dragin70s

Hey man, not bugging me. Its fun to have somebody to go back and forth with about this stuff. It's new to me so I'm open to suggestions and thoughts. I was all excited about ordering some '70s FC resin HO scale bodies from the Mead brothers when I saw that they were put out of business. The AW NAPA FC and the Summit pro stock body came today. Looks like the pro stock body will fit a couple of different chassis that I have so I know what to get. I have a Tyco Curvehugger Mustang FC from when I was a kid (the orange one with yellow flames) still in really nice shape (along with the Petty Charger I had as a kid). Both still run, pulled them out of a box a year or two ago after they had been in there probably thirty years. But, both need tires. Need to order some tires from somewhere and see how it does just for fun. There is an anitque (well, more accurately a Junk) store here that I went in one time and they had a box of loose slot track. I need to run over there and see if I can get some more cheap. If nothing else, I can get turns and enough straight to make a return lane real cheap. Some nice 1/24 slot stuff on ebay. Expensive, probably good I don't have a track near here.

I hadn't gotten around to doing those calculations. The limitations of the play room pretty much set the max track length. With the full track set up with the area before the start line and the shut down, it is a couple inches over 16'that leaves me about two feet at each end before you're into the wall, so no real room for expansion. Of course, there is a 25' hallway that leads into the playroom, soooo....... But if I set that up much it wouldn't matter anymore because I probably wouldn't be living there anymore. So, looks like 1/8 mile it is. And, you're right, with some of the guys I know it would spiral out of control quickly, and of course the engineer types would kill the rest of us with tech upgrades to the cars. The 'speed is just about right so you can still see the cars' would quickly turn into 'how freakin' fast can I make this thing go.'

I agree" ra7c7er", the slower speeds are better for the visual. Even those LifeLike NASCARs are a blur. I like the speed of 4 Gear cars included and that cutting a good light is a must. I ordered the NAPA FC to add and also the Summit prostock body and I'll try a different chassis under it. Being a 1/24 FC modeler, this does make me want to get into that scale, but simply no place near here to do it. "Len Woodruff": That's a pain about the power strip. No issues with mine. The battery compartments are a little more challenging that most kids will like with those small screws, though. Hope they come through, heck you might even have a little fun with it.

OK, new to the world of slot cars. And, obviously, this stuff goes to much higher levels than this. That being said, the new John Force drag strip set is a blast. I added two 15" track pieces which made the start to finish length 13', which seems to me about the minimum. The cars look great, though not blazing fast, which is actually good for the visual in that short distance. My boy used his LifeLike NASCARs for a few runs, and they are considerably faster. Anyway, the sportsman and pro tree options on the Christmas are great, and of course the win light is a must and is great. What's great about this set from my point of view comes with the tinkering with the chassis and the modeling of other bodies to add to the set. AutoWorld put out five FCs and three pro stockers, but you can find other FC bodies online, and of course and endless choice of chassis. So, just throwin' out a short review and commentary on the set. I think its great. And, it has turned my son on to drag racing a bit. Its not cost prohibitive at a little over a hundred bucks, but you will have to purchase something to set it up on, I used two eight foot lengths of a surfaced particle board type material so I can store them inside and then just lay them end to end to put the track on. Set up and take down take five minutes. Now, just have to figure out how to scale down all of my Slixx 1/24 scale FC decals.

Ooooh, I like that one. Great job, looks super.

Ah heck, I'll jump in, though I will have to add pics later when I can dig them up. My first was a '68 Mustang. Red, black vinyl top and black interior, 289, automatic. Its funny, I bought it in 1981 when I was 17. Darn thing was only 13 years old, that seems so weird. I think of it as an old car, and of course it is now, but it wasn't really that old then. Bought it for $800 from its original owner, a teacher at our high school who only drove it to school (yeah, I know, how cliche). I loved that car.

