5 replies to this topic

[Jairus]

Years ago Philippe posted some neat info on one of the first mass produced slot cars made by Unique Engineering Co.
Some of the info I gleaned from that thread was that Unique bought model kits from Lindberg in order to make their products.
 

 

 
Knowing that I wanted to build one of my own I started searching for the impossible to find bits. 
Including the Lindberg body purchased omline from a now-defunct model car chat room.


 
First step was to pull the car apart since it was already constructed, and then put the body back together to make it one piece. Since the chassis screws to the bottom of the body, this gave the option of sanding and filling to provide a smooth surface.


 
The first thing required was the chassis. Wheels, front axle and motor were fairly easy to attain. DC65X provided the Pittman DC706 motor while ebay was the source of most everything else, including the very rare drop arm.
 

 
The pan is scratchbuilt from brass.
 

 
Wheel inserts are resin and drilled to accept wheel nuts. Front tires are Unique, the rears are silicone. One of the only things I couldn't replicate were the rivets holding the front axle mount so screws and nuts were used. 

Today I am putting the final details on the body along with decals.

Fun project! Final pics soon...

[Jairus]

One detail I changed was filling the Lindberg switch hole. Since I was not actually building a perfect replica of the Unique car, I took liberties in various places.


 
Another place I changed was gluing in the headlight caps, sanding and filling them smooth. Masked for paint and then wet sanding and clear-coating gave the body a very nice finish.

Lastly, a new driver figure was sourced from immenseminiatures.com and some headlight buckets scratchbuilt.


 

[Jairus]

Final pictures.... finally, since this project was started in 2009!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tail lights were carved off the original and new ones carved from clear styrene and painted with Tamiya clear red.

Side pipes were scratchbuilt from styrene and painted a burnt metallic color.  The flange at the front is some custom model car part for side pipes.

 

 

Only difference from the Unique kit is the rivets and lack of a decal on the chassis.
Like I said this was a FUN project and I like how it turned out.

[Martin]

Love all the details you add. Hood straps, muffler, driver etc.

Great subject, very nicely done. Feels good when you get an parked project completed.

[dc-65x]

Hi Jairus,

 

This is a truly beautiful car. Your artistry really brings the driver to life. 

[Jairus]

I decided to try some tape over the headlight covers to see if I liked it. Mostly because the covers turned into magnification lenses making the inside headlights all out of focus.
I kind of like it so maybe add a few more strips of "duct tape" to complete the look.