lot of weight. In this event we run only Quick Slick rear tires which are a must on our tracks. Andrea also visited the NJ Metro slot car group in New

Jersey. The NJ Metro club runs mostly plastic tracks and it was evident that Andrea knew what was needed as he tuned a car that was just hooked up. We ran an NSR F1 race on Jon’s Carrera track and Andrea showed us how these NSR cars should run. We learnt some tuning tricks from Andrea that many of us have incorporated in how we now setup our cars.

As I said before, this event brought out some of the best racers in the states. One of the racers, Curt DeMars, won the NSR F1 and Modern GT race, while Jon Toussaint of P1 Slotcars, won the NSR Vintage GT race. These two racers are proven winners and expert tuners. Their cars were in a class of

their own - which was evident by how quick they were and how well they handled. What was enjoyable about watching both race was how different their styles are. Curt races on the edge and if you watch him, he is extremely intense. If you watch Jon race, it’s looks like he is out on a Sunday drive. He’s calm, cool and collective and nothing seems to rattle him. Off’s - while seldom, do not seem to bother these racers. A few others to mention are Cal Crum, Andy Land and Keith Lindahl who are local to Cloverleaf. One thing all three have in common is their racing style. Like Jon, they are all calm racers who rarely get rattled and all took a podium spot in one of the races.

Other competitors pit boxes, so typical of the type owned by slot racers the world over.

These are the cool looking custom painted NSR slot cars of JP Racing.

This Huddy Tyre-truer belongs to Al Hernandez and part of his pit box area.

Race1-VintageNSRGT

After the cars went through a visual tech by Andy and James, the 31 racers started qualifying to determine the races running order. This method places racers who qualify with similar times together during the race. The class featured Porsche 917/10K, 908/3, Ford P68 and GT 40 Mark IV cars of the Vintage GT era. Third place went to Andy who had a consistent race with 97, 99, 101 and 100 laps, 397 in Total, whose average lap time was 5.839. In Second place was Curt, who finished with a total of 399 laps and an average lap time of 5.797. Curt’s tires took a bit to come up to speed which was evident by his 96 laps total on his first heat. After that he scored totals of 100, 102 and 101. The first-place finisher Jon, started strong with a first heat total of 100 laps which topped the field. The other three heats matched and exceeded his first heat as his tires came in. Jon finished the race with a total of 407 laps and an average lap time of 5.719. All ran three on the podium Porsche 908/3’s.

The Vintage NSR Cars in Parc Firme before the start of 7 hours of racing!

The complete grid of Vintage cars that entered the event. There were most types represented but the Porsche 908/3 was the clear favorite, and in the final, they took the top three places.

Let the racing begin! Some of North America’s finest drivers duke it out in what they call the Vintage class. These are NSR Classics to the rest of us.

Third place in the Vintage class was Andy, while Second went to Curt, with Jon picking up First Place.

Race2-NSRFormula86/89

This race was run after the Vintage GT race which had took over 7 hours to complete. We used the same running order as that of the first race. After some frenetic open wheel racing, in 3rd place was Paul Pearlman from NJ Metro who ran an outstanding for an out of towner and finished with 121 laps, just a few sections behind second place. In second came Keith who quietly finished just ahead of Paul, also on 121 laps. Keith’s car was on rails and was smooth, like his racing. In first place overall was Curt, whose average lap time was 5.684. Curt’s car was hooked up, and he finished the race with a total of 123 laps.

While some cars were custom painted, many were left in their original finish. The Cannon -Williams was popular with five cars in this livery making the field.

In

Next up was the exciting Formula 86/89 races. Here are the entries in Parc Firme.

This standard model finished in the colours of the BMS Scuderia Italia Dallara team, has been made even better by a fully detailed drivers helmet.

One of the races principal sponsors was Professor Motor. Oliver from PM is seen on the left alongside Cloverleaf’s owner Mike Stott.

Some of the “Goodies” donated by Professor Motor, NSR and Cloverleaf Racing.

The full grid of the Formula 1 class before racing - due to time constraints these were just 3 minute heats.

