Here are a couple of old projects which are now back on the table. The Aston DB2 is being dressed as the 1950 Le mans car of Abecassis and Macklin. It is by no means my favourite shape of Aston That's a close thing between the DBR series and the Project cars) but it was a successful car and is happily still with us today.

The body is Ocar, or should it be Ocar copy. The rear end looks kind of wrong, rear screen too low, wing line too low. generally ok though. I've lost the grille, so must make another, the earlier vertical slatted example found on only the very early cars. The chassis is from Slot Classic, so much better than the PCS copies, a bit more expensive, but the gears line up. GMC do a good package for a good price.

Originally made for the DB3, the wheels are also fine for the DB2, or the early ones at least

The other car back on the table is the TVR Griffith 400. The original of course is something of a paradox, highly sought after today, when new the quality was bad and the reliability abysmal. I'd love one!
The Ocar body on which this model was based is equally bad with symmetry totally out of the window. This was helped when a 4mm section was removed to obtain the correct Griffith wheelbase from the original Vixen model. A few other lesser mods have also been made including a couple of piano wire strengtheners bonded in over the rear wheel arch.

 

The body was completely lacking in any form of rear mountings, so epoxy ones were cast in. Again, a Slot Classic chassis has been used.



 

The wheels are Scaley Lotus 7 (?), which are pretty accurate for a 15" wheel. These were machined to accept my Scaley urethane Sharknose rears, with standard Scaley up front. All need a little sanded off the diameter.

Peter.

My very first proxy race car

Quiet, so quiet here!
Well, something new from Germany: Invited by Mark Huber for the "Grand Prix de Garagista" I have built my first proxy race car.
Its a 1966 Ferrari 246, driven by Lorenzo Bandini in the Spa GP, wher he finished 3rd. I used the very good PP-kit of the Ferrari 1512 for conversion:

I hope, you enjoy!
Taffy

MGC GTS

This is one of George Turners kits for which I have been waiting for years. Martin of course was working on one when this came out. Most things are pretty well spot on, though some detailing seems a little oversize. I'll have to measure up sometime.
All the mouldings were good clean examples, minimal pinholes and whilst the castings were scrubbed before painting, I doubt they needed it. The screen frames were done with bare metal foil which I think was a waste of time.













The livery is actually wrong for this particular car. Too many replica cars around, this it seems is a combination of 1968/1969 liveries. The chassis is the resin one which came with the kit, the wheels modified Scalextric to take the Scaley GT40 tyres. I was pursuaded to build a car for magnet use on my newish Scaley track, what a waste, no fun at all.















I have two more of these kits to build, one will be an accurate model of this car, the other will be an out and out racer, modelled after the present V8 MGB's which take part in the MGB/C/V8 Championship.

Peter.

BRM V16 and Talbot Lago

Induced by Peters fabulous wheels (thank you very much, Peter!), that came to me as an Pre-Easter surprise, I had to start with the BRM V16 and the Talbot Lago - immidiately! Bodys are MacPinches´, Chassis: Penelope Pitlane, tyres: Ortmann.









The Talbot is Pierre Leveghs car from the 1950 Silverstone race, the BRM is Froilan Gonzalez´car from 1954 (note: the red mirror housings), Silverstone, too. Had to change the body in the front, so I had to weld a new radiator grille. Added also tire valves and the "BRM"-engraving to the wheel nuts.



Taffy

Wheel consolidation.

After what might be described as 'the disaster' of the last wheel fret, this item is now being re-drawn with several deletions and several additions.

With the project originally started to provide wheels for 'older' cars, this will continue to be the bias, with an emphasis on pre-war cars.

The new drawing includes for the first time wheels for beaded edge rims, primarily for a couple of future projects. These are modifications of the earlier 21" parts made, but not as yet used.

A wheel for the T59 Bugatti has also been drawn up. Not 100% correct, this cross laced wheel omits the cros laced spokes which still leaves a very crowded wheel.

One of the problems with the last fret was the K3 MG wheels, a total of three problems contributing to their failure. The problems have been corrected and variations to the type made to provide correct sets for ERA 'E' Type, both early and late versions.

All cross laced experiments have been deleted. I am advised that stainless steel as used for the etches is not reliable as regards finished dimensions, etching companies recommending drawing to plus 30% of finished size. Results have shown this to be good advice as for the drawn 0.008" wheel spoke (0.006 desired size) some results have been up to 0.010" with others on the same fret down to 0.004", resulting in burning when heat treated. Cross laced wheels need spokes to be narrow, and consistant.

Jaguar XK and HRG wheels are continued with the additional 16" Aston Martin DB2/3 wheel.

The 16" wheels for (primarily) Vanwall, Maserati 300S/250F and Maserati 4CL/CLT are being complemented with a 17" version, though the associated machined parts are in limbo.

With the earlier VERY limited vintage type steering wheels so popular, modified, smaller versions are being made for PVT cars. Spring spoke and wire spoke Bluemels, early and late Alfa and Mercedes GP are probably the limit as my computer is finding the file size more than it can cope with.

Peter.

1:24 Formula racing

Last weekend the new season of "Classic Formula Days" started in Düsseldorf.
This 1:24-slotracing series is dedicated to the midengine formula racing cars of the sixties.
The series is divided into two classes: "Formula 65" and "Formula 70".
In formula 65 the 1:1 model must have been build until 1965, in formula 70 until 1970.
Formula- and Indy-cars are allowed.

I liked to start the season 2012 with two new cars and builded a Lotus 29 Indycar for the 65-class:





and a Ferrari 312 1966 for the 70-class:





(note: the cars don´t have to be exact copies of the 1:1-model,  so I use my freedom as artist...)

Bodys are resin, chassis is the SOLID formula chassis, FOX-motor, tires in front: material is free, rear tires are Sigma black magic-tires.

Taffy

Bugatti number 25

Some 5 years ago I started to build a series of Bugattis, all based on the Airfix kit and a purpose made chassis. The last one was completed a couple of weeks ago and was tested/raced over the weekend to see if the sums were right. This is the first car of what I hope will be an increasing number which are retained and used for racing.

The chassis is a modified version of that used for all cars built. 16 gauge aluminium is heat treated and beaten over a steel buck, providing the 'canvas' to which various parts may be added. The SCX motor was added for the hell of it, but actually works quite well. The axle runs in brass bushes, with the highly modified MRRC guide pivoted in a similar way.

The wheels are fully machined Airfix originals with Scalextric tyres at the front and urethane at the rear.

The first 'official' car in the stable, suitable companions are expected over the next few years.

Peter.