49 replies to this topic

[68Caddy]

Thanks, Todd.

I do have a question about the stock motor in the BMW, how well does it run on a commercial track? Is it slow? Thinking of using a NSR 40k motor and what gearing do you run yours with?

I sure found the driver and thanks for the suggestion, it was appreciated.

Also what do you know about the other Scaleauto chassis that has the swing arm!

Nesta

[n9949y]

Hi Nesta,

There aren't any commercial tracks in Oregon, so I'm not able to answer your question, and I don't know about other Scaleauto chassis other than those used for the 1/24 Scaleauto Porsche and BMW.

By the way, here's my Scaleauto Porsche 911 RSR white body that with Patto's decals I modeled the Alex Job 2010 ALMS GTC car.

[marco]

Jaguar XKR RSR GT2




Mercedes SLS GT3

Hey Nesta,

You might find this hard to believe but Rally slot racing is very popular in Spain and Scaleauto is a Spanish company. I have seen all sorts of 'rough terrain' rally tracks on the European posts including 'hill climb' layouts. This is the application for the Scaleauto chassis with the swing arm and also the various suspension bits and pieces that they produce for this type of racing at both 1/24 and 1/32 scale.

If you want to use one of the Scaleauto white body kits to build a higher performance GT car... I would step it up to a Scholer GT, Plafit SLP 1 or DoSlot GT chassis. And all three of these peformance GT chassis are available in North American and only at GRID. But it's all relative to what's running on the track and the Rule Set... and as I continue to say, the Scaleauto cars perform within a few tenths of cars costing twice the price, so they really do make for a great racing at a great price particularly if you are new to model car racing.

And starting with the BMW M3 this year, all of the Scaleauto GT cars are shipping with ball bearings at all four corners with no increase to the price of the cars. That is really great that you can buy a 1/24 car of this quality at $129 for the white kit and only $159 for a prepainted RTR car. Scaleauto really does deserve a round of applause for keep the pricing so affordable... doing what others have only dreamed about!

By the way, Scaleauto will release the Jaguar XKR RSR GT2 in a couple of weeks which means we will have them at GRID by the end of July... and the Mercedes SLS GT3 will be released in the fall. That makes four great GT cars in total. You could replicate a good part of the field that ran this weekend at the Nurburgring 24H with those cars and have a great race.

I have to think that the Audi R8 can't be too far down the road for Scaleauto.

[68Caddy]

Thanks Mark, I ran the car for the first time on a commercial flat track in El Cajon, the car was very smooth and quiet but the pinon spun loose. I also noticed that the motor was not as fast as I hoped, Oh well I can change that easy.
Can you tell me about the suspension parts that Scaleauto is selling and does it accept bb or not?
I tried out the BRM also, but man it had noisy gears, but not bad for a plastic chassis.
Have to change the chassis on the BRM or build one.
Nesta

[n9949y]

Thanks Mark, I ran the car for the first time on a commercial flat track in El Cajon, the car was very smooth and quiet but the pinon spun loose. I also noticed that the motor was not as fast as I hoped, Oh well I can change that easy.
Can you tell me about the suspension parts that Scaleauto is selling and does it accept bb or not?
I tried out the BRM also, but man it had noisy gears, but not bad for a plastic chassis.
Have to change the chassis on the BMR or build one.
Nesta

Hey Nesta,

Build your own!

[marco]

Thanks Mark, I ran the car for the first time on a commercial flat track in El Cajon, the car was very smooth and quiet but the pinon spun loose. I also noticed that the motor was not as fast as I hoped, Oh well I can change that easy.
Can you tell me about the suspension parts that Scaleauto is selling and does it accept bb or not?
I tried out the BRM also, but man it had noisy gears, but not bad for a plastic chassis.
Have to change the chassis on the BMR or build one.
Nesta

Hey Nesta,

This is where you want to go if you are upgrading the BRM cars. This is the PLAFIT SLP2 chassis with a carbon kit. 13D power of your choice. The fastest and best handling option for about $200 RTR shipping included. And they won't hear you coming

[68Caddy]

Thanks Mark, SOLD.