Third in F1 was Paul Perlman while Keith took Second. And moving up a spot from his previous 2nd place in the Vintage class was Curt taking the overall F1 honors.

the evening of events like this it’s a time for friends even if they competitors to unwind, chat and have a nice meal. Those East Coast Maniacs, Paul, Mike and Al, enjoy a cook your own steak dinner.

Race3-ModernGT

This race was the last race of the weekend and was bitter sweet as it meant the end to the NSR finals. Like race one, qualifying would determine the running order. As you can imagine the lap times for the Modern GT class was quicker than the other two races. In third place was Cal, who ran a C7 Corvette. Cal had a total 407 laps and ran an average lap time of 5.70. Second place was Jon - anyone noticing a theme here? - who ran the new McLaren 720S GT3. Each of Jon’s heats were in the 100-lap range, but just not able to match Curt and had finished with a total of 411. Topping the field was Curt with his second win of the weekend. He also ran the new McLaren with an angle winder setup and had an average lap time of 5.541. Curt ran an average lap time of 5.541 with a fast lap at 5.486.

Another day another race and this time it was for the modern GT’s. Here is a typical line up of NSR’s GT3 cars that were in attendance at this event.

A couple of custom painted AMG Mercs that were in the GT Class, nice.

Finishing third in Modern GT was Cal, with Jon coning home in second. Winner and multi-podium finisher is a very happy Curt.

As I am writing this up, I am thinking along with others, “what can I do differently next year?”. Looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2023. More information on the rules and results can be found on Home Racing World. n

While it looks very plain this McLaren720S is the latest GT3 racer from NSR and was the car that helped Curt to the Modern GT victory.

The Great Lakes team L-R we have “RamCat” Larry, Jon "JT", Larry "The Finger" and "The Saw".

Like the Vintage GT’s heats were timed at 10 minutes each, here we see cars in action.

Popular in North America are these controllers from DiFalco. Almost everyone ran these except a couple of the New Jersey guys who used ThirdEye’s.

The full grid of Modern GT’s (NSR GT3’s) just before racing commenced.

ASTON MARTIN FINALLY AndLeMansMiniatureswins

The 1959 24 Hours Le Mans was the 27th running of the Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on the 20th and 21st June, on the famed Circuit de la Sarthe. It drew a crowd of over 150,000 spectators to witness the prospect of an exciting duel between Ferrari and Aston Martin around the 8.38-mile course. Aston Martin finally achieved the coveted outright win, doing it in style with a 1-2 finish. The French slot car manufacturer, Le Mans Miniatures, have brought us not only a model of the winning car driven by Carrol Shelby and Roy Salvadori, but the whole three car team that was managed by John Wyer, later of Gulf GT40 fame.

The 1950’s was a time of dramatic change in motorsport and no more so than in the world of sports car racing. While the decade started off with dominance by the Italian teams such as Maserati and Ferrari, Mercedes and Jaguar soon started to show the world they too were serious about sports car racing. Sadly, Mercedes effort was retired after the tragic accident in 1955, while Jaguar won Le Mans in that year and then again in 1956 and ’57. Normal service was resumed when Ferrari took the honours at Le Mans in 1958, and although Aston Martin had been appearing at the track since 1921 without a win, there was a good feeling of

Carroll Shelby seen at the wheel of the DBR1/300 turning Mulsanne corner at Le Mans 1959 on his way to an historic victory for Aston Martin.

FINALLY WINS LE MANS! –ourwallets,yetagain!

optimism in the team before the 1959 race. In car #4 they had the pairing of Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman but their engine in their DBR1/300 failed at the 6-hour mark. Car #5, which went on to win, was driven by Roy Salvadori and Texan Carrol Shelby, who went on to produce the AC Cobra. Coming home in second in #6 was the experienced French/Belgian pairing of Maurice Trinitignant and Paul Frere just 1 lap behind their team-mates Aston. The next four places were all taken by Ferrari’s, while in 7th place, and first in the 2.0L class, was an AC Ace. I wonder if that’s where Shelby first saw the car that in 1962 he turned into the Cobra?

Scalextric did a version of this car in the very early ‘60’s. Not a bad effort for back then, but it’s a mystery why it has taken 60 odd years for another model to be produced.

