HOW-TO: Power Slot's Hummer H1

HOW-TO: Upgrading Power Slot's Hummer H1

If I was to sum up Power Slot's Hummer H1 release it would be 'all show and no go'.  Power Slots 2007 release of the Hummer H1 in 1:32 scale caught the attention of many slot car fans, especially those into the RAID/rally scene.  These days, a good H1 is getting harder and harder to come by, 2 years back I started to extend my RAID line-up and one of Power Slot's Hummers was a must have for me.

  If you've ever seen one in the flesh you'll know just how large and heavy these slots are.  The H1 is over 80mm wide, 145mm long and ground clearance through the centre of the slot is over 10mm high!  The Baja 1000 model featured here weighs in at 153 grams, the Lisboa-Dakar wagon H1 hits the 180 gram mark!   By way of comparison, a contemporary Slot.it weights under 80 grams.

A couple of features on the H1 caught my eye straight off the bat, the H1 has a massive drop glide arm, she's 4WD (twin belt driven), all wheel suspension, massive ground clearance, rubber aerials, a high detail model and a very unique release.

This from Wikipedia; 'The Hummer H1 is a civilian off-road vehicle based on the M998 Humvee, which was created by AM General. The vehicle was produced from 1992 through 2006, and was the first of what became the Hummer line. It was initially known only as the "Hummer"; however, in 1999 in a joint venture between General Motors and AM General, GM began marketing the Hummer H2, which was built on a heavily modified GMC 2500HD chassis.

It was at this point that the original Hummer was given the H1 designation. For collectors, the most desirable model is the H1 Alpha, produced in the final model year of 2006. It had the most powerful engine and the best fuel mileage of the H1 vehicles. Overall, the H1 was a very limited production vehicle.'

So the price, well with a slot like this you're going to be lucky to get much change from $US100 if you can find one.  You'll get your little hands on it and you'll find all the features I've detailed above present, you'll smile as you remove it from its base and place it on your track and that's where the smiling will end.  Now I'll point out that my H1 is one of the earlier releases and from what I've read, Power Slot made some improvements (particularly with the rubber) as later models were released.

Let's be realistic, you have to expect that such a heavy and large slot will not be breaking your lap record but unfortunately the H1's problems are far greater than a high centre of gravity.  All wheels are seriously out of round, the rubber is so bad that it is impossible to 'true' and in my models case, the rear axle was seriously bent.  This slot moves down the track like three-legged dogs on roller skates!  The saying 'shake, rattle and roll' seriously applies to the H1.

What's worse is that the 4WD action and suspension are basically ineffective.  The bands on the 4WD are too loose and there is nothing more than a millimetre or two of travel offered by the suspension.  The combination of a high COG, heavy body and no magnetic chassis down-force, results in a car that's very difficult to drive around even the slightest corner at speed.  Typically I would just upgrade hubs/rubber and away I'd go but the H1's hubs and rubber are an unusual size, more like a Fly or Avant truck than a Ninco RAID car.

All these factors resulted in putting my H1 back into its box and storing it in the cupboard out of sight for close to a year, till now.  Recently I can across a company called Mitoos Racing Slot Lab out of Spain, they make an extensive range of high performance parts allowing you to upgrade and improve your slots performance.  Ok I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for their knobbly truck tyres and wondered if they would be a suitable match for my H1.

A few hours research on the net resulted in the ordering of some Mitoos M028 Raid hubs and MO17 Raid Traction rubber.  I also needed to upgrade the axles and the standard Power Slot glide is sorely inadequate for a slot of such magnitude.  While I was at it, I noticed that Mitoos also manufacture suspension for the H1, a full set was a must if my beast was to perform to its full potential on the track.

A patient wait for my parts followed by 20 minutes of component replacement and I was ready to test my Mitoos upgraded H1.  Well as you might expect, track performance, handling and physics improvements are a welcome improvement, gone is the 'Hummer Hop' my H1 experienced as it lumbered down the track.  The H1 is far more manageable to drive and an added bonus to she also runs much quieter around the track.

Now lets talk about the improvements to aesthetics, the new hub/rubber combo looks wicked, hopefully the photos do the new look H1 justice.  At first I thought I'd prime and spray the hubs a mat black but I'll be leaving the chrome as is, for now anyway.

The suspension upgrade worked a dream, my H1 now has active suspension that actually works.  Mitoos offers a few options for the Hummer and I installed the 3-way adjustable (soft, medium and hard) M163 Pro shocks at the rear and M150 standard non-adjustable shocks in the front end due to reduced clearance to the bonnet.  The photos below will give you an idea of how well they work.

The upgrade glide was a must and helps to keep the beast in the slot when cornering, hot glueing the motor is also a good move.  I decide to remove the 4WD system as it offers very little to the H1's off  road capabilities, I may acquire some after market 4WD components at a later date and reinstall the 4WD function to the H1.  The only other element I may have to change in the future would be the spare wheel/rubber at the rear of the H1, really to create the full effect this needs to match the fantastic look of the Mitoos hubs and knobbly rubber tyres.

