Midget kits

[OldNYJim]

Awesome builds, @alan barton!  So, for the Hot Shot, how did you go about building that?  

As best I can work out they’re basically a body, a chrome tree for the nerfbars and suspension and a driver figure - is there some kind of frame under there too?  And did you have whatever wheels and tires those came with originally?  

[alan barton]

Hi Jim,

Yes, that is basically all there is to the Hot Shot so I went with it. If I remember correctly, I used the rear wheels and tyres on the front and then found some bigger ones for the back.  The thing with this kit is, the body was very accurately scaled ( it looks right at home next to the modern tool Revell midgets) but the wheels and tyres were undersized and the driver was massively oversized.  Built out of the box it looks like a T.Q. or quarter midget rather than a full sized midget, if that makes sense.  I believe there is now a slot car company making an injection moulded replica of the hot shot but I have no details to pass on.

Cheers

Alan

[tim boyd]

Great thread, guys!  Keep it going.  I suspect you all know how the Revell Midgets (c. 2010) look when built up, but if not, let me know and I will post some pics here.  Best...TIM 

[OldNYJim]

On 3/5/2025 at 3:53 AM, alan barton said:

Hi Jim,

Yes, that is basically all there is to the Hot Shot so I went with it. If I remember correctly, I used the rear wheels and tyres on the front and then found some bigger ones for the back.  The thing with this kit is, the body was very accurately scaled ( it looks right at home next to the modern tool Revell midgets) but the wheels and tyres were undersized and the driver was massively oversized.  Built out of the box it looks like a T.Q. or quarter midget rather than a full sized midget, if that makes sense.  I believe there is now a slot car company making an injection moulded replica of the hot shot but I have no details to pass on.

Cheers

Alan

Thanks for the info Alan!

I did some digging and found the company making the repro Hot Shots…

https://slotcarstore.net/pages/1-24-HOLESHOT-MIDGET-Body-Windshield-Driver-Chrome-Tree-and-Decals-W140125.html

Not cheap, but it’s a SUPER niche item too, so I don’t think the price is unreasonable…

3 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Great thread, guys!  Keep it going.  I suspect you all know how the Revell Midgets (c. 2010) look when built up, but if not, let me know and I will post some pics here.  Best...TIM 

Yes please Tim!

 

[Mark]

The Monogram Hot Shot (slot and shelf versions) both used 1/32 scale slot car tires.  The shelf version had plastic wheels, the slot car had aluminum ones.  Not having the slot version, I'd guess that it used a 1/32 scale slot chassis, or possibly a special one made to fit the body.

The front tires are tough to find.  With a built kit, often the plastic front axle breaks with the broken-off section disappearing and taking a tire and wheel with it.  

[OldNYJim]

On 3/7/2025 at 4:47 AM, Mark said:

The Monogram Hot Shot (slot and shelf versions) both used 1/32 scale slot car tires.  The shelf version had plastic wheels, the slot car had aluminum ones.  Not having the slot version, I'd guess that it used a 1/32 scale slot chassis, or possibly a special one made to fit the body.

The front tires are tough to find.  With a built kit, often the plastic front axle breaks with the broken-off section disappearing and taking a tire and wheel with it.  

Do you have one of the plastic kits Mark?  Would love to see a pic, if you do!  And thanks for the info!

[Mark]

I have two of the shelf version kits.  At first, they were a "two to make one" thing, but even then I was missing a few parts like the driver and the bars that attach to the rear radius rods.  Since then, I found another one that had been cut apart but had some extra/unused small parts.  I now have one complete one, and another nearly so.

The slot car body kit available now doesn't include the shelf version "chassis" parts or wheels.  The "chassis" is not detailed, it does include a rear axle however.  The front axle would be nice to have.  I don't have one whole one, but have two broken ones that I can cut in half and join the two "good" halves together.  I'm still looking for one front tire, and a couple other small parts for the second car.

[Mark]

The "chassis" of the shelf version of the Monogram slot car.

Also, pieces of two of the easily breakable front axle of the shelf version...the main culprit in the disappearance of front tire/wheel units from this kit.

