hi guys 

does anyone have any experience with:-
 'Slot.it S1 Silicon Slick F1 Tyres 20.4x12.4 Dwg 1068 ' ?

i need silicon tyres for a proxy , which is using silicone rears in the rule set
   
this is the tyre before truing 
   
this the tyre after the 1st rough grind
   
after a fine grind with wet&dry 


these tyres are supposed to be silicone , but do not feel very soft , and grind very similar to stock Scalextric tyres ?

this is my 1st time using silicon tyres , is this normal ? or are these tyres not the correct type ?
if they are wrong , does anyone know a UK supplier for similar ( does not need to be exact same ) size proper silicon tyres ? 

thankyou in advance 
Kev
 

Live streaming now on YouTube.

   

This image sent to us by the Scalextric Team is the first public appearance of an undecorated sample of Micro Scalextric's brand new Formula-E Spark Gen2 car. The model is officially licensed by Formula-E and the Scalextric design team were let off the leash to produce as accurate scale model as they could. What I can tell you is...

• The new car is a 7-part assembly - all bespoke parts, including the chassis
  
• The different colours are from the different moulds
  
• The scale is around 1:55 to preserve the lines of the Formula-E car
  
• The wheelbase is 60.2mm (2.37") - longer than any previous HO circuit racing car (the AW SuperIII Dallara IndyCars were 50mm)
  
• The rear track is 34.9mm (1.37") - typical for a Micro Scalextric car.
  

Scalextric have certainly produced a stunning-looking car, there's absolutely no doubt about that. And it's one that drives well on the new Micro Scalextric track, which has wider lane spacing than AFX (38mm vs 35mm), a minimum radius of 9-inches, plus loops and ramps. And with the investment in totally new tooling, I suspect we'll see plenty of 2018-2022 official team liveries on future Micro Scalextric models. The first two are in this set...

   
G1179M Micro Scalextric Formula E - Battery Powered Race Set. RRP £69.99. Scheduled summer 2022.

The set includes the Nissan of Sébastien Buemi’s and Oliver Turvey’s NIO - and can be upgraded to mains power with the G8043 accessory pack.

       

There's no news on whether a Micro Scalextric version of Spark Plug might be in the pipeline... however, plans to modify the standard Spark Plug to work on the 9-volt Micro system has been bumped up my 'To-Do' list. The Formula-E Spark Plug app would add a huge amount of brilliant gameplay to the Micro Scalextric set.

So where do these cars fit in?

The new 2019 Micro Scalextric system was always meant as a stand-alone program (see thread here), separate from the traditional HO track design. In my mind, it's a big step forward - but most of the established HO community will be sticking with the plastic or routed tracks they've enjoyed for 30, 50 or even 60 years. These new Formula-E cars deserve to be a massive hit with Micro Scalextric and Formula-E devotees - mostly young families and therefore the future of our hobby - but will the old guard be interested?

The new Micro Scalextric cars with their little N20 motor do run very nicely on traditional HO track - in fact, they are pretty rapid. Sure, the pick-up braids do need tweaking and taming, but here's no reason why the standard cars (with front axle mounts for 1.5" and 1.7" wheelbases) shouldn't be raced. Alternatively, the body shells can be transferred to other chassis - which is an increasingly common practice in North America.

Might these Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars be a step too far? The scales of HO cars have always been quite broad - anything from the high 1:50s into the 1:70s. And because of the geometry of the chassis underneath, the cars are often rather chunky, tall and too wide. The AW SuperIII Indycars came in under 1:60 scale, but - to be honest - were way too high and didn't look good. Similarly, the recent AFX Formula-N car is possibly one of the ugliest HO cars ever - a far cry from their sublime Panoz DP01 ChampCar. In comparison, the Micro Scalextric Formula-E is right up with the very best in terms of looks and stance. As someone running an HO club, I desperately want to include these fabulous-looking Formula-E cars in our open-wheel class in 2023.

