Count

Yes, I agree with all the comments so far - except I am SURE it doesn't work for me! I am getting quite sick of this cookie-cutter style of TV (please excuse the americanism). As would be expected, the production values are excellent (except I had cause to take issue with the sound mix on occasion), but what really makes the UK version work is the personality of the presenters - and a good script! DId I hear canned laughter when they cracked their 'jokes'? (talk about silence of the lames!). Who are those guys?? I know Warren whatshisname the cartoonist (and they could have made more use of his abilities in that regard - I think I could have drawn a picture of a Moke with a shark cage!), but does anyone know the other two? And what about the cars?? They must have pretty crap insurance - the UK show would have thrashed that Lambo around the track to show off its stuff - all they could manage was to start the motor in the studio! The other thing that has always impressed me about the UK show is the driving ability of the presenters - none of that here. And yes, the UK show is distinctly and identifiably British. A good dose of Australian-ness is what this show needs. I think for the first (and most important show in terms of capturing the audience) they should have made a real effort to capture that - maybe a showdown between a modern V8 and a GTHO or Charger hooning around Bathurst would've been fun! and distinctly Aussie. I fear that the whole series (8 shows) has already been made, and that it won't get much better. Let's hope that is not the case, or I might be dragging out old eps of the UK show I've taped for my weekly fix! That's my 2 bucks worth (inflation) - see ya! Count

Hey Plucka, I used a paintbrush to paint the glue mixture on the track, carefully avoiding the tape. I guess spraying it on gives a finer and more even coating, but does the glue mixture on the tape/braid cause any conductivity problems when you apply as a spray? Thanks, Count

Hi Steve, check out this recent thread: http://www.auslot.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8015

R...eflection? R...ubbish? What the ...? Count

Sure does - but as I said, I only made one application (about 12 months ago, now), and since then have built up quite a decent layer of rubber on the racing line. Count

GLUE: That says "PARMA PINK TIRE TRACTION #730". I got mine from Hornsby Slot Cars, $8 a bottle (a sponsor here, I believe). You have to dissolve the glue in lighter fluid, then spray or brush onto the track. Then the lighter fluid evaporates leaving behind a thin, even coating of glue (and grip). Good luck, Count

I run womps, flexis, and wing cars (sometimes at 16 volts!) at The Pretzel (MDF 3-laner). I had exactly the same problem when the track was new, so applied a layer of 'glue' on the track. Instant traction! And then over time a layer of rubber built up (I don't run sillies) and the traction remained (haven't applied any more glue - it was a once off). Cheers, Count "That's ONCE I have applied glue! HA HA!!"

Thanks very much for that effort, rick1776. Yes, I am very interested in getting these cars to run better, and having got a dremel for Father's Day I'm ready for action! Please PM me with the details (or post here - I'm sure others would benefit from your experience, too!) Cheers, Count

This is my 25th Father's Day - and every one gets better! My girls pitched in and got me a Dremel! Brilliant! and some confectionary...Rocky Road (naturally!). I got myself the Slot.it Castrol Jag (beautiful - BUT the rear body post snapped the first time I screwed the body back in! Is this a dumb design where the rear wing actually works as a lever to ruin the post??!!) and a Scaley impact resistant Porsche (good value for the $$), and a few other necessary spares. Topped the day off with a BBQ and racing at The Pretzel. A great day - can't wait till next one! Count

Nah, slow is boring on The Pretzel...I need speed!! (check it out and you'll see why) Thanks rick, I'll look forward to those pics Count

I'd love to see a pic of this, thanks rick1776. Any chance? Count PS what's a dremel? :(

Thanks for those suggestions, guys. I think I might see if a HRS chassis might fit (it would be great if they could run with my Slot.its). Otherwise I might try that chassis mod described in that excellent how to (my skills in this area are fledgling - i.e. I don't have any yet). Cheers, Count

Hi racefans! I need to pick your collective brain, please. I love Jags. My family knows this, and I have received these beautiful cars as gifts from them over the last year: I have a very fast flowing routed wood track (no-mag), and these cars are DOGS on it! They go brilliantly in a straight line, but are terrified of corners and jump out of the slot at even the merest suggestion of one! I presume that this is because these cars are designed (like so many!) to only be any good with a hefty dollop of magnetic attraction. The balance seems all wrong with the motor in the front. I have experimented with more weight at the back, etc, but still can't get them to stay in the slot. Please everyone, I'm sure that the experienced tuners out there can help! I would love my family to see these cars racing around. But maybe they are just shelf queens? thanks, Count

Thanks datto, that sounds sweet, and that radius looks about the right size for me. I'm going to try Bunning's one more time at Minchinbury on the way home today for Boslot's strip, otherwise I've got some of that polypipe at home so I'll give it a try. Cheers, Count

Yes, datto, I remember seeing that in your thread now... Did you pre-drill the holes for the nails, or just bang them through the pipe? No kinking on small radii? thanks, Count

I was so grateful and happy to read this info from Gazza some months ago, as I knew soon I would be starting to route again. That time having now arrived, I set off with the above photos and great confidence to the huge Bunnings at Penrith... Why do we bother, eh? Yes, it was on their computer, but its status was listed as 'zero', and no chance of ordering one in! I also saw the plastic quad Nate described, but I have no way of cutting the edges off (or at least I don't think I do!). SO I'm now a bit stumped as to what to do. I definitely need to use the flexible strip method for this build, so has anyone got any suggestions for a cheap solution here? I think my smallest radius will be about the size of a 10 litre paint tin (and don't say use a 10 litre paint tin - I want varying radii on this track!) Thanks in advance, Count

Que?

