1May 2006

EditorEditorEditorEditorEditorBrian Rogers

27 Paige CloseWatlington

King’s LynnNorfolk

PE33 0TQTel/Fax:- 01553 813090

e-mail:- editor@nscc.co.uk

TTTTTrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade AdvertisingAdrian Leggett

RosevilleWestwood Lane

NormandyGuildford

SurreyGU3 2JG

Tel:- 07773 967333 day01483 810102 evenings

e-mail:- sales@nscc.co.uk

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents

NNNNNOOOOO. 290 M. 290 M. 290 M. 290 M. 290 MAAAAAYYYYY 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006

Swapmeet..................................2Membership Update..................4Diary Dates................................5Messages From Margate............7Shipment From Spain................9Fly On The Wall......................11H:O World...............................13Racer News..............................15Kits ‘N’ Bobs............................17Dakar Track.............................20Classic GP Cars.......................26Ninco News.........................28Ebay Watch.............................31Bits And Pieces.........................33Letters......................................34Realistic Circuits?....................36Team Slot Review....................38Austin Healey Racers..............41Scalextric Review.....................43Adverts.....................................45

Brave New Sport WBrave New Sport WBrave New Sport WBrave New Sport WBrave New Sport Worldorldorldorldorld

They are called “early adopters” - the people who buy newgadgets and gizmos as soon as they hit the shops. Some are just

fashion victims who see possession of the latest technology as a formof one up-manship, while others are genuinely interested in thetechnical side of things and view the inevitable computer glitches asa challenge to be overcome.

I am not among their number - I only bought a cd player whenthey stopped making vinyl records and the editorial household hasjust recently acquired a dvd player. It was donated by my 89 year oldstepfather who wanted to replace his with the latest portable version!I am not actually a technophobe, just naturally cautious, I prefer tolet other people discover the problems and then buy the new,improved version when everything has settled down. It is one of thestranger aspects of our modern world that manufacturers havemanaged to persuade people to pay for part developed products andthen pay out again for the revised version after they have discoveredall the problems.

So, in the normal course of events, I would not have botheredwith Sport World for at least a year but Adrian Norman sent me anearly sample for review last December. The reason I have not writtenabout it before now is that the poxy thing refused to work properlyfor the first three months! The tale of grief is very long but basicallythe system refused to work on two different computers - now youknow why I don’t buy new technology as soon as it hits the shelves!

However, all is now sorted and I must confess to being hookedon it. A review will follow in due course but Shaun Bennett has beenusing it at his club and is also quite impressed (see page 43). Forgetall that Interweb malarkey, it is a seriously good race managementsystem and much more besides.

And Finally - Gareth desperately needs your old track for the SlotRally event. Just one piece from each of our 1000 plus membershipwould make him very happy. Please get in touch if you can help.

Till next monthBrian

2

We are not exactly being swamped withnew releases this year are we? Notthat reliveries of popular cars aren’t

welcome, it’s just that the two really exciting2006 releases of the Ford Escort and AstonMartin DBR9 are so close that yet more versionsof existing cars seem a bit dull. To date therehave been 25 BMW Mini Coopers, 24 PorscheGT3Rs and 14 Dallara Indy cars not countingSport, SSD or set versions. It’s not surprisingthat Lorraine has declared our house full!

C2732 Mini Cooper Beautran &C2732 Mini Cooper Beautran &C2732 Mini Cooper Beautran &C2732 Mini Cooper Beautran &C2732 Mini Cooper Beautran &C2733 Mini Cooper S Barons No18C2733 Mini Cooper S Barons No18C2733 Mini Cooper S Barons No18C2733 Mini Cooper S Barons No18C2733 Mini Cooper S Barons No18

The success of the John Cooper Challenge raceseries over the last few years has made a wealthof attractive liveries for Hornby to model. Thesetwo new versions for 2006 are amongst the bestwith lots of detail in their designs. They bothcarry Scalextric logos on the rear screens too.

C2730 PC2730 PC2730 PC2730 PC2730 Porsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 GT3T3T3T3T3TTTTTeam Sebah No89eam Sebah No89eam Sebah No89eam Sebah No89eam Sebah No89

The latest Porsche GT3R also has Scalextriclogos, this time along the sills. I wonder whatHornby’s sponsorship budget is? The livery ismainly white with some red details and logosentreating you to holiday in the Maldives – as Iwrite this and look out of the window thatsounds a good idea. ➳

3May 2006

C2571 IRL Dallara C2571 IRL Dallara C2571 IRL Dallara C2571 IRL Dallara C2571 IRL DallaraAndretti Green Racing No27Andretti Green Racing No27Andretti Green Racing No27Andretti Green Racing No27Andretti Green Racing No27

The early C number (most C25** cars werereleased in late 2004/early 2005) shows whatdifficulties Hornby have had with the latestDallara versions. Licensing is a major problemfor all model makers and costs a small fortune.In the worst case royalties must be paid to thechampionship organiser, the chassis designer, theteam and individual sponsors. It all takes so longto arrange that by the time it is ready the goalposts have moved and you must start again.

That said, the bold red, white and bluelivery with prominent arca!ex logos is a welcomeaddition to the range.

C2645 SkC2645 SkC2645 SkC2645 SkC2645 Skoda Fabia WRCoda Fabia WRCoda Fabia WRCoda Fabia WRCoda Fabia WRCColin McRaeColin McRaeColin McRaeColin McRaeColin McRae

ScaleScaleScaleScaleScalextric Enthusiasts’ Club Car 2006xtric Enthusiasts’ Club Car 2006xtric Enthusiasts’ Club Car 2006xtric Enthusiasts’ Club Car 2006xtric Enthusiasts’ Club Car 2006The best release this month was free – well, sortof. Hornby’s own Scalextric Enthusiasts Clubcar for 2006 is the Skoda Fabia campaigned byColin McRae in a couple of rounds of the 2005WRC Championship. The livery is great andeven McRae’s helmet has a vestigial saltireprinted on it.

Joining the Enthusiasts Club costs just £21and is a complete no-brainer if only to get thiscar!

MiniAuto Slot MagazineMiniAuto Slot MagazineMiniAuto Slot MagazineMiniAuto Slot MagazineMiniAuto Slot MagazineLast year, the Spanish slot-car magazineMiniAuto Slot gave away a Classic Grand PrixMaserati with its subscriptions and they arecontinuing the trend this year. S2703A is aFerrari 156 as driven by Giancarlo Baghetti whowon the 1961 French Grand Prix at Rheims.MiniAuto Slot do subscriptions to the UK whichcost 135 Euros.

See www.revistasprofesionales.com for moredetails. It comes in the Sport packaging and islikely to be the last Sport release. ■

4

There are three new car releases in SCXthis month and one Spain only. Alsoimminent is the first of the promised

new sets announced at the Toy Fair.

61970 BMW 320 WT61970 BMW 320 WT61970 BMW 320 WT61970 BMW 320 WT61970 BMW 320 WTCC 2005CC 2005CC 2005CC 2005CC 2005Following the recently released SCX Alfa 156ETCC and Opel Vectra DTM this latest BMWmodel is the third in a series of touring carsreleased by SCX with the Seat Leon and VolvoS60 to follow later in the year. The colourscheme is white overall with a grey relief outlineand it represents the car driven by Jorg Mullerwith BMW Team Deutschland. Two wheeldrive with a floating motor holder, if the Alfa isa guide to performance then this should be great– any one wishing to review this car should getin touch with Brian.

61980 T61980 T61980 T61980 T61980 Tuning Car 2 (unofficiallyuning Car 2 (unofficiallyuning Car 2 (unofficiallyuning Car 2 (unofficiallyuning Car 2 (unofficiallybased on a Vbased on a Vbased on a Vbased on a Vbased on a Vauxhall Astra)auxhall Astra)auxhall Astra)auxhall Astra)auxhall Astra)

What can I say? The second in the series oftuning cars, featuring blue zenon headlights andneon effect skirt lighting, pearl white overall withblue roof and go faster stripes. Jamie Coles willreview this one!!! (must be mad)

61990 Seat Cupra G61990 Seat Cupra G61990 Seat Cupra G61990 Seat Cupra G61990 Seat Cupra GT “PumaT “PumaT “PumaT “PumaT “Puma”””””This is the third livery of this model and in myopinion the best so far. Red with black rear wingand white jumping puma logo on the each side,simple yet striking. Again this car features therocking motor holder and an RX42 motor.

C1 – F1 is a simple oval set with two F1 cars,a McLaren MP4-20 ‘Kimi’ and a Ferrari F2004‘Schumacher’ and will probably be good valuefor money – expect to pay in the region of£50.00. The BMW and Seat Cupra have alsobeen released in Digital form.

News from SpainNews from SpainNews from SpainNews from SpainNews from SpainThe Renault 5 Maxi Turbo is due for releasevery soon so expect that in about two months inthe UK but sad news for classic rally fans, the

Seat 1430 ‘Zanini’ is Spain only – again I haveno idea why, but that’s the call from Tecnitoys.■

5May 2006

There are seven new re-liveries to reporton this month, all of which are veryattractive. Also, there is news of a brand

new model which was announced at this year’sNuremberg toy show. The BMW M3 E30 is thefirst brand new model from Fly this year and issure to be well received. Competing in bothtouring cars and rallying, there will be manyvariations produced. Although two versions arelisted on the May release sheet, including aspecial edition, it could well run into late Junebefore they are available. At the time of writingthe release schedule has become a little out ofsync. With new models still to come listed on theMarch flyer, we are already seeing the release ofmodels from the April flyer.