The acid-test will be getting a car and running it on one of our AFX club tracks. We've used Micro Scalextric cars for much of the club's history and are used to easing in the rear track to 34mm and tweaking those braids. We've also run the AW SuperIII IndyCars... way off the pace, but they did navigate our 6" corners with no problems, despite the long wheelbase. I'm hopeful that the new Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars will fit in to our racing - and being a UK club, we're likely to allow a few small compromises to ensure we can run them. They look so good, it would be a crime not to.

A very big thank you to Marcus and everyone at Scalextric for sending us the images and answering my questions. Expect more Micro Scalextric sample images soon.

   

The long-rumoured Thunderslot pony car range is getting closer with these pictures of a prototype of a Mustang. Chief engineer Giovanni Montiglio has never hidden his love of big American cars of the mid-to-late 1960s - and it was common-sense that the follow-on from the fabulous Can-Am cars was a series of sedans...

   

The Mustang looks good - and not obviously stretched. I do like the choice of the '67 Shelby car...

   

... it's rather special as a road car, although the Trans-Am Mustang was a notch-back until 1969 - and then the '69 car was a slightly different shape, with different vents etc. We'll see where Thunderslot go with the mould - there's potential for optional parts to create different models, as Giovanni and the team have done with the Can-Am cars.

   

Underneath, the layout is fairly familiar in terms of a sidewinder motor... Although the two-part chassis is a departure - one element holding the motor and guide, with the other holding the body. Not unlike the BRM layout, but in 1:32 scale and plastic. There was talk back in 2019 about Thunderslot using the Scalextric DPR system on a new range of cars - although I don't see any space for that underneath. I guess that's been shelved.

Although there's no date been mentioned for release, the Mustang looks at a pretty advanced state. Time to start saving those pennies!

Big thanks to Giovanni and the Thunderslot team for allowing us to share these images.

There's a 50% sale on 3DExport until midnight.

I just bagged another 10 files whilst they were this cheap...I could easily have made that 20 or 30 files.

These are really nicely rendered files and will see action on the track and some on the Rally stage.


'92 Volvo 850 estate

   

'92 Volvo 850 Saloon

   

'73 Toyota Celica GT mk1

   

Renault Espace F1

   

'65 Porsche 904 GTS

   

'67 Pontiac GTO

   

'69 Nissan R382

   

'87 Ferrari F40

   

'63 Cooper Monaco

   

'58 Aston Martin DBR1

   

Did anyone ever cast a Austin Healey Sebring Sprite MK2 in 1/64 or 1/72? 

Can’t find any models in that size at all, but maybe someone created one using the non-Sebring one and did the roof himself.

I have a Fly Alfa Romeo GTV that I want to remove a few select livery details from. Is there a product or a method of removing the factory fit decals and keeping the paint beneath?


   

Has anybody got a cheap basic resistor controller or two going spare please? I need to replace the rubbish SCX ones from my off road set ready for the extreme slotting proxy later this year. I have tried a Scalextric one which isn't a lot better and there is nothing suitable on eBay at the moment. Don't need anything fancy just something better than toy manufacturer ones. The SCX ones have a unique plug set up so I need to be able to rewire that into an aftermarket one.

Thank you Andy, for the report 

Friday 1st April was round 2 of our rally class at Mussel Bay.  This is a class which allows limited modifications, free guide choice, free gearing choice, change of wheels and certain motors.  It’s good to see how many different types and make of cars people use and how different shapes of car affect the handling. So on Friday night we had some group B rally cars, (Metro 6r4’s and Ford RS200),  selection of WRC cars, (Subaru Impreza, Peugeot 208 and Citroën C3).  It was also good to see a few more youngsters turn up with Elijah coming back for some more racing.

