It is a well known fact that if you lose something not particularly important then it will inevitably turn up when you are looking for something else.

However, if it is an important thing then it will only turn up after you have purchased a replacement.

Last week SWMBO lost the padlock key for our allotment shed. She had locked it and somehow managed to lose the key, complete with posh strawberry keyring, during the 100 yard journey from the allotment to our house. For the next few days she retraced her steps looking for the errant item without success. Ah well, never mind, we will have to get a new padlock - easier said than done, the thing resisted all my attempts to hacksaw it off so now we have to buy a complete new bolt assembly as well as a lock.

Yesterday we purchased the relevant bits and I fitted them to the shed. I also bought a replacement strawberry key ring for her.

Today I was strimming the grass round the back garden pond when there was a loud metallic noise and a piece of metal shot out from just beside a small paving slab - it was the aforementioned key and its strawberry!

How it got there is a complete mystery as she had not gone near that part of the garden when she had returned from the allotment.

Life gets tedious sometimes don't it?

Happy Easter to all. Have a great weekend. 

From all the racers at Shenanigans Raceway. 

   

   

Attached is the updated Class Rules Mid North Coast Slot Car Group 2022 (Shenanigans Raceway and Undara Circuit), with assistance from Paul, for several reasons below, we have decided to revert back to the car stock gearing for class cars to bring competitive racing back. 

1. Having free gearing makes all racing untenable and simply, unfair, 
2. Return the cost of car purchase to as low as possible for all, 

Class Rules Mid North Coast Slot Car Group 2022 (Shenanigans Raceway and Undara Circuit)

   

                           
4 lane carrera track now up and running with Slotmaster RMS.
Is there any jnterest ,locally in regular racing? Holding an open meeting on the track to sound out opinions, Thursday 21st April from 18:30.
Slot it Group C
Carrera / Scalextric DTM
Cars and Controllers available.
Pls send PM for address if interested.

Hello SlotRacers - US citizen going on vacation with some shopping time in London.

I would be interested in any hobby shop recommendations for the central London area.  

We will have access to the tourist hop-on hop-off bus system, any shops with range of that transport would be appreciated.

Iʻd like to find some Carrera D124 models that are not available in the US market (like the 917 below) - also like Scalextric 1/32 cars.

Thank you! Alan

PS - not a collector - buying to run on my home track, linked here:

My post in Show Us Your Track


   

I've been using Blender for about six months now, and since it seems such an impressive piece of kit, I thought it might be worth sharing a few of my impressions.

What is it?

Blender is a 3D computer graphics application used for creating 3D & 3DP models,  animated films, computer generated images, visual effects and art.

It is totally free and open source, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is in any way limited or lacking. In fact it is quite the opposite with a hugely impressive set of features and capabilities. More than most of us would ever need or use, and plenty enough to make some other 3D software look like toys.

This Lamborghini Miura is an example of a 3D model created in Blender, so you can see that the software is quite capable of producing high quality models and renders, in the right hands. This isn't my work, I'm nowhere near this level of skill as yet, so I simply downloaded the free model from Blend Swap.

   

Is it easy to use?

Ease of use is a relative term in 3D modelling, with the simpler, easier to use applications often sacrificing functionality. Blender is at the opposite end of the scale, so the simple answer is no, it's not particularly easy to use. But because it is such a popular piece of software, there are hundreds of tutorials available, and a large community of users to answer your questions. There is also of course, a comprehensive manual, though this does tend to be fairly dry and technical.

Having used another 3D application (3DS Max) for over a decade, I was obviously familiar with many of the concepts involved, but found it quite awkward to get used to a completely different way of doing things.

Features

There are far too many features for me to list here, but I'll skip through a few...

Obviously there are all the basic 3D tools that you'd expect, for adding, viewing, editing, and manipulating shapes, plus quite a few that I've never come across before, and haven't got the hang of yet. The basic shapes available are not as comprehensive as I'm used to, but the asset manager would soon allow you to build up your own range of useful building blocks, or commonly used shapes.

There are four possible viewport modes, wireframe, solid, material preview, and rendered which you'll no doubt switch between as you model.

Lighting is exactly as expected, but the materials interface is quite unusual. Even after six months of using it, it still baffles me occasionally. The complexity of the software's nodes system is extremely powerful, but sometimes bewildering. Fortunately there are simpler options available for most common types of materials.

UV editing is fairly straight forward but the unwrapping process can be quite difficult, though that's not unusual for any 3D software.

There is a choice of render engines, with the best and at the same time slowest, being Cycles. It is excellent but the Lamborghini image above took several hours to render, though again that's not unusual.

Animation is dealt with through the usual keyframe process, where different states (whether that be position, rotation, scale or any number of other possibilities) are set on separate keyframes and the software interpolates the transition.

Blender also features a rigging system for posing figures.

But apart from the modelling, much of the above will be of little concern if you're just producing models for 3D printing, so you'd be able to avoid much of the complexity involved there.

Add Ons

Blender does have a 3D Print Toolbox which is an add on which comes as standard bundled with the software, but needs to be activated. I'm no expert in this area, but this article on All3DP should explain it.

Other standard add ons include a paper model exporter which turns your model into a printable paper representation with fold lines and tabs, and an architectural modelling tool which can add walls, doors, windows and other architectural features.

A non standard add on will also map terrain for you, using images from google maps and height maps from NASA. Let's be honest, who wouldn't want an accurate 3D map of the Col de Turini?

       

Well, that's my experience of Blender so far. It is big, and it is clever. I think it's a fantastic application, and expect to be using it for a long time to come.

But it's intended audience is much wider than the 3D printing community, so if that's all you're going to use it for, there may well be other software that is better suited, and/or less complex.

