20 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

California's Dennis "Foamy" Hill has been playing the slot car game for a long time and when Steve Kempson posted an ALBUM of photos he took of Foamy's scratchbuilt Thingie that destroyed the competition at the 2014 'Round Britain Whiz proxy race, I felt it would be worthwhile showcasing Foamy's building talents in this forum.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The devil is in the details.
 
Every piece of rod or tube shows a square, chamfered cut. Note how the piano wire reinforcement atop the motor bracket is faired in. The radiused corners on the pans. The fabulous solder joints everywhere.

If the Foamster is looking for a new career, he should consider becoming a jeweler.

[32Deuce]

Beautiful car and a winner too, rare combination (sometimes).

Who makes the spur?

Z

[Cheater]

Foamy works at Sonic and I think that gear is a custom-machined Sonic aluminum drag spur.

Perhaps Foamy will post to confirm.

[Foamy]

The gears are indeed Sonic drag racing gears. The spur gear needed replacing after four races. The final three races the replacement lasted fine.

Motor is a JK Hawk 25 that was a spec motor. Rear tires are JDS drag tires. The fronts are Tamiya 19 mm ball bearing rollers for their Mini 4WD cars.

This was a seven-race series on six different tracks. Six wins, one second.

[Cheater]

Foamy,

Thanks for making us 'Murricans look good.

You know, in slot racing's past, there was another American slot racer who made us look good. Some guy named Emott at some placed called Tottenham.

[Samiam]

Very clean build. If not for the FK motor and modern guide you would swear it was a '60s build. Beautiful car.

[Cheater]

One further thought...

Experienced and successful scratchbuilders eventually learn (usually via an unpleasant sort of educational process) that when soldering together small diameter tubes/rods and thin strips/bars, solder joints need to be "long" to have decent strength.

Take another look at Foamy's chassis and see how so many of the joins are accomplished using relatively long solder joints.

[havlicek]

Really nice car!  

 

Funny, when I see this beauty, I'm reminded of Philippe once saying in a thread somewhere that sidewinders (full sidewinders) are garbage handling-wise. I guess this car is the exception that proves the rule!  

 

-john

[Bill from NH]

My first commercial slot car was a Russkit Porsche Carrera followed by a couple 36D powered Champions and a Dyn-O-Can. All four cars were full sidewinders, all four cars handled OK. I raced these cars from 1967-mid '69.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, even when it's not based on fact.

[Maximo]

Great chassis and dominant winner no doubt! Congratulations, Foamy.

 

I believe the Tamiya ball bearing front wheels and O-rings are made for thingie slot cars and I use them in all my cars.

 

-mAx!

[Matt Sheldon]

One word - "moist".

[idare2bdul]

This level of build is common for Foamy; you seldom see less from him.

 

Instead of him being a jeweler I think a gunsmith would be a better alternate career.

[havlicek]

Hmmm... I see a buncha sidewinder thingies in the future!

 

-john

[boxerdog]

That car is beautifully designed and executed... and it evidently works well, too!!! Quite a feat.

[Cheater]

When I shared this thread on Slotblog's Facebook page, I added this comment:

 

Designing and creating functional model racing car chassis from stock brass and steel shapes is a very satisfying exercise, akin to making a beautful painting or sculpture. But then tuning the resulting car and beating all comers on the racetrack takes the level of satisfaction the builder experiences to a stratospheric level.

 

For me, this is one of the key reasons why Retro racing is so compelling.

[32Deuce]

Only reason I ask about the spur is that I've noticed the metal gears are becoming hard to find. I still have Faas & Sonic gears that have been in cars for 30 years.

 

Needless to say I haven't had that kind of service from the newer plastic gears.

 

Z

[Pablo]

I just now noticed the pans are NOT hinged, to comply with the rules.

They simply hang there via .032' wires, and are governed by the bite bar.

 

Simply a masterpiece. 

[Dennis David]

I'm especially drawn to the full sidewinder format. Gunsmithing like one of our departed friends. :-|

[Bill from NH]

Only reason I ask about the spur is that I've noticed the metal gears are becoming hard to find. I still have Faas & Sonic gears that have been in cars for 30 years.

 

 

 

Many raceways & trackowners have outlawed the use of metal spur gears, thinking they're more apt to damage a track's running surface than plastic gears do. This movermrnt started about 15 years ago. If the metal gears are set up properly, they won't harm a track, but I have seen metal gears improperly set up dig up a track a couple different times.

[NSwanberg]

Shiny.

 

Are the body mounting pins intentionally meant to interfere with and/or rest on the main rails?

[Pablo]

Good question.