SPA Modeler

Glad to hear that you're okay, Bruce. That is sad news about David Lynch, though. The cowling looks great!

Thanks, Gary!

I really appreciate your support, sincerely. I have started on the pilot figure whose head & torso come from a COX slot car.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 7:35 pm Thanks, Gary!

I really appreciate your support, sincerely. I have started on the pilot figure whose head & torso come from a COX slot car.

You're so welcome, Bruce! Does that driver look like this dude?



Or maybe this guy?



Those fellows have been with me since 1966, driving my two Cox slot cars that I got while a young teen in Australia.

I lived in Geelong, Victoria, a city of about 100,000 in the mid-60s. The slot car craze hit down under not long after we arrived in February of 1966 and soon, there were two commercial tracks within 100 yards of our house. My "home track" was at Avus Raceways (owned by an expatriate-German and his wife) and we had an 8-lane, 225-foot track, with electronic lap timer and counter. My best time around that track was 14.1 seconds, using a borrowed slot car, a 1/24 Russkit vac-formed bodied Porsche 906 with a rewound and balanced Mabuchi 36D motor. The car's owner was also a Texas kid, and he held the track record at 11.8 seconds with the same car. We "drove" with one hand holding the controller and the other hand held a brake button that cut power to that lane when pressed. That allowed for some really quick cornering!

The Ferrari Dino came with a coupe and a spyder body.



I had to have a formula one car too, of course; I believe mine was a Scalextric Brabham F1 car, seen here behind the Dino spyder:





We were really into "hot rodding" those little electric motors. There was a guy around the Avus shop who rewound and balanced the armatures for a small price. It really made them scream, too! Here you can see where he filed away material to balance the motor:



And this pic shows the heavier wire with which it was rewound:



Sorry for the thread hijack, Bruce. But I had more fun slot car racing than almost any other activity I've known!

Fond memories of my brief time with slot cars. Almost all jury rigged and done on the cheap as I had no money (age 16-ish). It was a lot of fun.

Thanks, Gary and Lyle!

A complete reply is coming for you both. Gary, the Cox driver is from the GT40.

Four years ago I revived my Dad’s Russkit Porsche with a new shell by Lancer and new tires by Ortman!







It was tough—really tough to paint the interior of the shell. I had no experience doing it ever before so I practiced on a cheap expendable version before going for the reality. I can still see the not so crisp edges when I look at this, so maybe in the future I’ll try again. It runs, though. It’s not quite the runner you describe because you were there and you had the know how (like my Dad did) to engineer faster cars.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 4:57 pm Four years ago I revived my Dad’s Russkit Porsche with a new shell by Lancer and new tires by Ortman!







It was tough—really tough to paint the interior of the shell. I had no experience doing it ever before so I practiced on a cheap expendable version before going for the reality. I can still see the not so crisp edges when I look at this, so maybe in the future I’ll try again. It runs, though. It’s not quite the runner you describe because you were there and you had the know how (like my Dad did) to engineer faster cars.

That looks fantastic to me, Bruce! From here, it really looks nice, as does your chassis. That paint looks so much better than stock. Heck, I was just 13-14 years-old and only knew enough to get the guy everyone else used for their reworked Mabuchi motors. But, yes they really screamed, and exchanging the kit motor for the 26D made for a great combo with that Russkit vac-body and belly-pan.

Our "home" track, Avus Raceways, sponsored a 12-hour endurance race, with three hours running in darkness, cars were required to have working lights. It was great fun, and we stayed up all night chasing girls and cutting up! Later, two mates and I formed a team for a 12-hour race in Melbourne. We planned to use my Lotus 40, and the other American kid on our team had his dad come up with an ingenious method for connecting batteries and bulbs with shirt snaps. But, when we drove over with an older friend to test our car, the rewound motor drew too much current and kept throwing their breakers. So, we were out!

Here's how I recall those Russkit 906 cars, and the borrowed rekordwagen that I used looked the same:

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:13 pm

Bruce!

The cowling looks just perfect and the propeller, engine, all!



- Kari

Perfect in craftsmanship and photography. Incredible work, Bruce!