RRRRRecent releasesecent releasesecent releasesecent releasesecent releasesJust missing last month’s Journal were the threefollowing new models: -Porsche 917LH “Martini” #21(A1403),24hr Le Mans 1971Another collectable livery of a popular sponsor.Technically not the correct version to have withthis livery as it should have rear wheel covers etc,but nevertheless it does look very attractive in

silver with blue and red stripes. Driven byGerard Larrousse and Vic Elford, the carqualified in 2nd place but failed to finish the racedue to overheating problems.

Porsche Carrera 6, blue #15 (A1602),24hr Daytona 1966Driven by Hans Herrmann and Herbert Linge.Officially named Porsche 906 Carrera 6, itmade its official debut at Daytona in 1966 andwas competing against cars of a much larger sizeand engine capacity. To its credit the car finished6th overall and 1st in its class. A unique feature ofthis model compared to the other two modelsreleased to date is the addition of two spotlightsfitted to the front.

BMW M1, white #6 (A1304), Procar 1979Driven by Nelson Piquet, this is the 5th in theseries of M1s to date and is finished in whitewith blue and red diagonal stripes. On thebonnet of this car is a small logo of a well knowncigarette brand with the wording omitted, youknow, the one which begins with “Marl” andends in “boro”. Supplied with the model, in apacket stuck to the underside of the base marked“for adults only”, is a small decal for you toapply and fill in this void. ➳

6

Other models listed on the March flyer andothers on the April flyer are also now available:Ford GT40 Mk.II, blue #6 (A765), 24hr LeMans 1966Driven by Lucien Bianchi and Mario Andretti,the car qualified in 12th place but retired fromthe race after 97 laps due to problems with thehead gasket. Another eye catching model withthe contrast of the blue paint and yellow valanceagainst the gold wheels.

Porsche 934, pink #70 (A936), 24hr LeMans 1981If Lady Penelope owned a racing car this wouldbe it. Painted in an attractive pink it certainlylooks a stunner and I think could prove to bevery popular. This all French privateer team,driven by Valentin Bertapelle, Thierry Perrierand Bernard Salam qualified the car in 52nd

position and finished the race 17th overall.Although they were classified 1st in their class(GT) they were in fact the only car from fourother entrants to finish.

Alfa 147 GTA Cup, red/yellow #16(A745), Cesky challenge cup 2004Driven by Jaromir Jirik. Another eye-catchinglivery finished off with yellow wheels.

Saleen S7R “Coronita” #2 (Fly 11), FIAGT championship 2003.Evo 2 lightweight racing seriesA very stunning looking car in bright yellow. It’sa shame this livery has been produced in theracing format and not as a fully detailedstandard model. I have not been able to find anyinformation on the race details, but it was drivenby Van de Poele, Konrad, Seiler and LechnerJnr.

WhatWhatWhatWhatWhat’s ne’s ne’s ne’s ne’s next?xt?xt?xt?xt?The remainder of the models listed on theMarch and April flyers should be available soon,some by the time you read this: -Marcos 600LM, blue (A2001), 24hr Le Mans1995. First of the anniversary collection.Team 13 “Team Brumos”, Porsche 911 and934, 24hr Daytona 1973 and 1977 respectively.

Porsche 917/10 “Martini” silver (A170),Interserie 1974.Dodge Viper GTS-R “Playstation 2” blue(A210), 24hr Le Mans 2002.Joest Porsche, blue (A2002), 24hr Le Mans 1996.Second of the anniversary collection.Mercedes-Benz Atego truck “Hasseroder”(Truck 37), FIA ETRC 1998Porsche 911 GT1 98 “Vaillant” green (Fly 114).Evo-3 racing series.

Schedule for MaySchedule for MaySchedule for MaySchedule for MaySchedule for MayFly have announced their line-up for May. Theyare as follows: -Porsche 911 GT1 evo, gold and black (A2003),Le Mans test car 1997. Third of the anniversarycollection.BMW 3.5 CSL, white (A690), 6hr Silverstone197?.Porsche Carrera 6, blue and yellow stripes(A1603), 12hr Sebring 1967.Renault 5 Turbo “Diac” blue and white (A1206)Monte Carlo rally 1984.BMW M3 E30 “Telefunken” white (A1701),Rally Costa Brava 1987.BMW M3 E30 “Camac” blue (E1701), Spa1988.Ford Capri RS Turbo “Banzai” white with redsunset stripes (Fly31).

Competition updateCompetition updateCompetition updateCompetition updateCompetition updateMany thanks to all the members who haveentered the Fly competition, set in last month’sJournal. At the time of writing there are lessthan 100 entries, ……well, less than a dozenactually! At the current rate my “Fly on thewall” consultant, “Buster” the rabbit, will havean easy job of picking the three winners. Thereis probably still time to get your entries in beforethe closing date of May 20th. Any bribes ofcarrot tops and broccoli are most welcome.

Just to remind you of the prizes on offercourtesy of Monarch Lines and GaugemasterControls; E903 Porsche 911 “Trece”, E1501Porsche Carrera 6 “Nuremberg special” andE651 BMW 3.5 CSL/Ferrari 365 GTB/4“Gaugemaster” twin set. ■

7May 2006

Judging by the number of variations that havebeen made, I think it is fair to surmise that

Scalextric have tapped into the success of the fullsize BMW Mini with their own Micro version.

Two more versions have now been releasedas part of a revamp of the ‘My First Scalextricset 1”. Out go the colour-coded Jaguar XJ220sand in comes a pair of the high-selling retroMinis in red and yellow. As before, the setconsists of a simple figure of eight with two legsto elevate part of the layout and all parts colour-coded to make things easy for the target users(my guess would be 3-5 year olds).

Whilst the Minis look ridiculously big whenalongside other Micro Scalextric cars, thethinking is that these two will, in all likelihood,only run as a pair as the parents considerstepping up to a larger Micro set or (ideally forHornby) even a 1/32nd scale set. I think that themarketing here is pretty clever, the set retails forthe same sort of money as sets with more trackbut the branding makes the difference. Whilstthe colour-coded track may not be everyone’scup of tea, I can easily imagine it succeeds (intandem with the colourful cars and packaging)in doing ‘exactly what is says on the tin’!

As with the Batman set reviewed last month,I feel that most sets could benefit with a couplemore straights. In the picture below I haveadded two 15 inch straights and the resultinglayout is a lot more interesting. The standardlayout will almost certainly be driven at onespeed by adults and children alike which maylead to boredom very quickly.

In the final analysis, if the set brings smallchildren into the hobby who would haveotherwise slipped through the net then that is tobe applauded. Some of those kids may beNSCC members in the future! HopefullyScalextric will now revamp the slightly bigger set2 (the one with F1 cars) to build on this. Maybethey could add a third set with colour-codedPeugeot 206s and a slightly bigger layout again.

Later this year there will be two furtherMicro sets released. ‘’Mazda Tuners” soundslike an attempt to tap into the fast and furious/drifting crazes. (Good choice as the third movie,titled The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, catersfor both and comes out next month). At the timeof going to print I couldn’t get confirmation ➳

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on what cars will be used, so time will tell if I’mright. If I am, Scalextric will have to aim highas Johnny Lightning already produced a lovelytuned RX7 in 2004.

The set I’m really looking forward to is‘’Micro A1GP GB vs France”. This series hashad a difficult first season, with one nationdominating proceedings and the organizersmaking poor marketing decisions at times, butthe basic premise is sound enough. Presumablypleased to be able to sell good looking openwheel cars without having to pay huge licensingfees, Scalextric have embraced the series with noless than a dozen 1/32nd scale cars plannedinitially. The UK and French cars will face offin an X2 set as well as a digital set, but the Microset is a very welcome addition, and the choice ofnations for these three sets is very canny.

At next month’s EAHORC race, the questto explore the boundaries of H:O scale willcontinue with a ‘fun’ race for cars made byAmerican cottage industry concern Wizzard. Ifthe fun race is popular and people want topursue it, then a class for this type of car will beadded sometime in the future. The Wizzard carsmay look superficially similar to other H:O cars,but they are a very different beast. As they arenot a toy the engineering tolerances used areprobably tighter but in any case the design istotally geared towards better performance (bethat speed, handling, durability or whatever).

The traction magnets may not be the superstrong ‘rare earth’ type as found on the MicroScalextric but they are a polymer mix and verylong and large. Presumably this gives the carssolid cornering abilities without cripplingstraight line speed. The motor magnets aremade from the same material but they sit muchcloser to the armature than you would find ona toy H:O car, which creates much higher RPMfrom the armature. The arm itself is not ‘hotted’but it is built to more exacting standards. As inmost H:O cars with separate bulkheads (asopposed to all-in-one open frame motors) thebrushes are accessible, but the Wizzard also hasthe means to adjust the tension upon them andthereby affect how tight or loose the motor runs.