OK, so this is the perfect place to ask something I have been thinking about for a while. I was cruising the hardware store a while ago and noticed a product called Ormonoid. This stuff is liquid bitumen (paint), designed for sealing water tanks. But I wonder what it would be like as a road surface? It is bitumen, after all! Anyone got any experience with this? Count PS. I have used exterior decking paint on The Pretzel (plastic, satin finish), and put one layer of 'glue' on the corners when it was new. This has now collected dust, rubber, etc, and the grip is great with standard rubber (I think!, but don't have much to compare it to), and looks like racing rubber has been laid down.

Vinno, I've actually been waiting for things to warm up a bit before starting in earnest, as it is freezing under the house in winter! Slots, I thought about a single lane rally track but I have most fun when racing against someone else, hence the 2 laner (besides, I've got plenty of room for it, so why not? I can always have time trials on my own anyway!) I am thinking of having some jumps as well. I'm interested that it reminds you of the Canberra rally. Know where I can find a diagram of that circuit? Count

Thanks Viv, it's great to be back (aah...the smell of WD40 in the morning!) I tinkered with a cardboard model for a while, but realised that creating the correct (complex) elevations was going to be royal pain, so I abandoned it. I'm planning on having a social race day sometime soon (next couple of months) if some of you are interested - stay tuned! Count

Hi everyone, I’m back after finally finishing a postgrad uni course I had to do for my new job. I’ve had my head down and bum up for the last few months or so to get through it. Thank God!! (not interested and too old for that stuff!). So now I can at last get back to the important things in life: slot cars, family, and slot cars! In my efforts to use every available nanometer of available space for slot car racing, I now want to build a hillclimb section that will branch off from the main (or Speedway) section of Pretzel Logic Raceway down near the start/finish line, wind its way up the hill for about 40 mtrs and rejoin the Pretzel at the top of the hill just before La Bombora (huge banked corner). This extension will be 2-lane with 1/32 lane spacing, and largely inspired by Luf’s Nurburgring, will include undulations and squeezes (he has a lot to answer for, judging by the number of people who also use that phrase “inspired by Lufâ€). I also want to further justify the name of this track by incorporating some over/under crossovers of the lanes in true pretzel fashion. Let’s see how malleable MDF really is, shall we? I have actually been planning/envisioning this since the birth of the idea for building a slot car track under the house, and was always torn between a fast flowing circuit and a tight technical one. Back then I decided to have both, and build the technical section later as an extension of the speedway. So here I go… Now, I would really love your feedback, ideas and suggestions about this track plan, but unfortunately it is a bit complex to render in 2 dimensions. It will have lowest to highest elevation of over 2 metres, will cross itself and the existing layout many times, and will no doubt change and evolve as the building progresses. Major problems will be marshalling and drivers’ line-of-sight, all of which will be difficult for you to gauge from a 2D plan. I have had a quick go at rendering this plan in UR30, 2 variations of which appear below. First plan of each shows the circuit as it will appear from above, and because a lot of the new section is underneath the existing circuit, you can’t really see how it goes, so the 2nd plan has the new section simply plonked on top of the old so you can see it. New section displayed in red 9and yellow on second plan). I will not be surprised if you say you can’t understand it!: version2 (my preferred one – easier to marshall) This plan is only a rough idea, and I don’t want to get bogged down spending hours and hours trying to create a paper plan of this – I’d rather just get into the building stage and let it take me on its own journey (have I mentioned that I love the building part even more than the racing?). Anyway, I’m hoping to start in the next month or so (I am going to take my time with this as I expect it to present some technical building challenges), and I now own a digital camera (or at least I bought SWMBO one for her birthday recently) so I’ll post as many pics as the moderators allow! Cheers for now, and it’s great to get my thread running again (just like the track, which has been tragically neglected for a while!) Count

Hi Brendan, to rip the DVD I use a program called ffMpeg (free from the net - google it). It will convert DVD (VOB files) to almost any file format. AS for converting video 8, I presume this is analog video so you will need to convert to digital through maybe a DVD recorder or similar with an analog input. Maybe others might have ideas for this. good luck, Count

I can strongly recommend this excellent interview with our oldest living F1 Champion about his extraordinary life. It screened this week on ABCTV1 on their program Talking Heads - goes for 30 mins You can download a video of the program from this page: (about 85mb) http://www.abc.net.au/tv/talkingheads/video/ There's some great footage of Jack hooning around in those gorgeous open wheelers. I love it when he says he raced for "relaxation"!! (Isn't that what we do?) Cheers, Count

Is this what you're after? original eps file from http://brandsoftheworld.com/ Count

3 weeks left to do 3 x 3000 word essays (oops!), ...then we race!! Count