As a famous Le Mans winner, it’s a mystery why there has not been a modern-day slot car version of this DBR1, although Scalextric did make a version in their very early days. When Benoit at Le Mans Miniatures first asked my opinion about producing this model maybe two years ago, I gave him a resounding “yes please, mon ami!”. Just recently the company has changed from their plain blue boxes to this lighter Le Mans inspired design; not sure I like it but its what’s inside that counts right? On opening the box first impression is - wow! The metallic green looks spot on and the version that I had purchased featured Mr Shelby

complete with his gold-coloured helmet. What did look a little strange was the see-through tonneau cover that attached to the top of the windscreen surround to the bodywork behind the passenger seat. I assume it was like this on the real car and if so, it looks as it should. The wheels on this car have been specially produced for this model and are a little narrower that the wire spoked wheels LMM fit to their Ferrari sportscars. As is the case with some other releases from Le Mans the car looks just a little bit too wide, while looking at it from above, but then so many other slot car producers do this. Viewed from most other

angles the model looks great, but I did notice a slight issue, well actually quite a big one once the car was removed from its base. The front wheels would not turn!

Now many of these models will for sure, be pure shelf-queens - but even if it is doubtful that any of these resin masterpieces will be raced in anger there are still some who like to take their models around for a few careful laps. With a locked front axle this wouldn’t be easily possible, so time to remove the chassis and see what the issue is. Once removed the axle turned freely so it was a clearance problem with the tall tyres rubbing on the top of the

I took this shot of a DBR1/300 at last years Goodwood FOS. Not only did it not have its rear wheel covers, but it also looks like this one has different front wheel-arch profiles.

Recently LMM have changed their box design to this one depicting draw scenes from a classic Le Mans period.

Under the model is this postcard depicting the winning car. Shame that it was a bit crumpled up.

“As a famous Le Mans winner, it’s a mystery why there has not been a modern-day slot car version of this DBR1...”

wheel arch. When building a model using a resin shell from scratch, one can often remove/ sand down the thicker parts of the body to gain clearance which would be required in this instance, but this was a fully finished and delicately decorated model and I wasn’t going to start messing with it. On inspection I found that the plastic chassis fitted to the DBR1 had holes for grubscrews to adjust the front axle height and after probing inside the holes I found the screws were duly fitted. I slackened the lower two screws as far as I believed they would go and wound down the upper screws which I thought would give me the axle position I needed and replaced the body. While it was now not locked solid, they still didn’t

Seen in the pits at La Sarthe. Le Mans Miniatures have got the metallic green of the original spot on.

A tad too wide maybe? But it still looks fabulous. Note the PVC tonneau cover which were fitted to the real cars to keep the rain out.

Front and rear views of this late 1950’s classic sports racing car model are striking.

How do they do this? Look at the detail of the dials on the dashboard and the mirror even looks real, incredible!

turn free enough, so out with the chassis again and I removed the two lower grub screws altogether but noticed the axle hadn’t lowered any further. This was to do with the axle now resting on two location tangs on the chassis, which I believe are to locate against the inside on the wheel hub to stop sideways movement. Out with a sharp craft knife and I chopped off around 2.5mm off each tang, replaced the axle, turned the top screws down as far as they would go, and then backed them off till the axle turned freely. After replacing the body, the front wheels now spun just like they should.

Now many of you are thinking why I didn’t just send it back for a replacement instead of messing about fixing this one. Well, firstly you must pack it safely and pay the postage, which is not cheap today, and hope that whoever you bought it from still has a replacement in stock, or all you are going to get back is some money in your account and no shiny Le Mans winner in your collection. This is because, models like this are very much limited editions, and may have already sold out, both by the manufacturer and at their distributors. I would always check with your supplier that they have another one first. Anyway, I found solving the problem more therapeutic than a hassle - but then that’s me.

