I had a 'game changer' moment today, my Prusa came with the smooth sheet which works great with a film of glue stick to help release prints done in PETG based filaments.

Today I received a Prusa textured sheet, changed the sheet type in the printer settings and went through the calibration procedure and adjusted 'live Z' down almost 0.5mm (as this sheet is 0.5mm thinner) then did a test print which is a 100mm square 0.3mm thick (which is really useful for interiors actually)...I took the sheet off the machine to cool down on a cold flat surface, when it was cold the print just gently peeled off the sheet.

No glue stick was used this time...this is going to make life soooooo much easier 

   

There's plenty of slot car product news around at the moment - and although most of it is included in the SlotRacer Digest each Monday, it really needs to be shared on the forum too. Instead of a lot of brief posts - or updates to old threads - I'm going to condense the news into one weekly thread. In fact, it can just be copied and posted from the draft Digest that Jason and I are working on - as below. Some weeks, it might have a looser format and bigger pictures. It'll never be a comprehensive list, so if you'd like to add anything you've seen or heard, feel free to post it below!

Here are the latest cars to arrive and news to break over the past few days - with links to more details, either on the forum, other websites or Facebook posts...


RevoSlot McLaren F1 GTR Le Mans 1995 Just landed from RevoSlot are models of the 1995 Gulf-sponsored McLaren F1 GTR cars that raced at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The #24 of Blundell, Bellm and Sala finished fourth. These 1:32 scale models are available separately or in a twin pack.


Pioneer Bullitt Dodge vs Mustang Just arrived from Pioneer are a pair of screen classics – Steve McQueen’s 390GT and the Hitman’s Dodge Charger R/T 400.
The two cars are welcome re-release for all film and muscle car fans who might have missed them the first time round.


Teamslot Zakspeed Escort Mk2 D&W Just arrived from Spain is another Group 5 Zakspeed Escort.
This livery was raced by Walter Nussbaumer, Willi Bergmeister and – most notably – Hans Soldeck during the 1979 DRM season.
The Escort is available from all Teamslot retailers, including Jadlam Toys & Models who have recently added Teamslot and Avant Slot to their slot car range.


Scalextric Sierra RS500 Richard Millar Expected any time soon is this Gulf edition Ford Sierra RS500.
Originally raced by Radio 1 DJ Mike Smith, the car is now campaigned in Gulf colours by Sussex-based classic car restorer Richard Millar.
Richard’s son Aston won the 2021 Ginetta Junior championship – his car was sponsored by Scalextric.


AFX Chevy Camaro SS396 AFX are bringing back their HO scale Camaro SS396 next month to join a growing classic muscle car range.
In orange with white stripes and clear windows, this Camaro will look great on track or in the display case.

Carrera Celebrates 50 Years of Jägermeister Motorsports It’s all getting a bit orange this week – with two Jägermeister-liveried DRM models having just arrived from Carrera.
The Klaus Ludwig Zakspeed Capri and Jochen Mass Kremer Porsche are just two of the many racing cars that have been decorated in the iconic colours since 1972.
We take a look at the Jägermeister legacy over in the News forum.


The Return of AutoWorld’s Super III This inline HO chassis always promised much, but has mostly left HO slot car fans disappointed.
However, an updated version is back this autumn in a four-car, eight-livery release that features an eclectic mix of body styles.


Slot.it Porsche 962C Le Mans 1991 Slot.it have provided an update on their Joest Porsche 962C that features a central-pillar rear wing.
Two versions of the wing will be provided with model – one for racing and one for display.
The first livery – the Konrad Motorsport car driven by Hans Stuck, Derek Bell and Frank Jelinski – will be available later in the year.


Slot.it Porsche 962C KH Nürburgring 1989 Just announced is another cracking Slot.it Group C Porsche livery.
This one is the car Jochen Dauer drove to third place at the 1989 Supercup Super Sprint at the Nürburgring.
The model is expected at the end of the year.


