here is my 2 cents worth
Chapparal 1
AC Cobra 289
Ford Galaxie 66
Gt 40 x 15
Matra 630
Cunninghan C4R
Maserati 300s
Lola Mk 6
Ferrari 250TR (accurate)
Ferrari 250 GT
ferrari 330TRi
Ferrari 330LMB
Alfa Romeo GTZ/TZ2
Ford G7A
Porsche 910
Ferrai 612 (all the can am variants)
Ferrari 312p 70-71
Ferrari 312p 72 - long tail LM version
Lotus 11
Lotus18
lotus 24
Harvey Aluminium special
Lotus 33
Honda F1 - 66
thats all I can think of now.......
Hope to see you market these.... oh yes with vacuformed screens, chassis not necessary (but that depends on your market as I guess there is a BIG market for those who cannot yet make a chassis)
Hi Sean, Great Idea - hope some of the suggestions made will see the light of day!!
A few ideas - Porsche 908 coupe , Porsche 907 Long Tail and Porsche 910.
Porsche types will be then be fairly comprehensively covered then!!
Lola T212 Sports car.
Someone has mentioned F1 of the 60's and 70's - I heartily agree. Especially the Cooper BRM of 1968, Yardley BRM of 1971 and the McLaren Cosworth of 1969.
How come nobody has ever mentioned the very successful sports car of LeMans type fame around the early 1980's - the Rondeau M379. To my knowledge there isnt a single version of this available anywhere!! My vote would be for the pretty yellow car that retired, driven by among others -Quick Vic.
Any Can-Am cars to fill in the gaps.
Any of the Matras ( sports car or F1 ) although they seem to be already in the pipeline by Protoslotkit.
Any Alfa sports cars in the T33TT series from around 1972.
Personally I am not so clever in making chassis etc ( awful in fact ) and if the bodies were made to fit other chassis - along the lines of the current Protoslot kits etc - then so much the better. I know that there are some very clever people out there but commercially I think a broader appeal would generate higher sales.
Therefore , in the same vein , ready made screens and decals would be essential.
Trouble is that there are so many liveries to be made from each ' type 'of car so as long as there is a set of decals to cover perhaps the most well known or popular version , others can source alternates from elewhere.Patto is my favourite and I use his decals extensively.
Cast or molded resin vs formed sheet material - a debate that will live on as does the magnet vs weight issue...
First let me say that I have seen beautiful models made from both systems - in many cases very close examination was required to determine the provenance of the basic body. In particular, if one is judging the model based on its ability to provide a convincing impression of the real thing, the results are far more closely correlated with the skills of the mold maker and the modeler than with the process used to make the shell.
That said, there are differences between the systems and each imposes its own limitations. By the very nature of the process, vacuum forming of material of useable thickness cannot reproduce "zero radius" corners such as one might find on the external edges of louvres or normally square cornered transitions between one plane and another like components of engine or gear box parts. The problem grows with the thickness of the plastic used. Of course, if one has the patience and skill, one can always "open" louvres and file the edges square providing the strucural integrity will not be destroyed. Conversely, injection molding typically yields section thickness around wheel openings and windscreen pillars which is significantly overscale. in every case that I have seen a vacuum formed body for a closed car does a better job of reproducing the screen-to-pillar fit that a combination of an injection molded body and either a clear injection molded or a vacuum formed insert. Body "scribe" lines around openings can be almost arbitralily fine in an injection molded body (limited only by the strength of the mold material and mold life) whereas the vauum formed body faces the same material thickness imposed limitations mentioned above. Body contour limitations (the D type Jag is the most extreme example that comes to mind) are limited only by the permitted complexity of the mold or forming buck. A vacuum formed "D" done over a one piece buck will be compromised but the injection molded 1/32 ( 1/30?) old Strombecker version is pretty bad as well.
