[Tamar]

Posted 14 March 2019 - 07:49 PM

The Road to Le Mans 1/32: 3 weeks, some Team news-updates
In just 21 days we should be arranging all the tables, chairs and the Marshalling floor mats @ Warwick college sports hall in Henley in Arden.
With all the time and effort it takes to set up the 1/32nd DiSCA La Sarthe track a helping hand is always appreciated.
Alex and Gary have a place for every bit of track and scenery firmly locked up in heads...(a couple of thousand items, but they do have a written manual to fall back on) 
...so we'll just be taking the dumb and heavy work of their hands. 
Took a few nights off working on the Ford's, also needed time to catch up on posts, pm's, emails etc etc. One of them lead to a very interesting bit of team news
 
Scalextric detail parts...
As I mentioned before the Scalex Ford is a very nice and detailed car with some nifty design features to prevent breakages in case of a crash (well..with exception of the aerials)
Before I start my builds I usually dismount all of them and store them safely in a box for later mounting or to use them to create masters for rubber casting or vacforming.
To be honest I had a very hard time trying to get the mirrors off the body (as I wanted to recast them in rubber) noticed that they were quite flexible and upon closer inspection found them to be cast...in rubber!
Now that was a big time saver and it's a real pain in the "buttocks" to paint rubber nicely, so here a feather in your cap, way to go Scaley. 



For most of you that have acquired a Ford one of your concerns might be how to keep that delicate rear wing sticking way out the back, on your car..in a crash...
Well you shouldn't ! You should allow it to come off..at least in a hard crash.
The rear wing has been designed as such that it clips into a mount and would come off in a hard crash..if not for a tiny drop of glue added in China.
But that tiny drop of glue actually prevents the wing supports to come free in a hard crash and may result in breakage.
So stick a thin scalpel next to the supports into the wing mount and wiggle to cut the glue and you're home free...but there's more.

Once you have the wing off the car and flip it upside down you'll notice a seam line and that its actually cast in two parts: the rearwing supports and the top wing with the endplates.
So again, take out you thin scalpel blade and carefully, and I do mean carefully (as in always point the sharp end of the blade away from you) try to pry it between the wing supports and the wing.
Now on two of the three wings I have treated this way there were only small dabs of glue used to fix the support. I could easily pry the blade between them in the middel and wiggle my way with the scalpel to the sides and the wing would come off.
But with one wing someone in China had been really thorough and more generous with the glue, couldn't get the blade in between.
In that case I would advise you to leave it as it is and "just" be content with the "clip in" safety. But if you can separate the wing from the support and clean the recess from glue.
Just a tiny bit of thin double sided tape or a small dab of shoe goo will give you an added safety feature to prevent breakage in case of a serious crash. 
 
 
...and Scalextric after sales service
Ok so back to that PM I had send, the one leading to a nice bit of team news. DiSCA sporting rules require all detail parts to be present on the cars.
Small detail parts (like mirrors and wipers) only need to be present at the start, but wings need to be present at all times.
Should they come off you'll get a notification from Race control and  you'll need to Pit within 5 laps to replace it.
Which (if your car is prepped for it) should not be a problem as by that time..a Marshall will kindly have placed the part in the "lost & found" bin at RC.
And if the Marshall is bit a slow, you mount the spare and place the retrieved item in your spare parts box in the Parc Fermé... later.
This procedure works well in the day time...but in the night darkness.... it may take a lot longer before the "lost" wing is retrieved...and some are "lost" ...forever.
So it is handy if you have at least 3 or 4 spares.

So Tuesday evening I send a PM to the only Scalextric rep I know, well at least I knew he is a SF member. I modestly asked if he could maybe act as a liaison...
... and ask Scalextric if they would be willing to "support" our effort with 2 or 3 spare wings and mirrors. 
Got a PM back the next morning with a reply that Scalex really doesn't have any facility to supply spares. But, to drop him an email with my contact details...
...and  he would dig round the office and to see if they had any spare shells etc. etc.
In the afternoon I got an email that he couldn't source any spare shells, but that 3 complete cars were now laying wrapped and ready to be shipped out in the post room.
Way to go Scalextric, that's what I call "after sales service" You ask for 3 wings and mirrors and you get 3 complete cars, it was like Christmas all over again.
So as a thank you the Ford MonkeyTown Team NL  cars will now proudly carry Scalextric decals on their bodywork.  

And while we're talking decals, here's an other Team update: on the roof we'll also have decals with the names of Wayne and Stephen Lander listed as drivers of the #18 car.
Regardless of how Brexit will end..here's to another Anglo-Dutch cooperation  

To be continued
 
with kind regards
Tamar