Policar Lotus 72 Herbert Müller Monza 1971 A very pleasing Grand Prix oddity will be produced by Policar in 2023.
The ex-Jo Siffert Lotus of Swiss sportscar driver Herbie Müller was entered for the 1971 Italian GP, but the car never made it to Monza.
The withdrawal of all Lotus 72 cars from the race was linked to the ongoing investigation into Jochen Rindt’s death the previous year.

Avant Slot Nissan 240RS The design phase for Avant Slot’s new rally car is nearly complete.
In the meantime, you can have a play with a 3D file via the Avant Slot Facebook page. Innovative or what!


Slot Magazine 53 Hot of the press is the latest edition of Slot – a UK-based magazine dedicated to slot cars.
You can read the full contents page – and find out how to buy Slot – over at ePilot’s wonderful magazine thread on the forum.

 
Airfix Austin K2/Y Ambulance Newly arrived from Airfix is this Austin ambulance kit in 1:35 scale.
This could be a perfect project to create a rescue truck for a slot car layout set in the early post-war period.
To celebrate the new release, a free Airfix pint glass will be added to orders from the Airfix website!


Don't forget - if you've seen something we haven't, feel free to post it below...

   

Just arrived from Carrera are two cars that celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Jägermeister sponsorship in motorsport. The bright orange colours are popular with collectors, with probably only Gulf and Castrol slot cars beating the German spiced digestif in the popularity stakes. Jägermeister cars have featured in all branches of motorsport from rallying, touring cars, hillclimbs, GT and sportscar racing, single-seaters and plenty of unofficial schemes in club and historic events.

Although big names  - including Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Stefan Bellof, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx - raced in Jägermeister colours, success was fairly modest. Most notably, Toine Hezemans won the 1973 European Touring Car Championship driving a Jägermeister BMW 3.0 CSL and Brun Motorsports' Group C Porsches were decorated in Jägermeister Racing Team colours on their way to clinching the 1986 World Sportscar Championship.

Sponsorship ended in 2000, Jägermeister believing that alcohol and motor racing do not mix. However, '72 StagPower have taken over as custodians of a significant number of Jägermeister-sponsored cars and make sure they are raced in historic events worldwide. Legendary motoring YouTuber Shmee takes a look around the '72 Stag Power HQ...



I reckon almost all those cars have been produced as slot car models over the years - including the newly-released Carrera DRM Kremer Porsche and Zakspeed Capri...

   
Carrera Porsche Kremer 935 K3 Jägermeister Racing Team #2 - available as analogue Evolution and Digital 132 versions.

The Jägermeister Porsche 935 Turbos were run by both Kremer and Max Moritz teams in 1980 and 81 - featuring in the DRM, World Endurance Championship and IMSA. This particular car was raced by Jochen Mass at the '200 Meilen von Nürnberg' at the Norisring in June 1980. Although qualifying strongly, Mass retired early in the race with engine problems. It was his only DRM outing in the #2 Jägermeister K3-80 that year, Mass being one of five drivers Kremer used. John Fitzpatrick won at Zolder and Hockenheim, Guy Edwards drove the #2 at Donington, with Axel Plankenhorn starting the season and Rolf Stommelen racing the car at Diepholz.

   
Carrera Ford Capri Zakspeed Turbo Jägermeister Racing Team #1 - available as analogue Evolution, Digital 132 and Digital 124 versions.

The Zakspeed Capri was a little long in the tooth by 1982, but Zakspeed dusted it off as a stand-by for the brand-new and rather fragile Jägermeister-sponsored Group C Ford C-100. The Group 5 Capri first appeared at the third DRM round of the year at the Nürburgring -  Klaus Ludwig finishing a fine third, followed by strong performances and two more podiums in the next three races. The C-100 was back at the Norisring and would finally win two races before being replaced for 1983 by the updated Zakspeed C1/4 that was powered by the turbo-charged flat-4 engine from the Group 5 Capri.

There's loads of fabulous Jägermeister motorsport content on the '72 StagPower Facebook page including this get-together at Oschersleben in 2018...



The Carrera stags are expected to sell rather quickly, so don't hang around!

