Scalextric etc

[PatB]

43 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said:

I've photographed the relevant pages from the Airfix Motor Racing catalogue to show the range of cars that were available at that time....

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I think that answers one mystery that's been nagging at me for nigh on 50 years. I have a very early memory of a display of slot cars in a shop and, whilst I have long forgotten what the rest were, I have always had a mental picture of something with an upmarket BMC nose. However, it's always seemed rather unlikely that anyone would have made a Wolseley 16/60 slottie. Finally I can say that the most likely candidate I've ever seen is that MG 1100.

[Barry Ten]

11 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have a couple of six wheel Tyrrells but another six wheeler will be lapping round the track in the near future. Bachmann recently released FAB1 from Thunderbirds in 1/32 scale and I have the kit and just need to modify a brass chassis kit. It should make a good pace car. 

 

Now that should be fun. I'd like a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle.

[33C]

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Now that should be fun. I'd like a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle.

I would love to recreate the "Elevator cars" from Thunderbirds "Trapped in the sky!" And then put a "Fireflash" on top and take it round a LARGE circuit!! God, i loved that scene........

[Barry Ten]

13 minutes ago, 33C said:

I would love to recreate the "Elevator cars" from Thunderbirds "Trapped in the sky!" And then put a "Fireflash" on top and take it round a LARGE circuit!! God, i loved that scene........

 

In true Blue Peter fashion, here's one I made earlier:

 

[Hroth]

22 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

I  remember a company produced a track system that was basically an all metal

track , very chrome looking but can't remember who .

 

 Any takers ??

 

I had a set that had all-metal track, three pieces, inner, middle and outer, all held together by slotted brown plastic bars. It had little plastic cones to hold up the corners for "banking" and fibre strips that fitted into cream plastic posts to form fencing that clipped into the outer radius of the curves There were bigger supports to take the track up for the traditional figure-eight circuit.

 

As I was typing the above, I remembered that "victor" or something similar came into the name of the system.

A bit of random googling came up with "VIP Roadways" made by Victory Industries of Guildford and a link to an archive:  https://www.philsmith.co.uk/VIP/index.htm

 

I vaguely remember the cars, I've still got the motor/rear axle assembly for one in a box somewhere...

 

 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

VIP? Their tyres were quite good in the day - "Nippy Vippies" as my mate described them. 

[Ben B]

7 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Now that should be fun. I'd like a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle.

 

Could get a bit expensive doing Gerry Anderson-themed Scalextric.  At least one of the vehicles would have to gratuitously crash down an embankment then burst into flames, or just plain old explode, every race

 

Having professed earlier a liking for the Scalextric Mad Max V8, it would be fun to go the whole hog and do a 'Fury Road' build; basically buy a spares/repairs/scrap box off eBay, glue it all together into some nightmarish mega-vehicle, cover it in plasticard spikes, and spray it all rusty brown...

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Victory Industries also made controllers for model railways...

[Tony_S]

I don’t think the spectators are in the most sensible place considering the state of the track!

[PatB]

I just found out that the husband of one of MrsB's friends has quite an extensive 4 lane Scalextric layout in their shed and hasn't had much luck recruiting fellow racers. I've promised to offer some competition when I can find the time. I'm now scouring the interwebs for interesting slot racing material, and finding there are all sorts of rather nice 1/32 car kits available for not a huge amount of money. I smell a project coming on. I note that 70s and 80s Scalextric cars are in quite strong demand, though, which, I assume, is down to the usual UCDS* exacerbated by lockdowns increasing interest in indoor pursuits.

 

*Unfulfilled Childhood Dreams Syndrome

[Barry Ten]

Thanks to ebay, I've now got three more pit lane garages in various states of completeness:

 

 

I've also stripped my tatty old Datsun of its old decals and varnish:

 

 

Although the varnish and paint (where I'd touched-up the damaged decals) came off with plastic-compatible stripper, I noticed that, under the decals themselves, the plastic had been attacked a bit. I can only guess that there was some solvent in the decals which, over time, has eaten away at the plastic. Since I couldn't get a really good finish as it was, I decided to respray the whole body, and luckily the same blue I'd used on my radio control P51 turned out to be a near perfect match for the original shade. I decided to let it bake off for a week before going near it with the replacement decals, but that'll be the next job! Fun!

 

 

[Barry Ten]

My first two Scalextric cars was this pair which originally belonged to my Dad:

 

 

Until recently I'd always assumed they were models of actual cars, but seemingly not; they're both fictitious designs. The red one is a C6 Panther, and the green one a C5 Europa Vee, unfortunately much the worse for wear. The Panther is in better condition but still missing the rear exhaust moulding.

 

I wanted to fix both cars, but chasing down individual spares proved difficult, so I decided to acquire two more of these in reasonable condition (not necessarily the same body colours) and then strip them for the parts. This might seem a bit excessive but they weren't expensive, and I didn't mind stripping them as they didn't have any personal significance, whereas my Dad's ones did. It also means I end up with a few handy spares.

 

Once the various parts were liberated - which was a bit trickier than expected, as some of the mouldings were fixed firmly in place - I was able to bring the two old cars back up to racing spec:

 

 

 

They still retain their 50-year old character, with wear and tear to the bodies and transfers, but importantly they're now not missing any bits and no longer looking so neglected. I think it would be difficult to convert these to digital so they'll be reserved for analog race days. I wish my Dad was still around to enjoy seeing them again, but hopefully he'd have approved.