I started both of these cars more than a few years ago. In fact the Lotus 21 began life a decade ago and the BRM P61 about 7 years ago.
I had intended to enter the Lotus 21, (J Clark drove it in the 1961 French Grand Prix) in a Tasman Series Proxy race but never finished it. It sat on my shelf, about 90% complete until this spring. Upon inspection, I determined that the car needed:
a new driver and cockpit and detailing
new wheels and tires
new guide, leads and braid
new motor
different sized crown and pinion gears
a reconstructed faux space frame chassis
and a whole lot more
Here’s the finished car:
The BRM P61, modeled to represent the F1 car Graham Hill drove at the 1963 French Grand Prix, was built for and entered in a VRAA series, but suffered a near fatal crash which resulted in chassis damage and I withdrew the car early in the series. It also sat on my shelf, unrepaired for at least 4 years.
This car required:
Chassis repair of the main rails and motor mount and,
A new motor and revised gearing
new wheels and tires
new guide, leads and braid
significant body repair, new rivets, painting and decals
and of course a new driver figure and cockpit detailing
Here’s the finished car:
Both cars were finished a couple months ago and will be raced in proxy series beginning in December this year. Rather than attach or link a host of additional pictures, I’ve linked the photogallery where I documented most of my rebuild process.
Wow,this is great to have slot cars now shown at FSM!
I know a bit more about the actual cars and drivers than I do about slot cars today. Sure, I had the box of beat up cars that I took to the hobby shop track on Saturdays, but your models: wow!
Those are very cool! Big fan of that era of F1 racing and have built a few of the 1/20 scale Tamiya kits. Couldn’t imagine driving them around a track. What a blast. Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
I have talked about it til I am hoarse! Those are RACE Cars! They Look like Race cars and sound like Race cars. Those extra fast flying Doorstops loaded with fins are not appealing to me. These Are ! Good On You!
When I got into it for a while( Well, til the track Store closed) I ran 1/25 scale. Mostly G.T.O.s and Cobras. Once in a while I would rig up a regular High End Two Door hardtop ( Fury,Impala Etc.)
Get teased about crashing and surprise tham all by not doing anything more than flying around the track doing some nice Slides with the rear ends.( I think they call that Drifting?)
Got banned from Racing one car. It was a Jeep! and Four Wheel drive! two sets of contacts and pins were required! Only one Slightly more powerful motor! And a great gearset from another Company, along with the adjustable frames!
Thanks for sharing your scratchbuilding experiences and I appreciate your comments. I’ve been called a rivet counter (at least when it comes to slot car builds), and worse. But that’s okay by me.
I never understood hypersonic wedges --I don’t mind that folks with far better eyes and reflexes than me like to race these things around giant tracks, but I roll my eyes when anyone refer to these things as ‘cars’. Live and let live I suppose. Since I don’t live anywhere near a commercial track, it’s not like I encounter the wedges that much.
In any case, my slot car building has come in handy now that I’ve started building static models again (WWI era aircraft in 1/48) after a 35 year hiatus. At least I know how to use an airbrush and glue (although it took a few modeling mishaps over the past couple of months to recall the differneces between CA glue, epoxy and plastic solvent (er cement) and when to use each!