As forcing the brushes tighter onto the commwill cause it to ‘coke up’ quicker and the brushesthemselves wear more quickly, the chassis layoutfacilitates easy removal and access to these items.Then too, the pick-up shoes and leaf springs arefactory set to keep the nose nice and low on itsvery thin front tyres, no tweaking needed as withtoy H:O cars. The guide pin has three possiblesettings and the gear mesh is factory set. Thecogs themselves are quite soft so wear will behigher but the all important mesh more sweet.All in all, every component has been thought ofas being on a very small racing car. The carscome in many different specs; the descriptionabove is for the most basic. I would say that itwill lap a typical H:O track 10-15% quickerthan a well sorted ‘normal’ toy-based racer.When you consider that it costs only £21.50 andis fully sorted without any additional workneeded, this is impressive. The only thing thatlets them down is the rather blobby Lexan body.Next month I will show you how even that canbe worked around with a little expense andeffort. ■

9May 2006

Racer Slot Car NewsRacer Slot Car NewsRacer Slot Car NewsRacer Slot Car NewsRacer Slot Car NewsBy Simon Moss

Since my last report in the March Journal,and by the time you read this, thereshould be two new releases available from

Racer. I say should, as the second Porsche 935K3 (RCR24) was due for release in early April,but has been delayed to late April. I have beenreliably informed though that it is imminent.This is the car that won the Daytona 24hr racein 1981, driven by Bob Garretson and BobbyRahal, race #9 in blue. This model differsslightly from the previously released 935 K3(RCR22) with visual differences being the frontgrille, air scoops and side pods.

The other model which is available as I writeis the Ferrari 412P “Scuderia Filipinetti”(RCR23). This is the second 412P in the seriesrepresenting this famous racing team. Apartfrom the livery differences there are also subtledifferences to the body shell. The earlier(RCR04) car has two small red lights on the roof

and a small windscreen wiper fairing on thebonnet, whereas the latter version has neither ofthese.

Both of the above new models have resinshells with a plastic chassis, Slot.It V12 side-winder motor and Slot.It wheels with resininserts.

Available soonAvailable soonAvailable soonAvailable soonAvailable soonDue for release by the end of May will be theDavid Piper Ferrari 412P (RCR25) mentionedin the March Journal. This is the car that Piperdrove with Richard Attwood at Kyalami in1968. Further details have now been releasedand goes to show the lengths to which Racer willgo to create an exact replica. There are manyunique features on this model compared to theother 412Ps in the series released to date. Theyare as follows: covered headlights, photo-etchedfront winglets, modified rear end vents, ➳

10

modified rear wheel arches, photo-etched rearspoiler (just like the Ford GT40 Mk.II) and anair hose coming out through the driver’swindow. Incidentally, the headlights are cast inwith the shell, so it will be impossible to modifythem, contrary to comments I have readrecently on Slot Forum. The photo included wastaken by Giacomo Grazioli of Amazingslot.comand further photos can be seen on the web site.

RRRRRound upound upound upound upound upLooking further up the release schedule, Racerhave announced two more models set for releasein the foreseeable future, although there are norelease dates available at the moment. Theyhave both been given catalogue referencenumbers and are listed below together with allthe other models released in recent months, ordue in the near future. The reference numbersquoted are that of the RTR (ready to race)version: -

RCR22 Porsche 935 K3 whiteLe Mans 24hr winner 1979

RCR23 Ferrari 412P Scuderia Filipinetti #7Monza 1000 km 1967

RCR24 Porsche 935 K3 blueDaytona 24hr winner 1981

RCR25 Ferrari 412P David Piper9hr Kyalami 1968

RCR26 Ferrari 330P Official teamLe Mans 24hr 1964

RCR27 Porsche 935 K3 Jagermeister 1980

Another model pictured on the Porsche 935release sheet, is an “Apple Computers” liveriedcar, but this has yet to be given a cataloguenumber. Also due in the forthcoming months isthe first of the racing kits mentioned in theMarch Journal. The first car to have thistreatment is the Ferrari 250LM and later in theyear a Ferrari 330 P4 will be available. Furtherinformation on these and others as it becomesavailable. ■

11May 2006

Kits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releases

By Phil Insull

Quite a bit of new stuff this month, hot newreleases being those from MRRC with

both the Chaparral 2F and the new Toyota GTOne available (thanks to MRRC and Pendlewho are arranging a test car for review). MRRChave a new “Monza” chassis for kit and scratchbuilders who want a bit more zip, but like mestill struggle when it comes to cutting andbending brass.

From Stateside come three great releasesfrom the masters of Trans-Am and Americana,Reinecke Motorsport, with delectable resin kitsof their AMC Maverick, and now branchinginto the world of stock cars with a 1965 ChevyImpala and a 1966 Chevelle. As ever these kitsare designed for people like me with basicmodelling skills, using a readily available donorchassis. They come with screens/glass andinterior, have excellent moulding quality anddetail and the finished result will be greatlooking additions to your Trans-Am and StockCar grids.

MMKMMKMMKMMKMMKOver the water in the other direction we havethe limited edition MMK France releases of the1961 DB Panhard, and the 1980 Rondeau FordMS379B in ready to race form only. Currentlyavailable in the U.K. through MRE, this is arare chance to get hold of two of France’s mostsuccessful Le Mans entries, with Jean Rondeaubeing the only man to win Le Mans in a carbearing his own name, co- driven that year by

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud. There is also confirmationthat they will be releasing a Lotus 11, a 1959Tojero-Jaguar, and a Bizzarini Le Mans,although the latter looks set to be available onlydirect from MMK in France.

CartrixCartrixCartrixCartrixCartrixCartrix have released the next of their classicseries, this time the Ferrari 555 Supersqualo asdriven by Castelotti in 1955 and, as per theearlier releases, comes on a Perspex plinth,wrapped in a printed cloth, within a very nicepresentation tin.

Having tried it at Wolverhampton it seemsto go very well and should be a serious rival fortheir earlier Mercedes W196, and Maserati250F. ➳

MMK DB PMMK DB PMMK DB PMMK DB PMMK DB Panharanharanharanharanharddddd

MMK Rondeau MS79MMK Rondeau MS79MMK Rondeau MS79MMK Rondeau MS79MMK Rondeau MS79

CarCarCarCarCartrix Ftrix Ftrix Ftrix Ftrix Ferrerrerrerrerrari 555 Supersqualoari 555 Supersqualoari 555 Supersqualoari 555 Supersqualoari 555 Supersqualo

12

Other makOther makOther makOther makOther makesesesesesAuto Art have added a Lamborghini DiabloGTR to their 1/32nd line up, and although itseems most of the first production batch hasgone straight to the States, they should havestarted filtering through to the U.K. by the timeyou read this. In similar vein the Kouros SauberMercedes from Slot.It should have made it tothe U.K. by now and pre-release pictures of theBrun Motorsport Hydro Aluminium sponsoredPorsche 962 and the BP sponsored Lancia LC2have been spotted so they shouldn’t be manyweeks away.

TTTTTakarakarakarakarakara – Nissan 350Z Calsonica – Nissan 350Z Calsonica – Nissan 350Z Calsonica – Nissan 350Z Calsonica – Nissan 350Z Calsonic

TTTTTakarakarakarakarakara – Nissan 350Z Xanavia – Nissan 350Z Xanavia – Nissan 350Z Xanavia – Nissan 350Z Xanavia – Nissan 350Z Xanavi

Finally while I’m sure they will be coveredwhen Scalextric release them, the TakaraQuattrox versions of the JGTC cars have foundtheir way to the UK courtesy of Slot City. Theseare great looking cars and I believe they havesold out already. As I understand it the onlydifference between the Takara versions and theScalextric versions to follow is the packaging,which on the Japanese version include a gridbabe figure in the correct outfit as they wouldappear in Japan. ■

13May 2006

Having built a rally track in my loft (seeNSCC Journal August 2005) usingScalextric and SCX track parts, I

wanted to do something more realistic so anMDF routed track was the next logical step.Building with MDF gives you the opportunity toeliminate the border between the track and thelandscape. As I planned a desert track that isexactly what I needed.

TTTTTest trackest trackest trackest trackest trackBefore I started with the Dakar track, I made avery small test track with narrow hairpins. I soondiscovered that the inner curve of the Scalextrictrack is the absolute limit for smooth passage ofthe car so the building of this test track was veryuseful for me. It taught me to get a feeling of thepossibilities of MDF and copper tape.

DakDakDakDakDakar trackar trackar trackar trackar trackI started with a base board of 2.44mtr x 0.9mtr.The length of the track is about 10mtr in theshape of a figure eight with one crossing.Building my own MDF track gave me a lot offun; a smaller track doesn’t mean less pleasure.To create some exciting passages for the cars ismore important.Storing the track vertically against the wall is asolution if you are short of space; I made mineportable on wheels.

The layout is built around a hilly landscape,with steep and narrow passes and the challengeis to master the gravel roads covered with sandand rocks. The use of only 8mm thickness ofMDF makes the twisting on the steep bendspossible. The roads are very bad in Africa so,with a chisel, I cut pieces of the track surface toget it rough. Making the holes not too deepprevents rear axle damage and tyre wear.

Real sand would destroy the running partsof the cars in no time so I looked for substitutematerials to imitate the sand of the African

desert. The sawdust from the MDF mixed withsome grit from the model train shop gives a nicedesert look. After painting, the mix is sprinkledinto the still wet paint. When it is dry, theredundant mix is removed with a vacuumcleaner. With a brush you can choose betweena rocky and a sandy surface. If you remove a lotof grit, you get the rocks on the surface.

