Dimension of your slotcar

[Slotcar55]

a little curiosity about how you generally treat files, as regards the measures for the realization of slotcars with a behavior on the track that can be compared to commercial slots. I usually use "modern" cars such as gt3s to a width of about 63/65 mm the classics and can am about 60 mm and the old type ferrari Tr, aston martin db about 55 mm. in this way I manage to have models that behave approximately like commercial competitors. What are you doing ???

[Kevan]

I do my best to find true dimensions and scale the bodyshell accurately as a default file. I can then tune that to wider/longer/lower in the slicer if the need arises.

[Barc 1]

I google the prototype car and generally try to scale my prints accordingly as per the published true dimensions of the car for my home track cars.

i do this in MS builder and send the correct scaled file to my slicer.

On occasion I will take the liberty to upscale a file to allow a better racing stance. . Thunderslot CanAm cars are about 15% too wide as are most of the commercial offerings it seems. This is done to allow a good running sidewider chassis to be used. I would have preferred that they upscaled on all the axis to keep them pure to the prototype, but instead they just made them wider, This results in a car that looks slammed. Ninco did it the right way when they introduced their pro 1/28 scale, but the market placed slammed them for introducing a new scale. The others learned to just slide it past and not call any attention to the scale irregularities

So yes if you are building to match the performance of the commercial cars, you most likely will need to tweak the width to allow a sidewider with some decent sized rubber.

[Slotcar55]

certainly I also always refer to the real measurements of the cars, but I try to find that the destination is slottistic, so I try to give the same importance to the dynamic part of the model as to the aesthetic part. consequently to obtain performance similar to commercial ones (my references are: thunderslot, slot.it etc. etc. I modify the width of the car and some other measures to obtain a satisfactory dynamic behavior.

[Barc 1]

That is the great thing about 3D printing. You have zero problems printing out a 64mm wide Lotus 30, if that is what you want🙂

[Kevan]

That is the great thing about 3D printing. You have zero problems printing out a 64mm wide Lotus 30, if that is what you want🙂

Or Mini Cooper



...not sure handling is going to one if it's better features though

[Slotcar55]

of course, you can do everything, that's the beauty you can even turn a mini minor into a thingie😎😂🤣

[Kevan]

Or Mini Cooper



...not sure handling is going to one if it's better features though

Hmm...not such a daft idea then 🤔

[HO RacePro]

My journey as a 1/32nd scratch-builder has been frustrating due to the scarcity of wide scale slotcar bodies. Actually bodies in general have been a right royal pain. I find I spend far too much time trying to source and prepare a body to fit nicely over my custom chassis.

I have been experimenting with a printed version of the Porsche 917. Even though the prototype is one of the widest ever made I've had to upscale it a bit to fit the maximum width allowed in the IHSR 1963-1974 Classic Sports Car class. Y'see, while I love the idea of a faithful-to-scale model I really do want to create winning cars. Which includes being both wide and long. So my 917's have been printed out a tad larger than 1/32nd scale.

To date I haven't raced any of my printed 917's -- none of them are painted yet. And I am not happy with the idea someone might -- rightly -- complain they are out-of-scale. But dang it, I've tried hard to find suitable bodies. There is an injection-molded McLaren that would work, but I am not eager to lay out sixty or eighty bucks to buy a car just to steal its body.

Printing is an economic alternative, since I have a printer. Problem is I have to trade labor for economy. It takes a ton of finishing to turn a printed body into something that looks halfway decent. And that finishing skill is not something I'm at all good at. It doesn't help at all that printed bodies tend to be a bit heavier than the best injection-molded bodies.

So I am struggling. It would be nice to hear from someone who has been successfully racing cars with printed bodies -- just to learn that they can be made to work. I'd like to know my journey is worth pursuing.

[Kevan]

I race and Rally a lot of my printed bodyshells, Mini, Anglia, Morris 1000, Mach 1 Mustang, Studebaker, Sunbeam Tiger...others will follow, Ferrari 612 CanAm, Volvo 850 estate, Mustang Hoonicorn, I have loads others.
I use my own designed/printed chassis and they're super competitive.
There's quite a few cars raced on our club track that I've printed, it's enough to make a man proud watching something made from nothing being raced by a happy owner with a smile on his face. It's what keeps me doing it.

[Barc 1]

I have a 3d printed Ferrari racing in the Can Am proxy. Uncompetitvely, but that has more to do with my tuning then it does the body I think

I designed a chassis with a 3 degree sidewinder that can fit in a car with a 52 mm width. Tire width can be up to 9 mm . I am running these in the new Lotus I am building.

[Kevan]

I'd like to see that chassis if you could post a photo please.

[Barc 1]

Here is the chassis sans running hardware.


chassis has no frame around the pod allowing rear wheels in tight . This was made specifically for the U2 proxy to fit in an Alfa. It also works well for the Porsche 911 and 908.

[chappyman66]

Similar to the approach I took on the Costello CanAm cars.

[Kevan]

I may have to see just how narrow I can go with a 3D setup.

[chappyman66]

It depends on configuration of course...with an inline FF050 it can be very narrow indeed.

I use an AW setup if I want narrow without going inline.

[Kevan]

I'll be honest, AW is my 3rd choice but that may be more a psychological barrier than logical one.