   

For those who missed it first time round - Pioneer are about to release a fresh run of  the Bullitt Assassins' Charger. Available for shipping from Inaslot on Monday 15th August. LINK Bound to sell out quickly.

 Good Evening,

now with the Summer Grand Prix out the way, and the EIS Proxy starting in October.

It is time to think about next year 

I circulated a questionnaire to our loyal band of entrants who have supported the American Road Race and Summer Grand Prix Proxy's this year.
And asked a number of searching questions in regard to their interest in continuing this activity into next year and if so which themes they would most likely to participate in.

I am delighted that everyone I contacted wanted me to carry on next year with organising them, I also asked if we should repeat the Triple Crown concept of 3 related Proxy series, I sensed there was some degree of "Proxy Fatigue" creeping in (including my own), so next year we will downsize to two main Themes, one starting in Spring and the other in Autumn. there will not be a 3rd main Proxy series (of my planning). Although we may well do another Extreme Slotting series if there's still the interest in doing it.
In doing this I came to the conclusion that in principal we attract a regular number of loyal entrants and hosts and in effect could declare ourselves as a Proxy Club to which I have now titled this thread, which we can use next year to manage our activities on Slotracer online and on our Facebook page.

The number of Rounds was also questioned and mostly the current format of 8-10 rounds was preferred. This of course mostly depends on the number of willing hosts, and I hope that the current group of individuals and Clubs can be counted on to participate next year, but it is not assumed.

The Rules were seen in general to be reasonably understandable, but I will try to use a simpler method next year, so that less errors of judgement are made by entrants who participate. Some of the entrants believed however that I am too accommodating with "rules infringements" and would like greater policing. So I will introduce Scrutineering Penalties to those "performance enhancing infringements" next year.

I decided that as a "Club" we should jointly decide on the themes for next year, so I proposed 7 possible Series Themes and carried out a vote on those listed as below.

       

The two which was most popular being 
    
   


So we will run the "Rally Cars Slotting" in the Spring starting on or around the beginning of March 2023

Rules to be posted in the next few days

A change to urethane tires, and a little weight behind the front wheels...this thing handles and goes!

Hi Guy's,

I've made myself a tyre truer by basically copying Woodcote (Alan's) design which he has made a awesome thread a while ago.

I've made a sliding base which has the sandpaper on, I still need to fit a different grit paper on the other side.
Obviously in the video I can't use both hands as I'm holding the camera but you get the idea of how it works.

The miniature power supply I found a guy on ebay who seems to be a electrical genius (in my eyes anyway) he has said if anyone on the forum would like one send me a pm and I can give you his email and he'll do a little discount, not that this was expensive for what it is.
 You can even use a soldering iron off the usb plug at the front.
You can adjust the voltage, it really is a nice bit of kit.
https://youtu.be/9zwLB3xVW2A

Cheers

Tony

   

There's plenty of slot car product news around at the moment - and although most of it is included in the Slotracer Digest each Monday, it really needs to be shared on the forum too. Instead of a lot of brief posts - or updates to old threads - I'm going to condense the news into one weekly thread. In fact, it can just be copied and posted from the draft Digest that Jason and I are working on - as below. Some weeks, it might have a looser format and bigger pictures. It'll never be a comprehensive list, so if you'd like to add anything you've seen or heard, feel free to post it below!

Here are the latest cars to arrive and news to break over the past few days - with links to more details, either on the forum, other websites or Facebook posts...


Bugatti T13 Box Set This stunning set is now available from artisan slot car manufacturer Velasor.
The five-car set features reproduces the Bugatti team that made history by taking the first 4 places in the 1921 Brescia GP. Also included is the back-up car of Monés Maury.


RevoSlot Ford Escort Mk1 The first look at the new RevoSlot Ford Escort Mk1 cars.
Available for Pre-Order at Pendle Slot Racing are the first 3 liveries and white kit - all due August/September.


Carrera Classic Nascar Just arrived from Carrera are a pair of classic Nascar models – the Plymouth of Jabe Thomas and Benny Parson’s Torino Talladega.
This week's news feature takes a nostalgic look back to the 1971 Winston Cup season.


