401 replies to this topic

[MrWeiler]

P - it's a P!

[gascarnut]

I found this other "T or P" at the LASCM last weekend:

I would say it's neither "T" nor "P", more likely "F"

... for Fake

The paint is too new, the decals too perfect, the tape that holds the interior into the body looks like it was applied last week, the guide is modern, and it has never turned a lap.

My guess is it has been assembled from NOS parts and the only things of value or interest are the gorgeous Russkit wire wheels.

But that's my opinion...

It is still a pretty car.

[TSR]

Dennis, upon further investigation, it is a Daniel Murai build from about 15 years ago. I am not sure if 'fake' is the correct moniker for something done just like in the day and using no repro parts... and not misrepresented as something built another 20 years earlier. And I did not know that there were rules in the T&P thread, my mistake.
The 300SLR body itself is a very tough one to find and could well be worth, in its clear and undamaged form, more than those Russkit wire wheels...

[gascarnut]

No rules, I guess, just opinions.

Those Slick 7 guides were available 15 years back? Wow, I did not think they were that old, but then I wasn't racing slots at the time, so I wouldn't know.

Perhaps Fake was a bit harsh, "P" for Pretender might have been more appropriate.

But as I said, it's still a pretty car, and seeing a full set of undamaged Russkit wheels is rare, even if a 300SL was never built that way.

Who made the body? Du-Bro? I have a Sunset 300 SL that might be a back-pour.

[TSR]

I just thought that it was a pretty car...

Those Slick 7 guides were available 15 years back?

It's a SimCo Jet Flag that was boiled in black dye.
The body is the really tough Lancer 300SL, very simalir to the Du-Bro (one must have been a back pour of the other).

Perhaps Fake was a bit harsh, "P" for Pretender might have been more appropriate.

I did not think of it that way, because several of the T & P are also from recent assembly... I guess we should add the word "vintage" to the thread, then I can show you some serious candidates... a few hundreds of them!

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Well sorry but I can't find the body for either of these. 1 was 1/32 with I think a brush painted Lola Coupe on it and the other is 1/24 scale that had a Mirage or Lola coupe hand painted body. Both came from a guy at our local shop about 1965 and the bodies were old and curled so I may have tossed them years ago. Check out the solid rear axle mount on the 1/24th! STRONG... WRONG! It also has spring loaded drop arm and both still move! Oh old French Motor in it.
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[Edo]

Can you rotate the arm and show me the whole arm? I am guessing that this is a replacement modern arm.

Hi Rocky,

I made a mistake, actually one pole has two balancing cuts!



One has just one cut as previously shown:



and the 3rd pole has no cut:



I compared that Hemi motor with another and the arm seems the same on both (balancing cuts not withstanding)

(BTW You can call me Edo, or E if you prefer)

...I did not know that there were rules in the T&P thread...

Hi P.

personally I distinguish between the "Toads&Princesses", which are totally vintage as I've found them as they were (unless noted, as in the Chappie 2J) and the "Contemporary Vintage Assemblies" cars assembled (by me) with vintage parts quite recently.

The difference will be obvious when I'll soon start a "CVA"'s thread.

BTW that Merc is a BEAUTY! I wanna it!

Perhaps Fake was a bit harsh, "P" for Pretender might have been more appropriate.

Hi Dennis,

I think "Pretenders" has a negative connotation and does not reflect the passion with which one researches and uses all correct vintage parts in view of replicating what and how things could've been done then.

...Check out the solid rear axle mount on the 1/24th! STRONG... WRONG!...

Hi Barney,

could you please elaborate on that sentence? Why do you think that set up is wrong?

Regards

E

[havlicek]

Well despite the questionable vintage, I think that SL is pretty freakin' great. I always loved that car (I guess...me and a bazilion other people) and it's pretty cool to see it done so cleanly.

Cool car Barney! The rear axle setup looks fragile as you suggest, but that old French is pretty all on it's own!

-john

[HarV Wallbanger III]

"Why do you think that set up is wrong?"

