The Secret World of Plafit

[stoo23]

Thanks Jan, Steve,
Yeah,..they Do,..lol,..I still have a whole bunch of Detailing 'Bits' from the Past,..(Wish I still had the Kits !!,..sigh).

Actually, I am a bit annoyed at myself, as although I had the Body here for some time, I was Unsure just Waht I was going to do with it,..If Anything!,..lol
Stupidly, I didn't take the decision to add more Detail, until After I had Finally Mounted the Body!,..DOH !!,..so at the Moment, I am somewhat 'Loathe' to try and Extricate the Interior, to Add what Little Detail Could be added to that Simple Interior,..Especially as So Little of it Could be seen anyway!,..It's a Hard Car to See Into !!,..lol

The Dashboard is the Wrong colour and sort of doesn't Look right the way it is, Harness coloiur is Wrong, with No Badging etc, Fire Extinguisher detailing etc,..You Know what I mean,..if ya gonna do it ya might as well do it All!!,..lol

I WAS at One stage considering trying to Replicate the Drivers' Sliding Side Window section !!!,..lol,..Might Still have a Go, If I come across Another MC12 Body. Damn Shame the Windscreen Glass is So Thick on the Carrera Models, they would Look Excellent if it was 'Suitably' Thin !!

The 'Wheel Inserts' as Shown, are Ninco and in Fact, look Very similar to some Trick Alloy Wheels I saw on one of Fola's 1/24th Maserati's !

I also had some Very 'Trick' Slotting-Plus' 5 Spoke 'Mags' made up, (see Pic), but have Yet to 'Fit' them to some Wheels.
It would be a rather nice 'Trick', to machine the Back of the Plafit Wheels, to 'Match' the Spoke Pattern of the Front !!, the Wheels interior Siutably painted in a Dark Grey or similar, Would Look REAL COOL I reckon !!

So What's the 'GO' with doing that? Can't see it Explicitly Dis-allowed by the Rules !!??

Initaially, I had purchased a Scalextric version as well, (the One I have used is in fact the Carrera Evolution version, ((Not a Ninco btw)).
The Scalextric Version, Is in Many ways a Nicer Model, I would venture it is a bit Lighter, but possibly also a bit Fragile.
The way the body is made, one would have to Glue it all up, (which is OK), but it wouldn't be as Solid as the Carrera copy, once it's side flanks are glued up, it ends up Very Solid.

Unlike the Scaley version, the Carrera interior is Far Shallower, meaning NO mods are required to Fit it to the Plafit chassis,..although there, I Did Still have a Bit of 'Fun', due to the Shape of the internal Sides of the Body and the Closeness of the Cockpit Sides.

Would be Interesting to See a Scalextric Bodied Car!

As far as 'Tipping' tendencies Go,..I must admit That is something THIS car has NOT exhibited, it Slides Very Nicely in fact!,..lol

Perhaps the CG of the Scaley body is a bit Higher?,..The Interior is Undoubtedly Heavier, as it incorporates a Much Deeper cockpit and a Driver with Legs etc,..PLUS, the Scaley Interior, Extends Back Under the Rear cowling and in Fact incorporates some Detail there, that Can't even be Seen !! A bit superfluos really,...Mind you!, a Standard Scalextric MC12 (Non Magnet), is a Great Car !!,..Very Effective !!

Cheers,
Stewart

[SlotBaker]

Yeah, that's the scale model merry-go-round aint it?

Where do you stop??!! Do you stop??!!
The next car you build will have a bit more detail in it, the the next a bit more.......
Sliding driver's window, working seat belt buckles, fiber optic dash lights, real mirrors in the mirrors, etc,

The Germans have been doing this for 6 years and more, so they are pretty much working to the ultimate level all of the time.

[stoo23]

So just How Extreme CAN one go, within the Scope of the 1/32 Modern GT Rules?

It Does mention, some things about the Body,..BUT, as 'Concours', has apparently Never been part of this Class, I am kinda Wondering,..as it may then make My Body 'Illegal' under the Exacting Rule interpreter at Future Races !!

