Burnout Alley Thingies
Devoted to the "Thingie" era of slot car racing, 1966 to 1969. My compilation of futuristic or concept slot cars either created from scratch or in full or partial factory original form.
And now, the Thingies!
....but first, "Dynamic Angelina"
You didn't know she had a "Thingie", did you?
1/24 AMT "Fantum"
The Fantum was AMT's last production slot car along with the "Bandido" of the same series.
These cars came in blue or gold metallic (as pictured) and were quite different in stance from earlier "Thingies" of the era. Pan type chassis were just becoming popular.
Wheels were simple 5.40 threaded aluminum dish with rubber tires in front and the "German formula" sponge slicks on the rear, common in the day.
Since the old tires are only good for show, I chose to use some AB Slotsport "Ultrathanes" in their place for better traction on all tracks.
Some detailing was done to the already perfect body and the windshield was tinted dark purple.
Instead of the original AMT/Dynamic purple 36d motor, I decided to fit a Cox "NASCAR" 36d motor for an upcoming series in the local club.
The motor was attached to the axle bracket with two 2.56 screws making a solid unit of the drivetrain. The old nylon axle bearings were also replaced with oilites.
Axle bracket mounting hardware was left "loose" to aid in flexibility.
Aluminum pan chassis just weren't heavy enough so lead weight was added in different locations and a modern Jet guide installed in place of the original AMT unit. Modern silicone leadwire was also added.
1/24 Checkered Flag "Lancer Hornet"
Body is the repopped "New Lancer" Hornet, airbrushed with a layer of gold flake backed up with Pactra RC "Grand Prix Gold."
To be somewhat period correct, I chose to leave the driver "plain" as Monogram did with it's late arrivals to the Thingie craze.
Wheels are the chrome plated Classic Manta Ray's topped off with Dynamic spinners & Indy Grips rear silicones.
For the chassis I chose the universal "Checkered Flag" gold anodized version to go along with the body color. Power is supplied by a Cox Nascar and body mounts were scratchbuilt from brass tube/brass stock to fit the contour of the body.
1/24 Dynamic "MZ Mantshee"
A trashed Classic Manta Ray body would be the donor of it’s clear “dome.” The BZ Banshee body was recieved as shown from an ebay auction for $1.99. The jagged hole in the roof was the only flaw which gave me the idea. I proceeded to cut out the Manta bubble dome leaving a little extra around the edges. I then marked off the Banshee roof for an approximate sized hole to fit the dome. It was then trimmed out with scissors & gradually drum sanded to the correct size. The same was done with the dome, leaving just a little overlap so it could later be mounted from the inside. A little dome polishing was also needed and most of the battle scars were removed. A bevel was sanded under the roof panel all the way around the hole so a better fit could be achieved for the bubble sun roof. Hopefully, this procedure would help make this look like it was molded in.
A piece of lexan (not shown) was made as a platform to place under the dome later and will have some sort of graphic on it. A driver figure (in Thingie style) will also be squeezed in there somehow, visible through the windshield. The windshield was masked off & the body was scuff sanded with a 3M fine scuff pad and a couple of small gouges in the front repaired with automotive primer/filler.
Now it was time to pick out a chassis for this project. A Dynamic cast aluminum sidewinder for a 36d motor was chosen similar to the chassis used for the Dynamic Renegade. This particular chassis had no rear bearings but, only 1/8” holes for the axle so, I decided to drill them out larger & half way through from the outside & install ball bearings. I had never tried this before but, it worked out pretty well. The bearings were fitted up with an axle through them & super glued in. The Dynamic roller bearing style front end was used for the front axle.
For the power I wanted something more than stock since this was a special car. I had a “Mega Rewind” 36d can drive motor from the old days in "like new" condition which features a ball bearing in the can, Arco 33 magnets & a Kirkwood balanced/epoxied arm. I decided to use 64 pitch Weldun gears I acquired from ebay consisting of a 60T spur & a 16T pinion giving me a 3.75 ratio. The rear tires are modern sponge Pro-Track #330. They are 27mm diameter X 10mm wide and worked great leaving just enough ground clearance. Rear track width would come out to 80mm. The fronts were 4.40 threaded, drilled magnesium from the parts bin & were very corroded but, cleaned up nicely & received a good coat of clear to prevent future problems. A handmade brass motor bracket was fabricated for extra support of the motor to keep it from moving & ruining those pricey gears.
