Racer Sideways SWCAR02K Ford GTE 'GT3' White Kit. RRP £62.95. Available now

It's taken a long time to arrive, but the first Racer Sideways model of the Ford GT LM GTE has landed in the UK this week. It's always difficult to see from a white kit what the car looks like, but thankfully Racer Sideways have begun a third painting competition - this time for the Ford GT - and the first few entries have already been shown on their Facebook page...

       

This fantasy Marlboro car by Julien Joubert really shows off the lines of the car well. It looks wide, but checking the actual specifications with those of the model (here), the length, width, wheelbase and height are all perfectly 1:32 scale. The 64mm width is just what slot racers want for GT3 classes.

       

This fabulous Racing Team Nederland LMP2-inspired livery is by Atobit on France-SlotForum.

   

And this Momo livery is by Juan.

As Scalextric and Carrera have shown, there are enough real-life liveries to get stuck into - especially the retro paint schemes from the final two seasons. Edu Gomez produced these two liveries using Atalaya decals...

   

The Ford GT GTE works project was retired at the end of 2019 after five years of racing in the WEC and IMSA championships. The Sideways model will ensure the car continues to compete on slot car tracks around the world for years to come.

The Ford GT has the usual Sideways GT3 mechanicals underneath the body, including the 17k baby Raptor motor in an anglewinder configuration. Beyond a body kit due for release in the next month, there are no details of further Ford GT cars or parts.

   

Scalextric C4237 Ford Escort MK1 - Andy Pipe Racing - 2020 Modified Ford Series. RRP £42.99. Scheduled June 2021

Scalextric Escorts are always in huge demand and it looks as if they're onto another winner with this super-looking Mark I. Owned and raced by Essex electrician Andy Pipe, it makes an ideal partner to the Teamslot model of Jamie Gough's Martini-liveried RS2000 - both race in the popular Modified Ford Series, sponsored by Scalextric this season.

The story of Andy's Escort starts way back in 1992 when he rescued the car from a scrapyard and painstakingly rebuilt it at a race car for club meets. After managing a class win and fastest lap in his first season, Andy leant the car to a mate, who crashed it - badly. New body panels all round, plus a new roof and suspension gave Andy the first version of his well-known Acid Yellow Escort that was campaigned through to 2016...

   

The Escort was gradually modified over the years - the original 1600cc engine replaced by a 2-litre Pinto. The wheel arches became nicely flared too. Another accident saw another major rebuild... this time taking quite a while. The rejuvenated black, white and gold liveried car was ready for the 2020 Modified Ford Series...

   

Andy's car races in Class B of the championship - for cars with normally aspirated 16v engines from 1751cc to 2250cc. It's an eclectic mix of Escorts and Fiestas, with the odd Anglia, Capri and Sierra thrown in. The 2021 season was delayed, starting at Lydden Hill in April and Donington in May. Six more dates run through from Mallory Park this weekend to Snetterton in October. This club racing at its best - run by the drivers with pretty open rules that show off some great builds and provides fun, low-cost racing. Entry fees start at £250 for qualifying and two 15 minute races. Here's a great introduction to the series from last month's meet at Donington...




Andy was in action at Donington, qualifying 29th in a 35-car field, working his way up to twentieth in Race 1 and twenty-first in Race 2. And with the same car Andy has been racing for nearly 30 years!

   

The Scalextric model looks as tasty as Andy's new car. The livery, flared arches and wheels are spot-on. It's great that Scalextric are sponsoring grass-roots club racing and the Modified Ford Series will hopefully delivery a few more slot car models over the next few years.

Andy Pipe's Ford Escort MkI is scheduled for release this month and is available for pre-order at all your favourite Scalextric retailers.

   

The July/August 2021 edition of Slot has just been published. The 67-page full colour glossy magazine is available on subscription, in selected WH Smiths stores and from Pendle Slot Racing, priced £5.50. The ebook is available from pocketmags for £3.99 or a £16.99 annual subscription (six issues).

Contents Slot #46

• The Airfix/MRRC Story Part II -We trace the history of the famous British slot pioneering brand, MRRC, right up to its now German owners.
  
• The 1976 British Grand Prix set from Scalextic - How many of you can say “I was there”? – well I was!
  
• Gordon Bennett – " is that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over there?” Stepping back even further in time we have this selection of Brass Era Edwardian racer kits from George Turner, lovingly built by Roy Grant.
  
• From Barcelona with Love! We look at who Scaleauto are and at some of what they have to offer, which turns out to be… a lot!
  
• F1 Team Lotus – Honda 99T Conversion. Regular, Mark Hatton has been busy with the NSR F1’s again - this time bringing us the Lotus Camel team from 1987.
  
• ‘Kapow! Blam! are you being a Joker Batman’? I cant believe that this iconic car has finally made it to the slot track!
  
• A tale of two McLarens - More outrageously fabulous work from our Canadian contributor Chris Walker – does he never sleep?
  
• Low Power High Tech – F1 Proxy Series. Proxy Music? Well, this report was music to us – Andi Rowland tells all.
  
