Howdy

I was thinking of placing this in Tips & Tuning, however not really related to Tips & Tuning, sooo... 

I would like to put forward a thread idea for the forum which is: Hand Controllers, so thinking about it in simple terms it could be started nice and easy as below:

Main Thread = Hand Controllers (Slotcar Hand Controllers) with two sub threads
sub-thread 1 =  Analogue Controllers
sub-thread 2 =  Digital Controllers

I am researching buying my first hand controller and would like to hear what others have to say and recommend.


Thanks
Johnno

… When I drop something working on slot cars in my man-cave.
It happens frequently and I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time searching for the little blighters, and sometimes they disappear altogether .
Someone needs to invent a smooth white magnetized  sheet I can park the work desk on to save me time !

Mind you that won't fix those senior moments like earlier. I spent 10 mins looking for a complete Scalextric axle to put back in a car I had been tuning, only to find I had put it in the box of spare tyres and wheels in the drawer

I have no idea who this guy is and I will not profit in any way but I saw this item when i searched for 2catch fencing" and thought it wasn't too terrible:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Carrera-GO-Digit...Sw55FcOTAe
He took a sponge you use to get insects off the windshield and cut it into the shape he wanted and used a marker to draw bailing wire on it.

I am thinking some string would look more realistic and be almost as easy and at a cursory glance they don't look tooo bad.

Affixing them to the track may be trouble but I reckon double-sided tape should do it.

Maybe a dash of spray paint to get them a more realistic color...

   

Marc and Ric have been busy over the summer, bringing us issue 51 of Slot Car Magazine - a magazine for racers, collectors and builders. Produced by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, written by contributors from all over the world, covering scenics, kit building, driving, reviews and of course racing.

Here's what's in it this time...

THE LITTLE BOAT ON WHEELS. Tony Di Pastena remembers the delightful Ninco “La Barchetta” and offers some tips on minor tuning.

PROXY MUSINGS. Gary Cannell on the art of driving somebody else’s car without hurting it.

KING OF THE ROAD. Ric Woods investigates the Harrel slot car track system and discovers a quality build.

JAGUAR MK1.Shane Price examines and builds the rather nice kit from George Turner Models.

ELECTRIC TRACKS. Recently we discovered a rather nice business set-up hidden in the English countryside... multiple tracks and open to the public.

FERRARI 126CK.Marc Abbott dares to drive perhaps the most impressive hand-built slot Formula 1 car he’s ever owned, courtesy of Kostas Dzingovitc.

24 DYLCOM MODELS. Ric Woods interviews Dave Coombes, a man on a mission to recreate realism on a small scale.

FRENCH TURBO BOX. Hub Habets reviews the history of the Renault R5 Turbo, using the slot cars in his formidable collection.

ALFA ROMEO 151. Cartrix are back with a limited run of the Fangio winning car from the 1951 Gran Premio de España.

POSTCARD FROM MARGATE. Andy Player likes to race digital, so he went to the home of Scalextric... and won!

WELCOME TO HAZZARD COUNTY. A 1/64th scale layout won ‘Best Track’ at the UK Slot Car Festival and it featured Boss Hogg and Hazzard County.

COMPETITON PAGE. It’s the Formula 1 giveaway courtesy of Slot Racing Company. Really, just send us an email and you could be a lucky winner!

A MÉNAGE OF ESCORTS. When Tony Di Pastena said he was in need of an escort, we were a little worried. Then he told us he just had to have three...

A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL. There’s nothing more exciting than a new track system, especially as we were sent a Policar set to test in the offices at SCM.

THE WORLD OF DILWORTH. Strange lights, metallic craft and little green men. Maybe Mulder and Scully are still looking into the members of West Hamley.

As always, the magazine is available from Pendle Slot Racing here for £4.50. There will also be some copies for sale at the Havant Scalextric Fair and Fun Day this Sunday (22 September). The ebook is available from Lulu here for £1.30.

The word from the Scalextric stand at the UK Slot Car Festival in May was that the company have begun to re-vamp their range of sets this year...

• The new and vastly-improved 1/64 scale My First Scalextric and Micro Scalextric sets are aimed at beginners and younger racers.
  
• The basic standard 1/32 scale sets are split into racing sets including the mechanical lap counter (eg the Jaguar I-Pace Challenge) and pursuit sets with a more 'street' vibe (eg the American Police Chase set). These have the new and improved speed-limiter hand controllers.
  
• For more advanced racing, there are ARC Air analogue and ARC Pro digital sets with GT and LMP models included, plus the ARC wireless controllers and updated powerbases. Although the old ARC One Ultimate Rivals set is in this year's catalogue, there are no new sets with the basic ARC analogue powerbase.
  

Most of the new sets have been released over the past few weeks, with the I-Pace set due soon. All in plenty of time for Christmas - which is, of course, the target market and when new slot car racers are born...