SRC Porsche 914/6 GT Monte Carlo Rally 1971 This could be your last chance to buy an SRC 914/6 GT slot rally car.
The new limited edition run of Björn Waldegård’s 1971 Porsche in ‘night edition’ and ‘Chrono’ spec is only available on the SRC website and will ship on 19th August.


Avant Slot Mitsubishi Evo X New Releases There’s more sought-after slot rally cars just arrived from Spain.
Avant Slot have produced a cracking Red Bull livery, plus another Repsol car from the 2016 Spanish championship – this one driven by Alberto Monarri and Rodrigo Sanjuan to first place at the Rallye La Nucía-Mediterráneo. Both cars are fitted with anglewinder motor pods.



BMW 330i M-Sport BTCC 2020 Scalextric have now released their latest BTCC car, Colin Turkington’s 2020 BMW 330i M-Sport of West Surrey Racing.
After championship wins in 2018 and 2019, Turkington was looking for a hat trick of championships in 2020, but just missed out to Ash Sutton in the final rounds at Brands Hatch.


Ford Lotus Cortina – Jordan Racing Team This time a classic touring car, Scalextric have shared this image of a pre-production sample of Mark Sumpter’s Historic racer.
Due Winter 2022-3, this is likely to be a popular release.


Chevron B16 RS Slot Racing’s Chevron B16 kit has been two years in the making and is sadly, Martin Field’s last ever master.
The first livery represents the Levi’s International Racing Team entry in the 1970 Le Mans 24 hour, driven by Julian Vernaeve & Yves Deprez. Other liveries are expected.


Fly / Gaugemaster Le Mans Collection Three Ford GT40 models have been announced as additions to the Gaugemaster Le Mans Collection series.
The #63 and #15 are from 1966 – Dick Holqvist wrecked the silver Scuderia Bear car in practice and the well-known Ford France car retired in the sixteenth hour.
The #12 Mike Salmon/Eric Liddell ‘Strathaven’ Mk1 raced in 1968, breaking its gearbox with four hours to go.


AFX Ford MkIV Le Mans 1967 Just arrived from AFX is this sensational Le Mans winning Ford in 1:64 scale.
It’s the second ’67 Le Mans livery, following on from the original Sebring car. HO slot cars don’t come much better than this!


AutoWorld Pro Stock Tribute Available only from the AutoWorld Store website are a pair of modern 4-Gear Pro Stock dragsters featuring throwback liveries that are tributes to Pro Stock legends – ‘Dyno’ Don Nicholson and Bill ‘Grumpy’ Jenkins. Perfect for any HO scale drag strip.


Robert Schleicher’s Model Car Racing The latest edition of Robert Schleicher’s Model Car Racing magazine has just been published.
With a mix of news, track plans and features, this legendary title is still essential reading for slot car enthusiasts worldwide. You can find out how to read a free trial version in ePilot’s magazine thread.

And don't forget to keep an eye out for the Digest on Monday morning - it includes a feature about Fangio’s legendary 1957 drive at the Nürburgring.

   
Carrera Evolution 27728 Plymouth Roadrunner "No.25“. RRP £49.99 Available now.
Carrera Digital 132 31059 Plymouth Roadrunner "No.25“. RRP £69.99 Available now.

There's something very special about the Carrera Classic Nascar range. Undoubtedly targeted at their North American market, these big 'tanks' have fans the world over - partly because of their fabulous tail-out handling with the traction magnets removed and partly because of the Nascar nostalgia element. This new pair of cars released for the summer off '22 features a household name - Benny Parson's 1970 Ford Torino - and a more obscure racer's Plymouth Roadrunner from the 1971 Nascar Grand National season, the inaugural year of the Winston Cup...



It's the big names that hog the limelight in this coverage of the June 1971 Motor State 400 at Michigan International Speedway - one of forty-eight races on the calendar that year. However, you will get an occasional glimpse of Jabe Thomas' red and gold #25 Roadrunner in the background on his way to a sixteenth place finish, twelve laps behind winner Bobby Allison. With no factory backing or big-time sponsors, the likes of Jabe Thomas played a different game to the mega-stars of the sport - they scraped together the funding to run as many races as they could, drove to preserve their cars and to pick up points and prize-money. Sometimes, one of these also-rans would achieve a miraculous race win, but as the sport moved into the big time of Tobacco sponsorship and TV deals, the chances grew ever smaller.

