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I'm keen to scratchbuild a 1/43rd scale car. Does anyone make good quality vacuum-formed Lexan Group C or IMSA GTP bodies?
Kind regards,
Russell
Kind regards,
Russell
1/43rd Lexan Group C / IMSA GTP bodies
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126 Posts
Russell
Ranch Design in the states sells a Jaguar XJR9
in lexan. Is that what you might be looking for?
Are you going to join us in the ISP43 ?
( International Scratchbuild Proxy race for 1/43 scale cars? )
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Ted
Ranch Design in the states sells a Jaguar XJR9
in lexan. Is that what you might be looking for?
Are you going to join us in the ISP43 ?
( International Scratchbuild Proxy race for 1/43 scale cars? )
Joined
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2,846 Posts
Thanks for that, Ted. I saw the Jaguar XJR9 on Ranch Design's website, but I was hoping for a bit more variety.
Unfortunately, until more people like Steve at Ranch Design make specialised components, I don't think that 1/43rd scale will progress much beyond being regarded as toys. We need manufacturers such as Slot.it and NSR to get in on the act. In my personal opinion, the design and technology used in the Cox Super Scale 1/40th cars, first produced in 1973, was way ahead of what Carrera, SCX and even Kyosho produce today.
Thanks for the heads up on the proxy. I like the concept but am unlikely to finish a car in time, due to other projects. Perhaps next year.
With kind regards,
Russell
Unfortunately, until more people like Steve at Ranch Design make specialised components, I don't think that 1/43rd scale will progress much beyond being regarded as toys. We need manufacturers such as Slot.it and NSR to get in on the act. In my personal opinion, the design and technology used in the Cox Super Scale 1/40th cars, first produced in 1973, was way ahead of what Carrera, SCX and even Kyosho produce today.
Thanks for the heads up on the proxy. I like the concept but am unlikely to finish a car in time, due to other projects. Perhaps next year.
With kind regards,
Russell
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2,460 Posts
Hello Russell, as you have noticed, there are not many decent quality 1/43 vacform bodies available. Most of us who build use resins but, with the number of diecasts of most cars available at a reasonable price, would it be an idea to ask someone who vacforms in other scales to turn a few out for you?
Would definitely like to see you join the proxy sometime.
Regards, Lloyd
Would definitely like to see you join the proxy sometime.
Regards, Lloyd
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1,251 Posts
Yes, Russell with the ease that Vac's can be pulled off a preexisting 1/43 models, most people in 1/43 don't bother going out of their way to do them. It's a rather different mind set then 1/32 where there is not an abundance of appropriately sized donors. I personally dislike the blobbyness of Vac forms so I avoid them. Because of the compact size it can be a challenge to get good undercuts on a 1/43. If that body style is your interest, I would suggest you might look at the Heller Group C 1/43 model kits. they are easily sourced and easily converted and you are left with a car that has Fly like details!
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Yes, variety has been a sticking point for many people when considering 1/43, but it really does not need to be. As Lloyd says, just about any car you desire is available in 1/43 in one form or another, so if you want one, a minimal amount of resorcefulness WILL yield the car you desire. In addition to resin cast ther are 50 or more static model kits available, from makers such as AMT, Heller, Monogram, Academy and Bandai to name a few. There is a fairly comprehensive list that I have complied in the 1/43 scale area of Home Racing World (pinned near the top) many of these are technically out of production, but they are esy to find and I would encourage you to try one! Very soon Kyosho will be filling the hoppers with first quality 1/43 RTR's including Group C cars.
After that I think many of the percieved barriers to building or running 1/43 will be all but eliminated.
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Yes, variety has been a sticking point for many people when considering 1/43, but it really does not need to be. As Lloyd says, just about any car you desire is available in 1/43 in one form or another, so if you want one, a minimal amount of resorcefulness WILL yield the car you desire. In addition to resin cast ther are 50 or more static model kits available, from makers such as AMT, Heller, Monogram, Academy and Bandai to name a few. There is a fairly comprehensive list that I have complied in the 1/43 scale area of Home Racing World (pinned near the top) many of these are technically out of production, but they are esy to find and I would encourage you to try one! Very soon Kyosho will be filling the hoppers with first quality 1/43 RTR's including Group C cars.
