[MrFlippant]

[Scuderia_Turini]

Cheers Greg, well done on keeping the chat going despite the technical issues with Garth's input.

Leo

[MrFlippant]

(Deleted old links to avoid accidental clicking.)

[BAracer]

#37

It started with the results of the Worldwide Slot Car Chat On Zoom Secret Santa. And it turned out everyone had bought each other a pit box. Obviously someone had bought Greg a beautifully 3D printed one with random holes in it, whilst ChrisW's was a beautiful brass one with springy articulated bits all over it and lumps of rock to get the balance just right. 

The main feature of the chat was a presentation by Garth, in three parts, of his wonderful home slot track. The theme is "slot track as theatre" and it all makes sense when you sit in the leather drivers' armchairs which takes your eyeline down to track level to give you a fully immersive racing experience like every inner child slot racer, apart from one, has done at some point in their slot lives. Lots of pictures of the tracks development and the story behind each iteration, which I'm sure included the phrases "This is it finished. This is it a week later after I changed it again" and a great tip on how to win races on your home track "I change the layout between race series and don't tell anyone".  When you have a 250' track, it's easy to hide the odd new hairpin round the back).

We then saw the results of the WSCCOZ restoration project on Russ' old tin Scalextric cars!!! Was that a little tear in his eye as it took him back to a time when he was young and he used to put his head down at track level to watch them race by, and how his brother crashed the cars straight into him which prompted the need for the re-build in the first place?

And then it came to me...do you think Dennis can do a same miraculous level of restoration as he did on Russ's cars on Garth's computer?

[MrFlippant]

[BAracer]

#38

All was calm at the start of this worldwide chat as events unfolded elsewhere. It was especially calm after ChrisW showed a beautiful recent Lola T70 build with funky paintwork and the world's biggest motor...no-one wanted to follow that! Top tip for others from him was some paint that makes your car look tatty. The things he will do to win a concours.

There was some 'banter' regarding magnet racing, and the fact that if you take the magnets out of your car, you can improve the braking on your car simply by tensing up a particular set of muscles that men of a certain slot car age should do as a matter of course to maintain their wellbeing.

There were some handy tips regarding adding lights to digital cars, with details of a claimline for those who have l had their LEDs 'lost' by a certain person...

Someone had a problem with a 3D print with holes in it...I know, who'd have thought! Greg tried to help, but openly admitted he is only good for knobs, Steve was the person to go to. He wasn't on the call, so the best way forward was to glue a bit of plastic in the hole. Scratch built 3D printing, you heard it here first.

Someone had a problem with a 3D print at the wrong scale. Anyone for a new race series for 1:32 cars with 1:24 scale engines in them?

Someone had a problem with 3D printed guides, or did they...? There then followed a strangely surreal discussion on which part of a slot car should break first in a crash situation. Strangely all the 3D printers on the chat said guide first and promptly offered to sell anyone a pack of 100 breakable guides at a very reasonable price. 

And to finish the chat, following a prompt from our leader regarding lane lengths, the discussion soon deteriorated into a series of tales on how to take opponents out of races, non-violently or otherwise, without being caught (unless Greg has it on his CCTV).

[MrFlippant]

[MrFlippant]

(Deleted old links to avoid accidental clicking.)

[MrFlippant]

[MrFlippant]

(Deleted old links to avoid accidental clicking.)