In 1971, Nascar was still a southern sport - and Jabe Thomas was a southerner, from Christiansburg in the south west corner of Virginia, a stones-throw from the Appalachian mountains. Thomas worked his way up through the local stock car scene - as had African-American racer Wendell Scott, who lived in Danville, about 100 miles away. Because of his unique story, Wendell's Scott's Nascar career is well-documented, giving us an insight into the challenges of a small-time owner-driver in the 1960s and early 70s. You see Jabe Thomas and Wendell Scott pitch up at most of the same races. They'd ignore the long treks out West to California, but otherwise they would be there every week - the Nascar officials could count of these guys to fill out the grids and put on a show. The big difference between Scott and Thomas' experiences was racial prejudice - there were times when Scott feared for his life, but he also gained respect from many Nascar fans and drivers, hopefully including near-neighbours like Jabe Thomas.

       

Jabe Thomas was on a roll in 1971. Having made his top-tier debut in 1965, he'd finished eighth in the points in '68 and '69, improving to seventh in 1970. His Plymouth Roadrunner - a hand-me-down, but decent machinery for 1971 - was painted in his characteristic red and gold, with sponsorship from Star City Body Shop in nearby Roanoke. Thomas would compete in 44 of the 48 races in 1971, sometimes two in a weekend. His tally of two top fives, fifteen top tens and sixth place in the points table was the highlight of his thirteen-year career. The $31,895 of prize money probably covered his costs - the goal of any Nascar owner-driver.

If it was a good year for Jabe Thomas, then August 1971 was a magnificent month. Starting on Sunday 1 August in Atlanta, Thomas finished fourteenth in the Dixie 500. The following Friday, he finished eighth at Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem. The Myers 250 race on this legendary quarter-mile short track became known as the race nobody won - open to Trans-Am style pony cars, Bobby Allison's winning Mustang was removed from the record books. Two days later, Thomas raced at another short-track at Ona, West Virginia, finishing tenth. As with many races of the time, owner-drivers like Thomas and Wendell Scott drove carefully, avoiding expensive wear-and-tear to their cars. Thomas' tenth in West Virginia saw him 33 laps behind winner Richard Petty - Scott was a further 35 laps back in thirteenth. Both gained those all-important championship points and some prize money to pay the bills.

That was just the first eight days of August! Jabe Thomas would race four more times that month - finishing ninth in a return to Michigan, ninth again at the big-money Talledega 500, a magnificent fifth at the Sandlapper 200 in Columbia, South Carolina and tenth the next day at Hickory Speedway in North Carolina. Jude Thomas' August itinerary of Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan, Alabama, South Carolina and back to North Carolina shows the immense commitment to his sport - close to 3,000 miles in a month.

Nascar began to change after 1971. The big tobacco money and TV coverage meant the trips to local short tracks ended. The 48-race calendar was cut to 31 races in 1972. A total of thirteen tracks were dumped from the NASCAR Winston Cup schedule after 1971, including South Carolina’s Columbia Speedway, which had hosted 43 top-tier races, starting back in 1951 and including the August '71 Sandlapper 200 where Jabe Thomas grabbed that fifth place. Thomas would continue racing at the top level until 1978, by which time his son Ronnie had made his Winston Cup debut and won the '78 Rookie of the Year award.

       

If you've never had the joy of driving a Carrera classic Nascar model, then Jabe Thomas' Plymouth Roadrunner is a good place to start. The cars are big, heavy, underpowered, but glorious to drive. Whip out the traction magnets, add a little weight to the underpan, grind the front tyres a little, fit some urethane tyres to the back and you're ready to go. Paul Gage makes tyres that fit the rear hubs perfectly - his 23103XD tyres are available in the PGT (shore 40) and XPG (shore 20) compounds. The XPG is perfect for Scalextric Sport track.