Heretic

[Gordon Steadman]

'ere, did you know?

There is more to life than Hi-Fi:eek:

Now I'm retired and some of the demands of working life have reduced (not gone away yet though) I find that there are in fact, lots of other things now demanding my attention. In the music room there is now a piano which gets a couple of hours every day. Also in the same room is the exercise bike. Now I'm doing less physical work, I need to do some exercise so the bike in the room means I can listen to music and peddle to the beat.

Plus, as previously mentioned, I getting back into slot racing. Amazing number of forums out there with large numbers of people still involved. I've got a bit a track for small scale (1/40th and 1/43rd) so we can play until I get round to making the big track.

Need to get this layout fixed onto a board and then a full scenery job will ensue:rolleyes:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5698/20615764004_e05f392b55_b.jpg

Ronnie is most amused that this is stuck in what will be the dining room. "Honest love, it'll get moved........eventually"

[struth]

When young I got a Scalectric set for xmas...it was hideously expensive at time for a pressie in those days... It was fab a!d well made with big cars and proper tx and controllers unlike the later ones. 2 cars were a light blue merc convertible a!d a brg austin healey...great fun

[struth]

These look like the models i had.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/08/495a406cf69c33ad297b027304f96d7d.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/08/fac8a7ddf942c73911962cc76878336b.jpg

[Gordon Steadman]

These look like the models i had.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/08/495a406cf69c33ad297b027304f96d7d.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/08/fac8a7ddf942c73911962cc76878336b.jpg

I started with the opposition. I got an Airfix set for Christmas or birthday - can't remember which - and always preferred them. Lately, Scalex have upped their game considerably as there is now so much competition from the likes of Fly and Ninco. One thing I hate is the artificial performance offered by magnets. The damn things are so easy to drive that all the real skill has gone out of it.

The little French cars I'm playing with now stopped being produced before the magnets came in and are much better for it. As with everything here, the price of second hand stuff is a bit steep but I've been lucky a couple of times and have bought job lots of stuff that have turned out to be really good.

The problem with so much of this sort of stuff is the 'collectors'. Us racers want something that is good and fast, they just want pretty things stuffed on shelves and so push the price up as they want the rare ones!!! Ring a bell?

There is one guy who collects every variant of every car that was made. Good luck to him if that's what he enjoys but I want to race the damn things. So do my mates out here so meetings are being organised. We will have to see how I drive after a few bottles:eyebrows:

[struth]

Was at my lass's on Sunday and the youngest had a little racing set out so i had a shot.. The cars brushes were faulty so fixed them both and got them to full power!. It was a very small track and although they went quite quick there was no skill as they wouldnt crash even at top speed on a tight corner. I know he is young but some reality would have helped surely. It is boring even for a 4 year old if it only goes round and round.

[shane]

I always got as much fun out of building cars as I did from racing them. Can you till get decent motors, wheels, tyres, gears, bodies, slot guides and so on?

[Gordon Steadman]

I always got as much fun out of building cars as I did from racing them. Can you till get decent motors, wheels, tyres, gears, bodies, slot guides and so on?

Yup, its still out there. Over here there are loads of people supporting the French cars. One guy just makes tyres in urethane and they grip just about as well as the old spongies did. In the UK there is Pendle who still carry loads of stuff. I am tempted by some of their kits as they do some great old racers. Bit expensive though, you are looking at £60 plus for the basic kit and have to build and finish it yourself. A few others too. Google as ever is your friend.

In the meantime, I've ordered some motors and am collecting together some suitable plastic kit bodies to see if i can still produce something quick. One of the biggest problems back in the day was that the American technology invaded the market and just about killed it off in the UK as it was so expensive. You had to spend to stand any chance of being competitive. Then computers and games of course. There is something particularly satisfying though, with having a physical object to control rather than a simulation that lets you just start again if you overcook it.