African villageA small village with a well accents the Africancharacter. The well contains a pulley made froman old rear axle and two water bags on a rope,made from rubber bicycle tyre plaster.

A streamlet out of the rocks runs across theroad in the direction of the village and ends ina small lake ahead of the first cottage. Beforereaching the village, you have to pass a narrowwooden bridge across the stream. The bridge iscut out from the MDF track with a fine saw andchisels.

The local inhabitants are modified secondhand Scalextric figures purchased at the MiltonKeynes swapmeet. If you look closer, you canrecognise the mechanic with the oil can, thesitting lady or the photographer. The thatchedcottages and huts are made of plaster and theroofs are sewed of sisal. Some pieces of theroofing lie on the ground.

With some patience and skill, you can alsocreate your own ideas into reality on your hometrack. So why wait any longer? Have some funbuilding your own track! I hope to see your ideasin future issues of the NSCC Journal.

Action timeAction timeAction timeAction timeAction timeOnce a year it is action time with the DakarRally traversing the deserts of north-westernAfrica. It is one of the last real adventures inthese modern times.So come along and join the rally raid cars on thehome track!

Dutch DakDutch DakDutch DakDutch DakDutch Dakar trackar trackar trackar trackar trackBy Hub Habets

14

The ovThe ovThe ovThe ovThe overererererall view of the deserall view of the deserall view of the deserall view of the deserall view of the desert trt trt trt trt track.ack.ack.ack.ack.

YYYYYou can rou can rou can rou can rou can recognise the shape of an eight.ecognise the shape of an eight.ecognise the shape of an eight.ecognise the shape of an eight.ecognise the shape of an eight.

In front you see the small African village with the well.In front you see the small African village with the well.In front you see the small African village with the well.In front you see the small African village with the well.In front you see the small African village with the well.

WWWWWater is strater is strater is strater is strater is streaming from alongside the road undereaming from alongside the road undereaming from alongside the road undereaming from alongside the road undereaming from alongside the road under

the wooden bridge into a little lake on the borthe wooden bridge into a little lake on the borthe wooden bridge into a little lake on the borthe wooden bridge into a little lake on the borthe wooden bridge into a little lake on the border of the villageder of the villageder of the villageder of the villageder of the village

15

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) A lonely touare) A lonely touare) A lonely touare) A lonely touare) A lonely touareg watches the action ineg watches the action ineg watches the action ineg watches the action ineg watches the action in

the mountainsthe mountainsthe mountainsthe mountainsthe mountains.....(Below) Driving alongside the str(Below) Driving alongside the str(Below) Driving alongside the str(Below) Driving alongside the str(Below) Driving alongside the streamlet on theeamlet on theeamlet on theeamlet on theeamlet on the

mountain road.mountain road.mountain road.mountain road.mountain road.

16

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) A Fe) A Fe) A Fe) A Fe) A Fororororord Ranger is drivd Ranger is drivd Ranger is drivd Ranger is drivd Ranger is driven on the limit onen on the limit onen on the limit onen on the limit onen on the limit on

the narrow rough mountain road to the village.the narrow rough mountain road to the village.the narrow rough mountain road to the village.the narrow rough mountain road to the village.the narrow rough mountain road to the village.

(Below) The speedy F (Below) The speedy F (Below) The speedy F (Below) The speedy F (Below) The speedy Fororororord Ranger rd Ranger rd Ranger rd Ranger rd Ranger reaches theeaches theeaches theeaches theeaches the

small village in the middle of the desersmall village in the middle of the desersmall village in the middle of the desersmall village in the middle of the desersmall village in the middle of the desert.t.t.t.t.

17

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) The Pe) The Pe) The Pe) The Pe) The Pajero enters the village by crossingajero enters the village by crossingajero enters the village by crossingajero enters the village by crossingajero enters the village by crossing

the bridge on thrthe bridge on thrthe bridge on thrthe bridge on thrthe bridge on three wheelsee wheelsee wheelsee wheelsee wheels. The people ar. The people ar. The people ar. The people ar. The people areeeee

watching and waving to the competitorswatching and waving to the competitorswatching and waving to the competitorswatching and waving to the competitorswatching and waving to the competitors..... (Below) Local inhabitants made from Scalextric(Below) Local inhabitants made from Scalextric(Below) Local inhabitants made from Scalextric(Below) Local inhabitants made from Scalextric(Below) Local inhabitants made from Scalextric

figurfigurfigurfigurfigures at the well. On the left some pieces of thees at the well. On the left some pieces of thees at the well. On the left some pieces of thees at the well. On the left some pieces of thees at the well. On the left some pieces of the

roofing, made from sisal.roofing, made from sisal.roofing, made from sisal.roofing, made from sisal.roofing, made from sisal.

18

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) There) There) There) There) There is a steep incline after the narrowe is a steep incline after the narrowe is a steep incline after the narrowe is a steep incline after the narrowe is a steep incline after the narrow

left handerleft handerleft handerleft handerleft hander. The VW T. The VW T. The VW T. The VW T. The VW Touarouarouarouarouareg exploits its excellenteg exploits its excellenteg exploits its excellenteg exploits its excellenteg exploits its excellent

road holding in these difficult cirroad holding in these difficult cirroad holding in these difficult cirroad holding in these difficult cirroad holding in these difficult circumstancescumstancescumstancescumstancescumstances.....

(Below) On the other side of the tr(Below) On the other side of the tr(Below) On the other side of the tr(Below) On the other side of the tr(Below) On the other side of the track, theack, theack, theack, theack, the

TTTTTouarouarouarouarouareg sweeps the tail out, coming down aroundeg sweeps the tail out, coming down aroundeg sweeps the tail out, coming down aroundeg sweeps the tail out, coming down aroundeg sweeps the tail out, coming down around

the rocksthe rocksthe rocksthe rocksthe rocks.....

19

The Southend Slot Racing Club hasrecently started to hold monthlyvintage slot-car meetings as a “club

within a club”. A small but growing band ofdedicated vintage slot-car racers enjoy nursingtheir forty year old cars around the track justlong enough to complete a race distance beforethe motors go up in smoke, a wheel falls off orthey suffer terminal pinion slip.

All the cars for this club must be original1960s RTR or built from 1960s parts so when aGrand Prix class was proposed I decided to puttogether a couple of simple cars using bodyshellsfrom Charlie Fitzpatrick’s “Classic” range offibreglass shells.

Charlie produced magnificent pre ECRAF1 bodyshells during the 1960s and still sells thisrange today. Two of my favourite cars from thisera are the 1967 Lotus 49 and Ferrari 312.

I decided to build these “out of the box”which basically means just painting them tobring out the quality of the moulded detail inthe fibreglass shell.

I firstly lightly smoothed the bodyshell withvery fine wet and dry in readiness for paintingand offered up the bodyshell to the chassis,marked it in pencil where the axles will comeand then Dremeled these areas with a cuttingtool until it fitted.

As the 1960s F1 cars were very slim Idecided to use the old Airfix slim-line chassis,these are not difficult to pick up at swapmeets oron eBay.

Once happy with the fit I made up a smallplastic block to mount the shell to the chassisthrough the original mounting screw holes inthe Airfix steering unit and fixed this in placewith a strong two part epoxy adhesive.

I sprayed the shells with Halfords primerand a Volkswagen Red for the Ferrari and I firstsprayed the Lotus Fiat Broom Yellow thenmasked the stripe area and sprayed a secondcoat of Ford Laurel Green.

Classic Fibreglass 1960sClassic Fibreglass 1960sClassic Fibreglass 1960sClassic Fibreglass 1960sClassic Fibreglass 1960sGrand Prix CarsGrand Prix CarsGrand Prix CarsGrand Prix CarsGrand Prix Cars

By David Lawson

20

Thanks to the wide range of decals availablefrom Pattos in Australia and MRE in the UK it’snot difficult to finish these shells off to a goodstandard, I chose the race numbers for ChrisAmon’s third place Monaco GP car and JimClark’s British GP winner.

The only extra detailing I added was thedrivers heads from the Maxi-Models range,small roll over bars, the external water pipe andthe exhaust tail pipes on the Lotus. The rest ofthe finish is achieved simply by painting.

So there you have it, vintage slot-cars builtfor less than the cost of many new releasesavailable today. On track these are great funwith lots of wheelspin and oversteer from the 40year-old tyres but Ortmann do replacements for“tired tyres” so I will fit these to the cars for theclub racing. ■

The parts for these cars can be obtained from;

Classic shells from www.abslotsport.com

Patto Decals from www.pattosplace.com

MRE decals from www.mre.co.uk

Ortmann tyres from www.rsslotracing.com

21

Club carClub carClub carClub carClub car, part one..., part one..., part one..., part one..., part one...

Supplied with this issue of the NSCCJournal is an order form for the exclusive2006 NSCC club car made by Ninco.

Only 500 cars of this design are being producedand they can only be purchased by NSCC clubmembers. In case you haven’t worked out fromlast month’s taster, the model chosen for the clubis the very well-liked Renault Mégane GT. Thisis the all-new design Mégane GT that has so farbeen released in the guise of a Show Car and inthree race liveries; Bribus, Cesam and Koni.