Does the PLAFIT SLP2 chassis with a carbon kit come with 3mm axles to?

Nesta

[marco]

Thanks Mark, SOLD.

Does the PLAFIT SLP2 chassis with a carbon kit come with 3mm axles to?

Nesta

You got it. Since they originated in Europe, all of the 1/24 model car chassis use a 3mm axle configuation . . . spur gears, bearings, wheels, spacers, etc.

[68Caddy]

Thanks Mark
I will call ya tomorrow, had to work late tonight.


Nesta

[sportblazer350]

some questions and well as comments........

Marco: can you give more details as to the blueprinting of a rtr Scaleauto car/chassis. Here in NJ we will begin to race them this month. Our rules are box stock with foam rubber rears, as we are racing on a large commercial track with light spray glue. My car has ball bearings, but a loose fit to the axle, like a bushing. Am thinking of upgrading to a precision ball bearing.

Nesta- to me a Scaleauto stock RTR is not slow. We have been racing BRMs for 3 seasons now, both on club Carrera plastic tracks and then moved up to a commercial track. We have been constantly tuning and blueprinting the BRM car and chassis, keeping as close to a stock kit and BRM official rules as possible, and we now have them handling well. Much better than an out of the box car.

Noisy BRM gears: yes, just replace with (allowed for racing rules) issues by Sigma.

Slow Scaleautos? faster than the BRMs, and why go too fast? after all, these are hard body SCALE cars, not flexi cars. But to each his own, I like the speed of an out of the box Scaleauto.

[68Caddy]

Glenn I have to say I got use to going fast at BPR. You have to remember I ran my car on the track by my self and it felt slow, but I'm sure if I had seven more guys it would have been faster and more fun.
I'm new to this so please bear with me till I get it right.



Nesta

[sportblazer350]

Nesta, it's not a matter of you getting it right. You are so true- when you get a full field of these cars (or BRMs) they will not appear slow, but rather FASt as the racing is tight and fun! We have raced BRMs here in NJ with a ful field, 8 lanes of those big BRM Porsches and Toyotas, and the racing was great! Once in a race they seem to speed up! You'll luv it for sure.

[marco]

some questions and well as comments........

Marco: can you give more details as to the blueprinting of a rtr Scaleauto car/chassis. Here in NJ we will begin to race them this month. Our rules are box stock with foam rubber rears, as we are racing on a large commercial track with light spray glue. My car has ball bearings, but a loose fit to the axle, like a bushing. Am thinking of upgrading to a precision ball bearing.

Hi Glenn,

The Scaleauto cars are mass produced and assembled with a fair bit of care but you can only do so much if you want to hold the price point. So the first thing any good racer is going to do is tear the car apart, true it all up and put it back together with lots of TLC Here is a LINK to a Picasa album on my build of a Scaleauto Porsche white kit for the Sprint Championships last year in Trier, Germany. You will also find a proven RULE SET for the Scaleauto GT cars on the OEPS SPRINTS web site that will keep your racers happy. I have one of the new BMW's to build for this year's Championship that is less than 2 months away . . . and I will try to find the time to document this build as well. And the new Scaleauto Jaguar will be arriving in about one week. Just too much fun and not enough time! All the best.

[marco]

This photo courtesy of Pepcarot's Gallery


Hi Guys,

Questions are surfacing and mail is pouring in about Rule Sets, Blue Printing and Setting Up the BMW M3 cars up for competition . . . and it also about time that I started to prepare my own cars for the 2011 OEPS SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP in Trier, Germany that is only about 6 weeks away now. How is it that race day always jumps from 3 months away to being just 3 weeks away in a blink. Time to get building and answer a few of the build questions at the same time!




So we are going to start with the stock RTR BMW M3 car as well as one of the White Kits (shown earlier in the thread) because I want to put my own livery together for this race. First thing I would suggest is to grab your camera and take a whole slew of shots of the assembled car so that you know exactly how it goes back together. Seems pretty obvious when it's sitting in front of you but memories tend to fade quickly. Next step is to completely completely disassemble the chassis and group all the bits and pieces together. If I don't think that I will have enough time to finish the job in one sitting, the next thing I do is put all the sub assemblies into separate Ziplock bags so that nothing gets lost. Nothing new to most of you I am sure.



