I used to wear them when working on my slot cars a few years back. Between heats we had two minutes to change motors, bearings, tires, braid. Things that were small the tunnel vision effect worked good.
It's not the magnification but the back and forth. I've been on them all day and I'm getting used to them. Kind of getting into the rhythm, not so much back and forth and looking for tools that are out of focus, if that makes sense.
Cool, fun hobby. I'm into RC trail trucks and rock crawlers myself. We never grow up.
One thing though, those slot cars move so fast it's a blur. How the heck do you guys know who's winning and who won?
Cool, fun hobby. I'm into RC trail trucks and rock crawlers myself. We never grow up.
One thing though, those slot cars move so fast it's a blur. How the heck do you guys know who's winning and who won?
I started racing slot cars in 1966 at Hayward California. Pretty slow cars back then. My wife sent my cars over to the PI where we did our boat repairs. Subic base had a track. I just kept doing it. Motors, chassis, tires, all improved over the years. I prefer wing cars as they are the fastest. The tracks we race on are mostly King. 155' long. The worst turn is the hairpin donut lower left. My best qualifying run has been 1.67 seconds. The younger hot shots do in the low 1.5's. Motors have split magnets, rewound arms, ball bear cans. A long way from 1966 when a car cost $25. Now a cobalt 12 car can run $600-$700 each. Open cars $800-$1000. You are right, the cars are a blur, set up is key to staying on the tracks. There are lap counters for each lane to show the winner.
OMO means one motor open class. You have to build a car that will run all eight lane heats of three minutes and survive. Not allowed to change motors. Makes a difference in motor setup. Same with a qualifying motor but the other direction. Built to last maybe six laps at the fastest it can go. Then needs a rebuild. It is an expensive hobby. Slot cars speeds are approaching 1,000 scale MPH. That is a blur.
Back in the late '60s when the Slot Car Thing started to take off, I remember that someone rented/bought the former Robert Hall (clothing store) building on Sinclair Circle in Hampton, VA, USA (intersection of Armistead Ave and Mercury Blvd, IIRC) and converted it for slot cars.
Many times I thought about stopping by to see what it was all about, but I never did.
Now, thanks to WarPig1976, I have finally, almost 50 years later, witnessed some of the action.
PM
Originally Posted by muffett.2008