As an example say, The Scalextric Body, has a Much Lighter Front assembly as such, (lights, Housings, Radiators, Front Grille etc), as it already Utilises Photo-Etched bits and a very Light Frame for the Radiator outlets, Similarly the Whole Lighting Structures/Implementation Front and Rear, is arguably Lighter than the Carrera Equivalent, (Sans Carrera Control Board obviously) and the Scaley Also Has Very Nice 'Cut-Through' Venting on the Body and Pretty Close to Correct Photo-Etched Screens Front and Rear!

Being able to Modify the Carrera Body, to More Accurately Reflect the Real Car and Look More 'Scale Model' like, Would be a NiceThing!!
Having Real 'Mesh' in the Rear Panel and at the Front Radiator Intake, Would Look Way 'Cooler' than the somewhat 'Clunky' representation on the Body as it Stands, Especially at the Rear !!!

Whilst I Guess One may be able to Argue the 'Possible' Lightening of the Carrera 'Shell' by Doing this, at The Moment, I have actually 'Added' Extra Weight by doing the Detailing I have !!
The Carrera Body as Noted previously IS Heavier than the Scalextric equivalent, so it Is in some ways a Rather 'Moot' point, as one Would HAVE to Argue that within the 'Apparent' "Spirit" of this 'Scale Model Car Racing', that ANY attempt at Increasing the Scale realism of Any of the cars in Any of the Classes could Only be seen as a Good thing and arguably, Encouraged !!

Interesting Also, that whilst 'Chatting' with GaryJ, he commented that: "Gee, youv'e kept a Lot of the Undertray and Diffuser!!"
Hmmm,..well,..Yeah !!??,..an Interesting Comment, BUT also from within the Rules, Very Poorly defined !!,..in Fact there is NO WAY to actually KNOW, Just HOW MUCH of the UnderBody parts one Has to Keep !!
may I seggest the Rules in That regard are Very Poorly Defined But to be Honest, would also be difficult To Define,...for Every Car/Model available.

In fact I have even kept Some of the 'Vertical' sections of the 'Donor' Chassis, One; to aid in wheel arch Masking, and Two, to Keep the abaility to Retro Fit the Lights, but this may Change.

Made it Far Easier to Just Screw the Existing Parts into the Existing Posts !!,..lol,..Extra Weight?,..Yep I guess so. As this was and is a bit of a 'Suck it and See' excercise, I am Not that 'Fussed',..(I Have used Titanium Screws though!,..lol).

When I weighed the Whole car at HSC, Prior to Any Detailing and Wheel inserts, I think it was 133 grams.

As I said, the Car actually 'Performed' Very well when I tried it the Other day, but I Would Like to Try 'Fudging' with Certain aspects of the Cars setup, such as Overall Guide Lead and It's relativity to the Front Wheels, Ride height etc.

In Some ways, it's a shame that Many of the 'Homologated' Bodies (well atleast ones that I would Like to Run Personally OR that actually Look like they Might be Effective !!,..lol), are Much Older bodies, that are at thios Point in time Rather hard to Find unless via the possible Extravagance of E-Pay!,..lol
Cars such as say, the Carrera Bently Speed 8, Mercedes CLK GTR, in fact even These Maserati's by Carrera, well at a Decent Price that is !!
Might have to Work on a Scalextric Version !!!,..lol

[wwwace]

Yeah, that's the scale model merry-go-round aint it?
Where do you stop??!! Do you stop??!!
The next car you build will have a bit more detail in it, the the next a bit more.......
Sliding driver's window, working seat belt buckles, fiber optic dash lights, real mirrors in the mirrors, etc,
The Germans have been doing this for 6 years and more, so they are pretty much working to the ultimate level all of the time.

Steve,
Make this at least 26 years of German Model Car Racing. Everytime I go back there for a visit you are confronted with another step up.....

Here are a few more MC12 conversions I have done some years ago :










As Jan correctly mentioned, try to save as much weight as you can. No metal screws in the body and only minimal rear diffuser and front spoiler.
Flat body mounts are a must. We will have very soon three different width of flat body mounts for the S32 Chassis, which will help to achieve a better weight distribution.
I have found that the Scalextric MC12 Road Version is the best Maserati body as it is lightest off all. Problem is that this car is now very hard to find.