Base Plate. This is one place where mass production does take it's toll a little. These plates are stamped out as opposed to CNC or Laser Cut so the could be flatter and the stamping process and production drilling also tends to throw some burrs and rough edges. Not an issue with the bottom face of the base plate so I leave it alone. Also, don't remove that MSC logo from the base plate or the car won't pass TC. Flip the plate over on a flat block and take some fine grit Emory paper and remove some of the high points and swelling around the edges and holes. This is the side of the Base Plate that everything is fixed to so the truer the surface the better aligned all of the parts will be in the end.



My first instinct was to take this plate over to the machine shop down the street, have them put it up on the surface grinder and take a skim off it to really flatten it all out. A one minute job and it would be almost perfect. Unfortunately most surface grinders have a magnetic bed and this stainless steel, non-magnetic Base Plate wouldn't hold to their surface grinder. I need to track down a different piece of equipment because hand sanding will only do so much as you can see in the pics.



Axle Holders. There are two front and two rear aluminum axle holders. With some 400-600 Wet Sand on a block, I am also going to very lightly flat sand the bottom face that sits against the Base Plate as well as the upright face that accepts the ball bearing. I am not removing any real material here, I just want to remove any burrs or surface upsets from the production.



For some reason, SC decided to use two different head sizes on their screws to assemble the chassis. No big deal except the larger head type do not fully recess in the holes in the chassis plate. Both are M2 Philips head screws. The problems with the head not fully rececessed is that it will compromise the measurement of the ground clearance at TC. The second problem is that when a screw of any type is not seated properly you have only partial contact and it can work itself loose. Anway, not a problem as Scaleauto sells a kit of extra screws at a very minimal cost and there are plenty of small head Philips type in the package.





As you can see in the next photo, the smaller type head screws have been used to attach the rear axle holders and the screws sit just below the bottom surface of the base plate. And when TC slides the feeler gauge between the tech block and the chassis plate, the screws won't come into play to compromise the reading and send me back with a red card to increase the clearance. How did I learn this? You guessed right.

[marco]

Moving On . . .

Well this next pic may start the phones ringing but here we go. All the Scaleauto cars are now shipping with ball bearings, and they are a good product. However with the depth of Pro talent that will be on the track in Trier, I will need all the help I can get. There isn't much in the Rule Set that you can change on these cars but the bearings, axles, nuts and bolts give you a bit of room to get a little extra of the cars.

These new GOLD bearings from Sigma surfaced like last year in Europe and they come the closest to defying the Law of Perpetual Motion that I have seen. They just spin and spin and spin and . . . . until you get tired of watching them. Naturally there are always a little in short supply, they're pricey and they require very careful servicing or you loose the magic. However given that model cars actually RUN on all for wheels . . . and not just the rear wheels and front guide . . . the lower the rolling resistance the faster the car. Take a look . . . they are very, very nice




The H Plate. This part of the assembly is common to most model car chassis in one shape or variation. The H plate is essentially the connection between the body and the chassis proper. This picture shows the stock chassis as it comes assembled from Scaleauto. There are four screws, hollow posts, lock washers and nuts . . . one at each corner . . . that contain the H plate but allow it to move slightly in order to isolate the body movement from the chassis movement. Familiar stuff to any slot car . . . this is how they achieve it on a model car.



It's also a good time to take the H plate and lightly sand both sides with 400-600 wet sand to remove any production burrs or sharp edges. This plate is alumimum and bends relatively easy, something you don't want, so take it easy. Most competition H Plates are now made out of carbon so that they are super flat and will not bend . . . but this change is not permitted in the SC Rule Set.




T Nuts or T-Hülse as they are called in Germany. This is wonderful little fastener that took me a few trips overseas to catch up on. As you can see in the picture below. This precisely made little fastener essentially replaces the traditional spacer, lock washer and nut. One piece out of aluminum instead of three made out of steel. That makes sense and also simplifies fiddling with three little parts if you have a repair to make under green. These T nuts come in lengths from 2,0mm to 7,0mm depending on where they are being used and the type of chassis.



