The long-rumoured Thunderslot pony car range is getting closer with these pictures of a prototype of a Mustang. Chief engineer Giovanni Montiglio has never hidden his love of big American cars of the mid-to-late 1960s - and it was common-sense that the follow-on from the fabulous Can-Am cars was a series of sedans...

   

The Mustang looks good - and not obviously stretched. I do like the choice of the '67 Shelby car...

   

... it's rather special as a road car, although the Trans-Am Mustang was a notch-back until 1969 - and then the '69 car was a slightly different shape, with different vents etc. We'll see where Thunderslot go with the mould - there's potential for optional parts to create different models, as Giovanni and the team have done with the Can-Am cars.

   

Underneath, the layout is fairly familiar in terms of a sidewinder motor... Although the two-part chassis is a departure - one element holding the motor and guide, with the other holding the body. Not unlike the BRM layout, but in 1:32 scale and plastic. There was talk back in 2019 about Thunderslot using the Scalextric DPR system on a new range of cars - although I don't see any space for that underneath. I guess that's been shelved.

Although there's no date been mentioned for release, the Mustang looks at a pretty advanced state. Time to start saving those pennies!

Big thanks to Giovanni and the Thunderslot team for allowing us to share these images.

There's a 50% sale on 3DExport until midnight.

I just bagged another 10 files whilst they were this cheap...I could easily have made that 20 or 30 files.

These are really nicely rendered files and will see action on the track and some on the Rally stage.


'92 Volvo 850 estate

   

'92 Volvo 850 Saloon

   

'73 Toyota Celica GT mk1

   

Renault Espace F1

   

'65 Porsche 904 GTS

   

'67 Pontiac GTO

   

'69 Nissan R382

   

'87 Ferrari F40

   

'63 Cooper Monaco

   

'58 Aston Martin DBR1

   

Did anyone ever cast a Austin Healey Sebring Sprite MK2 in 1/64 or 1/72? 

Can’t find any models in that size at all, but maybe someone created one using the non-Sebring one and did the roof himself.

I have a Fly Alfa Romeo GTV that I want to remove a few select livery details from. Is there a product or a method of removing the factory fit decals and keeping the paint beneath?


   

Has anybody got a cheap basic resistor controller or two going spare please? I need to replace the rubbish SCX ones from my off road set ready for the extreme slotting proxy later this year. I have tried a Scalextric one which isn't a lot better and there is nothing suitable on eBay at the moment. Don't need anything fancy just something better than toy manufacturer ones. The SCX ones have a unique plug set up so I need to be able to rewire that into an aftermarket one.

Thank you Andy, for the report 

Friday 1st April was round 2 of our rally class at Mussel Bay.  This is a class which allows limited modifications, free guide choice, free gearing choice, change of wheels and certain motors.  It’s good to see how many different types and make of cars people use and how different shapes of car affect the handling. So on Friday night we had some group B rally cars, (Metro 6r4’s and Ford RS200),  selection of WRC cars, (Subaru Impreza, Peugeot 208 and Citroën C3).  It was also good to see a few more youngsters turn up with Elijah coming back for some more racing.

Practice got underway with some good times set.  Elijah was getting his confidence and was going steady gradually getting to know the track and improving with every lap, knowing where he can go fast and where to slow down, great to see young people getting into the slot car world.
After the practice came the heats, this produced some good close racing and a chance for drivers to really show what they had in the tank.  There was a good close race between Heather and Andy with Andy just beating Heather. Some other close battles between Tel and Ken, and Elijah was going well in his heats.

As there was smaller numbers this week the C final just had Andy and Darren in it. Andy was in Green and Darren was in red. From the start it was close going into the first few corners but along the back straights the speed of Andy’s Metro 6r4 managed to pull out a good lead over the RS200 of Darren, although both drivers came off the track a number of times Andy stayed ahead of Darren to take the heat win.

Final B lined up like this: Tel in green, Andy in blue Heather in yellow. Heather and Tel got off to a good start, with Andy having issues from the start coming off early on causing his gear to move on the rear axel resulting in slower performance. At the front Heather was keeping Tel on his toes putting in quick lap times but just couldn’t catch up with Tel, who came home in first place with a good lead, followed by Heather with Andy bringing home the rear.

So the Main Final had the three fastest drivers from the night races.  James and Ken who qualified direct from the heats and Tel who came through from the B final.  Ken in green, Tel in blue and James in red.  This was set to be one of the fastest races of the night and it did not disappoint.  3 of the most skilled drivers of the night pushing their cars to the limit, all three flew of the start line and there was nothing to choose between them for the first few laps. Tel started to pull away from James and Ken and edge out a lead.  Ken then had an off which put him at the back of the pack and playing catch up.  With the pressure on Ken he did not disappoint only taking a few laps to catch up with James, although James did have an off which helped, Ken managed to briefly pass James for a few corners but another off for Ken aloud James to retake the position, undoing all Kens hard work.  This time there was just too much for Ken to do as although he was closing up there just wasn’t enough laps left in the race. Meanwhile, Tel who was having a good race, was putting in some consistent lap times at the front  and maintaining his lead to takes the race win, followed by James and then Ken.

