[howmet tx]

Hope I'm not jumping the gun here, but over in the New World, Jairus Watson has suggested a proxy series for balsa-bodied cars with open frame motors, which is an idea I'm so happy with I'd like to help get some momentum behind it. Suggestions are Sports or GT cars up to c.1955, I think, presumably 1/24.
Gentlemen: start whittling.

Anyone there?

 

[endbelldrive]

It's 1:20 AM in front of my computer...I think I'll have a go at carving !/24.

cheers,
Bob S.

 

[Jaak]

Being a proxy nut..never shaped wood..no clue where to get balsa here..

I love a challenge, i am in.

Hi Bob,

 

[GeraldL]

Forever travelling back in time, not sure about 1/24, but its difficult to say no! GeraldL

 

[Jaak]

Any ideas formed on the chassis?

Brass - RTR etc,

For me it can be all open as long as the body is made from Balsa,
could draw some more people into the art of shaping Balsa.

Then again Brass would fit better i guess,
Balsa and Brass fantastic combo.

I also think there are more 1:32 people so there would probably be more participators if it is 1:32.

Just throwing some other ideas/suggestions out there..

 

[Jairus Watson]

Very good sir Howmet! I was just searching out some scratch builders in the appropriate section to provide links to the discussion. But you did the same here.
So...I'll post my morning post from over there... here! And to correct one thing. Any wood is good. Balsa, Pine, Fir, marine grade plywood. As long as you carve the body from wood and show your work! Link to the discussion.

By my count we have 7 persons throwing their hats into the ring. I think this number will grow to 12 after we pull a couple scratchbuilders in from Slot Forum.

Probably should decided on a theme and basic rules first though. It's better if we all build the same type of car and same scale in my opinion.
1/24 is simplest for my big hands and I have a lot more bits in that scale to choose from.
Other thoughts...
Chassis design open. Brass rod, brass pan, aluminum as long as no technology newer than 1964 utilized.
No can motors, only open motors like Kemtron, Pittman, Tyco, Astrocraft, Revell, etc.
Vintage parts encouraged.
Rubber tires only.
Wheel inserts or scale cast wheels mandatory.

I went through all my slot mags and the only article about carving was the aforementioned Alfa Romeo Type 158 (two part article) that Rick posted. But this is not a big deal for me finding the drawings of the car in a mag. Because I plan to buy a model kit (or pick one off my shelf) of one of the cars shown below and carve the body to match the kit body. No need to over think this thing is there?

Two themes have been suggested, "pre-war Grand Prix" and "mid-fifties sports cars". I assume this means open top spyders?

I personally would like to go Pre-War Grand Prix because that is a very glorious era and easier to build. But... a quick look at a few sports racing cars from 1955 got me pretty excited too! Really are not enough people to have two classes so lets just pick one. K?

I already have a box of parts ready including a very nice 6volt motor that sounds strong along with a vintage Astrocraft guide and some Unique wheels. But.. might go with the Russkit wires just because they are so neat.

 

[Jaak]

From Rick,

 

[manitouguy]

yes this sounds like good fun - just what i need, another 'project'

what type of time line are you guys thinking - aka how long would we have to set up a car??

i might need to go into a 'team' set up - the body i could handle, the chassis and running gear ... not so much!

here is a link to another article on carving with wood

http://www.slotforum.com/forums/blog/manit...p?showentry=485

and i would love to see someone build one of these too ...!!

http://www.slotforum.com/forums/blog/manit...p?showentry=481

has the era / theme been decided yet then ??

regards, Ron

 

[Brad Korando]

Please count me in too, I love the idea! I have a box full of Pittman's and a box full of Band-Aids, what more could a guy possibly need for this Proxy!? I have a fondness for 50's sports cars, so that's my vote.

I have zero experience making slot car bodies from wood, but have a nice stockpile of Basswood (Lime in the UK?) in the basement. Can any of you with experience making wood bodies offer a recommendation for wood species? I've seen a lot of balsa wood car bodies on SF, is Balsa used because of its light weight?

Regards,
Brad

 

[manitouguy]

hi Brad - i had posted a few links long ago on my first attempts - i had never carved anything in my life but was very surprised at the achievable results once i got the fear out of the way

i like both balsa and bass - what i really liked about the balsa was how quickly i could sand it to final shape ... bass will be a bit heavier but many will say it likely carves detail much better too

balsa will need a filler sealant as well - i assume bass does too ?

will try and find some of the old posts

question - i assume detailing on the cars can be of fiddly bits of metal or styrene - or is that a no no??