The H1 is always going to be a hand-full on the track but now its smooth, more manageable and stunning to drive.  For every 25 slot cars I purchase I find that one of them has something unexpected that makes you want to run it for thousands of laps, the Power Slot Hummer is one of those slots...you just have to work a little harder to unearth the potential.

Find this useful, check-out ManicSlot's How-to page by clicking the below link for more useful slotting tips and tricks.

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HOW-TO: Sponge Wheel Upgrade

HOW-TO: Scaleauto Sponge Wheels
SC2009 - 20.5x11mm and SC2018 - 20.5x9mm ProComp3 Wheels

Ok, for something a little different I recently purchased a few sets of Scaleauto sponge Procomp3 wheels for my home track, yep you heard me correctly, sponge wheels.  If you're like me you might have thought that foam wheels were ideally suited to big commercial tracks with painted surfaces but you'd be wrong, sponge wheels are equally at home running on a plastic track.

Wikipedia; 'The Ferrari 575M Maranello is a two-seat, two-door, grand tourer built by Ferrari. Launched in 2002, it is essentially an updated 550 Maranello featuring minor styling changes from Pininfarina. The 575M was replaced by the 599 GTB in the first half of 2006.'

I wanted to breathe a little life into one of my Carrera models and I thought the orange detail and tuff look of the Scaleauto wheels really suited my black Ferrari 575.  As with all models that come standard with plastic wheels, the biggest improvement in terms of smoothness and handling characteristics is to upgrade the wheels - if you haven't tried this before you'll be amazed but how much a new set of boots can improve your from-the-box runner.

Typically my favourite replacement wheel is Ninco's Pro Race EVO magnesium, they seem to look good on cars from different periods but this time I wanted to try something a little different and I'm glad I did.

Carrera models come with you standard type plastic running gearing and steel axles that have excoriate ends to allow the plastic wheels to grip to the axle.  These axels needed to be replaced and while I was at it I decided to update the 27 tooth crown gear, the standard pinion looked ok so this was left on the motor.  I also removed the large bar magnet which is screwed to the underneath of the 575 chassis and moved the small height adjustable magnet to the very front position for minimal down-force.

Of course the sky is the limit when it comes to possible upgrades; guide, braids, motor, axles and crown gear (all good performance improvements I sure) but I stuck with just the wheels, axels and crown gear with my 575.

As you can see from the above and below photos, the inside of my 575 is pretty busy with wiring for lighting and the reverse directional switch (something I love about Carrera models).  You can however make out the new axels and the black crown gear, I also needed to add a few spacers to the front and rear axels to get the wheels sitting flush with the body work.

With the upgrade to the sponge wheels, not only did the 575 run super smoothly on the track, but those old rather dull looking plastic wheels (which ruined the look of the Ferrari) had been replaced with an impressive looking wheel that really suits the look of the black 575 in my opinion.  Another observation of the sponge wheels is the reduced levels of noise they give off, definitely much quieter than your average rubber of silicon tyres. 

IMPORTANT: Something worth noting is that Scaleauto use a larger 1.5mm grub screw on these Procomp wheels.  Personally I like the larger grubs as not only can I see them, (yes I'm getting older) but I can hold them in my fingers and fit them to the wheels very quickly.  I ended up purchasing a new set of grub screw drivers from Scaleauto, they are very nice in your hand  and high-end engineered.

For more information about Scaleauto wheels, head over to the Scaleauto website by clicking the below link.

Find this useful, check-out ManicSlot's How-to page by clicking the below link for more useful slotting tips and tricks.

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HOW-TO: Rally Scenery Track Piece

ManicSlot's Rally Slot Car Scenery

Don't have the space for a permanent layout? No problem.

Before I had the space required to build my own permanent layout I used to take-over the lounge room (moving the dining table and lounge chairs much to my wife's annoyance) setting up temporary tracks for the weekend or even for a night of slotting.  You could say I had permanent track and in particular, track scenery envy - most of us have been there.

After a year or so and after I had built a small diorama piece (mainly for photography) I decided to get a bit more adventurous with size and complexity.  The concept was to have some small pieces (1.5x0.75 metres) of track scenery that I could incorporate into my temporary layouts.  The pieces needed to be small enough that I could slip them under my bed or store them in a cupboard, etc.


I purchased a piece of MDF (8-10mm thick so it didn't warp) and started configuring track pieces.  The objective was to make a series of curves and straights that were interesting to drive through.  I decided to cut some of my track pieces down the centre to make single lane pieces.  My goal was to make 2 separate routes through this particular piece of scenery; one across a bridge and the other through the rocky river.