Thank you Andy for the report 

Friday was round 2 of the BTCC class, running standard cars out the box with no modifications. Numbers were a little down on previous weeks with only 8 racers, but that didn’t stop us having fun. There was a mixture of cars from BMW 3 and 1 series, Honda Civics and a VW Passat CC, although the Civics seemed to be the quickest and most stable. Although all the cars were standard there were some noticeable differences in acceleration and handling due to the wheelbase and height of the cars.    After a practice session which aloud drivers to make any final adjustments to their cars and try to gain those extra tenths, it was onto the heats.
The heats were their usual fast and frantic afar with good lap times put in by all it was good to see how some of the drivers had improved from round 1 with Tom making steady progress in some of the heats and keeping up with the field.  The Civics proved fast and took the a lot of the wins in the heats but Ken and his VW CC did well too.
Due to the small amount of racers  

There were only 2 finals so this is how the B final lined up. Bobbie in green, Tom in blue, Paul in red and Jake in yellow.  Racers were quick off the line and stayed in a tight group for the first couple of corners.  Paul and Jake started to pull ahead of Bobbie and Tom the racing was tight between Paul and Jake for the rest of the race with Paul just managing to keep ahead of Jake for most of the race, but when Paul overcooked it on the hairpin on the last lap Jake took his chance to take the lead and take the win. The results were Jake coming home in first place, Paul in second, Bobbie a respectable third and Tom coming in forth. So Jake progressed into the main final.


For the main final it was Ken in green, Jake in blue, James in red and Andy in yellow.  Again reaction time were quick when the lights went green and all drivers got off to a flying start with there being not much to choose from for the first part on the lap, James and Ken started to step up the pace a bit and got ahead of Jake and Andy. Ken then had a couple of moments resulting in James putting a bit of distance between him and Ken. Andy was playing catch up to Ken but every time he got close Andy came out the slot.  Jake at the rear of the field was putting in good lap times and closing in on Andy but ran out of laps towards the end of the race. James took the chequered flag followed by Ken, with Andy in third and Jake doing well coming in forth.

Once again, thank you Andy for the report   

Friday 11th was the first round of the Sports GT Class at Mussel Bay, these cars are the fastest class of cars that we race.  The racing was fast and furious with this class where nearly anything goes, apart from sponge tyres and metal chassis. It provides a good chance to see what racers can do with their cars when they are pushed to the max.
Members were on the small side this week as the dreaded covid had hit a number of racers that would normally come along but that didn’t dampen the sprits of the rest that turned up to race and as usual there was a god friendly atmosphere to the evening.  With the heats getting under way drivers started to push their cars to the limit and in some cases past the limit.  Andy was having issues with his car grinding to a halt during one of his last heats due to striping a gear.  The most outstanding performance of the night came from young Jake who had a cracking set of heat races winning one of his heats and setting a blistering lap time of 9.981 which was well on par with the fastest drivers of the night, if he was to race in the finale he would have been fighting for one of the top places.
So with the heats out the way the drivers line up for the B final.

Paul was in Green, Andy was in Blue, Darren in Red and Heather in Yellow.  With Andy having car issues in the heats he opted to use his GT3 spec car which was not as powerful at the Sports GT class car, but was still quick enough to keep up with the rest of the cars.  From the start Paul and Andy got off to a good start and pulled out a good gap over Heather and Darren.  Racing was close at the font with the lead changing a number of times but eventually Andy managed to pull out half a laps lead, while towards the back Heather was pulling out a lead over Darren.  It finished Andy in first, Paul in Second, Heather in third, Darren in forth.

For the starting line up for the main final the line up looked like this: Terry in green, Andy in blue, Tel in red and James in yellow. Racing was fast and close from the off between James Terry and Tel, which was to be expected, as they were some of the fastest drivers of the night with their skill clearly showing in the car control,  Andy was going steady at the back of the field but struggled for pace throughout the race with the slower GT3 car. Back at the front James was maintaining a lead over Tel, and Terry was keeping Tel on his toes but couldn’t get passed.  It finished James in first, Tel in second Terry in third and Andy bring up the rear in forth.