• The Matra MS10 Cosworth Ford. Perhaps one of the nicest mouldings from the Airfix/MRRC era – I bring you the Matra MS10.
  
• The Lotus 56B - The whispering race car. Don’t do what I do – do what I say -, how not to build a model of the Lotus 56B Turbine. Part 1
  

Issue #46 of Slot is available at Pendle Slot Racing: https://www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/slot-...e-046.html

Are there any inventory programs out there? If not how do y'all keep track of stuff, cars, motors etc?

   

As the pandemic rumbles on and no-one quite knows what will happen, outdoor events are a safe bet - weather permitting...

There are regular outdoor toy and train collectors fairs at Ashington and Ardingly in West Sussex, both located not far from the A23 and Gatwick Airport. Local retailer Weevils Slot Cars has been a supporter of these events, taking along a large gazebo with a wide selection of brand new models from Scalextric, Pioneer, Carrera, Teamslot, Fly, SCX and Avant Slot - plus lots of used cars and sets. Other stall holders also have slot cars - including Orpington regular Darren McHarg. There are bargains to be had.

The next events are this Sunday morning (13 June) at Ashington and Sunday week (20 June) at Ardingly. The weather forecast looks perfect for both 

You can find more information and future dates here: https://www.modeltoyauctions.co.uk/news/...838269BB6/

This is still a work in progress but have installed a camera in the driver position to record races. I haven't tried it with other cars on the track yet. Ultimately I think that will be where this setup will shine.

I used a Dremel to remove the stock interior from the Zack speed Ford Capri. I used the stock interior to make a mount for the camera and electronics. The standoffs they use for attaching the original interior are 2.2mm id and was able to tap them for 2.5mm screws. 4 screws and I can completely remove the camera setup and put the original interior back in.

I added a power connector to power the camera from the track which will also charge the back up battery. I added the battery to be able to get the accidents on video.

   

   

   

   

   

Below is a video of just the Capri running on the track.

https://youtu.be/B_ERuN-ztFM

The video isn't the greatest quality but I think this will work with multiple cars on the track. I am always open to suggestions for improvment.

Kevin

hi guys 
i have a scalextric cadillac LMP car C2259
this car has independent front wheels on stub axles 
   
these wheels feel very loose in the axle mounts 
and im worried that when running this car , the front wheels will bounce around and effect the car stability etc
has any1 changed this setup to a solid axle ?
did it make any difference ?
do the wheels just twist off the same as the knurled solid axles ?

i have tried to check on the net , but i must not be using the correct search words 
any help would be greatly appreciated 

kev

Like most people I suppose, I have several boxes of dead cars with shattered bodies, duff motors and various bits missing so I have been having a clear-out and putting 'scrapyards' up on eBay. It is surprising how much people are prepared to pay for what is essentially a load of junk fit only for the bin.

Some things are worth a second look though as is the case with these three cars:

The last F1 cars from Airfix/MRRC released in 1980/81 - Williams FW07, Brabham BT49 and Lotus 79 JPS. There was also a Martini version of the Lotus. They were remarkably good models for their time and, although of very simple construction, they easily had the legs of contemporary Scalextric F1s.

As the bodies were in near perfect shape I thought I would see if I could return them to working condition rather than selling them. The Williams and Brabham had split pinions while the Lotus was missing its motor which was probably why they ended up in the dead car collection. All of them also had loose rear wheels and only one of them had its tyres intact.

The split pinions were easily replaced and RS Slotracing provided some Ortmann urethane rears. The motors hadn't run for over 30 years but fired up just fine after a quick clean. Rear wheels superglued and a wash and brush up for the bodies was all that was necessary before plonking them on the track for a test run.

I had quite forgotten how good these cars were back in the day. Not superfast, as you would expect with 40 year old Johnson 111 motors, but planted through the corners and very difficult to deslot. I even left the original tyres on the Williams and they gripped almost as well as the new urethanes on the Brabham. Lap times on my 50ft track were in the 6.4 second range which is nearly a second a lap slower than my modern cars, as expected, but great fun to race and still faster than my Scalextric ones of the same era. The wobbly front steering was not the best idea that Airfix came up with but it has a certain charm of its own so I think I will refrain from fitting solid front axles and leave the cars in their original 1980s specification.

I need to rummage  in the box of bits to find a suitable period motor for the Lotus but I think all three of these cars will be staying in my possession instead of heading to eBay.

Evening all

Any ideas who could supply some decals for my 1973 911 2.7rs current in build?

Looking for the carrera side decals, rear Porsche script and ducktail 2.7RS

All in 1/32 scale

Thanks

Rob

Having started with Scalextric Classic track back in 2002, then buying Ninco track in 2005, and now owning Scalextric Sport track, can anyone tell me why Scalextric went with such a slippery surface for Sport track?  I never had to buy tires for brand new cars with classic or ninco track, but it seems if I want to race hard yet stay on the track, I need a set of silicones on the rear of my cars now.
Even the new Policar track has some surface texture in it to give the tires some grip.