I am not only slotracer but also scale modeller. That means I make a bit higher demands on some aspects of my models.
One is the realism of the drivers.
It is not easy to find driver figures that look really good and realistic. Most of what is to be found in RTR cars ( mainly formula and other open cars ) is not scale and not scale - like as well.
Fortunately I found the excellent figures of Denizen. They look so good that I bought quite a pile of the selection and copied them in silicone. The originals are in metal, way too heavy for slotcars. I have even asked the producer of the figures to make them in resin, too, but – no reaction.
So I have moulds of them all and have already cast a few , too, but I haven´t used even one until now. But today the feeling of at last doing something with the figures overcame me.
As I wrote I am real scale modeler as well. So my principle of getitng scratchbuilt slotcars is a bit different. I build every car I like, but first and foremost as a static model. So all the cars are standing in the shelf, waiting for being converted into mobile vehicles. Kits from PM, Starter, BBR, Heller, AMT and whatever.
Today I wanted to install a driver in one of the LMP´s - an Audi R10. The horror has not ended yet by now.
I put one of the sitting figures together - hands with arms, legs and head are separate - and disassembled the model to get free access to the seat.
Everything looked really well detailed and correct.
What a disappointment when I tried to place the figure in the seat. Either the driver is too fat, or the seat is made for superslim drivers or one of both resp. both isn´t scale.
My expectation was „both the model and the figures are excellent quality, so the driver should fit the seat without any problem.“
Errare humanum est. I cut the figure in smaller pieces. I thinned the arms. I left the legs off. I narrowed the shoulders. Nothing helped.
If the Audi is really exact 1/43 its driver must have been almost bulimic.
Tomorrow I will continue adapting the driver, but first I will measure myself, then the seat, to compare and find out what is wrong. And then I will make a “universal driver“ which fits all those narrow - cockpit cars like LMP, CanAm and whatsoever.
Last but not least – I wrote this to warn all those who think they take a Denizen figure and have an excellent driver. They have, of course, but „fit or not fit, that is the question“.
Roland
One is the realism of the drivers.
It is not easy to find driver figures that look really good and realistic. Most of what is to be found in RTR cars ( mainly formula and other open cars ) is not scale and not scale - like as well.
Fortunately I found the excellent figures of Denizen. They look so good that I bought quite a pile of the selection and copied them in silicone. The originals are in metal, way too heavy for slotcars. I have even asked the producer of the figures to make them in resin, too, but – no reaction.
So I have moulds of them all and have already cast a few , too, but I haven´t used even one until now. But today the feeling of at last doing something with the figures overcame me.
As I wrote I am real scale modeler as well. So my principle of getitng scratchbuilt slotcars is a bit different. I build every car I like, but first and foremost as a static model. So all the cars are standing in the shelf, waiting for being converted into mobile vehicles. Kits from PM, Starter, BBR, Heller, AMT and whatever.
Today I wanted to install a driver in one of the LMP´s - an Audi R10. The horror has not ended yet by now.
I put one of the sitting figures together - hands with arms, legs and head are separate - and disassembled the model to get free access to the seat.
Everything looked really well detailed and correct.
What a disappointment when I tried to place the figure in the seat. Either the driver is too fat, or the seat is made for superslim drivers or one of both resp. both isn´t scale.
My expectation was „both the model and the figures are excellent quality, so the driver should fit the seat without any problem.“
Errare humanum est. I cut the figure in smaller pieces. I thinned the arms. I left the legs off. I narrowed the shoulders. Nothing helped.
If the Audi is really exact 1/43 its driver must have been almost bulimic.
Tomorrow I will continue adapting the driver, but first I will measure myself, then the seat, to compare and find out what is wrong. And then I will make a “universal driver“ which fits all those narrow - cockpit cars like LMP, CanAm and whatsoever.
Last but not least – I wrote this to warn all those who think they take a Denizen figure and have an excellent driver. They have, of course, but „fit or not fit, that is the question“.
Roland
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