Although less than six months old, it has alreadyproved highly popular among racers and manyclubs have chosen to include a “MéganeTrophy” series. This really is a stunning car withthe Trophy series offering a very wide range ofliveries to choose from. However, if you want tostand out from the crowd at a race meeting, thisone is unlike any other. The decoration ispredominantly silver with yellow bonnet, roofand tailgate panels. The bonnet displays theNSCC logo and the car carries the number “06”to commemorate the year of release. Powered byan NC-6 “Crusher” motor, the NSCC Mégane

22

GT is sure to leave the rest of the pack behind.All cars will be issued with a certificate to showit as one of only 500 produced solely for theNSCC.

Feedback from members has been verypositive indicating that these cars are unlikely tobe available for very long. Closing date forapplications is 30th June. In the event of over-subscription a draw will be held. Cars will beavailable for collection at three events duringSeptember and October, namely the NSCC/Toyota Event at Epsom and the Milton Keynesand Dudley swapmeets. For those members whoplace an order but are unable to collect from anyof these events, your cars will be posted byspecial delivery in November. Please, please,please read the form carefully and fill out ALLrelevant sections before posting to:

P. T. Solari,PO Box 3745,

LondonSE6 1AW.

Please also ensure the correct amount isentered, particularly if you are ordering fromoutside the UK. Payment details are clearlylisted on the order form but remember that ifsending cheques or Postal Orders, they must bemade out to “The NSCC”. Orders will only beprocessed once payment has been received andcleared by our bank. So, for the best chance ofsecuring one of these exclusive NSCC/Nincocars, I suggest you fill out the form as soon as youhave finished reading the rest of Ninco News...

Club carClub carClub carClub carClub car, part two..., part two..., part two..., part two..., part two...By pure coincidence, Club Ninco has justannounced their own club car exclusively forClub Ninco members. Registering with the clubcan be made via the internet at www.ninco.comand membership is free! This new club carfollows the No.1 Subaru (50293) and No.2 NSX(50372), both of which have completely sold out.Car No.3 (50411) is a special Ninco decorationof the new Mosler and can only be ordered on-line through Club Ninco (just one car per member).To ensure it can keep up with the NSCCMégane GT, it is also fitted with an NC-6Crusher motor.

RallySlot TRallySlot TRallySlot TRallySlot TRallySlot T-----shirtshirtshirtshirtshirtA special T-shirt offered to visitors of the 14th

Ninco RallySlot can now be purchased throughthe members’ area of the Ninco website. In red(of course) it features the RallySlot motif on thechest and is available in five sizes ranging fromS to XXL. Go on, get noticed this summer!

Get some ZedsGet some ZedsGet some ZedsGet some ZedsGet some ZedsMore news of the totally new Nissan 350Z‘Fairlady’; the first two liveries released by Nincoare based on cars that competed during the2005 JGTC Super GT series. The first (50417)is the No.12 “Calsonic” sponsored car of TeamImpul driven by Benoit Treluyer of France andYuji Ide of Japan. If the second of the twodrivers sounds familiar, it’s because this is thevery same person making his mark in thecurrent F1 championship. After more than 10years competing in F3 and JGTC, Yuji Ide hasturned his attention to Formula One, winning aseat with the new Super Aguri F1 team. TheCalsonic car is finished in a high-gloss mid-bluewith bright white 6-spoke Speedline hubs.

The second ‘Fairlady’ replicates that of theNismo Nissan Motorsports International Team(50422). Sponsored by satellite navigationsystem specialists “Xanavi”, this GT car has aneye-catching red and silver livery and carriesrace number 1. The Ninco car does not comefitted with ‘sat-nav’ but does have an NC-5Speeder motor fitted in place of the 3-litre V6twin-turbo engine found in the full size race car.

OK, now you can fill out and post off yourNSCC Club Car order form! ■

23May 2006

Well, after a two page report last monthand no complaints, here is anothercouple with my take on the eBay

market place and some recent prices.Seasoned campaigners in the eBay selling

game tell me that this is the time of year whensales start to drop off and prices weaken and thismonth has, I feel, echoed this view. (Incidentally,having never ventured into the eBay sellinggame myself, I cannot back this theory otherthan but judge from a buyer’s point of view.)Why this view?

Well, with again some 10,000+ live slot-carlistings on the UK site alone for most of themonth, helped again by another cheap 15plisting day, there seems to be too many items forpeople to buy and perhaps view. Of these listingsaround two thirds have, or are only, BIN (Buy ItNow) prices. Consequently there are bargains tobe had with, for example, last month’s £9Scalextric ex set Scoobys only fetching arounda fiver in UK auction style listings at times fromdifferent sellers, and there was still change froma tenner on the odd MB MotoGP bike evenallowing for £3 P&P.

Those cars not so commonly seen werefetching lower amounts as well at times which Ifound to my surprise when, only really biddingto watch an item, I found myself getting outbidby 50p on a 6 wheel UFO truck complete withwing for less than £15. A fellow memberthought they had got a bargain having just gotone for £25 or so! Part of this trend may be dueto the way listings are going, with more than20% finishing on a Sunday, particularly in theevening. This may be down to the fact sellersthink they are going to get more people looking,and thus potentially a better price at this time,which generally is probably true.

Also increasingly a number of sellers appearto be using eBay as their shop front for selling

their stock rather than having their owndedicated web store that would need moremaintenance.

One item of particular interest to the avidScalextric collector that perhaps did not do aswell for the seller based on this “Sunday” sellingtheory was a Scalextric Audi A4 South ParkLivery complete with mock up blister packagingthat fetched some £180. This car is actuallyillustrated on page 155 of Gillham’s 6th Editionbook and only a couple are believed to exist. Thenew owner gave me permission to identify himas I know not everyone lets on to their partnersabout all the cars they buy, and it is easy to forgetsometimes how many cars we buy isn’t it?(Think I can sense a few smiles there maybe?)Anyway thank you Mr. Chairman!

There are still some serious big moneypurchases out there and potential ones! I amsure some of you have had a look, following lastmonth’s recommendation, at “Geronimo’s”auctions. For those that haven’t, one of his starauctions this month was a white Scalextric SeatTC 600 from 1990. Underpan was white alongwith the interior and many parts were still on thesprues. Described as “the big one” mint boxedand a one off, the price of £4000 was certainlybig and failed to attract any bids. I hope to do abit of background write up on this seller in afuture issue as, according to one member whocontacted me, he is a genuine seller all be it heknows how to charge!

Slot.It bucking the trend?Slot.It bucking the trend?Slot.It bucking the trend?Slot.It bucking the trend?Slot.It bucking the trend?Onto my eBay radar this month falls some ofthe offerings of Slot.It cars, as these seem to bebucking the downward price trend and theydon’t necessarily get a lot of coverage in theJournal. It has been increasingly difficult to pickup cars for less than £30 this past month or soand this is perhaps down to the enthusiastic ➳

24

support generally the cars get on the likes of SlotForum. Maurizio (Slot.It main man) seems tohave his finger on the pulse of what punters areafter and more people are appreciating this andpushing up prices, particularly for early Audisnamely SIA01a/eu and SIA01b/eu. I am led tobelieve that only the first two models had “madein the EU” on the chassis and a plastic displayinsert (like Fly) before being made in Chinaunder the same model number as well. So beaware as to what you are buying as it was these“eu” models that were chased up to £52 for the#9 car and £87.01 for the #10 model. Otherauctions for SICA01a & b ended at £41 and aSICA01d press presentation £75! (The picturefor this showed both side views of the car with9 on one side and 10 on the other which iscorrect for this model but perhaps the buyer wasthinking it was a unique car maybe?). Theyellow Limited Newman #7 rarely seen thesedays on eBay also attracted heavy bidding, goingfor £89 on US eBay, though a more modest 58EUR on the German site for a lightly usedmodel.

Collections of cars continue to appear witha set of Fly UK LE Gaugemaster cars: Marcos,Viper, Lola, Porsches and Panoz finding buyersin the range £60 - £75. The Capri fetched “topdollar” at £83 and the Lister bombed out at£38. There has been some more Scalextricchrome prize/presentation/promo modelsappearing following on from the chrome BMWMinis reported last month. These includedWalter Wolf F1 Car gold prize car Mint £36,Gold plated Porsche 911 Lights RARE!! £38,Datsun 240Z silver prize car mint boxed£127.55 and Ford Escort Mexico silver Prize carMint £128. There was no information on theprovenance other than they were described as70s race championship cars. Perhaps with thisappeal, and also of the NSCC Minis from lastyear, the club should consider getting a limitededition run of chromed cars done linked in withthe Toyota Rally Championship event later inthe year and use some of these models for clubfund-raising via eBay!

There have still been Scalextric 2006 RangePresentation Maseratis appearing for sale butprices have been falling to just over the £100mark and one as low as £71. This was from anew seller and illustrated the need for attentionto description as it was described only as aScalextric Maserati Coupe Cambiocorsa. I didnot spot that myself till it had finished but I amsure “fishmakin” was pleased with his purchase!

