Scratch-Building & Modifications

A lot of our cars are modified in some way, mainly due to there being very few standard MG cars. Other makes, except F*1ds, are run but only until a new body can be found. If a car is not to be run as bought it is stripped down to its bare components taking care not to break any of the plastic clips and motor fittings. Windscreens are put well away from everything else and are cleaned up only when the car is nearing the end of its rebuild.

The Running Gear

Take the wheels off the axles and remove all the fluff. Use an old tooth brush to clean any dirt out of the gears and chassis. If the lights don't work decide if you're going to repair or not. If the latter remove the wires, either by cutting close to the solder join or heat the join until the wire is free.

If the car is to be converted now is the time to plan what needs to be done. Does the chassis need to be modified to fit a new body, are the wheels to be changed, etc. Even if you are not making any changes it might be beneficial to move the front wheels to the back as the tyres will have had little real use compared to the driven ones.

When rebuilding the standard checks as described on the previous page are done and items replaced or repaired. Check all the solder joints in the wiring and resolder as necessary. Braids often need replacing, I sometimes get the impression that some kids run their cars until there's little or no braid left and then rather than replace the braids they get rid of the car! The split fixing post of the guide is also prone to damage but like braids they are cheap to replace.

Chassis Modifications

We have yet to delve into the realms of building chassis from scratch. The first slot racers in the 1960's had chassis built out of brass sheet and wire and it seems that this is still the way most non-commercial cars are made although polystyrene sheet is gradually taking the place of brass. Is it because it is easier to glue than solder?

Our modifications usually entail shortening or lengthening a standard chassis as well as trimming the sides and ends to fit our models. When using a car kit to produce a slot car, the kit's chassis is usually built so that measurements can be taken. The slot car chassis is cut in half between the front axle and the motor mount and either has a piece cut out to make it shorter or a piece of thick plastic card is cut to insert and make it longer. The join, plus any extension piece, is superglued together checking the wheel alignment after each process and making adjustments as required. When set the join edges are melted together with an old electric soldering iron. This tends to leave a rough surface that is filed smooth and then a piece of plastic card is cut to fit over the join to provide extra strength. This is glued in place and heat welded around the edges. Some of the cars have had a brass tube glued to the chassis to hold the front axle as the lugs on the original chassis have been cut off when trimming to fit the narrow body widths of the older type cars. Polystyrene sheet is glued and heat welded over the tube to strengthen.

You can read on the Metro page how the standard Metro chassis was lowered to improve performance and on the How To page how the Maestro chassis was also lowered and the sloppiness of Fly's independant front axles was cured..

Body Work

Clean the body shell with warm water and detergent. Bad marks can be removed with Cif or T-cut but anything like this with a slight abrasive in it will dull the plastic and remove the tampos so only use if your not bothered about originality. If you intend to paint T-cut it all to give a clean surface for the primer to stick to. Washing cars with stickers on will remove them and can loosen transfers so be careful. Dry with a towel and allow to fully dry over night before doing further work.

Scalextric bodies are made of a type of plastic that doesn't stick with normal plastic glue. Like their chassis I use super glue to repair cracks and then the soldering iron with a further plastic patch on the inside whenever possible, particularly near body mounts. Be warned that too much heat will deform the body. I also find Araldite works and can be used to bulk out and give thickness to a repaired area. Mirrors and spoilers can be glued in with wood glue. It doesn't actually glue together, it creates a tight fit so they wont come loose but can be removed if required. A spot weld with the soldering iron on the inside of the body is the best for a permanent fixture but leaves them vulnerable to damage in rolls.

Kit car bodies are attached to the chassis with a screw normally through the hole that is already there in front of the motor. If there is no hole or the screw will foul the motor drill a new hole. A screw is put through the hole and screwed into a block of wood cut to fit the inside of the body. Glue is put on top of the block and then the body fitted. When dry undo the screw and remove the body. Put a new layer of Araldite around the wood block to make sure it is secure. As the rear of most chassis have had to be shortened for the old MG's they have been cut so that they leave a lip that can be slotted into a corresponding gap cut into the slab petrol tanks which seems to hold everything secure.

Screw posts can be made from a plastic tube with a metal tube case to strengthen and stop splitting. The metal tub is about 2/3rds the length required and I leave 3mm of plastic uncovered at the screw end which can be trimmed if needs be after all has been glued in place.

Screw to the chassis, trim the top to the correct length then epoxy glue to the body. I cut a few nicks into the plastic so that the glue has a rough surface to stick to. When the glue is dry I cover with milliput to add extra strength.

Bodies are spray painted using Haldfords auto range. This includes primer and clear coat/varnish. They are acrylics so we have to be care not to use any of our older paints as a lot of them were enamal and the two type react with one another. They cost around £5 a can give good value as a numbe of cars can be done with one can. Colour schemes can be taken from car brochures, photos of actual cars or any scheme you wish. Even classic car restorers don't stick to the original factory colours. Additional painting is done with model acrylics that we already have available. Metal work is painted in a single colour but fabric, hoods etc., and the driver figures themselves are painted as miniature figures with shading and highlights (see Discworld in Miniature which gives advice on painting).

We used to use a limited range of small enamel spray paint available in Hardware stores (Homebase) costing around £2.80 which gave a nice smooth finish but I would now recommmend the Halfords range - you might even get the correct colour for your car..

Drivers depend on the period you are modeling. Is it a 1930's MG Midget as it was racing when new or in a modern day classics race. Before the last world war drivers wore normal day clothes or mechanics overalls, some would have aircraft type goggles and helmets. The driver from the Airfix Bugatti kit is a good base for this period of driver. Into the 1950's and the round cork type helmet was in common use. At the end of the 1950's a light blue purpose designed suit appeared followed in the early 1960's with the first near white Nomex fire proof suits. The round scooter type of helmet was also introduced around this time, similar to the helmet worn by the Scalextric Lotus 7 driver. Into the 1970's the full face helmet came in and sponsorship labels started to become big business with the size and numbers gradually increasing until drivers are now walking advertisement boards. The 1980's saw the start of adverts and custom paint jobs on helmets, before that they were usually a single colour. Many club racers still have the single colour helmets and very little decoration on their fireproof overalls.

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