[NikS]

Dear All,

Following my brushless slot car scratch built ( https://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=187497 ), I was finally able to complete the brushed version as mentioned there.

The chassis, body, front axle carrier, motor mount, wheel inserts and guide are once again 3D printed. The axles, bearings, wheels, tyres and gears are as before from slot.it, as is the brushed motor with my choice settling on Flat-6 RS.

Gearing is 10/30, I am using a non-offset crown gear in a 0.5mm offset set-up, but the meshing is reasonably smooth - if I didn't know about the type of crown gear, I wouldn't have guessed the above.

I strove to go one better on the lights and wired them from bare LED's, which certainly resulted in a better installation, but I am still not entirely happy - if I once again go for working lights, I will try to 3D print a custom board and pre-wire the LED's on it before mounting the assembly in the body. Not sure if I will still use (tinier) wires or copper ink.

The colour is from Halfords - I went with the colour strip on the can which, as I now know they have gone for the the penny saving, and have adopted a generic strip for any colour that is remotely resembling the base colour. So my choice, Ford Electric Orange, turned out to be browny/goldish, but I am happy with it.

I will post the images in few consecutive posts starting with few below.

 

[NikS]

Few more images:

Images of the brushless and brushed cars together:

It is very evident on the image below the difference the brushless motor makes to the size of the underbody tunnels - in real life there will be no contest what motor a designer would use if they could get their hands on a motor that is at least as powerful but half the size. Obviously in the slot car world things are slightly different, but I really appreciate the more realistic tunnel appearance of the brushless floor:

 

[Chappy]

Nice work Nik.
I would love to see a comparison run between the 2.
Cheers
Bob

 

[NikS]

Thanks Bob,

Ironically one of the reasons I built the brushed car is that it is not easy to run the brushless one together with my other cars, which prompted me to build a brushed version. The two require completely different voltages and the chances of an error and a burned brushless controller are significant. In fact I think I already damaged the brushless controller somewhat as the initial start up sequence (when I first connect the car to the rails) is now different - the motor still runs as normal afterwards, but something in the initial signals the controller produces as it is attempting to find the motor rotor position, is different. We'll see, as the weather gets better here in the UK I might set up my large mdf track in the garden and give it a go (I can't see a point in doing the comparison on my small mdf tracks, while it is a massive challenge setting up the large one in the living room), though I really like the brushless being a shelf queen

 

[Chappy]

Thanks Nik.
It really is intriguing as to the difference in the 2 motors.
I know a lot of the drones use brushless motors as do RC cars.
But they are all powered by onboard battery packs.
And i suspect the voltage is considerably lower than the 10 plus that we use for Slots.
I think the brushless run at a higher rpm but use up battery at a much quicker rate than a brushed motor on the same battery such as in a break in.
Does this seem to make sense , or am I off target.
Cheers
Bob

 

[Kevan]

You didn't do yourself any favours picking a flat 6 when there's plenty of quick slimline motors on the market.

RC car brushless motors are powered as low as 3.7v (1S) up to 22.2V (6S) depending on the class, scale and type of vehicle.

 

[NikS]

Hi Bob, as Kevan pointed out, the brushless motors can cover wide variety of voltages. The micro motor I use, is rated at 2s or 7.4v nominal, which in realty means it can safely work up to 8.0v-8.5v at least, but the controller needs to match the motor demands and the ones on the market are a bit iffy at that scale - for example my one from HobbyKing when I bought it 5 years ago was rated at 11.1v (3s), but if you try to buy the same model now, it is only rated at 7.4v (2s).

Thanks Kevan, I have to admit I lack knowledge as to what the best slimline motor is - when reading various forums' info on the Flat-6, there were mixed feelings about it. By the way, I am about to start building one more car (a friend's birthday present) and this one will be powered by Scaleauto Sprinter 2 motor at 0mm gear offset, motor will once again be covered by the chassis from underneath. I hope the colour scheme I have chosen works well, I will publish some images when finished.

Nik

 

[NikS]

Hi All,

One more example of the Rally 037 completed, this time as a birthday present for a friend of mine. It is using Scaleauto motor with 0mm gear offset motor mount, while the rest of the mechanical components are once again from slot.it. The colour scheme chosen reflects a personal connection that my friend has to the racers of the late 1980's and early 1990's displaying the same theme, while he is also a rally aficionado too.

Below are few images, starting with couple of CAD screen grabs.

Thank you for reading.

 

[NikS]

And the finished car:

 

[scuderia_turini]

Looks great Nik,

The Marlboro type paint job looks very dynamic. Nice straight and sharp edges to the colour segments.