Thanks for the input/info. That helps. Rob

Just wondered if anyone had any "do use" or "don't use" info concerning primers under Black Gold paint. I have the Molly Orange for a McEwen car and was hoping to avoid any non-compatible pairing of primer and paint. Thanks for any help and info. Rob

Oh man, that looks great. I think that is the first time I have seen that one built, and it makes me want to throw it on the ol' gotta build list. Great pics, too, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Bob. Very kind indeed. Funny, I was on ebay and saw a lot of all four of these 1/32 FCs built up in condition to restore. Can you believe for a minute I actually considered it? Then I came to my senses. Maybe some day, as I do love the look of that Blue Max car, but not in the near future. All excited about my Dodge Fever now. Again, thanks for the kind words. Rob

Nice catch. That is a European hockey magazine featuring Jari Kurri and Teemu Selanne on the cover. I am a huge Jari Kurri fan and collector, with one of the largest Kurri collections around. Just another vice, uh, hobby.

Thanks guys. I did wish I had the Blue Max version, but now after doing this one maybe not so much. I finished painting the body for my Dodge Fever in progress, and boy does it seem huge. I'll enjoy getting back to 1/25 cars now. I did see someone on another board who indicated using some of the decals from this car on Snake's yellow Arrow version of the Pepsi Challenger. Gonna have to look into that closer.

My advice on 1/32 scale would be to skip it and stick to bigger stuff. Maybe I am just old, but gee whiz, Anyway, here's my attempt on this one. Scratch built fuel pump and steering'wheel' along with fuel/oil/plug lines and guages. Hood panel is not the kit provided decal, but painted and then cut out the Snake emblems and red accent stripes and layed them on. Thanks for the look.

Hmm, interesting. Thanks, John. Never thought of that, sounds like the perfect thing to use. Again, super looking FC.

Simply gorgeous, in every aspect. I was wondering, what did you do for the 'wheel humps'? I have a couple of cars I want to do, including this same one, but have been stumped a bit on the 'wheel humps'. Thanks.

First of all, there are many more qualified to help you than I am on this site. What do you think about the color of his front engine dragster? Is it the same color with a slightly different scheme? A few decent pics of the FED on google images. And again, some others may have better advice, but I use the super glue on the slicks, but be careful to keep it inside, it does 'whiten', for lack of a better term, those places it touches.

Well, looking at the box pics, if the "Candy Yellow-Gold" indicates a metallic look to it, Testor's Modelmaster bright yellow over a base of gold might do it. Nothing you probably haven't already thought of, but hey, figured I'd respond. That one is on my build list, so please let us know what you went with and how it turned out.

Rick: The body has been a pain. Bad luck with the paint, so stripped it with Super Clean, filled the holes the flip top rod went in, sanded it out, and its ready to try to paint again. Hoping this time goes better. You ought to try one, look at my mistakes, or skill limitations, and make it better.

Can't seem to find the digital camera at the moment, so just pulled up a link of this pic of the box off of the net. http://www.firebirdgallery.com/Model%20Ima.../82fcmd13.1.jpg

Thanks. Yeah, truly a snap-tite kind of kit. There is so much you could change on this kit, but at 1/32, its more of a challenge than I wanted to take on. So, sort of halfway, detailed what I could without completely re-doing everything. More of detail by addition than detail by alteration. I hope I can do the body justice.

This is the old 1/32 Monogram Snap-Fast Don Prudhomme Pepsi Challenger kit. Obviously, a snap kit leaves alot to be desired, so I added as much as my patience would allow. Scratch built oil filters, fuel pump, steering "wheel", added plug wires, injector hard lines, fuel and oil lines, guages, and steering rod. Pretty much done with the chassis (yeah, gotta paint the front wheel hubs), maybe a little touch up here or there. Now, onto the body. Had to scratch build a tin for it. Hopefully can make some progress on that soon. Anyway, thanks for the forum to share.

That is gorgeous, thans for the great pix. Your post reminds me though, I have got to get on that Snake FED body I got from you.

Very nice. These are the posts I wait for, great insiration for my projects. Thanks for sharing.

Nope. The wires were coming out of the pulley to the left, not a mag or distributor.

Thanks, DustyM. Lining up those decals with the body panels and paint color changes is a pain, no doubt. What I am in need of is a good old fashioned single color paint scheme. The funny car has been kicking my butt, and just when I am ready to paint again the humidity shot up again. Oh well. Thanks for the response.