Swindon Swapmeet

Andy and I made our annual pilgrimage to Swindon.  The swapmeet seems in good health - more traders and plenty of visitors.  Car prices generally drifting upwards but still some bargains to be had.

I bought a selection of 1:32 motorcycles and a quad bike for track decoration...

...plus a Mini Cooper to convert into a roadster to match my wife's new car, a garage two-post lift, and an old Scalextric Pacer system, which allows any car to be used as a pacer on the track.

Aston Martin DB4 Zagato

A whole year since the last blog post... although a couple of cars have been completed since then.  One was a Chevy coupe but I also have a Chevy sedan to build, so I'll blog about those when they are both finished.  The other was an Aston Martin DB4 Zagato.

I started this five years ago and sprayed it dark blue.  I then decided I wanted a different colour so experimented with isopropyl alcohol as a bath for the car to remove the original paint.

It removed most although not all of the paint but more worryingly, also started to dissolve the resin model itself.  And so I somewhat lost heart.

Last year I decided to try and rescue the car.  I smoothed down the bodywork and then re-sprayed in a metallic green.  At the end of the day, it turned out ok.

Swindon Swapmeet

After skipping it in 2018, Andy and I decided to attend this year's Swapmeet in Swindon to re-kindle our enthusiasm for slot cars.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the hall space was 50% larger than previous years with a corresponding increase in the number of trade stands.  I sold a limited edition National Scalextric Collectors Club Audi R8 that I received when I attended the NSCC/Hornby Weekend back in November 2011.  I kept most of the money in my wallet but I bagged a few bargains - some tyrewalls and a couple of Penelope Pitlane kits (a 1933 Napier Railton racing car and a 1937 Chevy Coupe hotrod - examples of completed kits below):
I also bought some new track pieces.  My Highwood Circuit layout is 10 years old this year and so I'm thinking it may be time for a change.  A re-design would be an opportunity to include some different track features.  I bought a Le Mans start set from the 1960s:

Unlike later sets, this has a break in the track that is completed by a switch being pressed - so cars can park in the starting position whilst other cars are being raced on the track.

I also bought another vintage track piece - a manually operated pit lane:

The track pieces need cleaning up but are otherwise in good condition, so I hope to incorporate them into a new design later this year.

Spring clean required

Shocked to discover the state of the rails today:

The track has been installed for eight and a half years in the attic room now but hasn't been used for a serious session for a year!  So need to find some time for some proper TLC and then get some more racing in...

60th Anniversary MGB

A special Christmas present from Kieron in the form of a yellow MGB in Scalextric's 60th Anniversary range.

Scalextric are celebrating their 60th Anniversary with the release of a special collectors' series of cars, each in special edition packaging and featuring a 60th Anniversary holographic logo on the car. Only 250 pieces of each model will be released.

This MGB is from the Thoroughbred Sports Car Series and is driven by Roy McCarthy.  Roy and his two sons, Russell and Spencer, formed McCarthy Motorsport using Roy’s knowledge and expertise with MGs.  Over the years, the family took hundreds of podiums and class wins across many historic racing championship classes.  Sadly, Roy passed away in 2010 but his sons continue to race with Russell recently winning the Thoroughbred Sportscar Championship in 2015.

I'm shocked to discover this is only my fifth blog this calendar year.  This hobby has definitely taken a back seat in the last year or two.  Here's hoping I get more time with the cars in 2018.

More of Andy's spectators

Andy has been busy painting the dozens of people I got him for Christmas.  Here's the advanced work in progress on his painting bench:

And here they are sat on Andy's home-made straw bales:

And seated in a couple of grandstands built from the MDF flatpack kits from Magnetic Racing:

Using the track again

Stuart visited today so we had a morning of slot car racing, including the first race with the Mazda 787B that I personalised for him a couple of years ago.  I had my own Mazda in a stealthy matt black but it was beaten to the podium by Stuart's car.

Unusually no major damage to report.  A couple of lights to glue back on a pair of the BMW 2002 saloon cars.  We did roll the 4x4s quite a lot though...

Must do some more racing now it's warmer in the loft!