EDO, I know its period correct but not very strong and I think one wall shot will bind the gears. With just solder "tacks" top and bottom it looks funny to all the braces we use "now'a days" I wish I could find the bodys as they both were "mud/ flood" painted with a brush and you could see each stroke!
I'll keep look'in 'fer other relics!

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

Where to start?

OK, my friend Edo (we are friends are we not), if the arm has red wire, it might be stock. Otherwise, a replacement.

Standards: Philippe has his Paris winning French champion car much like that Merc above, and he has it that pretty. I don't know where these lines belong.

There is an old saying "I have my grandfathers axe, original it is, well, except I have replaced the head twice and the handle three times".

I have kept a lot of cars and I am not sure, as I race them with other old fart cars a LOT. Meaning I KNOW none of the consumables are original. If I liked a car, I would pile up a box of replacement parts. My Lancia Ferrari collection which Dennis has teased me about, has often had the body replaced. I have this old Dubro Sharknose that loses a body every few years as the bute shatters from time to time.

My cars that pre-date Jet flags or Dynamic 659s all got one or the other about 1965-66 because of convenience. Just when did they stop being "period"?

Seems to me that a "reproduction" using period parts is just a period project that took more time than others.

I have at least one NOS merc coupe. Painted, and unpained. They have been sitting around as spares for a car that I have NOT kept running. Where is the line?

Perhaps the only difference is that I have had continuous owership.

My "Wallingford" Lancia.... I am trying to remember which bits are NOT original. I run the car. Dennis has driven the car. How important is the venue? I have other stuff from that source that I got in a condition that is NOT runnable. When I get around to restoring them, how do I express the venue?

I find exact replicas chaming and more interesting, oddly, than things like Jaildoor with are "sorta'like". I fly SAM models which are replicas of the stuff people were flying in the 30s, except of course the materials must be pretty modern. I even use modern motors and glues.

Sorry for the editorial, but I am not that dismissive of that Mercedes as it is very much "period" to me.

Fate

[Bill from NH]

Barney, that chassis of yours with the French motor looks like one of the "Kirkwoods" Jack Beers showed us on scratchbuilt.com in 2003. Here's a link:

Jack Beers Kirkwood Chassis

[idare2bdul]

Rocky said,"Seems to me that a "reproduction" using period parts is just a period project that took more time than others. " Amen.

Some of might sneak a little modern technology in but back in the day we usually trie to put in the latest thing too. I've used the term Restomod from the hotroding world to describe some efforts. Most of the time it's things like a modern flag or a pin tube mount instead of 2 large screws or more modern lead wire. maybe, horror of horrors, a pink crown gear.

When we are finished it's the car we wanted to build, but time, money or other reasons kept us from it till now. The pleasure from the completed project is still the same.

[Pete L.]

Dennis, upon further investigation, it is a Daniel Murai build from about 15 years ago. I am not sure if 'fake' is the correct moniker for something done just like in the day and using no repro parts... and not misrepresented as something built another 20 years earlier. And I did not know that there were rules in the T&P thread, my mistake.
The 300SLR body itself is a very tough one to find and could well be worth, in its clear and undamaged form, more than those Russkit wire wheels...

fellas,

If you have a slot car built 35 years ago it's vintage, on that I'm sure we can all agree. If you have a slot car assembled from original 1960's parts in the 21st century, is it still a vintage slot car. Now that the boomers have the skills and finances and in the case of retirees, time to build the cars from our youth with left over new/old or used parts, are they cars still vintage slot cars ?

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Ya Bill this looks to be a copy and I think he told me he built both. (and the solder quality looks it ) I have several of the plates for different motors still and if you look the "Kirkwoods" look to be a lot stronger around the rear axle. The French motor I put in it many years ago but never ran the car just filed it away deep!
Thanks

[Edo]

EDO, I know its period correct but not very strong and I think one wall shot will bind the gears.

Thanks Barney! I see what you mean.

OK, my friend Edo (we are friends are we not), if the arm has red wire, it might be stock.

Yes, Rocky, we are! BTW the wire is more orangy than red. Must be a rewind.