As a rule, vacuum forming will initially be less expensive on a per-part basis than injection molding. At some point, the cost curves will cross because the cost/volume curve for vacuum forming is relatively shallow compared to that for injection molding assuming that one is willing to make the tooling investment
Interestingly enough, there is a process that combines most of the advantages of both systems - Injection blow molding - Simply put, a "bubble" of molten plastic is formed inside a female mold and then "blown out" to fill the mold and accurately reproduce all of the external contours. (Most plastic bottles are made this way) the problem is that the equipment to do this is very expensive thus must be amortized over very large quantities. I have a Lola T 70 that was done this way. In addition to the volume issues, the problem for large scale manufacturers, e.g. Scalex, is that while an injection molded part comes out ready to decorate and assemble, the part produced by injection blow will require additional cutting and will lack the internal features - body mounts, motor and axle mounts etc - that a multi-part injection mold can provide. I'm afraid that the "roll your own" market is far too small to support this technology.
It seems to me that the relative strengths and weaknesses are combining with the critical prototype issues to send one part of the market one way and another to its logical place.
Maserati 300S and 450S
Ferrari 500 TR and TRC
Jaguar D type long nose
Alfa 33/3
Matra 660
Matra MS80
Lotus Europa
Ferrari 512 BB ( long tail racing version)
Ferrari 246 GT Dino
Ferrari 375 MM
Ferrari 275GTB4
Fiat 8V
Alfa TZ2
Lancia Fulvia Zagato
As its been done by others this is an amended cut & paste of my post from Pendleslot's board:-
If your intending to produce new models I think that they should be just that, something that no one else has already done. Having read in forums that people want to make models of their own transport, I would suggest models of less exotic more day to day cars from the past 50 years. Onethirtysecond and traffic have made a start with their versions of 1950s to 70s cars so you still have the 80s onwards with out treading on their toes. Its only recently that the appearance of a standard production car and its racing model have become so different with spoilers etc. so most models could be road or race versions without alterations. For others you could start with the standard car and then use this as a base to produce the various racing versions.
I.E. you could start with the basic Vauxhall Chevette hatchback model for the first release, add the customising kit that turned it into a club type rally car for a second issue and then progress to the full works HSR? Rally/Race model. You would also have the option to create the saloon and estate versions and the Opal derivatives from your original model.
The other range of cars I would like to see would be the true classics from the 1920s-30s - Bugatti, ERA, etc. Don't think you could do this though, due to narrow bodies of the cars, lack of available scale sized wire wheels, and because of the openness of the front wheels they wouldn't look right unless they could steer.
Being new to self builds I would prefer the option of a ready made chassis preferably a commercially available plastic one and believe this would encourage others to take the plunge.
Your site declares Top slot to be the most accurate and best quality resin shells so if you could match that quality/price of unpainted @ £18 and with running gear @ £32 that would seem reasonable.
As for a specific car - you have 80 years of MG production to choose from.
I am a real fan of resin slot cars. I prefer a detailed resin body with white metal details and all the richness of the painting to the industrial plastic cars.
Asked of wich I would prefer new?
All models raced in the classic era in the great races: Le Mans, Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, GP, F1 GP, even Indy 500, from 1925 to 1975 and beyond, that has not been available at the detail level you choose to make.
Preferably models with alternative liveries so making attention to the details many cars can be produced from a limited set of basic bodies.
I like Slot Classic kits painted by Jordi Tous for KCSLOT, I have four of them now and I have ordered twelve or more (three 300Sl, one Morgan, three or four Pegaso, five Ferrari). And I know that KCSLOT, will provide the detailed painting and mounting that it's expected to the finest degree, so I'll be glad to know from other bodies you should produce.
I prefer details and quality... just like Slot Classic and Le Mans Miniatures.
I want to see these cars:
Le Mans
1975 Gulf Mirage Gr8 Le Mans winner
1976 Porsche 936 Le Mans winner
1977 Porsche 936/77 Le Mans winner
1979 Porsche 935 K3 Le Mans winner
1980 Rondeau M379B Le Mans winner
1988 Jaguar XJR-9 Le Mans winner
1994 Dauer Porsche 962 GT Le Mans winner
1984 Jaguar XJR-5
Paris-Dakar
1986 Porsche 959
Road Cars
Aston Martin Volante
Volvo Amazon
De Tomaso Pantera
Ferrari 288 GTO
Jaguar XJS
Porsche 944
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