Practice got underway with some good times set.  Elijah was getting his confidence and was going steady gradually getting to know the track and improving with every lap, knowing where he can go fast and where to slow down, great to see young people getting into the slot car world.
After the practice came the heats, this produced some good close racing and a chance for drivers to really show what they had in the tank.  There was a good close race between Heather and Andy with Andy just beating Heather. Some other close battles between Tel and Ken, and Elijah was going well in his heats.

As there was smaller numbers this week the C final just had Andy and Darren in it. Andy was in Green and Darren was in red. From the start it was close going into the first few corners but along the back straights the speed of Andy’s Metro 6r4 managed to pull out a good lead over the RS200 of Darren, although both drivers came off the track a number of times Andy stayed ahead of Darren to take the heat win.

Final B lined up like this: Tel in green, Andy in blue Heather in yellow. Heather and Tel got off to a good start, with Andy having issues from the start coming off early on causing his gear to move on the rear axel resulting in slower performance. At the front Heather was keeping Tel on his toes putting in quick lap times but just couldn’t catch up with Tel, who came home in first place with a good lead, followed by Heather with Andy bringing home the rear.

So the Main Final had the three fastest drivers from the night races.  James and Ken who qualified direct from the heats and Tel who came through from the B final.  Ken in green, Tel in blue and James in red.  This was set to be one of the fastest races of the night and it did not disappoint.  3 of the most skilled drivers of the night pushing their cars to the limit, all three flew of the start line and there was nothing to choose between them for the first few laps. Tel started to pull away from James and Ken and edge out a lead.  Ken then had an off which put him at the back of the pack and playing catch up.  With the pressure on Ken he did not disappoint only taking a few laps to catch up with James, although James did have an off which helped, Ken managed to briefly pass James for a few corners but another off for Ken aloud James to retake the position, undoing all Kens hard work.  This time there was just too much for Ken to do as although he was closing up there just wasn’t enough laps left in the race. Meanwhile, Tel who was having a good race, was putting in some consistent lap times at the front  and maintaining his lead to takes the race win, followed by James and then Ken.

Thank you Andy for the report 

Friday was round 2 of the BTCC class, running standard cars out the box with no modifications. Numbers were a little down on previous weeks with only 8 racers, but that didn’t stop us having fun. There was a mixture of cars from BMW 3 and 1 series, Honda Civics and a VW Passat CC, although the Civics seemed to be the quickest and most stable. Although all the cars were standard there were some noticeable differences in acceleration and handling due to the wheelbase and height of the cars.    After a practice session which aloud drivers to make any final adjustments to their cars and try to gain those extra tenths, it was onto the heats.
The heats were their usual fast and frantic afar with good lap times put in by all it was good to see how some of the drivers had improved from round 1 with Tom making steady progress in some of the heats and keeping up with the field.  The Civics proved fast and took the a lot of the wins in the heats but Ken and his VW CC did well too.
Due to the small amount of racers  

There were only 2 finals so this is how the B final lined up. Bobbie in green, Tom in blue, Paul in red and Jake in yellow.  Racers were quick off the line and stayed in a tight group for the first couple of corners.  Paul and Jake started to pull ahead of Bobbie and Tom the racing was tight between Paul and Jake for the rest of the race with Paul just managing to keep ahead of Jake for most of the race, but when Paul overcooked it on the hairpin on the last lap Jake took his chance to take the lead and take the win. The results were Jake coming home in first place, Paul in second, Bobbie a respectable third and Tom coming in forth. So Jake progressed into the main final.


For the main final it was Ken in green, Jake in blue, James in red and Andy in yellow.  Again reaction time were quick when the lights went green and all drivers got off to a flying start with there being not much to choose from for the first part on the lap, James and Ken started to step up the pace a bit and got ahead of Jake and Andy. Ken then had a couple of moments resulting in James putting a bit of distance between him and Ken. Andy was playing catch up to Ken but every time he got close Andy came out the slot.  Jake at the rear of the field was putting in good lap times and closing in on Andy but ran out of laps towards the end of the race. James took the chequered flag followed by Ken, with Andy in third and Jake doing well coming in forth.