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Shadowfax: Golden Era1/32 Slot Cars


Ember

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Great news for lovers of pre-war era cars. Marlon is back in business. Marlon Foakes, the man who was behind the creation of Tetre Rouge Racing Company, has launched a new range of hand crafted pre-War cars in 1/32 scale.

 

His announcement reads:

 

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High Quality Slot cars, Resin Kits and Chassis for the Slot car Racer, Scratch Builder and Collector....

 

I’m excited to announce Shadowfax Slot Cars – created to provide slot cars, kits and accessories from the Golden Era of 1920’s and 1930’s motor racing.

 

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For launch I have recently completed 10 new patterns; all crafted by me from scratch and mostly cars that have never been modelled before in this scale from the dominant marques of the time - Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and Maserati. All bodies are vacuum cast in-house in the Shadowfax workshop and are designed to withstand the rigours of racing without comprising on scale detail…

 

 

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I have also decided to compliment my range of bodies with the ‘Golden Era’ chassis. With cars of this era being narrow and most tapering at the rear this can presents problems for current off-the shelf chassis and are too wide in most cases. The ‘Golden Era’ chassis is slimmer than the FF motor that provides the power. It also features a unique front end to accommodate the geometry of these vintage racers where a solid front axle just doesn’t fit without compromising scale as in most cases the front axle line is higher than the bodywork...

 

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It’s available as a rolling chassis with a choice of either fixed or steering front wheels (Steering comes as standard on RTR cars). In contrast to the range of bodies that are all made by hand the chassis have been developed using the latest 3D CAD and printing technology.

 

The first 10 kits forms my 1st series of cars and will be released over the coming months, a 2nd and 3rd series is also planned and again will be further cars from the 20’s and 30’s.

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Please see my new website www.shadowfaxslotcars.com for all the details and pricing of this exciting new range of slot car products….

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

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Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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The chassis does look like an interesting piece of kit, doesn't it?

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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3D printing is not necessarily a cheap production method currently.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Many thanks Lynne for posting this news on your forum, very much apprciated.

 

I also found the chassis price interesting...........

 

Hi John, with regards to chassis pricing, I’m assuming here you think its high?

 

I think I’ve done quite well getting it close to comparative offerings. I’m never going to compete with mass produced injection moulded offerings but if you take Penelope Pitlane chassis kits offered by Pendles for example you’ll see I’m actually quite competitive. They offer a complete kit with vintage sized wheels and tyres for £31.94. It won’t fit my cars due to the solid front axle and it doesn’t have independent front wheels but for a pricing point of view a good example. That’s with all of Pendles buying power and resources behind them. My chassis is £38.95 and that’s fully assembled and running, there’s no cutting, folding or assembly to do, just screw to the kit of your choice and go racing. For £7 more you can have a fully assembled steering front end.

 

I would like to be even more competitive on pricing, but with bespoke designed, cottage industry level volumes I’m always going to struggle.

 

All the best, Marlon.

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Points taken on board, Marlon.

 

I will probably buy a couple of bodies and then get the pliers and iron out for chassis construction. I did watch your development thread on SFI with interest.

I learned a few things and have huge respect for your skills and knowledge.

 

Regards

John

John Warren

Slotcars are my preferred reality

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Welcome aboard Marlon. Looking forward to seeing the range grow.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Many thanks for the welcome, I will check in regularly to answer any questions, offer advice on builds and provide news on releases etc.

 

That Aston is very nice, I do have on my list the 1922 Aston as entered for the French GP that year, once I get through the 1st series of cars it will definitely be time for some green ones.

Edited by Shadowfax
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  • 1 month later...

For those interested in these cars and their history, Shadowfax are publishing historical information about each of their cars. Issue one of The Spotlight is available for download from the Shadowfax website and covers some of the history and achievements of the 1924-29 Alfa Romeo P2.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Beautiful . . . I do not "collect". but this is very tempting Marlon....

 

Some gentlemanly racing John......?

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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  • 5 months later...

Both the BWA FF-050 (As pictured in the chassis shots) and the SRP 16k FF-050 are extremely drivable motors.

It's only the Scaley ~21k FF-050 motor that is hard to tame, and even then, gearing it down does wonders to it's drivability.

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Whats wrong with the Scaley ff motor? I have it tamed.

In fact I have had the measure of it for some time.

Basically you need a quality controller with some adjustability and probably a wood track with a steady power supply.

John Warren

Slotcars are my preferred reality

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