   

The most expensive of the new 2019 sets is the C1404 ARC Pro 24hr Le Mans set. With a RRP of £249.99, this is the cheapest ARC Pro set so far. Squeezing a set into the sub-£250 price point is vital for retailers and also to tempt customers intrigued by the ARC Pro features. The set comes with two digitally-chipped Ginetta G60-LT-P1 Le Mans prototype cars, one power supply and two ARC wireless controllers. There is a decent loop of track and one lane changer, but a pit lane will be a necessary purchase to get the most out of the ARC app pit stop functions. To run more cars, additional hand controllers are required (up to six in total) and an extra 15V 4Amp digital power supply is essential to run four to six cars. Additional cars will need digital chips, although the ARC Pro powerbase does also have an analogue mode to run one non-digital car in each lane, but still using almost all the features in the ARC app. With the powerbase featuring updated hardware and firmware, I think this set is a perfect start in the Scalextric digital world. If you want an idea of what the ARC app can do, check out my guide here: https://slotracer.online/missing-manual/

   

If you like the look of the ARC app features, but don't need digital, then ARC Air gives you pretty much the full range of ARC app features on a pure analogue layout. The C1403 ARC Air World GT set (RRP £199.99) is a fabulous set with plenty of track (including a hairpin), plus two superb GT cars - a Ford GT from Le Mans and a Mercedes AMG GT3 from the Blancpain GT series. Then there's the excellent ARC Air powerbase and two wireless ARC controllers. The standard 15V 1.2Amp power supply is perfectly fine for running Scalextric cars, but Scalextric have hinted that upgrading to the ARC Pro 15V 4Amp power supply can be useful if you're running high performance brands (eg NSR, Slot.it etc) with traction magnets fitted.

   

The C1405 American Police Chase set (RRP £129.99) features plenty of track hazards - a jump, sideswipe and cross-over - to add to the fun of an American-themed police pursuit. The Dodge Challenger muscle car and AMC Javelin patrol car look great, with the Javelin having a siren and flashing light. The gameplay aspect of this set is crying out for the new Scalextric Spark Plug where racers can boost their own power and limit their opponents. However, even with what comes in the set it will be a lot of fun. Like the I-Pace Challenge and the Christmas 2018 Stock Car Challenge and Endurance sets, new speed-limiting hand throttles are included. These have a similar handle to the ARC controllers, but plug into the powerbase. There are now four speed positions at approximately 25, 50, 75 and 100% power - the lower two settings are flat out through standard Radius 2 bends, but the top two settings do require careful throttle control.

   

It's good to see a racing set with brand new cars in the basic 'Standard' range. The C1401 Jaguar I-Pace Challenge set (RRP £109.99) has the same layout footprint as previous basic 1/32 sets, including the mechanical lapcounter and the new version of the power-limiting hand throttle. The I-Pace cars look good - they are chunky electric SUVs that run as a support race at the Formula-E series events.

All the Scalextric cars now come with 'super-resistant' style black windows. These are more robust and I am not surprised to see them in the standard sets, but I am not sure they are necessary in the top of the range ARC Air and ARC Pro sets. Personally, I would like to see full-detail cars in those ARC sets. However, that small gripe aside, I think Scalextric have put together a pretty cool quartet of new sets for 2019. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing what is in the 2020 catalogue!

I haven't forgotten the new My First Scalextric and Micro Scalextric sets - they deserve their own post.

https://youtu.be/siN5KTUZi1c

A short film shot by me and edited by Andy Player of the event.

After many hours of use my track has picked up a few details that were not planned but have added 
a little bit of character to it. Scuffed barriers and skid marks over kerbs, things that I do not have the
skill to artificially add.

Though this would cheer you all up 

In general, I'm not doing too badly for a 72 year old. Reasonably fit and healthy although gravity is having its effect on certain areas. I just tighten the belt a little bit  

There are time though when I regret being a woodworker and wish I used other materials. I built our greenhouse about ten years ago and whilst the anti UV paint has done a good job, there are a few places that need some new protection. So Ronnie being Ronnie, she suggested that we strip the covering off - we use poly tunnel plastic which has also lasted the ten years (just) - and repaint the frame.

When she says "we"...........

Yesterday, the ladders came out and muggins here had to clamber all over the frame like a five year old monkey with brush in hand. I knew I would suffer for it as said 72 year old body has its quirks. The old ankles suffer from tendons that seems to get stuck and it's a bit painful. Ladders are their bete noir.

This is the frame when I built it. There is just as much wood to paint now! In two hours yesterday, I managed the ridge both sides, having to climb up and down to move the ladder 500mm to squeeze between the sections took its toll on ankles and temper. We'll use polycarbonate to cover it this time.

   
   

Hopefully it will last another ten years but we should be in Scotland by that time - on the assumption that we outlast the ten year guarantee on the paint and plastic!

PS. The garden has changed a bit since then.

   

I just noticed that Pendle Slot Racing are selling a Pinion Puller/Pusher that resembles the hard to find Ninco unit. I have a Ninco unit so not planning to purchase but thought it might be of use to some peeps here.  Comes with 4 useful driver tools for 14.95 pounds.

https://www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/pinio...ivers.html   

I have no connection with Pendle S-R other than as a customer.

Leo