Once fixed, I did take it for a couple of laps and while I am not a big fan of front motored slot cars it moved around nice and smoothly. I would love to own all three models of this Aston Martin, but I can’t justify that, so it was just the race winner for me, I gather that the Moss car, even though it didn’t finish is also selling well too, just because of who he was. A sticking front axle aside, this is a wonderful model from Benoit and Angele Moro at Le Mans Miniatures. n

Oh yes! The chassis has front axle adjustable ride height screws, of which the lower two I removed completely.

From the underside the model replicates the real cars front motor/ rear-wheel-drive configuration.

The plastic chassis removed from the body, reveals high quality components are used throughout.

The issue of the binding front axle was not going to be resolved by me removing any resin from within the front arches – there must be another way?

To gain even more clearance, I cut a few mm off these tangs that are moulded into the chassis.

The main purpose of these tangs is to give the correct front wheel spacing, which you can see is just touching the wheel hub.

The result of the small set-up modification, was a freemoving front axle.

The slightly raised front axle had very little effect on the look of the model, which handled nicely on my Policar homeset track.

LMM are also offering the second placed car #6 and this #4 car that was driven by Stirling Moss. If you want any of them then be quick - as LMM slot cars have a habit of selling out quickly.

A moody shot of Shelby passing under the famed Dunlop bridge just as night is beginning to fall at Le Mans.

Wye Juniors…

...Converting the younger gaming generation

In Edition 54 of SLOT Magazine, we featured a ‘Club Focus’ article on Wye Valley Slot Car Club from Abergavenny, South Wales. The club races on a permanent 4 lane Ninco track, and has recently setup its own ‘Juniors’ section. We let WVSCC club member James Charles Attridge tell you about it...

‘W

ye Valley Juniors’ is all about trying to inspire the younger generation, getting them ‘off the screens’ for a few moments and into the exciting world of Slot car racing.

The Wye Valley Juniors met for the first time on the 24th of September 2022, and again in November. The initiative has been a huge success and Scalextric generously supported the first Junior meeting - for which we were all very grateful. The junior programme

encourages slot car racing with a wide variety of cars on our main club track and it has certainly sparked excitement and interest for the young racers. Racers have brought along an interesting mix of different cars and it’s safe to say ‘Slot Cars’ are likely to feature on a fare few more Christmas lists this year as a result of the junior club! With experienced racers on hand to coach on the track and help fix and improve car performance off the track, there is no end of learning opportunities for everyone.

The four-lane race circuit based on the Ninco track system, hosted the Wye Junior racers.

The Juniors will be meeting regularly going forwards, with the next meeting scheduled for 29th December 2022. As well as our exciting Junior program, the main Wye Valley Slotcar Club has the following dates for the diary:

• 29th January 2023

Revoslot GT Challenge (New Event)

• 12th March 2023

Wye Valley ‘Spring Stages’ Rally 2023

• 7th May 2023

Round 3, Wales & West

2023 Club Nights will continue every Monday & Thursday with a packed schedule across a wide range of classes and manufacturers. Further endurance events for 2023 are due to be announced soon. n

For more information, please contact us on social media or visit http://wyevalleyslotcarclub.com

Club stalwarts James on the left and Phil Field, hold up another wonderful prize given away by Scalextric. Next Junior event is on December 29th – in case you want your younger race team members to get involved!

get

The club would like to thank Scalextric for getting behind the Junior Program, who supplied prizes such as this Micro Batman v Joker set.

This initiative is to try and introduce slot car racing to a much younger generation. These will hopefully become the slot car racers of the future.

They start young at the Wye Valley Slot Car Club. Anything to

them to realise you can have fun without a video screen.

Definitely a Snake in the grass!

We get our hands on Thunderslot’s new muscle car

Literally just as we were going to press with this issue, a box arrived at Slot HQ from Italy, and with anticipation was quickly opened. Sent to us by Thunderslot’s Armando Bizzotto it inside was the companies first foray into the world of tin top slot cars and what a car - the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350.

Now this is my bag - American cars of the 1960’s, and normally I would be writing loads about the real car, however I am both short of time and space in this issue and Alex, my layout artist is possibly cursing me at the moment for mucking him about, so let’s concentrate on the model.

