'34 Ford Coupe - Pioneer Legends Whitekit

11647 Views 39 Replies 15 Participants Last post by RichD, 2 mo ago

GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · Dec 29, 2019 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi All

In the last couple of days I have been busy reducing the pile of whitekits sitting on my bench (or to be more precise in the boxes around my living room).

I have started with this '34 Ford Coupe legends racer. I have to say that Pionner hit a blockbuster with these models. They are fun, nice and easy to race. I believe these to be the best slot cars released in 2019.

Let start with the assembly. The package is very neat and well organised.

I really like the way all the different bits and pieces are contained in separate trays and in small plastic bags.

Motor vehicle Hood Car Table Cutting mat

The chassis is straightforward to put together. This is my first Pioneer car that I am tuning so I was not familiar with its internals.

As usual, I put together the drive train first and then I run the motor/rear axles for 30 min starting with 4v and increasing the power up to 15v.

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Usually I would follow up with truing the front tyres, taper them and give a nice coat of CA. But in this case I decided to leave the front tyres as they are and true the rear instead. I am not sure if it is my Razor, but it took a long time to get them trued (removing all the threads and patterns from the tyres).

I installed a G chip and added 7 gr of lead in the pocked used for the magnet. And then I added some more on the side pans. I think I added a total of +21gr of ballast. Is this really required? Not really but the car feels more stable. Do not get me wrong: these cars go pretty well also without ballast as I will demonstrate with a video for the Chevy Sedan on another topic.

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I was really curious to see how the car would go. So I put on the body still unpainted and put the car on the track (as you can see in the pic below).

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The performance was not bad. Then I added some magic juice to the rear tyres and WOW!

See for yourself on this video running on digital:

I was very pleased with it so I was really eager to finish painting the car and to have it on the track with the full body assembled to see if the performance would be affected.

More to follow.

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GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #2 · Dec 29, 2019

Painting and Detailing

I have looked around for some inspiration on the net to come up with a nice lievery. There are plenty of very nice ones out there.

But also you need to have some decals to finish it off properly. Since I am not still able to produce my own decals, I went looking for my stash of unused ones. I came up with some a decal sheet of a red bull livery for a Z4 that I have bought from patto's. So I used some Tamiya metallic blue straight from the can followed by a Tamiya clear coat. While the body was drying, I dedicated some time to the interiors and the engine.

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The kit details are very good and Yamaha engine is well reproduced. I decided to add some more details to the engine although I knew that these will not be visible once the engine would be inserted in the body.

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However, what I thought were spark holes turned out to be the carburetors. Doh! I did look online for some pics of the engine and sure enough I was wrong. I will do better with the Chevy one, I promised myself ;-)

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GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 29, 2019

Finishing it up

I spent one hour working on the decals. Mainly I had to decide where to put them. As usual, I used the Micro sol liquid and some of the large decals didn't like it at all.

Fortunately after leaving them overnight they came out ok so I moved to add Mr Hobby clear coat which works perfectly ok with Patto's decals.

In the meantime I also prepped and decaled the Chevy and gave a Mr Hobby coat on the same session as for the Ford.

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After another night to let the clear coat dry properly, I added all the small details and finished the model. I love the metal bits that are used for the front grill and the windscreen protecting mesh.

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And it looks cool also on the track

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GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 29, 2019

Some stats and more testing

After putting all the bits together I was really keen in getting the car on the track.

Here a video on how it performs on digital. Note that the APB is running in digital mode but it is attached to a variable power supply that was set at 12v DC (my APB has not been modified for the power-mod so in the video it is getting 12v on both power ports).

The stats part. The total weight of the car is 88.5 gr (not including the chip). The body weighs 21.75 gr (which is a 1.7 gr heavier than the Chevy) and the chassis (not including the chip) weighs 65.8 gr (this with a +20gr of ballast).

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I also did a test with the car running in pure analog more. This means no chip in the car and using an analog controller attached to the track as a standard analog track. The video is below.

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steveaca

· #5 · Dec 30, 2019

I really wasn't expecting those cars to run so well with what seems like a short wheelbase and high centre of gravity body.

Very impressive !

Nice layout you have there as well !

David Lawson

· #6 · Dec 30, 2019

What a great looking slot car you've built.

David

Pioneer

· #7 · Dec 30, 2019

Thanks for taking the time to show how you got on with those new Legends Racers kits.

Great job. Top marks.