Next came the introduction of a little track elevation, using flat slabs of poly-styrofoam (I got this for free from my local supermarket boxing waste bins - they use styrofoam for transporting fruit) and craft glue I built up the tracks elevation by approximately15mm at a time.  You can use plaster sheeting if you can't get access to foam, using plaster sheeting is outlined in the below 'Creating Slot Car Scenery' how-to.


IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't be too ambitious with adding elevation  remember that the scenery piece has to connect into your temporary layout at each end so it therefore needs to be a little flat at each end.

You then need to use a serrated bread cutting knife to shape the slabs of foam creating even grades and flat surfaces for your track pieces to sit on.  Use large irregular block pieces of foam to form hills and mounded features either side of the track, be sure to cut the foam pieces into approximate shapes that look natural.  The above and below photos shows how the foam can be cut to the shape of your track design.  Think of it like Lego, just add pieces until you are happy with the overall look of the hills, etc.


TIP: If you're have difficulty deciding what to construct, then look up some famous WFC rally tracks on the net for inspiration.
 
In the above and below photos you'll notice I completely removed all plastic from the track section as I want the track to go through a river bed of rocks and the black plastic would be unrealistic.  Be careful not to bend the metal rails as you remove the plastic, a shape knife is helpful here but obviously exercise care - you're going to need all your fingers to slot car later.


The above and below photos shows the start of the bridge construction, I have basically swapped the black plastic for 2 pieces of balsa wood which have been scored to make them look like the planks of a bridge, scoring can be done with the sharp end of a nail.  The 2 pieces of balsa wood have been attached to the foam (long pins and craft glue) to ensure they are stable when slots run across the bridge.  If you are building a bridge like this one its a good idea to regularly test your construction by running a slot over it a number of times.


Once you have terraformed your track piece (and the slot car track plastic pieces sit comfortable across it), be sure to test it well.  Make sure the slots can actually run across it and you have good electrical connectivity.  Using craft glue, attach your track pieces to the terraformed foam.

In the below photos you can see the continued bridge construction, using more balsa wood (I love the stuff) you can build any design that takes your fancy.  I use sowing pins and craft glue to put the pieces together and give the structure some structural strength.  You can also see the thin sheet of foam I places in the river bed, this will be slightly melted to shape later using heat.


Once the glue is dry you can start to add detail to your track piece to make it look more realistic.  This example is a rally piece so small and medium textured rocks, sand in river bed, dirt, etc. were used.  Again using craft glue, attach these items to the foam.  I used small smooth pebbles to represent my river boulders,  they are the same small pebbles used in fish tanks and easy to source.


I also used these small pebbles (combined with sand) to create the river crossing, again be sure your slots can actually get across any custom surface you are creating.  My rally cars are mainly FlySlot without the suspension or drop-arm guides that can be found on Ninco Raid vehicles, etc. so I had to appropriately design my track piece.
When you are applying a large amount of detail to your track (like the hundreds of pebbles in my case) it can be easier to apply the detail first and then pour some craft glue over the top.  Remember that craft glue dries clear so you don't have to be worried about seeing it afterwards.


You can see i used a combination of small pebbles and sand in the below photos, note how I have chosen flat pebbles for the creek crossing (where the slot is).  Even using these flatter pebbles the crossing was a challenge!


ADULTS ONLY STEP

Before you start painting there is a bit of a trick you can use to add detail to the foam surface but unfortunately this step is for ADULTS ONLY. By applying heat you can stress and melt the surface of the foam which once painted looks quite realistic. Do not apply too much heat to the foam or it may catch on fire and be damaged.  Just apply a small amount of heat (not to close to the foam) till you have the desired look you're after. Best to do this in an outside area so you have plenty of fresh air.

In the below photo you can see how the foam has been stressed/melted making it look more like rock or stone.  Also note the painted track, a simple step that adds to the overall look of your scenery.
 

The final stage is to apply paint to cover up all the pieces of terraformed foam and give the track a realistic appearance.  Be sure to have several paint colours for this stage (or blend some shades of your own by adding white or black to a base colour).

On my track piece I wanted to add some water to my river and wanted it to have that glacier light blue look, (I had been to Switzerland and was amazed by the water colour).  Anyway, I used craft glue mixed with some light blue paint.  The glue took a week to dry (only second day in the below photos) but looks pretty cool I think.  You can use purpose built stuff from several manufactures but its not cheap and the craft glue looks 70% as good in my opinion for a fraction of the cost.


In Step 3 of the above 'Creating Slot Car Scenery' how-to it details the process of layering your paints to create realism and how to accentuate feature detail by using the painting technique of 'dry brushing'.

The only thing remaining is to add some greenery, either buy some from your favorite hobby store or you can always make your own and save some of those hard earned $$$ for new slot cars.  I have a How-To for making your own trees at the below link if you're not sure of how to do it yourself.


The most important thing to remember is to have fun, making your own scenery is just another part of the hobby so enjoy yourself.

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.

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