Thunderslot’s project engineer Giovanni Montiglio, who will be no stranger to many of you, first showed me a crude prototype of this project back at the 2020 Nuremburg Toy Fair,

A flying Mustang? The model from this angle looks similar to the real car, which is 1968 GT500 and has a different grille, bonnet scoops and wheels to the ’67 version.

The grille has two holes that we assume are to take the driving lamps that are moved outwards on the 1968 modelwe believe this will be released in the future.

The model sits extremely low, something most slot racers want to see. I later slightly between the body and the chassis.

just before the outbreak of Covid-19. However due to various issues, notwithstanding the forementioned pandemic, it is only just coming to market. Now some of you, if you know your Mustangs, will think from some angles it is a little bit quirky, in fact there’s been quite a bit of debate on this on some of the forums, I also contacted Thunderslot about the shape offering them some ways to improve it.

However, the project had been delayed for some time by a change of body designer and

by the time the cars were at Gaydon, that was how they were going to look in final production. Making any kind of change would just have put the project back even further. But it’s really what’s underneath that sets this model apart. While the type of chassis is not revolutionary in its design, it is the first time we believe, that it has been attempted in plastic, and it works!

What is different to previous Thunderslot chassis, and indeed the chassis of their contemporaries, is that unlike most that have

a separate motor mount/rear axle carrier, this chassis has a centre “spine” which also connects the motor/rear axle to the guide blade. This means that the rest of the chassis which attaches to the body, carries the height adjustable front axle assembly. I nice touch is that the body mount screws have small little rubber doughnuts which not only isolate the body and chassis, but also rather usefully, keep the screws in place when the body is removed – so no more scrabbling around on

slightly raised the back of this one using some spacers

Yep, it’s a bit wider than the real thing, but this is built for racing, and not a shelf queen for looking at!

the floor looking for tiny body screws! When I first saw the prototype being put through its paces on a large wood track at this years UKSF at Gaydon, it was most impressive, and I have been waiting to try one as soon as they became available. Unfortunately, because of time constraint I can’t give you any idea of

what this production sample can do down on our 100’ wooden routed club track, but I still had to try it - so a long oval of Policar track was set up on the carpet and the ‘Stang was duly put to the test. Getting the elephant out of the room, Thunderslot do not fit magnets, even though this chassis has mounts for them both in front of, and behind the motor. So, racing one at home is going to need more skill unless you pop a mag in. The beauty of not having the artificial ground effect is you

can power slide the car around the track, bit like a real Mustang! I drove my own 2011 5.0GT to the Orpington Swap meet on greasy roads, and it was pretty scary!

So, while this is not the whole story here, I hope that it gives you an insight to this new slot car due before Christmas. It will be available in Wimbledon White, Silver Frost, Dark Moss Green and what you see here

Acapulco Blue. There are another 5 colours, but these are exclusive models commissioned by ‘Great Traditions’ in the US. Perhaps I can indulge you with a bit more of this model in the next issue once I really have a chance to put it through its paces. n

With its 21.5k rpm motor it was plenty fast enough for my temporary Policar test track at home. Power slides are the order of the day, unless you want to run it with magnets, yuk!

While not 100% correct in its body design, it will look to most, like a Mustang, and to be honest by the great way it handles I don’t think serious slot racers will really care!

All up weight of the Mustang was 72g, with the body/interior coming in at 22g.

So this is what the fuss it about! A two-piece chassis that replicates many metal types raced around the world, but now offered in plastic. It works well and expect further models based on this design - a Camaro has been mentioned.

As you can see, this thing from the factory sits very low. The Magnum 500 wheels are neat inserts that push into the front plastic and rear alloy hubs.

I have separated the central spine from the rest of the chassis. The out riggers at the front are designed to stabilize the car under cornering with the holes taking optional push in ball bearings – who needs front wheels?

Close-up of the doughnut. Later after taking these pictures, I fitted a spacer to fill the gap between it and the rear mounting post, to improve its stance. Most slot racers will frown at me doing this!

A mixed bag from Pendleslot Racing

On a recent visit the Pendleslot, Sean Fothersgill asked me if I wanted to see what they have been working on - of course I said, but I was not ready for what he was about to show me.