A few prices to finish then with descriptionsas listed:Carrera Evolution Evo Bentley Chrom SpecialEdition Neu (Germany) 706 EURTyrrell P-34 Banco Occidental Original SinAleron (Spain) 388 EURScalextric Hill Climb/Dragster track 1960’s£51Scalextric carsx3 MK 1 Escort/Turtle/F1£17.10 (good condition, white escort nobumpers, F1 Ferrari)Scalextric C301 Roadtrain – Saudia Leyland –Red cab £31 (VGC & chrome)Scalextric flood lights for night time races £62(6 Subbuteo floodlight towers no bases. At thesame time as this, a whole set of Subbuteo teamsand a couple of complete lights went for £10.50so look in the right place if you are after these!)Vintage Scalextric 007 James Bond set emptybox £120 (outer box, no inner, complete butwell worn and faded).Scalextric Racer Issue 1. Several auctionsincluding copies 2 - 5 onwards fetched pricesbetween £12.50 and £22.50Large Scalextric Nascar Slot Car Collection£825.76 (37 virtually all MB or test laps only).

Lastly, the description I liked this monthwithout using rare, which incidentally was usedin over 500 UK listings, was “F1 but differentand far less COMMON.” This turned out to bea Scalextric blue Omega F1 described as newunboxed that went for £7.50.

I have had a suggestion that it may be goodto put a contact email in for me so please usestevelangford66@googlemail.com if you haveany info or suggestions for this column. (Don’twant my work one overloaded!) ■

25May 2006

TTTTTrack building workingrack building workingrack building workingrack building workingrack building workingdays in Uxbridgedays in Uxbridgedays in Uxbridgedays in Uxbridgedays in Uxbridge

Help is required building, wiring, testing anddecorating the hill climb slot track and otheritems for Slot Rally GB. Volunteers should bringany tools that they think may be of use and anyscenic material, figures, paints etc that they mayhave to spare. All help will be most appreciated.

The relevant dates are:Sat 20th May

Sat/Sun 10th/11th JuneSat 17th June

The work is being carried out at:First4 Exhibitions LtdUnit 2/3 FairthorpeDenham Green Lane

Denham GreenUB9 5LA

Please contact Gareth Jex on 01252 720 001during working hours with any offers of help. Afully kitted workshop with materials is available.On the day call Gareth’s mobile 07710 727 001if you get lost. Helpers will get free entry to SlotRally GB.

ForceForceForceForceForce-fed-fed-fed-fed-fed“To return - yet again - to the subject of the tasteof electricity: ‘When I was younger, my sisterwould annoy my brother and me. One day, tomake her go away, we told her to put her tongueon the Scalextric track,’ begins Dan Darcy. Youcan see where this is going, can’t you? ‘Mybrother turned it on and I pressed my handthrottle. She was fine, up to the point where weapplied three-quarter power. When we got tofull power she started to scream and ended upwith two black lines down her tongue.’

Licking a Scalextric track is ill-advised. Ifonly more people knew this, one feels thatinjuries in the home would fall dramatically.”

‘Computing’ magazine, March 2006Submitted by Alan Slade

Christmas prizesChristmas prizesChristmas prizesChristmas prizesChristmas prizesAll the prizes for the Christmas competitionhave now been posted. If anybody has notreceived theirs yet could they let me know.

Brian

EJ’s HobbiesEJ’s HobbiesEJ’s HobbiesEJ’s HobbiesEJ’s HobbiesFollowing Pete Emery’s article in the Februaryissue about building an Indy Roadster I havereceived a catalogue from EJ’S Hobbies. Edspecialises in “new, old stock” slot-car parts andkits and his list of stock is simply enormous.

If you need spare bits for 60s slot-cars thenhave a look at his website: www.ejshobbies.comHis prices are not cheap but then neither is eBayfor this sort of vintage stuff.

Brian

26

Sir,Following the recent review of the Slot.ItMercedes C9 (Newsletter number 287 Feb2006) I decided to look into purchasing a Slot.Itcar for my collection.

After some careful consideration and despitethe great review of the C9 I decided on theNissan R390 GT1 - Le Mans 1987. Mainly onthe colour scheme and the powerful lines. Iordered it from Scale Models and it wasdelivered within 5 days. Upon removing it fromthe packaging and the box I was not dis-appointed. I loved their attention to detail andthe ventilation holes in the cabin window werea great touch. I was also impressed with thedetail on the drivers helmet. You almost wonderwhat it would be like to drive one of these cars....

After taking it apart to examine the runninggear etc I decided that from now on I wouldbuy Slot.It spares for all my cars to tune up andexperiment with. I was impressed with thequality and that they can be used on most makesof slot-car. This is not an in depth review just aletter to say thanks for bringing to my attentionthe Slot.It range of cars. I have looked at themin the past but have been put off by the price.This is the first time I have paid over £30 for aslot car but I would encourage other membersto take a closer look at them.

My only real criticism would be the limitedrange, but I am certainly going to purchase somemore in the future, budget permitting, I have

not had a chance to try it out yet as I do not havea permanent layout, but I will have to constructsomething challenging.

Finally I would like to say thanks to Archie,the editorial cat, for picking me as one of theChristmas competition winners - who said blackcats were unlucky? I hope the editor cleaned upthe kitchen afterwards.Thanks for a great magazine and keep up thegood work.

I am, yours etc,Graham Smith (the other one)..............................................................................

Sir,I’m visiting Barcelona in June and am told thePalau slot car shop is well worth a visit.I would appreciate it if any members who haveinformation about this shop’s location or anemail address (can’t find on web?) could get intouch. My email adress is: t_frewin@hotmail.comI will be staying in the Rambles area.

Also, for those who know me, the bulk of mycollection has now been sold off although I stillhave 40-50 cars to fondle/fiddle with when theurge takes.

I am, yours etc,Tony Frewin

27May 2006

Sir,With reference to Dave Smith’s letter (Februaryissue). “Poor old Graeme Thoburn…”. Well theonly trouble I had with my car was getting tyresto stay on the rim, which was sorted out by usinga set of Slot-it F1s (thanks again Marc).

Someone kindly lent Meg a car, which sheused and gained 3rd position, my car being 1st allday. Late on the BBC decided they would like tore-run the top six positions. By this time mostpeople had departed so I lent Meg my car andshe recorded a slightly faster time than mine.Contrary to being embarrassed by my daughter(or indeed anyone else), I was in fact very pleasedthat a young, pretty blonde girl would feature onprime time TV instead of me. It’s unfortunatethat the BBC gave the impression that she wasusing a “white Porsche thingy” instead of aRenault F1 to set the fastest time.

After the event, James May kindly signed the“record holding car” and it now takes pride ofplace on a shelf at GT Raceway in Essex.

I hope this clarifies things once and for alland I would like to take this opportunity to invitethe “good old lads at Larkfield” to enter theBritish GP (sponsored by Hornby) which takesplace in Essex on the 15th\16th July

I am, yours etc,Graeme Thoburn.

Sir,Ebay, it’s a strange beast, as Steve Langford’sarticles have shown. But I’ve found out thereseems to be a little bit more of a reason why hetook on this position...read on and see what youthink.

I recently listed four unboxed used cars,nothing spectacular; these auctions endedSunday April 9th. Personally I thought the prizeitem was an early un-marked Hornby Subaru inthe Norisbank, and NET orange and blue livery.All four items sold, three going abroad, one toGermany, one to Norway, and a Ninco FerrariF50 in the ‘Sponsor’ livery going to France for£31 (cost me £10 from Phil Smith at OrpingtonSeptember last year). Thank you very much MrFrenchman.

Well, it seems Steve uses his column to justifyhours of trawling Ebay; I have no idea if he hasa partner or not, but I can easily imagine himcalling out to his other half, “I’m just checkingEbay for my column in the magazine dear. If Idon’t get it to Brian on time he gets upset”,whilst he’s putting bids on everything thatcatches his eye. Last week this included myprized Subaru for the hugely inflated price of£10.50. Then just to add insult to injury, hesends me an email asking if this is one for the‘Ebay bargains’ section of his report! It’s a goodjob I don’t take life too seriously and let thingslike this get to me, else I could end up becomingbitter and twisted.Regards from the Happy Valley home for thementally suspect.

I am, yours etc,Steve Baker.

28

Reading our Journal over a few years hasmade me realise that there are some ofus who love collecting cars and enjoying

them as beautiful replicas of the real things. Forothers it is buying (or building) and tuning carsin order to race them against others. Finally, forothers still, a lot of the pleasure is in making acircuit which looks really realistic, whether forracing or displaying cars to their best advantage.We have probably all seen, or at least seenpictures of, some of the fantastic ‘permanent’circuits that some skilful slot-racers make. Mostof us are, I guess, a mixture of two or three ofthese preferences with the percentages varying.The purpose of this article is to invite readers togive some feedback about their own preferenceson each of these for a reason that will becomeclear.

This all began when I introduced my son(then aged about 7, now 12) to Scalextric. Aftera while it became clear that he didn’t just like torace but also to make up scenes (usually crashscenes – as seen on TV F1 coverage!) This ledme into making some crude attempts at graveltraps out of polystyrene for the bends andbuying more of the commercially available add-ons (‘tyre’ walls, borders, etc.)

I was further inspired by my other interest -miniature war-gaming. For this I was makingscenery for battles and looking at what otherwar-gamers are doing in making flexible sceneryso as to be able to change the terrain for differentbattles. This used some of the techniques frommodel railway scenery making. At this point itoccurred to me that there was kind of hierarchy.Model railways = really beautiful scenery butpermanent and inflexible. Miniature war-gaming = less realism in the look but moreflexible. Slot racing = very flexible but not verymuch emphasis on a realistic look at all - withthe notable exception of those who have the

time, skill and space to make one of thosegorgeous permanent circuits! I knew that I didn’thave the skills to make one of those but I alsorealised that, if I did, I would want to be able tochange the circuit from time to time (i.e. to makewhat I call semi-permanent circuits). I thenbegan to wonder whether it might be possible tobring something of the emphasis on the look ofthe whole thing from miniature war-gaming intomy circuits while retaining the flexibility tochange them.

