Our newest member Rasa Racer is certainly not alone in the quest for layout space. I can count on both hands and then some toes the number of HO Slotracer.com community members who have expressed the same problem. Riverside is built on a 4'x8' sheet of AC plywood and rests on two Craftsman sawhorses. The need for it to go into storage for projects that require the sawhorses and the garage space-ie working on my MGB is self explanatory. In the 1960's a small layout for a train or slot car set no bigger than a full sheet of plywood was the norm and Riverside is an expression of just how it was once done. With condominiums and rooms taken for new additions to the family, space remains at just the premium it was then if not more so. The World Wide Web abounds with smaller layouts that can fold upwards as does Matt's when garage space calls. Some are designed to tuck under a bed or set into a closet or even made to fit on the backside of a closet door. I hope that we can generate enough ideas to perhaps solve a problem for someone here, and at the same time perpetuate new interest.

Hey There!

The Holy Grail of stock traction weights for Magnatraction and Xtraction cars come to us from Sears. I'm not sure of the history here, perhaps some of the historians out there can enlighten us. From a practical stand point, they are a good cheap bet to improve your car's performance.The photo shows the two styles. On the right, the long wheel base only and on the left, the long or short wheelbase version. The two Vipers shown, each require a different type. There is another very subtle difference between the two styles as well. The long wheelbase style weighs 1.8 grams while the variable style weighs about 1.9 grams. The weight on the variable style is also slightly more forward. The choice is up to you.

A few days ago I sent Serge a pair of Sears Supertraction AFX front weights in trade for one of his balanced Mean Green armatures. An even-Steven, straight-forward trade in an effort to at least start on the mail-in race entry. Serge emailed me later, and to my jaw dropping suprise informed me that he was going to send me one of his FRAY prepared cars. I mean the whole thing-body and highly modified chassis with I am guessing numerous hours of preparation involved in making it all come together in a fast and highly modified T-Jet. Well, it landed in the mailbox yesterday, and it is everything I anticipated. I cannot wait to send it down the back straight at Riverside. What can you say except THANKS MAN! Once again it is the quality and not the quantity of folk here at HO Slotracer.com that makes the site what is is. Thank you Serge for all that you do. God Bless! Tonymgbbrown 

After an extremely busy day at the alcohol and drug treatment center it was time to turn my efforts on restoring the white Gala guide flag assembly that was originally on my late production Riggen chasis. Yesterday I received the factory repair kit from Ron Bernstein, and the hands-on experience of assembling the replacement black plastic guide flag assembly provided the necessary insight as to how the Gala pieces fit. The sides had been melted together to form a one piece affair, and careful sanding with 2000 grit sandpaper and polishing with Mother's Polish resolved the problem on the guide sides, returning it pretty much to the state it was in when new. A good electrical connection to the motor brushes was simply made by sandwiching the lead wire ends between the top and bottom guide flag surfaces and positioning them to rest on the top of the steel braid brass endcaps. The whole shebang was snugged together by the white keeper nut once affixed to the chassis nose. This particular guide flag was unused albeit modified, and perhaps one of the few survivors of its type.

From the Auto World Blog:

Hello everyone!! It’s been a while but I wanted to share with you some photos of the first painted samples I received of John Force and Ashley Force Hood Funny cars. These cars look fantastic and look great sitting on our 4 Gear chassis. Check out all the fine details on the cars!!

Since I’m here discussing the Force Funny cars, I wanted to let you know how the Drag Strip slot car set is coming along. We should be seeing samples to test anytime now and I know you’re anxious to make some runs down the track as much as we are!!

Keep your eye out also for an NHRA 4 Gear slot car program which will have 8 NHRA cars based off Funny cars and Pro Stocks. Make sure you have your NHRA drag racing license ready!!

See more photos here.

Hey There! Yesterday I was in Denver and decided to go to the hobby shop. I'm always looking for the bigger better parts car. This sometimes means, buying a brand new car and bringing it home to dissect it. I ended up buying an AW Thunderjet 500, Ultra G. When I brought it home, I decided to give it a try. I was really surprised at how well it handled and how fast it was. I couldn't stop running it.

Today I received a package from Ron Burnstein of Riggen HO containing two original Riggen factory repair kits, which are in and of themselves quite interesting. This contained a replacement guide flag that was on Riggen production cars by August 1971, or was at least available to the general public by that time. A bit of slot car sleuthing into one of my childhood CAR MODEL magazines provided some useful clues to the restoration. An article entitled "Mini Mods/Riggen" by Dale Flanagan was full of production nuances.  Interestingly the chassis featured in the article came with a one piece guide flag with press-fitting steel braid and two white lead wires to the motor brushes, both a thinner white than the two red lead wires originally on the car. This was the same type of flag that I received in the kit. The production car had a black plastic keeper nut and a black crown and pinion. The kit contained a white pinion gear and a white keeper nut. By this juncture the shape of the pinion had changed to a more rounded profile where the teeth contacted the crown gear, something also found on the later Gala car.

Back by popular demand, My series on resin casting. Part Deux will show you just what I do. Part three will show the completed product. This video is rated G.