While most in the UK know Pendleslot Racing as a major supplier of commercially available RTR slot cars, they have in recent years also become a major source of resin kits with names like Penelope Pitlane, and Racing Replicas being just two of Pendles own brands. What surprised me is the vast and diverse range of kits the Lancashire based company offer.

The first question I had to ask myself, was why anyone hasn’t done this before, after all the Series 1 Land Rover is not just a British, but a World known icon? The fully assembled kit that Sean showed me was an amazingly close replica of the real SWB Landie and I am sure it will be a very popular kit, that they sell under their PSR branding. Its available as body kit RSB31 and while this comes with a basic resin slot car chassis it can also be built as a static display model. While Sean admits that this was put together by a pro-model builder,

looking at the miniature Series 1, I think that turning this resin shell into an acceptable slot model is well within the grasp of the average modeller. I can’t wait to build one.

Next up I was shown the prototype of the Mercedes W196 streamliner, or as it became known the “Type Monza”. The W196 was already a successful Grand Prix car, introduced in 1954, but the Mercedes engineers developed a sleek streamlined body which was effective on faster tracks like Silverstone and Monza, hence its nickname. Again, this is a racing icon that I have been surprised has largely been overlooked by Slot car manufacturers. OK we did get the rather basic RTR resin model from BUM-Slot, but I was somewhat disappointed that 1950’s GP Specialists Cartrix didn’t do this version, after already doing the non-streamlined W196. Looking at this test casting it has captured the shape really well and is nice and crisp, just

This we feel, is going to be a hugely popular resin kit –better make sure you have plenty available Sean!

look at the Fangio’s facial detail. Another well thought about model of an important “missing” part of Grand Prix history.

The fastback Mini Cooper was not a car I knew much about, and I don’t ever recall ever seeing a real one. It was produced by the British tuning company Broadspeed, who

later became more known for producing tuned Anglias/Escorts and Capris. The Broadspeed GT 2+2 as it was called, was first shown in 1965 and 28 cars were produced between 1966 and 1968, with over half being exported to Spain. So, with just 12 staying in the UK back in the 1960’s, it is no wonder I have not

seen one, so maybe looking at the Pendleslot version will be my only chance. It looks a great model but not my cup of tea - so a 1967 Broadspeed GT or 1967 Mustang GT? I am not even going to answer that one! n

The underside of the Land Rover showing its PCS adjustable chassis.

The alloy hubs have these realistic looking steel wheel replica inserts.

The green with cream roof applied to the resin shell helps with the realism.

Instead

It looks like the “Type Monza” Mercedes W196 is leaving some rubber as it leaves the pits!

This test cast of the Pendle model is very crisp, just look at the driver details.

The Merc will have its own 3D printed chassis, which was designed to take a Slot.it motor-pod.

The W196 GP car was very successful but was prematurely retired due to Mercedes withdrawal from motorsport after the tragic accident at Le Mans in 1955.

This strange little thing, which is unmistakably based on a Mini, was sold as the Broadspeed GT 2+2. Only 12 made it on to British roads with a further 16 going to Spain.

of using a Scalextric Mini chassis, Pendle have produced their own, all very cute and twee, if a bit specialised.

Hit for a different kind of Six!

Sean left the best to last by showing me a project that they have been working on for some time now - the six-wheeled Williams FW08D. We are pleased to bring you pictures of this prototype and a final pre-production sample of what is again an inspired choice from Sean and his team. The first question I asked was “are both rear axles driven? “ and after confirmation Sean told us that it has been track tested and runs pretty well. It of course would have been easier for them to have just had an un-driven trailing axle, but Pendle really wanted to offer the four-wheel rear end drive experience. The prototype chassis test- hack seen in some photos has been improved in the pre-production model, and we hope to bring you a full build-up of this interesting car in a future issue.

We believe that along with the Land Rover and the W196 “Type Monza”, Pendleslot will have their work cut out to keep up with demand of these resin kits. – Brilliant stuff! n

The pre-production version of the forthcoming Williams FW08D six-wheeler – yes please!!!