Jules

GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 30, 2019

thank you all for you nice comments. I believe that, at least for racing on scalex sport track, these are the easiest cars to set up. The only thing that took some time was to true the tyres. But once trued with a bit of mix of transaxle oil and CRC 2-26 (that is our magic juice at the moment) rubbed on the tyres the grip is excellent as you can see from the video.

My current track has a very good mix of corners ranging from R1 (the hairpin at the end of the main straight) to R4 and everything else in the mix. The is also a chicane (on the back straight) that is very challenging but these cars take it without much of a problem.

As you can see in the analog video, the Ford at one point jumps from the slot on the main straight and ends up in the pitlane. So although I have put a lot of lead on the chassis, under heavy acceleration it seems prone to lift the front. I think that this might be due to a combination of some unevenness in the track and the front tyres being not true. At one point I might true the front tyres as well.

@steveaca: thanks for your comments on the track. This track was built by Damien here on SF (https://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67523&p=761992). I bought it from him more than a year ago and has been sitting in pieces next to the wall in my previous home. When I moved to my current place I thought to use it instead of building my previous one. I did some modifications to the layout and for the time being this will be our main track for a while.

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dangermouse

· #9 · Dec 31, 2019

Thanks for the write up and the videos. I am impressed by the grip they look like they handle well.

Which Mr Hobby Clear do you use on Pattos decals?

cheers

David

GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 31, 2019

hi David

I used the MrHobby Top Coat glossy in the small can: https://www.hobbycity.nz/products/gunze-b501-mr-topcoat-gloss-clear-spray

I have used this several times on patto's decals with 100% success.

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dangermouse

· #11 · Jan 1, 2020

Thanks I need to find a new topcoat - I have had success with Tamiya clear but then every now and then it burns a decal or two

PETER GUNN

· #12 · Jan 3, 2020

Fantastic work Grunz you have inspired me to do one , so my Ford kit arrived and must say impressed with the way it,s packaged , top marks Jules, but me being me have decided to make it just my own home racer as i,m not going to race it ( no clubs ) so i have started on my modifications.

General comment a very nice stiff chassis to work with, so first job fit 4 double flanged ballraces , nice tight fit in the bearing holes but always supaglue them in before the chassis is finished, turning to the motor it has a splined shaft so filed the splines to fit a Slot it 11 tooth sidewinder pinion , and using a Slot it 31 tooth cog but it will take a 32.33,34 as well , always glue the motor in to stop any rear wheel tramp that may arise .

Fitted Staff silver alloys to the chassis , but i have red , black, gold and blue as well depends on the colour scheme, next job ream the guide hole out and fit a B Nova 1/32 guide adaptor and use a slot it wood guide, nice bit of room under the rear axle to add weight , also some up front, will fit urethanes all round have them in the spares box so know they fit the wheels well.

You have done a great job with your liveries not sure if i can come up to your quality but gonna try, by the way Jules you have produced a great car as it is , but i must fiddle chuckle, a few pics of so far.

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42redcat

· #13 · Jan 3, 2020

Good-looking build, although it's not my preference for subject! I sympathise over your lack of a club to race at.
Where do you get the double-flanged ball races?
Mike

PETER GUNN

· #14 · Jan 3, 2020

42redcat had these for some time but hard to get now last lot i got was from China via Ebay , before that Slotting Plus, Typhoon Slots and MB were the only other places at that time i could get them from

GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 3, 2020

WOW Peter Gunn, you are bringing this game to a new level. Well done! If you can, would be nice to see a video on how it goes on carrera track.

Dopamine

· #16 · Jan 4, 2020 (Edited)

OK, so mine wasn't a kit and started out fully painted, but Pioneer has a winner with these.

Mine's still awaiting the arrival of some anodised Staffs wheels and is fitted with bare Slot.it items at the moment, but this has to be one of the most surprising cars of the past year for me.

If I'm honest, I didn't expect much, buying it purely because I loved its looks. Sadly, although the original wheels and tyres look great, they are very far from true and won't fit the common NSR/Slot.it tyre sizes anyway, so mine have been swapped. The original bearings are too big for the rear axle and have a lot of slop, so I've turned a fairly expensive slot car into a very expensive one, but boy is it worth the money. It's now brilliant to drive.

Slot.it 15.8 x 8.2 wheels front and rear (awaits Staffs wheels).

Slot.it axles front and rear with original Pioneer bearings at the front and Slot.it at the rear.

Scaleauto screw-fit guide.