After that I think many of the percieved barriers to building or running 1/43 will be all but eliminated.
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335 Posts
QUOTE (Russell Sheldon @ 28 Mar 2012, 16:11) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Unfortunately, until more people like Steve at Ranch Design make specialised components, I don't think that 1/43rd scale will progress much beyond being regarded as toys. We need manufacturers such as Slot.it and NSR to get in on the act. In my personal opinion, the design and technology used in the Cox Super Scale 1/40th cars, first produced in 1973, was way ahead of what Carrera, SCX and even Kyosho produce today. ...
Russell
I fully agree with Russell. And I don´t understand the euphoria for KYOSHO.
Roland
Russell
I fully agree with Russell. And I don´t understand the euphoria for KYOSHO.
Roland
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1,251 Posts
QUOTE (Schackel @ 29 Mar 2012, 01:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I fully agree with Russell. And I don´t understand the euphoria for KYOSHO.
Roland
Well, it's a wicked circle really people don't want to try 1/43 because there is little variety, but because there historically have not been enough people willing to give 1/43 a go we don't get any variety!
It might be hard for someone from 1/32 to understand the euphoria over Kyosho, in 1/32 you are spoiled for choices, but it was not that long ago that you were lucky to find certain models in 1/32. A good analogy would be that what Kyosho has just done with 1/43 is what Fly did to 1/32 when they first appeard 15 or more years ago. The Kyosho represents the first attempt by ANYBODY to make a commercially available 1/43 slot car aimed at enthusiasts and not 9 year olds! it's significant because they just released 12!! Yes 12!!! 1/43 slot cars at one crack. cars with motor pods, tunable suspension chassis, wheels that are straight & round, rotating guides, the list goes on. In short features that no 1/43 car had before and that some 1/32 cars STILL don't have. aditionally they are slated to releae another batch before the end of the year. people say that 1/43 won't be taken seriously until it loses it's toyishness and we ge some variety! Well, Kyosho has launched a fairly substantial bid to eliminate both of those arguments fairly quickly. I really liked he SCX Compact 1/43 cars, but Kyosho will equal the last 5 years of Compact car production by SCX in just one year! That is significant!
I encourage everyone who is skeptical to try one!
A shot of some of the Heller kits that are available
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Roland
Well, it's a wicked circle really people don't want to try 1/43 because there is little variety, but because there historically have not been enough people willing to give 1/43 a go we don't get any variety!
It might be hard for someone from 1/32 to understand the euphoria over Kyosho, in 1/32 you are spoiled for choices, but it was not that long ago that you were lucky to find certain models in 1/32. A good analogy would be that what Kyosho has just done with 1/43 is what Fly did to 1/32 when they first appeard 15 or more years ago. The Kyosho represents the first attempt by ANYBODY to make a commercially available 1/43 slot car aimed at enthusiasts and not 9 year olds! it's significant because they just released 12!! Yes 12!!! 1/43 slot cars at one crack. cars with motor pods, tunable suspension chassis, wheels that are straight & round, rotating guides, the list goes on. In short features that no 1/43 car had before and that some 1/32 cars STILL don't have. aditionally they are slated to releae another batch before the end of the year. people say that 1/43 won't be taken seriously until it loses it's toyishness and we ge some variety! Well, Kyosho has launched a fairly substantial bid to eliminate both of those arguments fairly quickly. I really liked he SCX Compact 1/43 cars, but Kyosho will equal the last 5 years of Compact car production by SCX in just one year! That is significant!
I encourage everyone who is skeptical to try one!