This is the chassis of the working prototype of the FW08D’s chassis fitted with contra-rotating rear axles.A close-up on the test hack’s gearbox area. The production versions have been improved and tidied up in this area.

This is the underside of the pre-production sample showing the improved gearing. All will be revealed once we can get our hands on one to build!

“For this project I have produced a version of the Tyrrell Six-Wheeler, or to give it its correct name, Project 34 (P34). Perhaps one of the most distinctive F1 cars ever, it was somewhat underrepresented in the slot car market for a long time. The original Spanish Scalextric and later SCX versions that have been available

over the years, was based upon the prototype version of the car that didn’t actually race. However, realising this gap in the market, Scalextric recently released versions of the cars that competed during 1976 and early in the 1977 season.

For my project, I wanted to make a representation of the car that raced later

diuring 1977. This had a wider front wheel track and is probably the ugliest version of the car! But before I describe how I made the model, here are a few facts about the real P34. The key ideas behind the car’s design were to increase front grip and reduce the drag and air disturbance caused by normal sized front wheels by making them smaller and almost

So, Philip had already built a 1977 wide-body P34 based on a kit from George Turner. It is the lower of these two cars, the upper being the latest Scalextric release that also raced that year, shown for comparison.

After opening his (Match) box Philip set about cutting away parts of the shell as supplied, into the car that raced later in 1977.

Here you can see the much-modified body now in a coat of white primer. A custom Plasticard chassis sits alongside ready to take a Policar F1 combined motor/gearbox mount and rear axle assembly.

Here we have the Policar assembly fitted to the chassis along with the part-Matchbox part-scratch built front axle unit.

The chassis, now complete with interior, driver, and rear wing.

The body was first painted gloss white, masked off once dry and treated to some coats of blue paint very close to the colour used on the real car.

Ronnie Peterson still used a peak on his full-face helmet. This was sourced from SRC and painted in his national colours of his home country, Sweden.

The much modded plastic kit now looking the part on the track.

recessed within the bodywork. This would improve airflow across the car and therefore its aerodynamic efficiency. However, to still have enough front tyre rubber in contact with the road on the smaller front wheels, an extra set was required. Hence four front wheels which is, to this day, an iconic image for many F1 enthusiasts (such as myself).

The P34 was raced by the Tyrrell team in 1976 and 1977. It was successful straight away with Patrick Depailler qualifying third in its first race, eleven places ahead of his team-mate Jody Scheckter, who was still driving the four wheeled Tyrrell 007 as there was not a P34 ready for him. In the car’s fourth race, the Swedish Grand Prix, Scheckter, who was by now driving the P34, put the six-wheeler on pole and then led Depailler home in a one-two finish. In spite of this good start, the car never really fulfilled its promise. Brake problems were a consistent issue, but the main problem seems to be the small front tyres. Goodyear continued to develop their normal sized tyres throughout the 1976 and 77 seasons but the smaller tyres used on the P34 were not improved. This meant that the car became increasingly unbalanced, thereby reducing that front-end grip. Also, as the smaller front wheels had to rotate at a faster rate than the standard larger rear tyres, they were prone to overheating. The smaller front tyre circumference meant that for every single rotation of the rear tyres, the front ones rotated 1.6 times. This meant that when the rear tyres were at 200mph, the front ones were running at the equivalent to 320mph!

In an attempt to address these issues, two new chassis with revised bodywork and rear wings were built for the 1977 season. However, these new cars were bigger and heavier than the 1976 versions and performance was not improved. For the sixth and seventh races of the 1977 season (Monaco and Belgium) the team reverted to the original 1976 style of cars, but this did not improve their results. Further changes were made to the 1977 specification cars which included extra radiators, the front wheels being pushed outside of the bodywork thereby increasing air flow to the tyres to try and cool them, and extra air ducts fitted for the brakes. However, all this worked against the aerodynamic principles that were part of the original concept and they failed to improve performance. All these issues meant that for the 1978 season, Tyrrell returned to a normal 4-wheel layout with the 008 car.