That idea floated around for a while,without going very far, until my son (remarkablyto me) began to badger me about turning someof our ideas into a small business. To be frank,our early versions were too crude and too fragileto consider this but over the last couple of yearsI have continued to explore the possibilities. Wehave now arrived at a point where I think itwould be possible to produce and market someaccessories which would make our circuits looksignificantly more realistic while retaining theability to change them from time to time. Therewould be ‘grass’ borders, rubber tyre walls andcovers, safety fencing etc but, hopefully, lookingrather more realistic than those currentlyavailable. ‘Gravel’ traps, run-off zones, andpossibly spectator embankments might follow.These could be built into a permanent circuit,could transform a semi-permanent one or evenadd a lot to an up and down in a day circuit. Thephotos within this article show some of the kindof things we would like to make available. (Fenceclipped on behind armco, ‘racing line’ bordersand the CAD picture of the tyre wall); they dolook a lot better in colour. See them on our web-site www.slottrackscenics.co.uk.

They would clip together and to the trackjust as the current ones do and we think wewould be able to produce them at prices thatwould be only a little more than what is

TTTTTowards more realisticowards more realisticowards more realisticowards more realisticowards more realisticcircuits! – or not?circuits! – or not?circuits! – or not?circuits! – or not?circuits! – or not?

By David Jessett

29May 2006

currently available. To manage that howeverwill require a significant investment in toolingand the viability would depend on how big themarket is, hence my request for feedback.

We took a questionnaire as well as some ofour prototypes to the very enjoyable LondonInternational Slot Car Show at Orpington inApril. The results were very interesting, not justin terms of our particular point of view but alsoin terms of the kinds of cars people prefer torace and the percentages of people who havebought into digital so far, etc. From that point ofview I would be delighted to hear from any ofyou whether you are bothered about how thecircuit looks or not, but especially if you are.

So please answer the following questions.E-mail your answers to:david@jessetts.freeserve.co.uk or write to:David Jessett,2 Church Lane,Barford,Warwick,CV35 8ES

1. What type of cars do you like racing/collecting? (Name all types)

2. Is your circuit - permanent, semi-permanentor up and down in a day?

3. Do you have a digital circuit? Yes or no?

4. How interested are you - in racing, collectingcars, the look of the circuit?(Give a number 1 – 6 for each, where 1 =minimal interest and 6 = strong interest.)

5. Which of these items would you like to beavailable? Grass effect borders, tyre walls, graveltraps, run-off zones, fencing? Anything else? Justname all that interest you.

All I need is something like this:1. F1, Endurance, Bikes2. Semi-permanent.3. Yes4. Racing 2, Collecting cars 6, The look of thecircuit 55. AllIf you want to make any other comments theywould be most welcome.

If anyone else is interested in the resultsplease mention this and I will let you know aboutthem when they are available. I feel a bit cheekyasking for your help with this and probablywould not have written if a member of thecommittee had not suggested it. However, ifthere are a significant number of you who shareour interest in great looking circuits it may proveto be beneficial for you and may save me fromlaunching into something that people don’twant! Thanks in advance to all who respond. ■

30

I love many forms of Motorsport and, as achild, I loved speedway bikes; I then becamehooked on cars both real size and slot, but

my most enduring love is for rallying, which Ihave enjoyed for thirty years. One of the firstgreat rally slot-cars I remember getting back inthe 1980s was the Scalextric version of the AudiQuattro (yes I’ve still got it) with its innovative(back then) four wheel drive. Over the years slot-cars have become more detailed and betterfinished but apart from the SCX/Miticosrelivery no one has revisited the Audi Quattrountil now. I am indebted to U.K. Team Slotimporters Classicslot Limited for providing mewith one of the first batch of this new AudiQuattro. Team Slot have a long history ofproducing rally slot-cars in both resin and plasticand have taken us back to the early 80s with this,the newest addition to their plastic bodied range.

The Audi Quattro will always go down inhistory for two reasons: firstly it was the firstfour-wheel drive, turbo charged car to win aWorld Championship event, and secondly it wasthe car driven by the only lady ever to win World

Championship rallies, Michelle Mouton. Theoriginal Quattro scored 11 wins in the 1981-82World Rally Championship and provided Audiwith the manufacturer’s title in 1982. Four ofthose wins came from Ms Mouton - these beingSan Remo in 1981, followed by Portugal, theAcropolis, and Brazil in 1982 and saw Michellefinish runner up in the World Drivers Title toWalter Rhorl. Strangely the Teamslot box callsthis car the Quattro A1 version, which didn’trun until 1983 and then only until mid-seasonwhen it was replaced by the A2. However theslot-car is clearly based on Michelle’s Acropoliswinning number 9 car from 1982 even havingthe correct registration number for this eventIN-NU-40. Externally however there is little todistinguish the original Quattro from the laterA1 and A2 versions except for the five spokewheels, which were replaced on the later cars inmost events by BBS style wheels, again the TeamSlot car has the five spoke type wheels that arecorrect for the original Quattro as it ran at theAcropolis in 1982.

TTTTTeam Slot Audi Quattroeam Slot Audi Quattroeam Slot Audi Quattroeam Slot Audi Quattroeam Slot Audi QuattroBy Phil Insull

The TThe TThe TThe TThe Team Slot Audi Quattro Acropolis Rally 1982eam Slot Audi Quattro Acropolis Rally 1982eam Slot Audi Quattro Acropolis Rally 1982eam Slot Audi Quattro Acropolis Rally 1982eam Slot Audi Quattro Acropolis Rally 1982

31May 2006

The car consists of a one piece body shell ina white base colour, with eight colour tampoprinting in red, silver-grey, black, brown, twoshades of blue, green and yellow reproducingvery accurately the livery of the Mouton/Ponswinner as it appeared in Greece. In general thetampo printing is of a high quality with letteringin particular being very clear and sharp,although I did find a couple of areas on theblack body lines where there is a small amountof blurring and on the rear pillars, where theblack has overprinted the grey, there are twosmall patches that are discoloured. These are,however, pretty minor flaws and the overallfinish is good. Separate exterior detail partsinclude roof aerial, mirrors, wipers, grille, lights,indicators and rear wing that includes theintercooler radiators mounted underneath andthese all add up to a very nice looking slot-car.

The interior is very good, particularly asspace is tight due to the use of an in-line motor.Included are a full-length driver and co-driver,roll cage, extinguisher, decent dashboard detail,and steering wheel. The co-driver has pace noteson her pad and there are even helmet bins justbehind the drivers’ seats.

There is one tiny criticism, which wasactually spotted by my wife - the driver and co-driver don’t look much like women, err, puttingit diplomatically, even in a race suit Ms Moutonhad curves whereas this driver definitely doesn’t.A minor point I know and I doubt whether anyslot manufacturer would go out and change the

tooling for its driver figure moulds just for thisbut you could have guaranteed a woman wouldspot it.

Turning to the mechanical side - in standardform the Quattro has a single piece plasticchassis, retained by two front screws and onerear screw. Power is provided by an in-line TeamSlot Titan boxer type motor, with a brass piniondriving a nylon back contrate. Axles are ironrather than hardened steel, with those pretty fivespoke rims being plastic, fitted with nice widesoft compound treaded tyres. The pick up guideis nylon, the same as used on Team Slot’s earlierToyota Celica with reasonably soft copper braidsand the car has twin circular magnets betweenthe motor and the rear cog. One interestingpoint of note is that the chassis has a contratehole cut below the front axle indicating perhapsthat Team Slot had contemplated using a fourwheel drive layout similar to SCX, or maybe justto allow buyers the choice of fitting an SCX typemotor if they wish. In standard form howeverthey have stuck to the drive being transmitted tothe front wheels via two pulleys and a singleband on the co-driver’s side of the car.

I took it along to Wolverhampton club toput it through its paces, choosing an earlierTeam Slot Celica and my trusty old NincoSubaru to measure it against. First of all I triedall three on our Ninco Plexy track with themagnets in place and found that the drag factoron both Team Slot cars was enormous down thestraights although they stuck like glue throughthe turns; over a lap however they were a goodhalf second off the Subaru’s pace until I pushedthe magnets higher up into their holders.Suddenly that elusive half second was found ➳

The co-drivThe co-drivThe co-drivThe co-drivThe co-driver’er’er’er’er’s notes and helmet binss notes and helmet binss notes and helmet binss notes and helmet binss notes and helmet bins

The Quattro’The Quattro’The Quattro’The Quattro’The Quattro’s chassis and drivs chassis and drivs chassis and drivs chassis and drivs chassis and drive tre tre tre tre trainainainainain

32

and the gap to the Subaru was down to a fewthousandths for the Quattro and a mere tenthfor the Celica. Next I removed the magnets andmoved on to our copper tape routed track, herethe characteristics of the motors really stood out,the Titan motors have a lot of torque and gruntand literally bounce the Team Slot cars alongunder rapid acceleration. Exacerbating this wasthe fact that the wheels did not appear to be very“round” on the team slot Quattro causingfurther juddering. As I had done with the earlierCelica I trued and glued the Quattro’s wheelsand tyres and taped down the motor to stop ittwisting under torque and this helped to curemost of the bouncing. Once I had got used tothe fiercer characteristics of the Titan motorcompared to the Subaru’s NC-2 I found that Icould produce fractionally quicker flying laps bya few tenths with the Quattro than either theCelica or the Subaru. However, both Team Slotcars were more difficult to produce consistentlaps with and over a three minute race distancethe Subaru would come out on top followed bythe Audi and then the Celica. One importantfactor to note was the robustness of the Team

Slot Audi Quattro. In the course of my testingI managed to have some spectacular rolls withall three cars, resulting in the Subaru having acracked body post and its back wing comingadrift, the Celica’s interior came away from theshell but the Quattro kept all its bits intactincluding the fragile looking roof aerial, quiteimportant in the sometimes rough and tumbleworld of club racing.