A shot of some of the Heller kits that are available
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335 Posts
QUOTE (masmojo @ 29 Mar 2012, 04:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Well, it's a wicked circle really people don't want to try 1/43 because there is little variety, but because there historically have not been enough people willing to give 1/43 a go we don't get any variety!
It might be hard for someone from 1/32 to understand the euphoria over Kyosho, in 1/32 you are spoiled for choices, but it was not that long ago that you were lucky to find certain models in 1/32. A good analogy would be that what Kyosho has just done with 1/43 is what Fly did to 1/32 when they first appeard 15 or more years ago. The Kyosho represents the first attempt by ANYBODY to make a commercially available 1/43 slot car aimed at enthusiasts and not 9 year olds! it's significant because they just released 12!! Yes 12!!! 1/43 slot cars at one crack. cars with motor pods, tunable suspension chassis, wheels that are straight & round, rotating guides, the list goes on. In short features that no 1/43 car had before and that some 1/32 cars STILL don't have. aditionally they are slated to releae another batch before the end of the year. people say that 1/43 won't be taken seriously until it loses it's toyishness and we ge some variety! Well, Kyosho has launched a fairly substantial bid to eliminate both of those arguments fairly quickly. I really liked he SCX Compact 1/43 cars, but Kyosho will equal the last 5 years of Compact car production by SCX in just one year! That is significant!
I encourage everyone who is skeptical to try one!
I have to agree with you as well...
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One can´t help considering the 43rd scale slotcar development and current state from all aspects.
My mistake ist that I again and again forget just one thing : 43rd scale slotcars were aimed to children by now and not to us real slotracers and scratchbuilders, and Kyosho is the first more serious attempt to make real slotcars out of them.
There´s only one thing I hope - that the number of people increases who see 43rd scale slotracing just as the other ones see their 32nd or 24th scale hobby - scratchbuilding, converting, REAL models with a good scale appearance, technical creativity in the chassis field, motor research and so on, ending up with competitions as with their bigger ( and smaller as well
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) brothers.
The actual International scratchbuild proxy [ISP43] is a very valuable and important step in this direction.
Roland
It might be hard for someone from 1/32 to understand the euphoria over Kyosho, in 1/32 you are spoiled for choices, but it was not that long ago that you were lucky to find certain models in 1/32. A good analogy would be that what Kyosho has just done with 1/43 is what Fly did to 1/32 when they first appeard 15 or more years ago. The Kyosho represents the first attempt by ANYBODY to make a commercially available 1/43 slot car aimed at enthusiasts and not 9 year olds! it's significant because they just released 12!! Yes 12!!! 1/43 slot cars at one crack. cars with motor pods, tunable suspension chassis, wheels that are straight & round, rotating guides, the list goes on. In short features that no 1/43 car had before and that some 1/32 cars STILL don't have. aditionally they are slated to releae another batch before the end of the year. people say that 1/43 won't be taken seriously until it loses it's toyishness and we ge some variety! Well, Kyosho has launched a fairly substantial bid to eliminate both of those arguments fairly quickly. I really liked he SCX Compact 1/43 cars, but Kyosho will equal the last 5 years of Compact car production by SCX in just one year! That is significant!
I encourage everyone who is skeptical to try one!
I have to agree with you as well...
My mistake ist that I again and again forget just one thing : 43rd scale slotcars were aimed to children by now and not to us real slotracers and scratchbuilders, and Kyosho is the first more serious attempt to make real slotcars out of them.
There´s only one thing I hope - that the number of people increases who see 43rd scale slotracing just as the other ones see their 32nd or 24th scale hobby - scratchbuilding, converting, REAL models with a good scale appearance, technical creativity in the chassis field, motor research and so on, ending up with competitions as with their bigger ( and smaller as well
The actual International scratchbuild proxy [ISP43] is a very valuable and important step in this direction.
Roland
Joined
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1,251 Posts
QUOTE (Schackel @ 29 Mar 2012, 21:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The actual International scratchbuild proxy [ISP43] is a very valuable and important step in this direction.