And here is the end result when used to mount the H plate. I have used a 2,5mm long T Nut along with a 0,5mm washer. The 0,5mm washer lets the H Plate rest on four independent points rather that contacting the base plate directly in the event that either surface is not completely true or flat. The H plate is 1,0 mm in thickness so their is approx. 1,0mm of overall vertical play at each of the four posts to let the body move accordingly.




And now I have gone ahead and reassembled the base plate and front end of the chassis. This is also not a bad time to set the overall wheel base as well as to make sure that the front and rear axles are parallel. Or to make sure the WB on the right side is the same as the left side. Given that these cars actually run on all four whees . . . if both sides are not of equal length then the car will not run straight and will be pulling to the side that has the shorter wheelbase. There are some jigs to make this work easier and I wouldn't mind having one . . . but I still use a vernier calliper to do the work. I am looking for an overall wheelbase of 115mm . . . so the vernier is set to 118mm to account for the 3,0mm axle diameter.



I will come back and check on this near the end of the build to make sure my body clearances are OK and nothing has shifted. But right now it's looking pretty good so let's move on and mount the wheels and motor and finish it up.



We will be racing on sponge tires for the 2011 OEPS SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP so I have fitted the Scaleauto SC-2721 Procomp 3 rears at 27,5mm OD which is also the race handout . . . and the Scaleauto SC-2715 Hardcomp fronts at 26,5mm OD which I will varnish and polish a little later on in this post. Both of the front and rear Scaleauto sponge RTR wheels are a direct replacement for the rubber wheels and tires that come with the cars.

And now to check the front and rear spur that can not exceed 80,0mm at the front and 83,0mm at the rear. So I am have spaced it out to be just on the safe side in case the handout rear wheels happen to be from a different production run and a little wider. Never know.




Just to mention, the yellow motor is the Scaleauto SC-0012 that shipped last year when Scaleauto first released the Porsche cars. All of the Scaleauto 1/24 cars are now shipping . . . and for the long term I am told . . . with the new SC-0025 motor that you can see in the pics at the start of this build. However we did not have enough time to get through testing gear ratios for this year's 2011 OEPS SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP so we are running with the same motor and 10:44 ratio as 2010. I am quite sure we will make the necessary changes for 2012 as the Yellow SC-0012 is no longer in production.

I didn't take a pic but I did check the ground clearance which is currently sitting about 2,1mm at all four corners. This clearance is measured with the guide out of play and all four wheels flat on the tech block. I can start the race as low as 1,8mm so I may come back a little later and shim the axle holders a bit to close up the clearance. But otherwise all that is left is to hook up the lead wires. Time now to start the body and finalize may plans for the livery. Also a good time to answer any questions.

[sportblazer350]

Mark, great article and pix! I sent a link to this post in my yahoo group site so all of my guys get a chance to read this article. We will having our firt Scaleauto race later this month, really looking forward to it.

[marco]

Time to get the body going for this car. The 2011 OEPS SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP allows the driver's to create 'fantasy' liveries for their cars provided they are prepared in the spirit of 1:1 racing. So for my BMW M3, I will draw inspiration from the Faltz BMW 320i as it was raced to a class victory in the 1977 Mosport 6 hour race in the hands of Eddie Cheever and Gilles Villeneuve. And with a bit of luck I managed to find the decal set at 1/24th scale.



The Scaleauto bodies are incredibly well molded with super detail and nice and straight. All that was required was to glue in the plastic body reinforcements for the body mounting posts and a bit of light sanding just to remove a few of the sharp edges. One coat of super fine Tamiya white primer and the pic here was taken after the second light color coat. Must say I don't like painting bodies at the height of the summer when the humidity is up.




The decals are produced by Studio27 and great resolution as you can see of even the smallest lettering. The S27 waterslide carrier is very thin compared to most . . . and nice to work with on body panel seams, etc. . . . but you do need to use a light hand and easy on the setting solution. Given the aforementioned summer humidity, I will let these decals dry for a good week to make sure all of the moisture is out of them before wrapping it up with a couple of very light clear coats.