In summary then the Team Slot AudiQuattro is a well made, decent looking slot-carand should be a welcome addition to the stableof any rally slot fan. It’s reasonably quick out ofthe box although the Titan motor is trickier tohandle than others. For serious club racers theQuattro probably needs to be modified withcalibrated steel axles and aluminium wheels andlower profile front tyres to put it up there withthe very best but then again so do virtually allother rally slot-cars I can think of. At currentprices the Team Slot Quattro represents verygood value for money compared to most of itson track rivals and the money saved could beused for those “serious” race upgrades if sodesired. ■

33May 2006

Reading the review of the Ninco AustinHealey recently in the newsletter andknowing the interest within the club of

both the Scalextric and Ninco versions of thiscar I was prompted to write this article.

I have been a member of the NSCC for 17years and a slot-car and motor racing nut for alot longer than that. I am a motor-sportphotographer and, for my sins, the officialphotographer and race reporter for the AustinHealey Club via its magazine and website. Whyam I telling you this? Well, because far frombeing a period racer from the sixties, these rapidsports cars can still be seen racing today.

The Austin Healey Club has a very activeracing fraternity, allowing not only the Big 3000but a variety of Sprites in various guises to raceagainst each other. There are few occasionswhen the grids have less than 20 cars and oftena lot more than that can be seen. Up to half adozen of the big cars and several rapid Frogeyescan be in action during a race day, providingclose racing and genuine David vs Goliathbattles, particularly on the tighter circuits likeBrands, which keep the crowd entertained.

Usually the race meetings are organised byA.M.O.C., the Aston Martin Owners Club,another firm favourite of Scalextric collectors,and seeing full grids of DB4s and 5s, V8Vantage and early DB2s at the same venue isnothing short of Nirvana… then there is the

intermarque racing when Cobras, Mustangs,911s and of course Healeys all go out to playtogether, with often surprising results.

Interested? Want to see these visions Idescribe? If you hanker for the days of closeracing and overtaking, then here is a list ofAustin Healey Championship race dates thiscoming season :

May 21st Mallory Park BARC Classic(Donald Healey Memorial Sprite Race)May 27/28th Brands Hatch BARC ClassicJune 3rd Snetterton AMOC meetingJune 18th Mallory Park BARC Classic(Double Header)July 1st Silverstone AMOC meetingAugust 13th Pembrey AMOC meetingSept 16th Oulton Park AMOC meetingOct 7th Donington Park AMOC meeting

Oh!, and the car modelled by Ninco, it’s avery close resemblance of RAS 298 which racesin the series, complete with silver stripe, checkout my photos, in fact Pendle Slot Racing useda picture of this very car to pre launch theproduct! If you want to see more informationand pics. of these cars then log on to :

www.healeysport.org and follow the links, itis updated throughout the season. Also if youwant to come and chat in the Paddock please doso, unless I’m trackside taking the pics. ■

Austin Healey RacersAustin Healey RacersAustin Healey RacersAustin Healey RacersAustin Healey Racersby Phil Broster

34

To be honest, had I not won one of theSport World sets at the recent Hornby/NSCC weekend as part of the victorious

purple team, I would probably not have boughtone of these superb systems. Up until the‘weekend’ I had always thought of Sport Worldas ‘Internet’ racing – how wrong can you be.

Our club in Bury St Edmunds uses Classictrack, building different four lane circuits everytime we race, with normal lap times around 7.5seconds. We have been using RMS on my laptop(Slotmaster was great but needed a PC andmonitor carrying to every meeting) and, with arace night looming, I thought we would try outthe Race Management side of Sport World in aclub environment.

Set upSet upSet upSet upSet upUsing several converter half straights to join upthe ‘dead’ tracks and start lines and a SportWorld Multi-lane Extension set, we built ourusual four lane circuit, incorporating a longstraight and several tight, twisty corners. Wepowered up the Multi Lane and then the MainUnit (most important to do it in this order) firedup the laptop and were away – well not quite. Inour haste to start racing we had not read thePDF manual very well (it is 390 pages long!), soa quick half hour group ‘tour’ later and we wereready to set up a round of our championship,using Scalextric GT cars.

Drivers were named, cars allocated fromeither the Scalextric ‘collection’ or your own,number of laps, pitstops, type of race (we choseGP as the race is completed once the winner hascrossed the line and the other cars completetheir current lap), level of racers expertise (0-6with the higher the number the less the powerto the track – great for young children), weatherconditions switched on – more later – track

power- cut options decided, false start power cutpenalty set up, and the track selected. To enablethe 3D race to be viewed on screen correctly, thecircuit you are racing on needs to be ‘built’ andsaved in the Track Design section of SportWorld. Once you are happy with all of this, thesystem will run a series of races in a champion-ship. We chose to run the races where driversraced on each lane randomly, rather than racingtheir four rounds in a row.

Go! Go! Go!Go! Go! Go!Go! Go! Go!Go! Go! Go!Go! Go! Go!So, to the line – a click on the start button andthe red lights come on. Wait until green andaway. No problems with recording laps, fuelbeing used, racers smiling – great.

Then an overload on lane two! Reason – anon racer trying his car with a problem motoron the lane while the race is going on (won’tmention any names Karl!). Having seen thishappen at the NSCC/Hornby weekend Ireached for the pen and paper to write down thepositions and laps. No need, as when werestarted the Sport World unit the race resumedfrom the point the overload had occurred. –however we later realised that we should havebeen pressing a button on the control unit toresume racing, rather than pulling one of theplugs out of the control unit – still it worked!Adrian has recently been in touch to say thatthere is a ‘fix’ being worked on to enable racesto be restarted at the point the overload occurs,so expect a download patch soon.

As the night progressed pitstops were carriedout; trying to exit before the pitstop had finishedincurred a five second ‘Speeding in Pit lane’penalty lane power cut – I won’t try that again!Extra points were awarded for fastest laps, bestreaction time at the start, and the championshiprounds were all run faultlessly for us. ➳

Sport WSport WSport WSport WSport World - A Club Vieworld - A Club Vieworld - A Club Vieworld - A Club Vieworld - A Club ViewBy Shaun Bennett

35May 2006

WWWWWet track!et track!et track!et track!et track!One of the interesting features is the weatheroption. We switched this on and at a point in therace the commentator announces that it hasstarted to rain. The cars then become almostimpossible to control (wet track, slick tyres) withthe power surging and cutting randomly, untilyou ‘force’ a pitstop and the system changes thecars tyres to wet ones. I am not sure that more‘serious’ clubs would use this feature, but we liketo have some laughs on our race nights and thiscertainly caused much merriment.

Overall impressions from a club point ofview – no problems, spot on lap recording andtiming, great fun when some of the options arechosen and the round of the club championshiporganised and points awarded faultlessly.

Some points to bear inSome points to bear inSome points to bear inSome points to bear inSome points to bear inmindmindmindmindmind

Blue guide blades do not always register laps onthe system. A pack of four black replacementsare included with both the main set and themulti lane extension. We made sure all the carswe used had black guides fitted before we started– the ones included have shorter stems than thestandard easy fit type, presumably so as not tocause a problem on cars with the ‘self centre’springs.

30000 RPM Tune-Up replacement motorswill cause the system to overload I believe.

More ‘dead’ tracks are needed on a longcircuit to enable the system to work properlywith regards to calculating each car’s position onthe circuit during the race (this does not affectracing or lap recording however).

Cars must stop within 2ft after start linewhen performing a pit stop – unfortunately thismeans that pit lanes would be difficult to use.

Read the PDF manual! We only scratchedthe surface, not touching hand controllerprofiles/setup, braking options, team racing,individual driver race strategy, grouping roundsof a championship together over a season etc.

If I were to criticise the system, it would be

that hand controller extension leads desperatelyneed producing (although it was very cosy) anda better quick start manual should be included.SportWorld can be run without a PC connected,just using the Main Unit, but you can only seethe full manual as a PDF file which requires aPC!

And finally, a word to Hornby. This systemis superb. It has enough features to keepeveryone happy, proved to be very accurate, rana round of our championship with no problemsand everyone wants to use it again at our nextrace night (one of our members has alreadybought a set). However, all our racers wereunder the impression that it was an internetracing system with a few bits added on – in ouropinion the marketing side of Sport Worldneeds revamping to change this perception. ■