As usual., thanks to Andy for the write up 

Friday 4th was our first outing of the season for the classic Good wood series of cars.  This in an interesting group that contains 2 different classes of cars. First off we have the pre 1972 race cars, (Group A), these cars are quick as they can be modified to a certain degree and provide very quick lap times.  Running alongside these car we also have our standard class cars, these are American Mussel cars from Scalextric and Pioneer (Group B), all the cars in this class are box standard, meaning no tuning is aloud apart from basic race prep, truing tyres and trimming chassis to allow body float. These cars are slower than the A class but that doesn’t mean that the racing between them is less competitive.   Racers decide at the beginning of the night what class they are going to race in. 
There was another good turn out on Friday eve although not as good as the week before but it was still a good atmosphere, it was good to see Jason returning this week after a few weeks off and he was keen to improve on his last performance.  Good wood is always provides a good mixture or cars which in turn leads to some interesting racing. There were exceptions made for some drivers that didn’t quite have the right car for the races (Jason’s Mercedes GT1 and a Lamborghini Huracan driven by Jake and Bobby) but as we are all about fun no one minded and was interesting to see how some of the modern style of cars held up against some on the Mussel cars. 
The heats provided a good mix of racing with a few crashes, there was a ‘3 car pile up’ on the opening lap of one of the heats around Snoopy’s Foot that kept the marshals busy trying to sort out the mess.  As expected the Group A cars won the majority of the heats but Elliot did well to keep up with them in his Group B Mustang and Andy’s Cougar proved quick on the straights but a bit of a handful in the more technical sections of the track.  James, Mark and Ken all went well with their A Class cars and provided some good close racing in the heats.

Final C put Jason, in the green lane, and Tom, in the blue lane in a 2 man shootout for the chance to go into the B final.  Both showed some good pace during the race but Tom was having issues with keeping his car in the slot which enabled Jason to pull out and maintain a 2 lap lead; this is where he stayed and took his first win at Mussel Bay, well done Jason.

Final B was Mark in Green, Jason in Blue, Paul Red and Andy in Yellow.  Mark got off to a good start in his Group A car and pulled out a good lead in the faster class car leaving the other 3 drivers to battle it out for the other places.  Paul put in a consistent race staying on the track and pull away from Jason and Andy.  Andy’s issues with the Cougar followed him into the finals and he struggle to keep in on track allowing Jason to create a gap.  Mark first, Paul second, Jason third and Andy forth.

The Main final consisted of 3 Group A cars and 1 Group B car. James in green (Group A), Mark in blue (Group A), Ken in red (Group A) and Elliot in yellow (Group B).  Elliot got off to a flying start and was leading the race for a shot while as the other 3 drivers kept coming off at various points on their laps, but after they settled down in the rhythm they all eventually caught and passed Elliot, James and Ken were having a good battle for first place but James came off the victor in that battle and he took the chequered flag, followed by Ken in Second, Mark in third and Elliot rounding off the field.
To sum up the classes:  Group B top 3 were Elliot first, Paul second, Jason Third. Group A was James first, Ken second and Mark third.

Thanks again to Andy for the write up.   


Friday 25th was round 1 of the GT3/Group 5, one of the fastest classes that we do, so all racers knew that they were in for a good nights racing.  We had a very good turn out and it was the best we had seen for a large number of weeks with 15 racers turn up, this created a very good atmosphere.  It was good to see a couple of new faces showing up at Mussel Bay in the form of Tony, who raced with us when we met at Silverwood, and Graham.  Both of these soon got to grips with the track and were setting good lap times.  Once everyone had done their practice session and finished their final tuning the heats got underway.
There was some fast and furious racing as you would expect. Tony seemed to struggle a bit in some of his heats with keeping his car in the slot.  Terry was going well in his heats until the guide snapped on his ‘Lambo’ forcing him to retire from the heat race and go onto a reserve car. Alan was also having car issues throughout his heats but still performed well despite of this.
With the amount of racer that turn up for the evening it meant that there was 3 minor finals before the main final, so the night wasn’t over for some of the races in the smaller finals and they could still make it to the main final.

Final D lined up with Andy in green, Darren in blue, Tony in red and Tom in yellow. As the light went out Andy and Darren got off to a good start with Tony trying to keep up and Tom at the back.  Andy started to edge out his lead to half a lap over Darren, while at the back Tony’s issues with keeping the car in the slot continued meaning Tom managed to get ahead and start to pull away. At the front the Andy maintained a steady half a lap lead to take the win, followed by Darren, Tom and Tony.

Final C, Graham in green, Terry in blue, Alan in red and Andy in Blue.  It was a shame that Alan had to pull out of the final due to all of his cars having issues which was a shame.  This left just 3 drivers in the race.  For the first three quarters of the lap things were pretty close until Andy came out the slot meaning Graham and Terry pulled away.  Terry with his back up car was struggling to keep it in the slot, which is most unlike him, meaning Graham took the win, followed by Terry and then Andy.

Final B Paul in Green, Graham in blue, Ken in red and Heather in Yellow.  It was close racing for Heather and Ken at the front of the pack, while Paul and Graham were having a good battle of their own for third and forth. 

Main final.  James in green, Tel in blue, Ken in red and Dave in yellow.  Racing started off very tight between James Tel and Ken for the first few laps, providing an interesting three way battle for the lead but a spin by Ken gave James and Tel a good advantage.  Tel took the battle for  first to James for the next few laps but couldn’t passed James who was starting to pull ahead and that’s where he remained for the rest of the race.  New driver Dave put up a good fight and started to come back at Ken but the gap proved too much to make up. It finished James in first followed by Tel, Ken and then Dave.