Roland
Agreed, but what many may not realize is that this is not the first, It is (I believe) the second. the last one was almost 2 years ago and had apporx. 30 cars entered from North America as well as Europe and really exhibited a great variety of idea's and building methods.
There is a Hardcore group of us trying to lift 1/43 to the point of being taken seriously, but it takes participation. That's why I encourage people to try it!
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Roland
Agreed, but what many may not realize is that this is not the first, It is (I believe) the second. the last one was almost 2 years ago and had apporx. 30 cars entered from North America as well as Europe and really exhibited a great variety of idea's and building methods.
There is a Hardcore group of us trying to lift 1/43 to the point of being taken seriously, but it takes participation. That's why I encourage people to try it!
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335 Posts
QUOTE (masmojo @ 29 Mar 2012, 23:16) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Agreed, but what many may not realize is that this is not the first, It is (I believe) the second. the last one was almost 2 years ago and had apporx. 30 cars entered from North America as well as Europe and really exhibited a great variety of idea's and building methods.
There is a Hardcore group of us trying to lift 1/43 to the point of being taken seriously, but it takes participation. That's why I encourage people to try it!
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One more being encouraged...
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My one and only problem actually is the search for really small but yet powerful motors. The size of the widely used GO! motors is too big to build what I´d love to build - side - or anglewinder chassis under CanAm or other open cars ( LeMans spyders and similar ). But that´s one of the things that make scratchbuilding attractive : Search and (hopefully) find
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Yet another thing - probably not new, I think :
If there are - as you say - already quite a number of slotracers who take 43rd scale slotracing really seriously, why not open an own thread for them, to show all their "works" in one place ? Assuming my own stance on that - I always feel really motivated by seeing pictures and thus comparing ideas and advances.
Finally a technical question - are there any ideas about what is a good starting weight for a non mag model ?
Roland
There is a Hardcore group of us trying to lift 1/43 to the point of being taken seriously, but it takes participation. That's why I encourage people to try it!
One more being encouraged...
My one and only problem actually is the search for really small but yet powerful motors. The size of the widely used GO! motors is too big to build what I´d love to build - side - or anglewinder chassis under CanAm or other open cars ( LeMans spyders and similar ). But that´s one of the things that make scratchbuilding attractive : Search and (hopefully) find
Yet another thing - probably not new, I think :
If there are - as you say - already quite a number of slotracers who take 43rd scale slotracing really seriously, why not open an own thread for them, to show all their "works" in one place ? Assuming my own stance on that - I always feel really motivated by seeing pictures and thus comparing ideas and advances.
Finally a technical question - are there any ideas about what is a good starting weight for a non mag model ?
Roland
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126 Posts
Gee whizz! I wish I could get a Brass and Wire scratchbuilt chassis as light as that, Peter. My first weights in at 47 grs and the second at 10 grams higher
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( but it has a bigger motor. Tee Hee! ) It's got to be the Brass parts!
The 1/43 scale does have that "Toy for Kids" reputation for sure. You can look at that as the glass half empty or half full!
There is no doubt that pulling the scale into a more serious venue can be difficult but will provide challenges for those of us who want a clean slate to draw on.
I do have a pretty good Vac-former and do resin casted bodies from diecasts. Now I am making my own chassis. What more can a guy ask for when playing in a hobby?
The rules for racing are wide open and many of the innovations from other scales transforming over well to this one
In a very real way I feel like a pioneer on the edge of great discoveries. Not bad for a home based hobby.
As with a lot of "new" things most of what we see are the ideas of those pioneers, most with limited resources, doing what they do because they love it, not as a business.
I believe as we gather together and show our desires, that those with bigger resources will take notice and produce products that we can be proud to show our friends, yet that will change the vision to what they offer to us, not what we envision.
"nuff philosophy!
See you at the races
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Ted
The 1/43 scale does have that "Toy for Kids" reputation for sure. You can look at that as the glass half empty or half full!