Other teams such as March, Ferrari and Williams all built prototype six-wheelers in the mid-70s and early 80s. However, these had four driven wheels at the rear and due to technical and regulation issues were never raced in a Grand Prix. The Tyrrell team are, therefore, the only outfit to have raced in, and won, a Grand Prix with a car that has more than four wheels. In the early 80s, F1 cars with more than four wheels were banned and so this record is likely to always remain theirs!

From the underside they both use the complete Poilcar F1 mount assembly with a scratch built plastic chassis. However, they do differ in the front axle and guide flag mounting.

Top down and you can clearly see the difference in the two cars, how many of us even knew that?

A frontal comparison between the Matchbox (left) and GTM versions (right).

Back to the model...

I have previously made a version of the midseason 1977 car using a George Turner’s body shell. However, the late 1977 version required surgery to the cockpit cowling and the nose section. I used a 1/32 Matchbox kit as my basis and set about cutting and remodelling the body. (See photos for the marked-up areas that needed to be removed.)

I used a Policar motor and axle assembly and made the main sections of the chassis myself. The guide mounting was the 3D printed unit that came from Pendles as part of the Policar assembly. This had to be heavily reduced in height and axle mounts fitted for the front wheels. I used some elements of the Matchbox kit for the internals of the side pods, driver’s seat and dashboard/steering wheel assembly.

I created the extended width front axle assemblies using a combination of plastic-card and parts from the kit. The front wheels are from the old SCX version of the car, but with new longer axles fitted. The driver is an SRC figure. While the helmet is slightly over-scale, they are one of the few (or only ones?) who sell figures with the peaked helmets and as I wanted this model to be driven by Ronnie Peterson, that was the type of helmet I needed.

I primed, painted, masked and painted again the modified body and also the chassis. I fitted the new front radiators and made the front diffuser from plastic-card. The windscreen

is acetate plastic that I carefully glued to the body and then covered the join with the windscreen decal. The car decals are from Indycal and Pattos and the helmet decals from Ostorero. In the photographs I have shown the build process and the chassis details. I have also shown the two 1977 version cars that I have made side-by-side, so that the differences between the early and late season cars can be seen.

P34.

I hope you liked seeing the build process of one of my favourite F1 cars and the photos of both 1977 versions. Just for fun, I have included a photo showing the evolution of the Tyrrell P34 in slot car form. The prototype shape is an SCX car, the 1976 and 1977 Belgium Grand Prix versions are from Scalextric, and the revised 1977 cars are my builds.” n

Until next time, thanks for reading - Philip

This interesting shot put together by Philip shows all the different versions of the Tyrrell

A nice project executed well, and to be honest this looks as good as any RTR model classic F1 slot car that you could buy – Well done Mr Prestage, keep up the great work – Ed

As I briefly mentioned in my Starting Grid editorial, it was great to see so many people attend the Orpington slot meet held at Crofton Hall, on Sunday 20th November. This was in contrast to the event held there in April, which was sparsely supported, why? I don’t know, especially as in real terms we have less money in our pockets over 6 months on. There certainly was a feelgood factor around the place, with many stating that the current state of our economy was not going to stop them enjoying their hobby. It was also nice to bump into so many important faces within the slot car community

and in no special order, this included Mark Scale, Simon Owen, Richard D’Cruze, Adrian Norman, Roger Barker, Steve Canon, all the gang at the NSCC and so many more. As well as a sneaky way of managing to empty your wallets these events are also social meetings, and you can get into many interesting conversations. So did I buy anything? Well yes, a bit of a mixture, four classic Scalextric pit boxes and a barn-find Revell E-Type Jaguar needing a complete re-build, from my old friend Daren McHarg, a nice new Avantslot BMW 635i in Marlboro livery from Mr D’Cruze, and a Matchbox static

1/32nd scale kit of the Surtees TS16, ripe for slot conversion. All in, well worth the short(ish) trip up from Sussex. By the time you read this, the Winter Slot Car Market at Gaydon would have already taken place but save back some of your Christmas money for the first major 2023 Swap-meet in the UK which is Swindon, on Sunday 8th January. It will soon be here! n

Season’s Greetings From all at Slot Magazine.

editor@slotmagazine.co.uk

Terry

Booty picked up at Orpington

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