"Reproduced with permission of Kalmbach Publishing. All rights reserved."
Simple modifications add the look of action to Monogram's new sprint car.
By Bruce A Anliker.Photos by Harry F Holloway.
You're on your feet with the rest of the crowd,nervously waiting the drop of the green.Rounding turns three and four are thirty brightly painted,chrome wheeled,winged warriors.Poised like cats ready to spring on their prey,they jostle for position amongst themselves.As the green flag flies they roar to life,engines howling,tires churning,collectively screaming toward the narrow first turn.You hold your breath hoping nothing goes wrong.A logjam of cars traveling at breakneck speeds hurl themselves into the corner looking for room to run.On a good night they all make it safely through to run another frenzied lap.On a bad night,one or more get spit out of the pack into the sky suffering a seemingly endless series of gyrations.
On the following laps things smooth out and the drivers develop their rhythm.they haul down the straight,jab the brakes,flick the steering wheel to the right,and stomp the accelerator.This brings the rear of the car around and the driver must deftly balance these inputs to plant the right rear tire on the "cushion".In no other form of racing is this controlled four-wheel power slide so crucial to going fast.And a sprinter never looks better than when its hunkered-down,crossed up or "backed in".
When a sprinter is tossed into the corner it actually squats to the left-"hunkered down".This is due largely to the action of the jacobs ladder on the right side of the frame which shifts the cars center of gravity.Wind forces acting on the side board of the wing also contribute to the cars leftward list.Through the corner the sprint car will have the front tires craked hard to the right in order to travel around a lefthand turn-"crossed up"."Backed in" means that the cars huge right rear tire is riding on the very edge of the cushion-the place where traction is usually best,the place where the nights racing activities have created a thick,soft layer of mud marbles.Often running the cushion means that the car travels high on the track right along the fence,Right along the very edge of disaster.
Now that Monogram has brought us their beautifully detailed sprinters,we can have some of the excitement of a World of Outlaws race right on our bookshelves.And one of the best ways to improve Monograms great sprint car kit is to modify it so its backed in.
SAE
1)The first place to start this modification is with the suspension.On the LEFT SIDE suspension components,remove about 1/16 of an inch from the shocks piston rods(a).To allow for the new higher leftside suspension,cut a small wedge out of the REAR torsion arm(b) and bend the radius rod slightly(c).Adjust both bends by trial fitting with the frame.Once these modifications are complete,the suspension assembly follows the kit instructions while allowing for the fact that the axles wiil no longer install straight in relation to the frame.
2)Modification to the front axle is next.Cut the axle just inside the kingpins and trim the ends to a 45 degree angle.Cement the kingpin and spindles back onto the axle at their new angle while making sure the spindles stay parallel to the axle in the horizontal axis.Also bend the panhard rod on the front of the axle UP slightly to allow for the angle of the suspension.Bend the ends of the tie rod and steering arm to match the new 45 degree angle of the spindles.
3)The final modification is to reconstruct the arms of the driver figure so that he's turning the steering wheel to the right.I found that it's best to use the left arms from two kits(a).Cut one ABOVE the elbow and the other BELOW the elbow.Combine the longest parts into an extended arm that will reach the top center of the steering wheel.The palm should be facing downward.Cut the right arm into three parts as shown(b).This arm should be swivelled at the elbow to tuck the forearm against the drivers stomach.Turn the hand palm up so that it can grasp the bottom centre of the steering wheel.
The completed figure shows arm and hand positions.Putty and mold all joints so that the arms look natural.Cement the drivers head so that he's looking to the right-into the turn.An additional detail that helps realism is to cut a piece of clear acetate to form a face shield.The really adventurous could even create miniature tear-offs.
Notice how much more dynamic the "backed in" sprinter seems-more like its in motion even standing still.However you decide to build your sprintcar though,you'll get a good looking,well detailed scale racer.Monograms got the look,the stance,and all the little details just right.And with a little more work you can make it even better.
but then I might just try one.