I've lost touch with it all and have no real idea where the performance has reached. Most clubs seem to be based on ready made cars these days whereas us old timers all built our own. Surprising number of people seem to be going back to proper wooden tracks and abandoning the magnets though so there is hope:)

[Oddball]

I had a Scalextric Mini Cooper racing set when I was about 10 in 1967.
I still have the 2 cars and most of the track , my son used it for a while , but never loved it as much as I did.
Back then there seemed loads more detailed figures and accessories available !! A mate of my Dad gave me a couple of slot cars that had come from a big race tack that had been made locally .
Not sure of the make but too much power needed from the Scalex controllers. Maybe Revell self build .

If I recall correctly , Scalextric did a uprated controller and cars but I don't think they caught on that much .
Hrs of fun in the spare room freezing your feet off , and getting dizzy:)

[CageyH]

I think this is where the performance is now.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtwkRd6zHwg&sns=em

How do you see the car?

[Gordon Steadman]

I had a Scalextric Mini Cooper racing set when I was about 10 in 1967.
I still have the 2 cars and most of the track , my son used it for a while , but never loved it as much as I did.
Back then there seemed loads more detailed figures and accessories available !! A mate of my Dad gave me a couple of slot cars that had come from a big race tack that had been made locally .
Not sure of the make but too much power needed from the Scalex controllers. Maybe Revell self build .

If I recall correctly , Scalextric did a uprated controller and cars but I don't think they caught on that much .
Hrs of fun in the spare room freezing your feet off , and getting dizzy:)

Scenery huh! Try this one. http://www.oldslotracer.com/OneLap.html

Looking at the various forums, it seems that most of the fans care more for the track and collecting cars than actually racing. Great fun though and having seen some of these efforts, I am sorely tempted to go a bit over the top myself!!

http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68308

If you are interested, try going right through this one:eek:

Most new racers are getting into digital so just two lanes will support loads of cars and the whole thing is computer controlled although I understand you still have to drive yourself!!

[Gordon Steadman]

I think this is where the performance is now.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtwkRd6zHwg&sns=em

How do you see the car?

Yup, I saw that. Just can't see the fun (or the car) I like scale racers, these things just don't look like racing cars should. Maybe I'm just too old fashioned but for me the whole point was to get as close to real racing cars as possible.

[CageyH]

I agree. It looks similar to the track mentioned by Grant, it's just a more expensive version.
Looked to be lacking any real need for skill.

When my dad raced slot cars, he used to build them, some from kits and hand wound the motors.

How about slot car drag racing? Could be fun, but looks like stupid money to build something that goes stupidly quick for a few seconds.

[Gordon Steadman]

I agree. It looks similar to the track mentioned by Grant, it's just a more expensive version.
Looked to be lacking any real need for skill.

When my dad raced slot cars, he used to build them, some from kits and hand wound the motors.

How about slot car drag racing? Could be fun, but looks like stupid money to build something that goes stupidly quick for a few seconds.

There are a few tracks about, one or two in France I think. You are right about the cost to time ratio but it was ever thus, even in the 1:1 world. My old 'ordinary' cars will do 55 real MPH (80,000 rpm!) so I hate to think what one of these modern motors would do. As you say, we used to wind our own motors. For a drag race the wind could be so wild that so long as it lasted a few seconds it would be good enough.

I remember melting 'poxy resin and pouring it onto the armatures and slowly spinning them to spread the mix. They were then dynamically balanced and boy did they scream. The main problem is that the wilder the wind, the harder it is to control the car. Fun to be had though. I'm not sure I can be bothered now, it's just for fun as opposed to the deadly serious 'sport' it was when I were a lad.

[Desmo]

...You are right about the cost to time ratio but it was ever thus, even in the 1:1 world...
Certainly true. I always used to complain that in sprints and hillclimbs the better you do, the less track time you get for your money. In car racing these days it's quite common to have races that last 15 minutes or 20 minutes or so, not 15 laps or 20 laps as it used to be. I'm tols it's supposed to make the days timetable more predictable and guarantee a certain amount of track time for the drivers, but with the inevitable crashes/breakdowns etc the day seldom runs to the timetable, and the later races are often truncated.