And now moving right along:

today we have a Strombecker Cheetah body on a chassis built by Randy Fowler:





Motor is a Versitec Globe SS91 (one of the few I've found with relatively good brakes):



Interior was made by Jairus:



You can see another similar Cheetah by Mr. Fowler here:

Scratchbuilt.com

While you're there, please visit the other pages with great builds (if you don't know that site already).

Regards

E

[MrWeiler]

Motor is a Versitec Globe SS91 (one of the few I've found with relatively good brakes):

E

Hi E:

Is that glass fiber tape around the front axle?

[don.siegel]

Beautiful chassis Edo - I remember this one from a few years back.

That one looks more like a vac body than a Strombecker tho - are you sure? The one in scratchbuilt.com is a Strombecker, but not sure about this one.

That does look like strapping tape to keep the guide from shorting...

Don

[Edo]

Is that glass fiber tape around the front axle?

Hi Mike,

yes it is!

It's a little something I added (there is some plastic square tubing also) momentarily to set up the guide so that the weight of the car would lean on it and the fronts would barely touch.

I swear I will remove it as soon as I find a better way to do that (what can I say: am I a troubled assembler or am I not ? )

Hey Mike, what are you doing up so late? Training your dog to bite socialist's childrens?

That one looks more like a vac body than a Strombecker tho - are you sure? The one in scratchbuilt.com is a Strombecker, but not sure about this one.

I don't know, Don.

I don't think I ever saw a Strombecker car in real life, I took Randy Fowler's mention on that site. It came as is in the pic, save for the interior and the decals.

I don't think it's a re-pop though, given the "texture" which is totally similar to many of the body made back then. It looks like it was an original company painted body.

[don.siegel]

If it's a hard body, then in must be the Strombecker Edo - I just thought it looked like a vac-form on the photo.

You may be a troubled assembler, but I've got troubled vision and many existential doubts...

ciao
Don

[Edo]

Don,

it's not an hard body! It's vac-formed, I believe it's butyrate. From what you say may I then deduct that Strombecker's were all hard bodies.

[don.siegel]

Bingo - DuBro! (I think)

Pretty much all Strombeckers were hard-bodied - except for their 007 Aston Martin in 1/32...

Don

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

What you did was common in the day. Lots of articles about drop arms left out critical information. One being that of "up stop". So, I saw a lot of kids wrap tape somewhere. Usually black "electricians" tape.

Strombecker's line of hard bodies were quite good. My first slot cars were in 59 or so using their hard bodies which had kits for making them pylon racers and rail racers then slot racers. I still have the bits of those for restoration.

The cheetah was a good model. But my favorite of THAT era was the Ferrari 365P2. The running gear was not as good as, say, AMTs but nicer than, say, Cox for performance.

Fate

[TSR]

Bingo - DuBro! (I think)

Indeed. Factory painted too.

Oh by the way, according to Dennis, your car is a fake, right? (Sorry, I had to do it.)

[Jairus]

I finally have one to post though sadly it is not a survivor but assembled from surviving parts.






Yeah, the front suspension was missing the little spring so I made one with .032 wire. WAY too heavy so... next trip to the hobby shop I'll get some proper "whisker wire" and make a correct spring.


The car was inspired by Al Penrose's post a while back of his little Pittman powered blue beetle. I had many of the parts available, but no body ("I ain't got nooooo body....."). However eBay turned up this nice pre-mounted DuBro piece. A few hours of careful (ha) assembly and it is now ready for the track and the application of a little patina. The hopes are that when I am touring through Canada some day we can share a pint and a few laps with the Bugs.
Ciao!
J

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

The Old "Round Tuit" showed up!

Went prowling through the boxes as I had remembered saying I would LOOK for things.

Found I have TWO unpainted Mercedes 300sl bodies and one factory painted in blue!

HA!

Usually with these, I bought backups for a favored car, but in this case I don't remember what was under it. It is likely it was my standard club car of the era, a 704 or similar on plate chassis.

And, happily, I found the Ferrari monza repops and one original that I used to have. And my backup Cobra 390 bodies.

and best of all, a NOS Birdcage with no paperwork that exactly matches Jose Rodriquez's drawings that I should send to Howmet for cloning.

That is just ............so far.

Fate