Cheers
Werner

[stoo23]

Hmmm,..well,..thanks guys,... I Think !!??,...

Whilst all the extra reference photos and such are great,..it's shall we say,..Unfortunate, that they have come 'After' I have constructed My car!,..
It IS appreciated though, as I am sure Others can use the reference pics.

Although it Does raise some interesting points!, the Biggest of which being the Lack of Equivalence in the Body 'Weights' and styles.
I mean C'mon guys, a Ninco Mosler Body, "Pro Race" even, with Partly Lexan or atleast 'Lightweight' interior!,..OR as Jan mentioned, he 'Preferred' His NSR Mosler to Race !!,..Gee,..Yeah,..I Guess so !,..Odd that I can't even see that Body mentioned in the 'Homologation' list!

Also, I agree, that with one or two 'Notable' exceptions Most of the perhaps Ideal, (or atleast Personal Preference Bodies), are either Extremely Hard or Expensive to find.

Look, I thought I would have a Crack at one of these Particular cars, as I Did have a 'Donor' Maser that was purchased at an OK Price, Mind you I then purchased a Scalextric example as well, (which I must add I Have used very successfully, as it is!).

Within the detail of the Rules it is Extremely difficult to 'Intrinsically' Know things Like "being able to 'Remove' the Rear portion of the Scalextric interior" !!,...Perhaps everyone Should be allowed to 'Replace' their interiors with lets say those supplied by "Over-Drive" in Germany,..
I Dunno',..even the Thing with the 'Under-Body' parts is Difficult, as defined by the 'Published' rules,..
eg: "- Under body front spoilers (fenders) and rear diffusors have to be retained and fitted to the body."

Somewhat 'Difficult' to 'Assume' Just How MUCH of those parts are 'Actually' "Required" then don't you think?,..It said 'The Diffuser',..NOT some Undefined 'Part' of It !!!

Obviously, one MUST Also Have to 'Modify' the Front Underbody parts,..'Where Required', to make allowance for Guide Clearance etc,...possibly arguably an 'agreeable' arrangement that Could be Understood,..But Who Decides if It's NOT Done Correctly? and HOW/WHY?
The rules are So Unclear in this area, IMHO it is near Impossible to 'Police', Without having Some Dimensional Reference!

It Would be good to actually 'See' just How 'Little' of the relevant 'Maser' Underbody bits are Required!
In chatting with Richo, specifically discussing the 'Carrera' version, whose Front 'Splitter' is actually Part of the Body Shell, he suggested the Front Underbody, would Not be required to be 'Fitted'.
Is this Correct?,..I Sure don't want to be carrying any Extra 'Un-required' Crap around with me !!,..lol

I thought the reference to the Rear Tyre diameter was also interesting, although I am certainly No Expert when it comes to available Plafit Parts etc, but once again, as the Rules seem to 'Imply' that any 16mm Plafit Wheel must be used,..How Does one end up with an Overall Diameter of 21.5 or Even Greater? On those Rims, Would the available rubber allow you to get an effective Larger Diameter?,..AND, Would So Much Rubber on the Rear be a Desirable thing?
All the Cars I have seen so Far all seem to be running pretty Low-Profile Tyres and Wheels !!

As 'Noted' previously,..to Actually visually Correctly 'Fill' the Carrera Maserati Wheel Arches,..Would require Larger Dia' Wheels and Tyres Especially at the Front !! But one would Imagine that Would NOT necessarily be something one would actually Want,..for Racing,..not appearance. In That regard, the Scalextric example has it's Wheel Arches 'Better filled' with the Plafit wheels as Fitted on My car.

I am hoping to get back to the track for some testing prior to the event, to perhaps Try an 11 tooth,..although, I have to assume that an 11 tooth is a Brass Pinion, as it seems they Don't Make a Plastic one!?