Leo

 

[Slotspeed]

Nik, there are many aspects to your build that are quite commendable.

Firstly, did you do the 3D model of the body? have you studied 3D design? Or do you work in that field? Pretty neat skill to have, especially since you have gone all the way from concept, drawing and modelling to manufacturing prototypes. In case you didn't figure it out, I'm impressed. Builders of 1:1 replicas would kill for a 3D model of the cars that they want to build. How did you go about wiring the LED's in the second and third build? Basically with electronics cabling its best to keep wiring as simple as possible, I think I can see what you've done there, but I reckon you could still economise on one or two less wires, with a slightly simplified wiring scheme. (I like the series/paralell scheme going on there) If you find some of the very thin insulated wire that is typically used for PCB repair (typically low power such as logic circuits) that stuff is ideal for running LED's in a slot car. If you run the wires close to each other then you will only need a few dabs of hot glue to hold them in place. The thin stuff weighs very little so you can make the run slightly longer for the sake of neatness.

Steve.

 

[Slotspeed]

Also, are the axles running in bushes or does the printed plastic form the bush?

 

[pace1970uk]

A brilliant project, the chassis is very neat and the 037 would make a superb Lancia concept car.

 

[scuderia_turini]

I'll let Nik answer the questions, but I was impressed enough to buy a bodyshell kit from Nik and can confirm that this is a proper job and runs very well.

At first I didn't like the black windows but now think it adds an air of mystery...

Don't know what Nik's full taste in cars is but he is a big fan of the Lancia Rally.

Leo

 

[NikS]

Hi Guys,

Leo, thanks for the appreciation, you have been a great supporter, which does not go unnoticed and is a huge encouragement.

Steve - thank you, yes, you are spot on many counts, the 3D model is mine, doing CAD work is part of my day job. Wiring though is a bit of a challenge for me, I have learned a great deal in the past 10 years since I picked up the hobby again, but many areas are still work in progress. Following the crudely wired LED's in my first build, the second one had a hybrid series and parallel wiring (as spotted by you), while in the third one the LED's are there to simply give the appearance of head and tail lights, but are not wired - after the second build, I decided that I will only wire working lights if I can do it in a tidier way, and to this end thank you for your advice - I was considering a tiny 3D printed board to mount the LED's and sticking the very thin wires you mention to this board is an option. Having said that, after my third build, it is so nice not having to worry about wiring LED's, and the model looks so pure on the inside... To also answer your question on the axle bushes, I am using the spherical ones from Slot.it - I first got introduced to them with the Ferrari 312 PB ten years ago and liked the concept a lot. The bushes are a push fit in the 3D printed components.

pace1970uk - thank you, every bit of encouragement is massively appreciated.

I am a mechanical design engineer with job in motorsport and enjoy all of its forms, but as Leo (scuderia_turini) pointed out, I am a massive fan of the Lancia Rally and have been ever since I saw it as a young lad in the early/mid 1980's. This is when I decided I'd like to style a successor to it but was only able to seriously start doing it in the last few years. We are lucky to currently live in an era when all sorts of manufacturing techniques are becoming more and more wide spread and accessible, so once the car was styled, I had no excuse not to start building it at least in small scale.

Nik

 

[scuderia_turini]

Not too long a gap in reporting back here although I completed my "stradale" version quite soon after receiving it. The build was quite straightforward as NikS supplied a comprehensive list of the parts required and pointed me in the right direction. Colour choice was difficult as I hate when people see a red sports car and assume it is a Ferrari - my response is always that it is better than that! However, I had to agree with NikS that following the heritage of the 1:1 Lancia Rally that I should go red.
It is the normal brushed motor (Long Can Fly Evo) type.

The black shell looked good unpainted although difficult to photograph. I couldn't resist a few cautious laps in this state. It handled very well and was so easy to drive that I had to constrain myself from pushing it too hard...

Anyone who has built a 3D printed body will know how challenging the painting is, and my skills/patience do not help. So it was soon red and ready for a proper trial and launch.

YouTube Linky incase the video is not below:-

[youtube-b]GdkOWVJSOrQ[/youtube-b]

NikS told me that he had Martini stripes almost ready, so I ordered another kit to build a competizione version - stay tuned.

Leo

 

[Fluff]

Hi Leo , I see the (army) rally crew are in evidence

Steve

 

[pace1970uk]

Brilliant project, did I spot the Martini version in the other video?

 

[scuderia_turini]

@Fluff - Yes but demobilised as these cars are no tanks!

@pace1970uk - darn paparazzi !

 

[RikoRocket]

Windows and interior