But as a way to get into 3D modelling it's excellent. Apart from the fact that it is totally free, there are also loads of free models available, which means you can just have a play around with the basic controls without having to attempt to model a Lamborghini Miura.

This is where I'm up to on my journey. These are just some models I did of some alterations we want to make at home. Fairly simple shapes to create, with the addition various imported models.

       

Old Carrera Pro-X and Evolution track out of storage - plus new digital pieces to replace the Pro-X sections.

Track is U-shaped roughly 2.5 meters (8ʻ) on left, 3.9 (13ʻ) back section under windows, and 2.5 meters on right.

The base is very solid, plywood top, except right side is insulation foam (10cm or 4").  Iʻm planning a 2nd level with O-Gauge trains.

Track is figure-8 with hairpin on left and 2/30 banking on right.  Pit Lane, 2 double cross overs, and 4 additional power drops.

Will be adding lane chipping TEK-Slot Solo digital to analog conversion and swap out some track features with routed wood sections.

Slower section on left and high speed banked turn on right - run solo against ghost cars.  Main interests going forward scratch building cars and scenery.

               

hi guys 

does anyone have any experience with:-
 'Slot.it S1 Silicon Slick F1 Tyres 20.4x12.4 Dwg 1068 ' ?

i need silicon tyres for a proxy , which is using silicone rears in the rule set
   
this is the tyre before truing 
   
this the tyre after the 1st rough grind
   
after a fine grind with wet&dry 


these tyres are supposed to be silicone , but do not feel very soft , and grind very similar to stock Scalextric tyres ?

this is my 1st time using silicon tyres , is this normal ? or are these tyres not the correct type ?
if they are wrong , does anyone know a UK supplier for similar ( does not need to be exact same ) size proper silicon tyres ? 

thankyou in advance 
Kev
 

Live streaming now on YouTube.

   

This image sent to us by the Scalextric Team is the first public appearance of an undecorated sample of Micro Scalextric's brand new Formula-E Spark Gen2 car. The model is officially licensed by Formula-E and the Scalextric design team were let off the leash to produce as accurate scale model as they could. What I can tell you is...

• The new car is a 7-part assembly - all bespoke parts, including the chassis
  
• The different colours are from the different moulds
  
• The scale is around 1:55 to preserve the lines of the Formula-E car
  
• The wheelbase is 60.2mm (2.37") - longer than any previous HO circuit racing car (the AW SuperIII Dallara IndyCars were 50mm)
  
• The rear track is 34.9mm (1.37") - typical for a Micro Scalextric car.
  

Scalextric have certainly produced a stunning-looking car, there's absolutely no doubt about that. And it's one that drives well on the new Micro Scalextric track, which has wider lane spacing than AFX (38mm vs 35mm), a minimum radius of 9-inches, plus loops and ramps. And with the investment in totally new tooling, I suspect we'll see plenty of 2018-2022 official team liveries on future Micro Scalextric models. The first two are in this set...

   
G1179M Micro Scalextric Formula E - Battery Powered Race Set. RRP £69.99. Scheduled summer 2022.

The set includes the Nissan of Sébastien Buemi’s and Oliver Turvey’s NIO - and can be upgraded to mains power with the G8043 accessory pack.

       

There's no news on whether a Micro Scalextric version of Spark Plug might be in the pipeline... however, plans to modify the standard Spark Plug to work on the 9-volt Micro system has been bumped up my 'To-Do' list. The Formula-E Spark Plug app would add a huge amount of brilliant gameplay to the Micro Scalextric set.

So where do these cars fit in?

The new 2019 Micro Scalextric system was always meant as a stand-alone program (see thread here), separate from the traditional HO track design. In my mind, it's a big step forward - but most of the established HO community will be sticking with the plastic or routed tracks they've enjoyed for 30, 50 or even 60 years. These new Formula-E cars deserve to be a massive hit with Micro Scalextric and Formula-E devotees - mostly young families and therefore the future of our hobby - but will the old guard be interested?

The new Micro Scalextric cars with their little N20 motor do run very nicely on traditional HO track - in fact, they are pretty rapid. Sure, the pick-up braids do need tweaking and taming, but here's no reason why the standard cars (with front axle mounts for 1.5" and 1.7" wheelbases) shouldn't be raced. Alternatively, the body shells can be transferred to other chassis - which is an increasingly common practice in North America.

Might these Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars be a step too far? The scales of HO cars have always been quite broad - anything from the high 1:50s into the 1:70s. And because of the geometry of the chassis underneath, the cars are often rather chunky, tall and too wide. The AW SuperIII Indycars came in under 1:60 scale, but - to be honest - were way too high and didn't look good. Similarly, the recent AFX Formula-N car is possibly one of the ugliest HO cars ever - a far cry from their sublime Panoz DP01 ChampCar. In comparison, the Micro Scalextric Formula-E is right up with the very best in terms of looks and stance. As someone running an HO club, I desperately want to include these fabulous-looking Formula-E cars in our open-wheel class in 2023.

The acid-test will be getting a car and running it on one of our AFX club tracks. We've used Micro Scalextric cars for much of the club's history and are used to easing in the rear track to 34mm and tweaking those braids. We've also run the AW SuperIII IndyCars... way off the pace, but they did navigate our 6" corners with no problems, despite the long wheelbase. I'm hopeful that the new Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars will fit in to our racing - and being a UK club, we're likely to allow a few small compromises to ensure we can run them. They look so good, it would be a crime not to.

A very big thank you to Marcus and everyone at Scalextric for sending us the images and answering my questions. Expect more Micro Scalextric sample images soon.