Do 'Other' Pinions 'Mesh' smoothly with the Plafit 'Spurs'?

I have a Swag of 'Avant-Slot' and Other similar pinions from my 1/32 cars anyway, like Professor Motor Pinions etc,..just Wondering, as I am assuming, (dangerous I Know), that they are a Metric Pitch??

Still have to get a new set of Wheels and some 'Fresh' Rubber for the race and Prepare the 'narky' inserts!,..lol

[stoo23]

,...
Well, there you go,..lol

Mind you there Are 'Pro Race bodies listed as Homologated, in the Current 'List'!
The Ferrari 360 'Kit' and the 'Unobtanium' Mercedes CLK-GTR.

Even Looking at the 'Standard' Ninco Mosler interior in my Own car, both IT And the Body are Pretty Damn Light !!

Compared to pretty Much Any Scalextric or Carrera interior, the Ninco Interiors even in My 997 GT3 Porka are Very Light weight,..as are the Bodies,..compared to many Others on the List that is.

In MY choice of Body,..I did figure the Carrera would be Pretty 'Bullet-Proof' as such,..what with this All being Very Much a Vertical Self Learning Curve,..lol, I steered away from the Scalextric unit, partly Due to the 'Mods' that would be necessitated to get it and It's far Deeper Interior Than the Carrera's, to actually 'Fit' on top of the chassis!
As initially I was sort of Hoping to get the car together relatively Quickly,.. I figured the Carrera was an Easier option.

They DO Look better with the Scaley body though, as seen below in the Pics, the Wheels Look Far More 'Appropriate' than with the Carrera.

Weight wise,..I would imagine you Would Need a relatively Light Body, to acheive a Running Weight of 115 grams or Under !!
All of the Examples I have weighed at HSC so Far, Have been noticeably Heavier than That. Most being in the 120+ gram range.

It Could be an effect of my advancing Age and Slower reflexes,..BUT around the Little HSC Track, it has been My 'observation' that slightly 'Longer' and 'Heavier' cars May be somewhat more Forgiving and Smoother than a Short, Light car.

Not to say that it is Not possible ofcourse !!,..lol

Having Dis-Assembled the Scaley maser body,..it's a bit of a shame that the Interior,..is Not what it Looks like on 'Telly' !!!,..ROFL

I want Mine to Look like This;

[stoo23]

Thanks Jan,..

As to "This type of Racing being the Best I have ever Done" !!,..Hmmm,..In my Most Humble of Intentions,..I'm Not so sure about that !!!,...

I remember a Particular Geoghan 'Open' Wing car race that I was leading By a Country Mile some years back as being Pretty Good,..(Until it all went Wrong that is !!,..ROFL

I recall walking into GaryJ's one Very, Very Cold Winters Friday Night To race Grp27's and as PeterC's and My cars were In the Front of the VW They Got rather COLD and we walked in JUST as Qualifying was about to End and Both 'Promptly TQ'd !!,..That was Fun !!,..

I HAVE to say as Well,..That it Is a Shame as you are Not attending This Weekend,..as I would have Most Happily Lent you My Current 'Retro' CanAm car and or F1 so You may also Experience the even Simpler and Cheaper Joys of What I have been Enjoying in a 'Similar' fashion to yourselves!

BUT,..In ALL Honesty,..THE MOST FUN, I have had racing Any kind of Slot cars, occured only recently at My Local 1/32 Raceway, 'SlotShop', here in Sydenham.
I Walked in,..Purchased a Scalextric McLaren M23, for $39.00!!, Oiled it, sanded the Tyres and Proceeded to have The Best Racing With a Bunch of Excellent drivers with similar McLarens and ferrari 312's, around a Great little 4 Lane Artin track, at 10.5 Volts !!!

Honestly,..it Was The MOST Fun I have had Racing Slot cars in about 30 Years !!

And You Can't beat the PRICE !!!

Retro's for Myself are Easily as Much Fun though, Especially as I design and Build My Own cars And they Go Well, Plus the racing is Very Much about Fun Hard Racing!

