Fire up the quattro!

Another companion purchase, this time for the Audi quattro Andy got me last year.  This car is the later short wheelbase version that won the Ivory Coast Rally in 1984.  This is the first model I've bought made by Revell, probably better known for model kits than slot cars.  Size-wise it compares well with the Fly model (although obviously shorter) but disappointingly doesn't have proper four-wheel drive.  It is fun to drive though as it's not as magnetic as the Fly version so does get its end out round the corners.  The dirt effect is also well done.  But it's probably not well matched against the Fly quattro on the track.

Ford GTs

A couple more eBay purchases.  A gold Ford GT40 (left) to be raced against the silver one that Kieron got me at Christmas (back).  GT40 #5 finished third in the 1966 Le Mans and was driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson.  It has been painted with a weathered effect to reflect how it might have looked at the end of the race.  I also got the (inevitably) larger, taller re-working of the GT40 - the Ford GT, in red with what looks like Stig at the wheel.  All with magnatraction and lighting.  And nice and fast.

Detection and prevention

In an effort for more accurate and reliable lap detection, I've made an infra-red detection circuit to use instead of the mechanical hardware that comes with the Scalextric Race Management System.

Next to the numbers on the start line, I've drilled two small holes.  Underneath each of those in an infra-red light detector.  These are wired up to the circuit board of a USB gamepad I took apart, which in turn is plugged into the laptop.

Above the startline is a white light source cobbled together from a broken desk lamp.  When the light source is interrupted by the car driving over the hole, the laptop software detects the change in state, and records a lap.  Some more investigation is needed, but I should be able to use the same approach for pitstops - when the car is stopped over the hole, the software can calculate refuelling.

The cats have still not got bored of shooting up the ladder every time I go into the loft.  As well as cars to watch, there's plenty to explore up there and they love it.  But they also love chewing wires and there's metres of the stuff under the table now.  So I've had to fit an extra trap door for when I go up in the loft.  The cardboard piece is a flap so the whole thing can slide under the top of the ladder - otherwise the cats can still get in.

This is the usual view underneath.

Pitcrew

A few more figures painted.  I should have dusted the cars before taking the photos though...

Drivers

Any slot car layout looks a bit bare without figures.  In addition to the Chinese spectators, I also have 50-60 figures from a British company called MRRC.  MRRC make a range of figures covering drivers and pit crew, track officials, vendors and newsmen, and spectators.  These white plastic figures are 1/32 scale like Scalextric, making them around 56mm tall.  They are really nicely moulded and were originally designed in the sixties so the drivers, for example, all have open face helmets and goggles, which I much prefer.

I'm going to paint these up over the next couple of months.  These four drivers are the first figures to be finished.

Spectators from the Far East

I ordered 40 spectator figures from China recently.  They were pre-painted and sent postage free, all for £18.  They are not painted brilliantly - there are more pinks and purples than in your average Grand Prix crowd and (unsurprisingly) they all have black hair.  But the plan is that these figures will occupy the back few rows of the grandstands and I'll use better quality figures painted by me for the front row.  Even without the front row, they don't look too bad - certainly better than a track with no spectators.

I've also finished grassing all the outside corners ready for the grandstands and other buildings and structures.

It's curtains for the Scalextric layout

Literally.

I was fed up with how messy everything looked under the table with boxes of cars and wargaming terrain on one side, and dozens of games on the other.  So a couple of chequered flags have now been transformed into curtains.

On the left you can also see the grab picker I recently bought for retrieving those troublesome cars that deslot in the far corner.  No-one else can reach them unaided and I'm doing my back in trying to reach over every time!

On the right hand side, you can see the lighting board.  There's a 24V supply that goes through these switches to the various lighting circuits on the layout.  The first four items on the left hand list are all constructed and wired.  The other switches are ready for future lighting projects - the compass points are to indicate areas of the track that may have lamppost-type lighting at some point.

And yes, I did do the sewing of the curtains all myself (proof below!) but I was supervised by a responsible adult.