NSR Supergrips at the rear and NSR zeros at the front. The photos show just how badly Ninco track chews up Supergrips!

Slot.it spur gear, Pioneer pinion, ratio unchanged at 12/33. It's quite noisy retaining the plastic Pioneer pinion, but the mesh is good.

All the digital stuff removed and 10g of weight sat on top of the DPR hatch.

I tried it first without weight, but it was lifting the guide under power. What surprised me was that it was stable in corners without added weight, and that's on grippy Ninco track with pretty grippy NSR Supergrips. I'd expected it to roll, but it didn't, probably because it's very wide: 65mm outside edge to outside edge across the rear axle which, to give some perspective, is 1mm more than a Scaleauto Viper.

The chassis is stiff, probably a bit stiffer than is ideal for Ninco track, but on a smooth track I think it will be perfect.

So, not cheap once the cost of the replacement bits is factored in, but fun rarely is, and this is now a hell of a lot of fun. I'll definitely be buying a few more.

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PETER GUNN

· #17 · Jan 4, 2020

Very nice Dopamine, think these cars will be a great fun drive , well stage 2 of my chassis work is done , firstly no offence to pioneer but i,m not a great fan of the guide , so i have done the following cut the post of but not the back of it to start with , i use B Nova adaptors ( see pictures ) hard to get now but great for doing this conversion, i think Conti Rowlands did or does do a replacement for these , but not quite sure , so check on that one.

The B Novas i have come with a plate thickness of 1/32 and 3/32 i used the 1/32 on this car and all my other Pioneers, at this point i cut the remains of the original guide post ( the back bit and supports ) down level with the top of the B Nova one , and superglued that plate in dead easy and the wood guide fits in lovely ( see pics ) .

Have decided to use 55mm axles as i like to get as much axle in my wheels as possible , gives in my opinion good support to the wheel. Tyres i decided on Paul Gage urethanes PG 19105lm for the fronts and his XPG 20105LM for the rears why you might think well the PG one is a harder tyre which i use a lot so have experiance of it and it makes a good front tyre, and i know the XPG are a softer compound, great for the rears and fit these Staffs wheels perfectly.

Now on to stage 3 finishing of the odds and sods on the chassis,and then the body work , colour well not quite sure as of yet but thinking yellow and red at the moment but still undecided so watch this space, oh by the way going back to the chassis the wood guide does move nice and easy in and around the guide turret but i did just trim the inside slightly just to make sure, some pictures.

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GRUNZ

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jan 4, 2020

Where do you guys get these staff wheels? They look interesting.

Both of you have done some nice modding to these cars, but I would like to remind that the cars go very well with stock parts at least on scalex sport track (see videos for reference).

These cars can be a nice class for both digital and analog racers because they are inexpensive (at least the whitekits are), easy to tune (basically just true the rear tyres) and easy to drive (even without any ballast).

Anyway, I like to see people getting hardcore using upgrades to even make them going better.

Dopamine, I like the "threads" on your NSR tyres. ;-)

PETER GUNN

· #19 · Jan 4, 2020

Must say i was suprised about that sort of grip on Ninco track and the way the ultras have reacted to it , only ever raced on Ninco in proxy series so have no experiance of it myself, i agree about the standard car it,s good and i expect many will be bought for a possible club class .

I just like pushing the envelope with all my cars to differant degrees Grunz, and the hot rod is ideal to try things out on which so far have worked had the chassis out on my Carerra track this afternoon and noted the following , the urethanes work very well , and i,m spot on having the fronts harder than the rears , also thinking about using nail varnish on the front tyres front tyres have just a tad to much bite for me..

Will need to adjust the weight to 60/40 front to back, at the moment i have it the other way round and you do get front end slight lift on power , using ballraces is great but the increase in smooth power needs more up front weight , and that 18k motor is quite fast in it,s own right nice power curve.

The Staff wheels come from Pendall,s in silver, anodised, gold, red, blue, black, and a very nice wheel indeed have a number now.

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PETER GUNN

· #20 · Jan 11, 2020

Just a little progress report all details done , chassis is well tested and weighted, Staff red wheels instead of silver ones , means the colour will be Yellow sort of either a Ford or a Mustard not quite sure yet, that's the final job.

On the driving front the chassis being short wheelbase does not take to kindly to trying to hang the thing out needs a differant style of driving to get fast times more squirt and brake on a twisty Carrera track, on a longer one be interesting to hear on that one .

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