I like Fox, Wayne and some Others actually Enjoy the Chassis Designing and Building aspect as Much as the racing !!, So Retros Offer even More areas of Satisfaction,..Plus Some of Us Occasionally Do get a bit carried away with detail in a Similar if Not as Extreme as the 1/24th Plafit canAm's.

In My Recent Re-Discovery of Slot cars, it Was in fact via Slot Shop and the regular 'Avant Slot' LMP Enduros and such that got My Interest, as atleast they Were 'Adjustable and Tunable' in a similar fashion to the Plafit, and with Slot Shop being So close to Home, I Have been somewhat Regularly racing various 1/32 scale cars,..So,..having Now also driven the 1/32 Plafit, I Am aware that the cars Go pretty Good and can also Imagine, some very Close and Tough racing!

i MAY eventually put together a canAm Car,...Perhaps,..lol,..I Do and always Have Thoroughly Enjoyed CanAm and the Endurance cars of that Era,..all depends on whether I can Work out How to get the Suction Fans and Sliding Lexan Skirts Working on the Chaparral 2J !!,..

I think though,..that I Probably Will Build Another 1/32 car, as there seems to be a few Others at HSC that Have a similar 'Passion' for Porsche 935 Moby Dicks, (in fact I seem to have allowed myself to Purchase a few of Them!!), and Similar Era Cars,..That will Undoubtedly be The Next Build,..Just for the Fun,..The Carrera Porkas, Ferrari 512BB's, Opel Commodores and the Recent DeTomaso, would make for a Great Class of 'Correct Era cars, all we would need then, Would be a capri and a Lancia !!!

In fact, having found Only a very Few of the Many 1/24th scale Models I used to have, I 'Miraculously', Still have Most of My old 1/24th Tamiya Martini 935 Moby Dick !!,...Which Would Most certainly Make a Nice and arguably Suitable LeMans car !!

I have also Found that for Some Reason, I have retained Two Other Tamya Bodies, both being TamTech cars.
One is of a BMW GTP Prototype, that to be Honest, I do Not remember ever seeing BUT the Other one, which is Still Complete with Decals, is one of the 'Clear' Lancia LC2's,..Which, I would Imagine Would be suitable for use as a Grp C Body,..Yes?
Having Owned it for So long, I guess actually Putting it to it's 'Designed Purpose of Racing', would Finally do it Justice !!

[Richo99]

Hi Stew,

Yes you can get an 11T plastic pinion. I will bring a couple down...

Thew Plafit gears are 50 pitch so not sure if they will mesh with the standard gears that come with the plastic chassis/cars. I am unsure what pitch they are....

Pete

[stoo23]

Oh dear,..How surprising !!,..lol
So just Which TamTech cars, (as noted in the Rules), DO 'Comply'??, Once again the Rules do Not actually 'Specify' !!

I mean you Do have to admit there is a Need for a Lot of 'apparently' intrinsically Known information regarding the Rules, that is Certainly Not 'Implictly' Stated in them!

Not like Anyone really cares anyway,. but although I can agree as to How Nice a Whole Bunch of Group C cars can look, Once again, a couple of the cars that would to Myself, seem 'appropriate', aren't on the List,..sigh,..lol, so Unless I happen to Find one that Is, easily and cheaply, somehow at the Moment, I doubt I shall build one. As I said, perhaps a CanAm, as I like them, and with a lexan Body, Should handle Great!!

I must admit, I Can't understand Why there Isn't a 'Fervent' interest in Running the Current Crop of Both LeMans and American 'Petit' LeMans cars, much like the FIA style GT cars.
If one looks at their relative 1/32 scale popularity, to Me it Would make far more sense to Try and incorporate a More Upto date and Modern Replicant class.

Sure Both the Group C era and Especially CanAm!, (which somehow Still seems to be Extremely Popular, Even With Youngsters !!!), but as is also witnessed at almost any 1/32 scale Plastic car racers Home or Race, The Modern GT's and LMP's Are Popular.