A brass body bracket was also fabricated to fit the body to the chassis using the existing mounting holes in the BZ body. After these pictures I discovered the body bracket had a little too much fore & aft twisting movement so I added a piano wire brace which cured the problem. Motor was set at a slight angle with the help of a brass shim to accommodate the gears so we wouldn’t have to go larger on spur size. Probably could now call this an “anglewinder” instead of a sidewinder. A track test was done with different power types and was very successful. The car is smooth and runs well on 10 or full 12.8 volts. Traction was very good so my handling worries were over. Now I could safely go on to finish the body.
Not really knowing what I wanted for a paint scheme, I knew it would have to be special for this one of a kind Thingie. I decided to lay down some flames in three colors fading one into the other. This would all be painted on the outside with an automotive urethane basecoat/clearcoat system. I found some Chrysler & Honda colors that looked good together and went with those. First a Champaign metallic then fading into an Inca gold metallic and finishing with a bright green metallic. This would all be over a Silver Pearl metallic base body color. After some trial & error this was all laid out & the basecoats finished.
In the above photo, the base coats have been laid down.
It was discovered that the front axle mount was preventing the body from being mounted low enough in front so the indented section of the hood was cut out allowing the body to be mounted lower. A hood scoop was vac-formed using an injected plastic one from an old model as a mold. A little fabricating was done & a perfect copy was made on my old Mattel Vac-U-Form.
Also found in my model parts bin were some scoops that would fit the rear corners of the windshield perfectly. This is that area that looks like an extension of the windshield on both sides but, was originally painted the same color as the body on all of the BZ Banshees. I thought these would do even more to make this a one of a kind Thingie and give it a cool look.
Driver is a Revell with a "DC Super Heroes" Head.
Then, two coats of urethane clear coat would bring out those colors and give it that shiny luster of a vac body.
The finished "MZ Mantshee":
1/24 Dynamic "Bat Needle"
Sonic Needle, well sort of........
another ebay deal but, this one was obvious. Great Garvic chassis with a useless body? I used the chassis for another project.
Figured I had nothing to lose with the body. Do some experimenting or trash it.
After using CA to bond it back together, I used "shoe goo" underneath for strength. Allowing ample time to dry, the cracks were grooved out with a
Dremel tool & filled with a Duramix epoxy type adhesive/filler used for flexible automotive bumpers.
This was sanded smooth & primer filled with automotive urethane primer, block sanded and then sprayed on the outside with basecoat/clearcoat
automotive urethane.
Graphics/paint were done with a combination of hand made stensils & airbrushing. Windows were also "painted on" using the original pattern, all before clearcoating.
Chassis is Dynamic sidewinder with Classic 36d. Wheels are Mila Miglia drilled mags.
1/24 Dynamic "Manta Ray" Hot Rod
Classic Manta Ray marrys a Dynamic.......
This body was one of those tricky ebay deals. It looked like an original factory red in good condition but, when I recieved it I unfortunately found out it was a poorly painted original clear body but, still in sound condition. Somehow, I thought I needed to "salvage" this thing.
I decided to mate it with a Dynamic sidewinder chassis using a Champion 36d motor & Classic Stinger rear wheels/tires.
Body was sprayed on the outside using Dupont basecoat/clearcoat automotive urethane. I found this cool "HotRod" decal in the bin and thought it would go great on this car. It was applied before the
final clearcoat was shot.
1/24 Pactra "Heavenly Hornet"
My entry into the European Thingie Proxy Series of races in early 2006. The car brought home a fourth place overall & grabbed first in concourse honors.
Body is the Lancer repo & done with automotive metal flake bonded & sealed with urethane clear. Airbrushed graphics done with Pactra RC lacquers.
The whole warped story:
Holding the car vertically with the nose at the bottom, notice the small flame at the nose.
The "Angel" is escaping the wrath of hell after helping some poor soul on earth & heading back home to heaven in a huff of multi-colored smoke. The metalflake could be construed as the star studded universe thus, the name.....
"Heavenly Hornet."
Chassis is base 1960's Pactra brass unit with original Hemi motor and added Jet Guide & Pro-Track rear sponge tires. Special brass body mount brackets were made to mount the body.
1/24 Pactra/Atlas "Titan II Bat"
This car raced to a second place overall for the GSRA Summer season in 2001.
It features the Auto World Atlas 206 motor & "ChromOllie" scratchbuilt frame.
A copy of this body was requested by Edo Bertoglio of Switzerland. It was painted & sent to him and is shown below.
And now, the Thingies!
