Boars Nest Cup

Andy and I met up last night for the inaugural Boars Nest Cup featuring:

• Luke Duke in the Dodge Charger "General Lee"
• Daisy Duke in "Dixie", her AMC Golden Eagle
• Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane in his Dodge Monaco "hot pursuit" police car
• Deputy Enos Strate chauffeuring Boss Hogg in his Cadillac Eldorado

Highwood Circuit had been temporarily redecorated to double up as Hazzard County.

Twelve races provided each car the opportunity to race against every other in both lanes.  The General Lee is a Scalextric model with the magnet removed; the other three are all scratchbuilt cars.  The big American cars swing all over the track making passing a challenge.  Daisy's car was fast but its high centre of gravity meant it had to really slow for corners or else it might topple over.  I will add some lead to it for next time.  "Dixie" wasn't the only car to leave the slot though...

The lap times were pretty close but Enos in the Cadillac was the clear overall winner, taking first place in each of its six races, with the General Lee getting into second place just ahead of Rosco, and Daisy firmly in last place.  I was disappointed that the Cup wasn't won by a Duke but it was great fun.

Daisy Duke's Jeep 'Dixie'

Catherine Bach was a formative influence on many of us growing up in the 1980s.  I think it was the shorts.

I'd already built Rosco's police car and Boss Hogg's limo from body shells produced by Chase Cars to accompany my Scalextric model of the General Lee.  And back in January, I bought Chase Cars' jeep bodyshell, ready to convert into Daisy's AMC Golden Eagle.

It came with a windscreen and some large tyres, which I used with a PCS chassis with some wheels painted gold.  I didn't need the supplied male driver but found a female driver from Le Mans Minatures who I turned from a blonde to a brunette.

The body shell was primed and sprayed white and then I constructed a roll cage from thick wire.  The final step was to source some graphics from the web to make my own decals.  You can print onto white or clear film using a standard colour printer so it's now pretty straightforward to make your own water slide transfers.

The car had Golden Eagle decals along the top of the wings when it was given to Daisy in the series but it was called Dixie and so, just like the General Lee, it had its name added to the bodywork.

Overall, not a bad match to the real thing...

And here it is with the rest of the cars from Hazzard County...

"Lordie, Lordie, Lordie. If you can drive like that, Rosco, how come you can't ever catch them Dukes?"

At the Slot Car Festival earlier this year, I spotted that Gareth of Chase Cars had converted one of his gangster cars into Boss Hogg's car from the Dukes of Hazzard.  With the General Lee and Rosco's police car (on a Chase Car chassis) already in the collection, I had to follow suit.

First task was to remove the windows from the original bodyshell and then turn it into a convertible.

Then the bodyshell was undercoated and then sprayed with a couple of coats of gloss white.

Next I extended a PCS32 chassis to match the extra long dimensions of the bodyshell, and painted the interior.

Instead of gangster heads, Gareth supplied three heads in cowboy hats, so I have Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane driving, Deputy Enos Strate riding shotgun, and Jefferson Davis ("JD" or "Boss") Hogg in the back seat.

One of my cattle from my 28mm Wild West town donated his horns to adorn the front of the car.

With the Confederate flag on the front, I gave Boss Hogg a personal plate at the back.

And I'll leave the last words to Rosco:

Oh, Boss, if you ain't the sneakiest, low-down double dealinist little fat rascal, coo!

Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in hot pursuit!

At a slot car show earlier this year, I came across Chase Cars who manufacture bodyshells and chassis to recreate the car chases of films and TV from the 70s and 80s.  The unique thing about their chassis is that it leans and steers in the corners, so you get a more realistic appearance when racing their cars.

I bought a chassis and a couple of bodyshells.  First build is the 1977 Dodge Monaco police car as driven by Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the Dukes of Hazzard.

The bodyshell comes with roof lights, plastic windows and interior, with Hazard County Sheriff decals.  I had to get axles, wheels, tyres, a pickup and a motor to go with the chassis.

The tough plastic chassis comes in a single moulded piece that needs taking apart.

Quite a few bits...

After a few hours, it looks like this...

The steering mechanism links to the pickup guide so the wheels turns when the guide reaches a corner.  The motor pod is suspended and sprung in the chassis so it can rock when the car drives round corners.

I sprayed the car and applied the transfers.  I dremel-ed out the windows in the bodyshell and fitted plastic ones, and painted the interior with the model of Rosco.

The completed model...

High quality decals...

It is a lot of effort to put together but on the track it looks great, although the chassis is built for realistic roll rather than speed, so it won't keep up with the Scalextric General Lee.  Andy has also bought one of these chassis, so we'll see how they go together when he's built his.

Just the good ol' boys, Never meanin' no harm...

Just released by Scalextric (and delivered a few days ago) is the Duke boys' 1969 Dodge Charger, the "General Lee".

This is a large and fast car, fairly well detailed.  But it can't race around the track on its own.  Fortunately, Andy spotted a Plymouth Road Runner at the Donington Slot Car Festival and I snapped it up.

This is a 1970 American muscle car in California Highway Patrol livery, manufactured by Carrera.  Ok, so it should be Georgia State or Hazzard County to really be Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane's car, but it's not a bad match.  And Daisy Duke did drive a yellow Road Runner - albeit a 1974 model - in later series.  Which is a great excuse for another photo...