EVENT: The King Returns!

Ferrari announces Michael Schumacher to return!

Ferrari have just announced that Michael Schumacher will be standing in for the recently injured Felipe Massa, something that is very timely given the teams recent promising return to form in Hungry.

This from Formula1.com 'Ferrari announced on Wednesday that they plan to draft in Michael Schumacher to replace the injured Felipe Massa at forthcoming Grands Prix, until the Brazilian is able to race again.The seven-times world champion, who retired from Formula One racing at the end of 2006, will undergo a special training programme over the next few days to confirm he is fit enough to compete in next month’s European Grand Prix.'

"The most important thing first: thank God, all news concerning Felipe is positive,” said Schumacher. “I wish him all the best again. I was meeting this afternoon with (Ferrari team principal) Stefano Domenicali and (chairman) Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.“

Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has been completely closed for me for a long time, it is also true that for reasons of loyalty to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation. But as the competitor I am I also very much look forward to facing this.”

Schumacher has not driven Ferrari’s current F60 in anger and last tested for the Italian team, with whom he won five world titles, back in April 2008.' (Source: Formula1.com)

You more about Michael and Ferrari at Formula1.com Here

NEWS: BRUT Mustang

Scalextric BRUT Mustang

C3002 Allan Moffat

Scalextric will soon release the Allan Moffat Brut Mustang and for those of us in Australia that's great news! I have seen few Brut Mustang reliveries over the years and have always wanted one for my collection.

Scalextric have done a great job on the livery, the silver and green paint scheme looks great. Given the popularity of the Allan Moffat Coke Mustang here in Australia, I would expect this one to be very popular.

You can read more about the Brut Mustang on the Scalextric Website Here

SCENERY: Fryar Mt. Stage III

ManicSlots' Track Scenery

Fryar Mountain, Stage III

I have been working hard on what I'm calling Stage III of my home track, Fryar Mountain. Most importantly, I have finally built and landscaped 'Fryar Mountain' itself so the track name makes a little more sense. Below are some photos of the new section and some detail updates on previous sections, I hope you enjoy.

Firstly, here are some photos of the new section, my background is in Surveying so I have always had a soft spot for construction sites.

The construction machinery I used to landscape the track was pretty inexpensive plastic toys, around $AU30 all up. Scale isn't 1:32 but it's not too bad at around 1:40 I estimate. When I can find some more appropriate to scale diecast machines I'll be replacing these.

Fryar Mountain, (see below) the only thing missing is a few mountain climbers.

Below are some photos of scenery updates to previous sections of my track. Below is a New Ray truck I finally got around to respraying and adding some Michelin sponsorship. I fixed a platform into the rear of the trailer to house a slot being lowered from the trailer.

I have added some large signage to the circuit, the main part of the sign is made from MDF and the posts are balsa wood although you could use something else like doweling, etc. Sponsorship is printed on a colour laser printer and sealed with Aquadhere craft glue.

I use the Carrera lap timer which I find to be adequate timing to 1/100th of a second. The timer does however look a little ugly so I added a little sponsorship, Michelin and Shell sticker have been added to the back of the timer and it looks much more in place on the track.

I have this 1:32 scale helicopter attached to the roof over the track, it looks pretty good and I'll be adding at least one more on the track. I purchased it from Mr Toys for around $AU20.

I purchased a set of 5 Carrera flagmen, they are well painted and look good on the track.

I painted the Carrera pit crew's refuelling rig and added some sponsorship which improves the look of the refuelling piece.

You can find some more scenery tips and photos at the following resources:

Find this useful?  You'll find more useful 'How-to' content, tips and tricks at the below link.

SLOT SOUL: Nissan R390 GT1

SLOT SOUL: Slot.it Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car

You don't have to purchase a 'white kit' to get into creating your own slot cars liveries. Often you have a slot that you like driving so much that it starts to look a little old from wear and tear. You know the slots I'm talking about, we all have them and these slots are the perfect candidate for a respray. Revamping an old slot also has the bonus of providing you with brand new slot for the cost of a little paint and some decals.

In this case I had a very tired Slot.it R390 Road Car, she had lost both mirrors and the paint job was scratched and worn. Interestingly when this model was released by Slot.it it had a well documented problem with the front wheels being seriously out of alignment on the front axel. I contacted Slot.it regarding my models problem as was sent new set of front wheels promptly, since then this model has run like a star. I was really impressed with Slot.it and it demonstrated their dedication to excellence and this hobby.

The livery is a fantasy Warsteiner livery made up of a few left over decals I had.