Let's back up a bit before we move on. When you are gluing in the plastic reinforcing strips that support the body mounting posts, position them just a little bit below the surface of the body post as you can see in the pic below. Everyone has their glue of choice but for this setup I like to get these holders positioned and then 'wick in' a little bit of TENAX solvent adhesive to fix it. Same with the other post . . . and then secure the reinforcing mount itself to the inside face of the body panel.



The reason for seating the reinforcing strip slightly below the top surface of the body post is so that the metal body holders will sit on 4 independent points. And whatever you do, do not omit these reinforcing strips. First off the are required by the Rule Set to pass TC in competition . . . secondly the body posts are not strong enough on their own to secure the body . . . and lastly the body mounting screws will most likely split the posts.

[Chris]

I'm sure you guys know what Honda this is? I sure think that the Japanese market is producing some great race cars with styling, I sure would buy this model in any scale.

Nesta

Nesta,

BPA from the Czech Republic has the Honda body in its catalogue.

[marco]

Hey Guys,

Well it's less than 3 weeks now until the 2011 OEPS SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP in Germany so it's time to get out the suitcase and finish off the BMW M3. And if Jan Roestorf is dialed in to the BLOG . . . yes Jan, I did mount the air horns that sit behind the front grill Tim Tyler, Noel Batson and Jan will be travelling to the Renn-Center-Trier, Germany to represent Australia in the final round of the 2011 OEPS -- Open European Prototype Series as well as the SPRINTS. Jan and Tim place 6th and 8th respectively in the SPRINTS last year and I am sure they are out to better that results.





So one more late night should do it. A little work on the wheel inserts, front headlamps, rear wing and a few of the aero winglets should do it. The chassis is also pretty much sorted using a test body and running well. Must say, I really do like these Scaleauto cars.

Mark

[Springbok Racer]

Mark,


Yes, I've been keeping an eye on you and we shall see if the scrutineering Gods in Trier are happy with those air horns of yours. Anyway, I'm looking forward to those mushrooms you keep bragging about .............. this year is my social year and I will leave the serious stuff to Tim and Noel.


See you soon


Jan

[marco]

Hello Racers,

Scaleauto has now released a total of 3 different liveries for the BMW M3 GT cars including this 'Limited Edition' production of the latest BMW ART CAR designed by American artist Jeff Koons for the 2011 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The paint scheme is particularly challenging for reproduction at 1/24th scale and this is one of the best commercially produced bodies that I have seen with stunning definition, accuracy and a beautiful clear coat.




For comparative purposes here is a the release pic of the actual car. As you can see, the position and colors of the striping are virtually identical at scale.



Scaleauto has done such an incredible job that it begs you to pop the interior and hence the stock detailing to keep up with this spectacular body. As mentioned, this is a 'Limited Edition' body that can be retrofitted to any of the other BMW M3 cars or Scaleauto chassis. The RTR Body along with the correct BBS wheel inserts ( I am sure someone spotted that difference in the about photos) sells for approx. $99 and approx. $199 for the complete RTR car ( a $40 premium to the standard $159 list for a Scaleauto RTR car). Enjoy!

[Gabe]

reviving this thread: This Friday OEPS Sprint in Trier Germany with Scaleauto cars http://www.oeps-sprints.com/

my mean machine:

https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink

[n9949y]

From ScaleAuto and other sources most all the American Le Mans GT class cars are made/copied, except Ferraris 458. So I kitbashed a Fujimi 458 street kit into a 2011 Competizione Ferrari GT Class racer with fender flares, a wing from a Carrera Corvette and Pattos water slide decals.

Body's mounted on a custom scratchbuilt chassis designed and built by Bob Hanna, Roseburg, OR, powered by a parma 501.Raced in Pelican Park's GTS class for contemporary High Performance production closed sprorts cars.

[Alchemist]

That's nice Todd! How does the car drive?

Thanks for sharing!

Ernie

[n9949y]

With a heavy chassis, brass is .90 thick. and a high torque motor, it can get around PPS's 68" twisty track at about 4.9 sec.