....but first, "Dynamic Angelina"
You didn't know she had a "Thingie", did you?
1/24 AMT "Fantum"
The Fantum was AMT's last production slot car along with the "Bandido" of the same series.
These cars came in blue or gold metallic (as pictured) and were quite different in stance from earlier "Thingies" of the era. Pan type chassis were just becoming popular.
Wheels were simple 5.40 threaded aluminum dish with rubber tires in front and the "German formula" sponge slicks on the rear, common in the day.
Since the old tires are only good for show, I chose to use some AB Slotsport "Ultrathanes" in their place for better traction on all tracks.
Some detailing was done to the already perfect body and the windshield was tinted dark purple.
Instead of the original AMT/Dynamic purple 36d motor, I decided to fit a Cox "NASCAR" 36d motor for an upcoming series in the local club.
The motor was attached to the axle bracket with two 2.56 screws making a solid unit of the drivetrain. The old nylon axle bearings were also replaced with oilites.
Axle bracket mounting hardware was left "loose" to aid in flexibility.
Aluminum pan chassis just weren't heavy enough so lead weight was added in different locations and a modern Jet guide installed in place of the original AMT unit. Modern silicone leadwire was also added.
1/24 Checkered Flag "Lancer Hornet"
Body is the repopped "New Lancer" Hornet, airbrushed with a layer of gold flake backed up with Pactra RC "Grand Prix Gold." To be somewhat period correct, I chose to leave the driver "plain" as Monogram did with it's late arrivals to the Thingie craze.
Wheels are the chrome plated Classic Manta Ray's topped off with Dynamic spinners & Indy Grips rear silicones.
For the chassis I chose the universal "Checkered Flag" gold anodized version to go along with the body color. Power is supplied by a Cox Nascar and body mounts were scratchbuilt from brass tube/brass stock to fit the contour of the body.
1/24 Dynamic "MZ Mantshee"
A trashed Classic Manta Ray body would be the donor of it’s clear “dome.” The BZ Banshee body was recieved as shown from an ebay auction for $1.99. The jagged hole in the roof was the only flaw which gave me the idea. I proceeded to cut out the Manta bubble dome leaving a little extra around the edges. I then marked off the Banshee roof for an approximate sized hole to fit the dome. It was then trimmed out with scissors & gradually drum sanded to the correct size. The same was done with the dome, leaving just a little overlap so it could later be mounted from the inside. A little dome polishing was also needed and most of the battle scars were removed. A bevel was sanded under the roof panel all the way around the hole so a better fit could be achieved for the bubble sun roof. Hopefully, this procedure would help make this look like it was molded in.
A piece of lexan (not shown) was made as a platform to place under the dome later and will have some sort of graphic on it. A driver figure (in Thingie style) will also be squeezed in there somehow, visible through the windshield. The windshield was masked off & the body was scuff sanded with a 3M fine scuff pad and a couple of small gouges in the front repaired with automotive primer/filler.
Now it was time to pick out a chassis for this project. A Dynamic cast aluminum sidewinder for a 36d motor was chosen similar to the chassis used for the Dynamic Renegade. This particular chassis had no rear bearings but, only 1/8” holes for the axle so, I decided to drill them out larger & half way through from the outside & install ball bearings. I had never tried this before but, it worked out pretty well. The bearings were fitted up with an axle through them & super glued in. The Dynamic roller bearing style front end was used for the front axle.
For the power I wanted something more than stock since this was a special car. I had a “Mega Rewind” 36d can drive motor from the old days in "like new" condition which features a ball bearing in the can, Arco 33 magnets & a Kirkwood balanced/epoxied arm. I decided to use 64 pitch Weldun gears I acquired from ebay consisting of a 60T spur & a 16T pinion giving me a 3.75 ratio. The rear tires are modern sponge Pro-Track #330. They are 27mm diameter X 10mm wide and worked great leaving just enough ground clearance. Rear track width would come out to 80mm. The fronts were 4.40 threaded, drilled magnesium from the parts bin & were very corroded but, cleaned up nicely & received a good coat of clear to prevent future problems. A handmade brass motor bracket was fabricated for extra support of the motor to keep it from moving & ruining those pricey gears.
A brass body bracket was also fabricated to fit the body to the chassis using the existing mounting holes in the BZ body. After these pictures I discovered the body bracket had a little too much fore & aft twisting movement so I added a piano wire brace which cured the problem. Motor was set at a slight angle with the help of a brass shim to accommodate the gears so we wouldn’t have to go larger on spur size. Probably could now call this an “anglewinder” instead of a sidewinder. A track test was done with different power types and was very successful. The car is smooth and runs well on 10 or full 12.8 volts. Traction was very good so my handling worries were over. Now I could safely go on to finish the body.
