10 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

I wanted to build a 1/24th scale Maserati 450S slot car for some time. The Maseratis were 4.5-liter V8-powered race cars that participated in FIA's endurance World Sportscar Championship. 

 

I first purchased a couple of 450S model kits.  One seemed to be too narrow, and the other one seemed to be a bit too crude.  I then purchased a used Resilient Resin brand Maserati 450S body.  The body proportions looked pretty good, so I used this one for this build.  The body was well used, and it had eight body mounting holes!  The paint was sanded and scraped off, and the mounting holes were filled.  The fenders were thinned out for more tire clearance.  Tamiya Italian red, clear, and grey primer were used.  Many coats of primer, paint (color and clear), and wet sanding were needed.  The body is very porous, and contaminants (old paint?) kept appearing, even though the body was cleaned many times.  I finally got to a point where close enough is good enough.

 

The chassis in this car is a used Kemtron magnesium frame.  The frame was sanded, and some of the mounting holes were elongated for a longer wheelbase and for better alignment of the components.  The aluminum drop arm is from the parts box.  The chassis will accommodate either a Mabuchi 36D or a Kemtron X503-style motor.  The body mounts are made of scrap aluminum.

 

I chose to run a French Motor Company 36D rewound motor.  I believe the motors were rewound by Mura.  These motors run very smoothly, draw little amount of current, and seem to run forever.  The early end-bell/hardware work fine, so there was no need for an update.

 

A Cox spur gear and pinion gear were used.  The rear wheels are Riggen wheels, with the outer center flanges ground off to allow for the fitting of the Strombecker wheel inserts.  Rear tires are urethane.  The front wheels are K&B, and the front tires are Revell.  The guide flag is Dynamic.

 

The finished body weighs 1.4 ounces, and the car weighs in at 6.1 ounces.

 

Update:

I shared this car with Rick, and commented that I wanted the period look of a Kemtron motor but wanted more performance.  He asked if I had a KTM 4 Volt motor.  I looked around and found one partially complete in a box.  The KTM motor was assembled and now resides in the car.  The car now weighs 7 ounces with the KTM. 

Thanks for the suggestion, Rick.

 

Time for a track test.

 

 

 

 

French 36D motor

 

 

 

KTM 4 Volt motor

 

 

Note thick wire on armature.

 

Chassis slot was opened up to allow for large pinion gear/motor removal.

 

Used body with paint removed and holes patched.

 

New paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mad Mark]

holy crap I think thats my old body! i won that in a vintage race like 20 something years ago when I was like 13 years old! glad it went to good home. its obvious I couldnt do much with it as a teenager haha.

[James Wendel]

Nicely done!  Great to see a Doug Haines Resilient Resin body resurrected and restored.  Despite Doug's passing, there are still many of his bodies scattered around the world. 

[Lone Wolf]

Super nice.

 

Love the use of the Strombecker wheels for inserts.

 

I have never seen that done before.

 

Did you make the windshield?

 

Joe

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks everyone.  Factory vacuform windshield.

 

[Dave Crevie]

Too nice! Glad you put the Kemtron motor in. Better fits the era.

[James Wendel]

If any one here is interested in seeing other examples of Resilient Resin Tourist Trophy class slot cars, here is a link to my old 2016 SlotBlog thread that features races at Pelican Park Speedway, the home track of the late Doug Haynes.  Several of the photos are of bodies from Doug's estate, built and painted by Doug himself.  Some with his hand crafted driver figures.

 

You will need to scroll WAY down to post #15

 

http://slotblog.net/...ican-park-2016/

 

Or you could drop by the track.  We race on Wednesday nights. 

[Bill from NH]

Doug also sold fronts. I don't know about his "Thunderbuggy" chassis.  I have a pair of fronts. I'm surprised nobody else has cast resin bodies using the same material Doug used. Those were light weight for a resin body & nearly unbreakable too. A local friend bought a couple RTR 1/24 cars from Doug & one night we crash tested them.

[Slot Car Rod]

Added a set of used Russkit wire wheels to the car.  One wheel needed straightening and all of the tires were trued.

 

[Tex]

Slot Car Rod, on 25 May 2023 - 10:33 PM, said:

Added a set of used Russkit wire wheels to the car.  One wheel needed straightening and all of the tires were trued.

 

maserati1.jpg

Rodney,

 

I too have a Russkit wire wheel that needs to be trued. How did you true yours? I had the idea that I might mount the wheel tightly on an axle, put the wheel in a vice (being careful not to squash the wheel) and then pushing the axle this way and that until I felt it was "right".

[Slot Car Rod]

Richard, I have straightened a few of these wheels by having the wheel on an axle, spinning the axle, finding a high or low spot and bending the wheel with my fingers. It does not take much force to "move" the rim.   I repeat this many times until the wheel has very little run out.  I have also straightened out bent spokes with needle nose pliers and have also glued loose spokes back to the rim.