Page Five is sort of a "catch all" page where information that doesn't get a page of it's own or new information is added.
TOP LEFT: Over and under Figure Eight "Road Course." TOP RIGHT: Original Retangular "Speedway." CENTER RIGHT: Close up of overpass on "Road Course" showing "sandstone" road supports. ABOVE: (left to right) blank styrofoam block, block carved and painting strated, finished "sandstone" road support with "grout" painted in.
ABOVE: An experiment with Speedsteer trucks. In the back is a standard Speedsteer tractor trailer for comparison. In the foreground is my specially modified "Racin" Rig." The cab was removed from the lower part of the shell and the stacks and sleeper box removed. Next the roof spoiler, clearance lights, and hood side air filters were "shaved" off. The cab's top was "chopped" by removing 1/8" from the roof posts above the hood level and gluing the top back on. Then the body itself was "sectioned" by removing 1/8" between the base of the cab and the top of the hood. The grill and bumper were then remounted differently. The removal of as much weight as possible above the chassis and lower body (which is where the truck body snaps to the chassis) greatly improves handling to nearly a car level!
The regular box trailers have always had too high of a center of gravity. Earlier on, I removed the box part and ended up with a nice flatbed trailer. The "Racin' Rig" trailer is a scratch built "Low Boy" type heavy equipment trailer. It was made of sheet basswood and strip hard woods. The bogie is from a junk box Auto World X-Traction trailer. Again the idea is to lower the center of gravity for better handling. I had originally intended to add a small section of sheet lead to the lower deck, but this proved unnecessary and wouldn't add weight for the tractor to pull. This combination will out run and out handle any of my other trucks!
The regular box trailers have always had too high of a center of gravity. Earlier on, I removed the box part and ended up with a nice flatbed trailer. The "Racin' Rig" trailer is a scratch built "Low Boy" type heavy equipment trailer. It was made of sheet basswood and strip hard woods. The bogie is from a junk box Auto World X-Traction trailer. Again the idea is to lower the center of gravity for better handling. I had originally intended to add a small section of sheet lead to the lower deck, but this proved unnecessary and wouldn't add weight for the tractor to pull. This combination will out run and out handle any of my other trucks!
ABOVE: These are "Outlaw Modifieds." Actually, they are an outgrowth of a local T-Jet club's Modified Stock Car class. In 1'1th scale there are two basic classes of Modifieds; the pavement type, best known for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series, and the dirt type that races under various sanctions. Our local T-Jet "Outlaw Modifieds" are based mostly on the dirt cars that we see race in our region.
There aren't many good prospects for this type of Modified available for the Speedsteer cars, so I started with Auto World Vega T-Jet bodies. I'd purchased several of these for building cars for our club class, and after some measuring, I figured that they could be reworked to fit the Speedsteer chassis. This required heating and spreading the sides of the Vega body to be spread just enough to fit over the chassis and the forward screw post removed.
I used a short section of plastic rod to go across the inside of the body just below the quarter windows to hold the body in the correct position. The front fenders were removed as per real Modifieds, and the rear wheel wells opened up to clear the tires. A radiator "nose" was made from plastic sheet. These AW bodies have a high hood scoop. I decided one would have the more typical flat hood with a stacked air filter sticking up through the hood. I filed out the side windows, but left the windshield and rear glass in palce to help support the top in bad crashes.
The body can't snap on as normal, so I use double sided tape to hold it, althought the tight fit would probably work on low speed tracks. As of this writing, I'm doing a third Vega Modified and plan of doing some out of the battered Auto World and Aurora AFX Camaro, Firebird, and Corvette bodies I've scrounged (being in a slot car club can provide all sorts of beat up materials for experiments!)
ABOVE: Yes, it's a Modified, but take a closer look at the track. This is a section of Tyco TCR curved track with the center wall removed and the inner wall cut down by about 1/4" from normal. I have stuck with hunting down Tyco track, but wanted to try the Aurora style curves. Since the tracks are incompatible, I made my own. I have a Yorkshire Terrier who has a taste for chewing plastic, so look closely at the bottom of the track under the car. She "pre-chose" a few sections for to experiment on, and this was one of them. A Dremel tool, some Squadron putty, sanding and painting made them useful again.
Including the custom made "Break Out Curve" I made earlier (see the Obstacles section) I now have four such curves for oval tracks at one or both ends, and nasty surprise curves for road courses. The lowered inside walls are just 1/8" taller than the front bumpers, and could probably be remove altogether since centrifugal force throws the cars to the outside lane in the curves.
Including the custom made "Break Out Curve" I made earlier (see the Obstacles section) I now have four such curves for oval tracks at one or both ends, and nasty surprise curves for road courses. The lowered inside walls are just 1/8" taller than the front bumpers, and could probably be remove altogether since centrifugal force throws the cars to the outside lane in the curves.