There is no doubt that pulling the scale into a more serious venue can be difficult but will provide challenges for those of us who want a clean slate to draw on.
I do have a pretty good Vac-former and do resin casted bodies from diecasts. Now I am making my own chassis. What more can a guy ask for when playing in a hobby?
The rules for racing are wide open and many of the innovations from other scales transforming over well to this one
In a very real way I feel like a pioneer on the edge of great discoveries. Not bad for a home based hobby.
As with a lot of "new" things most of what we see are the ideas of those pioneers, most with limited resources, doing what they do because they love it, not as a business.
I believe as we gather together and show our desires, that those with bigger resources will take notice and produce products that we can be proud to show our friends, yet that will change the vision to what they offer to us, not what we envision.
"nuff philosophy!
See you at the races
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1,251 Posts
Well said Ted
And you are correct Although It can sometimes feel like you are pushing uphill all the time; it ceratinly is gratifying to know that you are working at the sharp end of something and breaking new ground is fullfilling in it's own way.
I was just thinking about this, this morning and the old saying "the longest journey begins with but a single step"! To those people who say "well, I am too heavily invested in 1/32 or HO or whatever to change now" I say O.K. fine, but these cars are pretty much compatible (New Kyosho's) with all current analog Track systems from Artin 1/43 up. no real reason to "Change" AND they cost about the same as a Scalextric DPR car (or less) It would be rather painless to go and buy one even just for laughs. I prefer to think of them as an additional thing rather then something taking the place of something else.
Maybe just a buy a couple every months or so and really before you know it you have a nice selection, no need to throw out 1/32! At some point you may want to decide to go exclusively one way or the other, but it's really not quite the dilemma some people might lead you to believe it is nor should there be any urgency to the decision.
And you are correct Although It can sometimes feel like you are pushing uphill all the time; it ceratinly is gratifying to know that you are working at the sharp end of something and breaking new ground is fullfilling in it's own way.
I was just thinking about this, this morning and the old saying "the longest journey begins with but a single step"! To those people who say "well, I am too heavily invested in 1/32 or HO or whatever to change now" I say O.K. fine, but these cars are pretty much compatible (New Kyosho's) with all current analog Track systems from Artin 1/43 up. no real reason to "Change" AND they cost about the same as a Scalextric DPR car (or less) It would be rather painless to go and buy one even just for laughs. I prefer to think of them as an additional thing rather then something taking the place of something else.
Maybe just a buy a couple every months or so and really before you know it you have a nice selection, no need to throw out 1/32! At some point you may want to decide to go exclusively one way or the other, but it's really not quite the dilemma some people might lead you to believe it is nor should there be any urgency to the decision.
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Russel I have almost all of the P1 & P2 GTP cars that ran in the 1988 24 hours of LeMans. I would be willing to sent one to Ted so he could try a vac body.
Joel
Joel
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2,460 Posts
There have been some interesting and valid comments here, and I agree with Roland that there should be a new thread specifically to discuss scratchbuilding in 1/43 scale. I will start that thread soon with the aim of it becoming the place to discuss ideas and show examples of work in the scale.
Roland, dont write off the Radioshack motor, it can be fitted as a sidewinder in not so wide cars. I am working on a Porsche 904 chassis that I hope to show soon.
So now to the new thread, I hope you will all contribute ideas and how to's and help to get it up and running.
Regards, Lloyd
Roland, dont write off the Radioshack motor, it can be fitted as a sidewinder in not so wide cars. I am working on a Porsche 904 chassis that I hope to show soon.
So now to the new thread, I hope you will all contribute ideas and how to's and help to get it up and running.
Regards, Lloyd
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Good to see that Patto is now starting to make 1/43rd scale vacuum-formed bodies in PETG. Bruce of course has a huge range of 1/43rd scale decals, both waterslide and 'peel and stick', as well.
Kind regards,
Russell
Kind regards,
Russell
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