A Full field of Peugeots, Pesacrolo's and Audi LMP's, would Sure Look Cool, and Heck, One could Even have some 1/24th Corvette C6R's, what with the New Carrera !!,..lol

For myself, and I am sure Many Other Non Japanese 'Natives', I find I have No Interest Whatsoever in the JPGT Class, I ONLY own One, a Scalextric Honda NSX, one of the Odd 'Specials, but Other than that, I don't find them visually appealing!,..(maybe the 'Drifting' set find them More so!,..lol).

I'd rather run a LeMans/LMP class, than Those Peudo GT / Silhouette style cars.

In Regard to the LMP's and stuff, How come What seems to be one of THE Chassis of Choice Overseas,..the SLP2, isn't even Included in ANY of the Local Classes ??? The SLP, looks Perfect for the Large Plan form cars like Group C's, LMP's etc! Just Wondering,..

PLUS, for Myself, I would Still like to see Other manufacturers Chassis being able to race in the Future, In Fact considering the Style of car they are, one would/could imagine an Enterprising Local Manufacturer could arguably produce something useful as well, Which Would be Nice to see happening, Especially if as you Hope, this Style of Slot car becomes More Popular,..

Those cars of Fola's and some Others, Look interesting, Being interested in the 'Scratch-building' aspect of slotting, and Hating the 'Must be Commercially available' Tag, being Allowed to Create My Own, Better Mousetrap, Would Definitely get More of My interest,..the Custom, Mark Donohue inspired "Unfair advantage", always get's My Vote!

CHOICE,..IS a Very Worthy And Good Thing !!,..,..Just Like 'DEVO' tried to tell us,..ROFL

[stoo23]

Yes you can get an 11T plastic pinion. I will bring a couple down...
The Plafit gears are 50 pitch so not sure if they will mesh with the standard gears that come with the plastic chassis/cars. I am unsure what pitch they are....

Hi Pete,..thanks,..as I suspected the Plafit gears Are metric, and if 50 pitch, then DO Match the Pitch used by Many of the Better 1/32 and after market 1/32 manufacturers.

Avant-Slot, Slot.it, etc, etc, are All 50 pitch.
Methinks perhaps the Professor Motor Pinions may be 48, but I had been led to believe they mesh Nicely with the Plafit,..so Who Knows.

Be More than happy for you to 'bring Some With You",..

HSC didn't Have ANY and in fact there didn't seem to be an Empty Position on the Peg Board for Where they Should have been,..lol

[stoo23]

OK,..thanks for the Info.

I have I think browsed the World slotcar forum,....So Many Forums,..one can get a bit Forummed out, and as what was there was dealing with overseas stuff, not so much what was happening here,..on a Local level.

Plus I was looking for info on my 1/32 car, not the 1/24th variants.

Maybe the Metris chassis I found online some time ago and thought looked interesting, might be a 'Worthy' purchase then,..Especially as it will Only be coming 'One Way' !!,..lol


Regarding Overall Weight,...Ahh Yes ofcourse, the Red Devil Chassis,..to be honest I had forgotten all about that little beastie.

I Can understand why one Would consider running the Red Devil Aluminium Bottom Plate etc, around a Track Like the Kingleman. One could also Understand Why a Shorter/Lighter car Would work around there,..in Fact one could argue it would be Ideal.

If I was running a Magnet Plafit Car,..around HSC, then I Might consider the Red Devil Chassis, but as a Non Magnet car,..specifically for HSC, I kinda just went with my Intuition regarding Chassis parts choice, like using the Longer Bottom Plate instead of the Shorter one, (partly chosen due to the length of the maserati wheelbase etc), BUT also because I figured it to be a Better Idea, as it Spread the Mass, added extra weight, along with the Flat Body mounts, Fitted as Ballast !!

I am quite prepared to believe that someone with extraordinary driving Talent and skill, Could effectively control a Very Light car around HSC,..so far,..from observance and experience, one would have to suggest that perhaps slightly greater Mass, may prove to be your friend around this Tricky Little Track !!

Hey does anyone have an Underbody shot of a Scaley Maser, perhaps showing What 'Mods' were required (and How specifically), to allow the Interior to fit over the Chassis?

Thanks