[Skip]

In one of the short lived  Rod & Custom & Model Cars magazines they did an article on the Strombecker Midgets 1/32 scale (I think I remember that was the scale). Pretty much a go faster and more detail article. The magazine shows up every once and a while on eBay, so do the Strombecker Midgets which are normally just north of unobtainium in price. For what they go for and what I’m willing to pay, I’ll probably never see one, unless some crazy person shows up with one and I actually get to hold it and look at it! LoL!

Does anyone 3D print a Midget Body and details to build up a slot car? 1/32 would be a great size, for me at least as that’s the scale we run around my place. The parts Box (Australia) used had a Midget Racer that was supposedly the Strombecker Midget, but I have never seen one in person, so I’m not certain what the scale is or if it really came from the Strombecker Midget Racer. 

[OldNYJim]

17 hours ago, Mark said:

I have two of the shelf version kits.  At first, they were a "two to make one" thing, but even then I was missing a few parts like the driver and the bars that attach to the rear radius rods.  Since then, I found another one that had been cut apart but had some extra/unused small parts.  I now have one complete one, and another nearly so.

The slot car body kit available now doesn't include the shelf version "chassis" parts or wheels.  The "chassis" is not detailed, it does include a rear axle however.  The front axle would be nice to have.  I don't have one whole one, but have two broken ones that I can cut in half and join the two "good" halves together.  I'm still looking for one front tire, and a couple other small parts for the second car.

This info is REALLY helpful - thank you Mark!  There are a decent amount of pics online of the slot version, but finding good reference pics of what the plastic kit version were like is tough…REALLY appreciate it!!

[OldNYJim]

Remember the days when a cereal box top and 50 cents would get you a model kit?

Me either…but I wish they’d run this deal again 🤪

[OldNYJim]

I got this for a STEAL on eBay - this is the Monogram quarter midget discussed on page 1 of this thread…I was intending to rebuild it, but then it showed up and it would actually be a SHAME to blow it all apart…

 

[Bainford]

Wow! It's in incredible condition.

[Straightliner59]

On 2/13/2025 at 9:28 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Which makes it a great starting point for similarly shaped but larger "championship" cars of the period in 1/25 or 1/24.

I'm pretty sure somebody on this board has built one.

I did one. But, acording to a guy who used to frequent these forums, and seemed to have been involved for a long time, in racing, it's scaled more like a '50s sprint car. So, that's what I went with. It was a lot of fun! It was also my first time punching louvers.

Here's the WIP thread:

Edited Friday at 06:46 AM by Straightliner59

[Mark]

One of the Rod & Custom magazines (the short-lived R&C Models, or the regular magazine that had model articles until 1967) outlined the bigger Monogram midget kit being used as the basis for a 1/25 scale sprint car.  Even so, the body was cut down in several areas.

[Muncie]

Maybe a little off topic because no kits involved... but it's close - 

The Justice Brothers oil company has a great collection at their offices in Duarte (LA) California that is open to the public during office hours.  Their business started in midgets and racing, so their museum is heavy on midget race cars - most have a lot of history.  But there is so much to see there. It's three buildings.  Where else are you going to see a 110 Offy in the main lobby of a corporate office?

The Justice Private Automotive Collection - Home

[RancheroSteve]

Yes, the Justice Brothers have a close association with Frank Kurtis and his midgets: "After World War II was over, Frank Kurtis started Kurtis-Kraft and it was at this time that Zeke became his first employee. Following World War II Ed joined Zeke at Kurtis-Kraft. Both were part of a small crew that constructed a reported 500 midget cars. Zeke was also part of the team that built the legendary Novi engine powered Indy car.

Because of Ed's background as an aircraft mechanic, he suggested to Zeke one day that they should add Dzus fasteners to the Kurtis midget they were working on instead of the currently used 'nut plates'. Thus resulted in the first use of Dzus fasteners on a racecar. During their time at Kurtis-Kraft, they started a racecar repair and fabrication shop they operated during their free hours of nights and weekends. It was called Justice Brothers Racecar Repair & Fabrication."

https://justicebrothers.com/company/company-history/

[Mark]

Kurtis was in the right place at the right time.  Right after the end of the war, right in the hotbed of aircraft construction on the West Coast.  All of that now-surplus aluminum sheet, round tubing, Dzus fasteners, and other stuff selling for pennies on the dollar, and he himself having a brilliant design in the back of his head.  Some of those midgets were racing competitively into the early Seventies.  Only then were the VW powered cars taking over, and that engine demanded a different frame design.