Ron

 

[dgersh]

Here are a couple other articles I found on carving wooden bodies. First one from December 1965 issue of Model Car & Track: Timber!

The other one is from the June 66 issue of this same magazine - yep, both articles appeared just about when wooden bodies were disappearing for good from slot racing circles!

Don

 

[dgersh]

The other article I found on making wooden bodies, from the March 1963 issue of Model Maker...

 

[Jaak]

Don fantastic article

Ron,

No Era decided from what i understood,
Two suggestions are made:
Pre-War Grand Prix
or mid-fifties sports cars

All is still a debate which according to Jairus can take about a month or more,
he wants no rush all fun and i am down with that as i need to learn a lot for this.

Detailing is also still a discussion as is the rest, everything is still open.
Give your opinion on what one you prefer, that goes for all who would like to join.

Brad,

Balsa: easy to work with and lightest but a bit weak and easily dented.
Two big pro's which i think is why many choose Balsa.

I think i am going with White Pine, more difficult but stronger and heavier.
i would squeeze balsa to bits with my big non gentle hands

 

[Brad Korando]

Thanks for the info Ron and Jaak. I have a bit of experience with basswood from making some Pinewood Derby cars along wtih my boys a few years back. Basswood is pretty easy to work with and does lend itself to carving detail. It's not as porous as balsa and has almost no pronounced grain to speak of. I used modeling putty to fill the basswood grain with pretty good results on the Derby cars I prepared. Basswood is a fair bit more durable than balsa, I'm just concerned that it will weigh too much.

Regards,
Brad

 

[Jairus Watson]

QUOTE (manitouguy @ 22 Oct 2012, 10:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>question - i assume detailing on the cars can be of fiddly bits of metal or styrene - or is that a no no??

Ron

Ron, we are still in the discussion phase of this project. So giving opinions is more helpful right now rather than asking what is legal yet. At this moment the subject of details has not been determined. In other words... do we want to go whole hog and require all details be scratch-built? Or should we allow pulling plastic details from model kits and slot car kits that were available in 1964? I can go either way myself as these sports cars didn't have that much in the way of details, chrome trim and such.

As for a time line: I am thinking of allowing discussions to proceed for a couple weeks or more before hammering out the rules. This gives us builders time over the holidays to get started collecting parts and making some wood shavings.

I am thinking that we take the sports cars theme and add some cut off dates like 1949 to 1960. That's 12 years of sporty cars to choose from.
I think anyone here can find something cool that time period, right?

 

[Bigtone]

I could be tempted to have a go at this with sports/GT cars but I'm not keen on the open frame motors. I'd rather that all competitors use a modern low price can motor which is easily available everywhere.

 

[merkit the grof]

As I have said on SlotBlog, please count me in.

I would much prefer 50s sports and GT cars, but will join in even if it is prewar.

For the detailing question, I think allowing some plastic details will make it accessible to more people (no photoetch please) but, again, I am happy either way.

I will try basswood, it should be more resilient than balsa.

Ron, I can send you a 1/24th Atlas chassis/motor if you want.

Finally, I might even be tempted to fly out there and help with the racing (if that's allright with Jairus)

Joel

 

[Jaak]

I would prefer 50s sport cars too,
just not sure on the vintage motor thing as i never looked at these but am afraid it may become a bit costly to do.

 

[Bigtone]

I'm with you Jaak on the motors, if you haven't got them they are getting very expensive to buy. A suggestion fo a modern motor would be the Falcon 7 which are cheap, easy to get and reliable and set a level field

 

[vfr750]

Bugge*r, I'm trying to cut back on slots a bit for the next year or so but I think I might have to try this. It's representative of an era just before my time when i was just rugracing with Scaley. Rail racing was also before my time but when races were organised by "he whose name should not be mentioned" I had to have a go at building a rail car too.

I'd like to have a go at this if the rules are right with a long enough lead time so i can make lots of mistakes learning to carve

I think if this is to be done it should be done in the spirit of the early days when bodies had to be carved as there weren't many commercial alternative. This was an era before can motors when open frame motors were the norm. I wouldn't bother to do it with can motors.

These motors aren't ridiculously expensive and he's a good guy to deal with.:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-ATLAS-206-MO...=item5adc6b7b70

It's also worth checking with Phil Smith & Derek Cooper.

If it does take off I'm sure we could run a round at the Rockingham club. it would be good to see the entries this side of the pond.

Cheers

John