Not really knowing what I wanted for a paint scheme, I knew it would have to be special for this one of a kind Thingie. I decided to lay down some flames in three colors fading one into the other. This would all be painted on the outside with an automotive urethane basecoat/clearcoat system. I found some Chrysler & Honda colors that looked good together and went with those. First a Champaign metallic then fading into an Inca gold metallic and finishing with a bright green metallic. This would all be over a Silver Pearl metallic base body color. After some trial & error this was all laid out & the basecoats finished.
In the above photo, the base coats have been laid down.
It was discovered that the front axle mount was preventing the body from being mounted low enough in front so the indented section of the hood was cut out allowing the body to be mounted lower. A hood scoop was vac-formed using an injected plastic one from an old model as a mold. A little fabricating was done & a perfect copy was made on my old Mattel Vac-U-Form.
Also found in my model parts bin were some scoops that would fit the rear corners of the windshield perfectly. This is that area that looks like an extension of the windshield on both sides but, was originally painted the same color as the body on all of the BZ Banshees. I thought these would do even more to make this a one of a kind Thingie and give it a cool look.
Driver is a Revell with a "DC Super Heroes" Head.
Then, two coats of urethane clear coat would bring out those colors and give it that shiny luster of a vac body.
The finished "MZ Mantshee":
1/24 Dynamic "Bat Needle"
Sonic Needle, well sort of........ another ebay deal but, this one was obvious. Great Garvic chassis with a useless body? I used the chassis for another project.
Figured I had nothing to lose with the body. Do some experimenting or trash it.
After using CA to bond it back together, I used "shoe goo" underneath for strength. Allowing ample time to dry, the cracks were grooved out with a Dremel tool & filled with a Duramix epoxy type adhesive/filler used for flexible automotive bumpers.
This was sanded smooth & primer filled with automotive urethane primer, block sanded and then sprayed on the outside with basecoat/clearcoat automotive urethane.
Graphics/paint were done with a combination of hand made stensils & airbrushing. Windows were also "painted on" using the original pattern, all before clearcoating.
Chassis is Dynamic sidewinder with Classic 36d. Wheels are Mila Miglia drilled mags.
1/24 Dynamic "Manta Ray" Hot Rod
Classic Manta Ray marrys a Dynamic....... This body was one of those tricky ebay deals. It looked like an original factory red in good condition but, when I recieved it I unfortunately found out it was a poorly painted original clear body but, still in sound condition. Somehow, I thought I needed to "salvage" this thing.
I decided to mate it with a Dynamic sidewinder chassis using a Champion 36d motor & Classic Stinger rear wheels/tires.
Body was sprayed on the outside using Dupont basecoat/clearcoat automotive urethane. I found this cool "HotRod" decal in the bin and thought it would go great on this car. It was applied before the final clearcoat was shot.
1/24 Pactra "Heavenly Hornet"
My entry into the European Thingie Proxy Series of races in early 2006. The car brought home a fourth place overall & grabbed first in concourse honors.
Body is the Lancer repo & done with automotive metal flake bonded & sealed with urethane clear. Airbrushed graphics done with Pactra RC lacquers.
The whole warped story:
Holding the car vertically with the nose at the bottom, notice the small flame at the nose.
The "Angel" is escaping the wrath of hell after helping some poor soul on earth & heading back home to heaven in a huff of multi-colored smoke. The metalflake could be construed as the star studded universe thus, the name.....
"Heavenly Hornet."
Chassis is base 1960's Pactra brass unit with original Hemi motor and added Jet Guide & Pro-Track rear sponge tires. Special brass body mount brackets were made to mount the body.
1/24 Pactra/Atlas "Titan II Bat"
This car raced to a second place overall for the GSRA Summer season in 2001.
It features the Auto World Atlas 206 motor & "ChromOllie" scratchbuilt frame.
A copy of this body was requested by Edo Bertoglio of Switzerland. It was painted & sent to him and is shown below.
- Burnout Alley Thingies - Page 2
- Burnout Alley 2008 Proxy page
- Burnout Alley Hot Rods
- Burnout Alley Dirt Oval Cars
- Burnout Alley Raceway
- Slot Forum Thingie discussion
E-mail:m.zimmerman.sr@att.net
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