1/24 Vintage Modified Falcon: Butch LaFrance '10 Pins'

[Vintage 1/24]

The "10 pins" was a 1961 Falcon bodied Modified driven by Butch LaFrance at Islip Speedway, during what I consider the *heyday* of asphalt modified racing. The car even hailed straight from my home town - which was also pretty cool.

The problem in building this slot car is there really are no two-door Falcon bodies available to work from. Yes, there is a '62 Falcon resin cast available from Big Donkey Resins but it is pretty heavy to be a competitive slot car - And it has already been cut up into a modified - sedan post is missing etc. A few original promos are out there but they tend to be warped or just too expensive or too collectible to acquire for this purpose...

I have always wanted to try casting and I have seen some of the really great stuff guys like "Woodguy32" have created and I thought this might be an opportunity to try my own hand.

EARLY FALCON TWO DOOR CONVERSION-



I used the 1961 Falcon Ranchero kit - which is readily available - I hacked off the "bed" and shortened the model kit to better match the shorter wheelbase of the two door sedan.
I mastered the rear roof section and deck lid of the two door sedan to work as a simple conversion piece. This way it would (both) be a small casting for me to handle, and also wouldn't add too much weight to the slot car - which likely will see competition and turn some laps in anger at South Shore Speedway.

FIRST RESIN CASTING-



Well it worked pretty well - I made a mold and I did some 'squish' casting and I
now have a few pieces made - so I should be able to put together some 1961-63
Falcons - They were actually fairly popular body style choices for Modifieds in
their day.

I have already drawn up the decals and I will update this thread as the '10 Pins'
build continues along.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Oh this is a good one.

[sixtiesracer]

TJ's Custom Castings has a early 60's Modified Falcon body as well.

[dge467]

That's some great looking work!

[Vintage 1/24]

This one needs to get finished - sitting around for the better part of a year. I am building it to fit within a class which allows one single straight cut to a stock Womp chassis - no hinges - no trimming - can't even move the oil-lites or axles to lower the pan...

I figure I will try something a little different and I will leave it to the *next build* to be more conventional - (ie: try to copy what the fastest guys are running and call it good).

I stretched a steel Womp chassis that looks like it has seen it's share of use, probably back in the 1980s. The steel pan is slightly lighter than the brass Womps and it was laying in the junk box - so it seemed about right as a donor. Plus this one wont be a show piece, since it will have to undergo some R&D as I figure out how it actually works on the race track and in a competitive environment.


STRETCHED WOMP WITH ONE CUT -


The piano wire rods give a little flex to work the corners and return all four wheels flat to the track on the straights or at rest but still leaves the chassis fairly rigid.

I cut out a piece of flat brass to use as a pan to lower the center of gravity - asymmetrical to offset the weight... Using acid I etched a 'logo' into the bottom - like I did on the Offy Hot-Shot Midget I built earlier in the year.

BRASS PAN WITH INTAGLIO ETCHING -


I changed the skeleton gesture just a little to make it unique, and added a small number "13" because the chassis is being built in the year 13... 2013.

Here is the Midget for comparison.

OFFY MIDGET ETCHED PAN COMPARISON -



Anyway - I hope to finish this up in a timely fashion and post updates.

It will be nice to add another Islip Speedway car to the ranks - and of course always good to have a fresh car to race!

[Vintage 1/24]

I am going to try the '30 minute approach' on this one. I find if I work a little each day - even just 30 minutes, these cars just come together on their own.

I soldered some brass and a little thin wire to the brass pan I cut and etched.

BRASS PAN WITH TENSION WIRE ADDED -




The next shot is just the two pieces together - This is kind of how they will sit... It will be soldered up and there will be some tabs to restrict movement - but essentially it will be a kind of rattle pan.

BRASS PAN FITTED TO STRETCHED WOMP -




I have never done a 'work-in-progress' type post before - usually I just post them after they are built. The '10 Pins' is probably a little obscure without a big following, but I have been selecting my subjects based on body style - trying to avoid too much duplication - so I am picking unique cars.

Hopefully I will finih this up quickly now that it is back on my bench - even if it is only 30 minutes at a session...

[dreinecke]

VERY excellent work on the chassis and the body so far!

[BIG E]

COOL! The Falcon looks great, I hope when I finally get back out to Mike's house to race you've got it in your box so I can see it "in person".

As usual, nice work! -- Ernie

[Vintage 1/24]

Bibster:
I took inspiration from 19th century intaglio etchings, and I took the technology from the modern day DIY Printed Circuit Board guys.
I use Ferric Chloride - it is available in PCB Etchant solutions...

BigE:
I like the early Falcon body style - lots of top guys raced them back when. Look forward to seeing you at South Shore Speedway, I see you have been racing the "SK Mods" at the new Small Torque Speedway...

[BIG E]

Yeah, had a finish outside of the top two for the first time last Monday.
I may still have the points lead, though. Lots of long green flag runs in this series.
Thanks... Ernie

[woodguy32]

Amazing.. Simply Amazing.. Vintage another Awesome Build.. And another womp conversion..is that standard for the south shore track? and with a floating pan to boot..

Great build.. and a body that never existed..

I will be following this one for sure..

Thanks for posting and the inspiration ... it really helps..
wood

[AllanI]

Gents I know it's the wrong scale and the wrong year for this thread but I wondered if this may be of interest.
See http://www.georgeturnermodels.com for further info.


Allan

[Vintage 1/24]

woodguy32:
Yes, South Shore Speedway has a hardbody class that is based on the one-cut Womp - so I have been building to try to fit my cars into that... In the past though I would often cut up Womp Womps for the rear motor axle cradle and/or front guide with axle tabs as a head start for scratch building 1/24 cars.

BTW - (I am sure I am not alone in saying) you provide inspiration around here - with unique projects, tracks, builds, casting, woodworking, electronics, art, Hot Rod building, etc. - while overcoming adversity... Always impressed with the cool stuff from "Planet Ohio"!


AllanI:
I am locked into the big scale 1/24, but there is definitely a lot of really cool stuff out there in 1/32nd, from both the main stream and the boutique/cottage/hobbyist builder... That is an interesting link - you should post it in the 1/32 section so it doesn't get missed.

[Vintage 1/24]

Well, the 30 minute approach isn't moving the build forward as quickly as I had hoped, but I did use the last short session to cut and solder a pair of scale bumpers - I will fit/position them after I definitively mount the body and take a look at how it all sits. Hopefully I can found some extra minutes on the weekend and get the chassis done and then begin finishing the body.

FRONT AND REAR BUMPER -



Looking carefully at the same blurry black and white photograph from the 8$ build thread, the '10 Pins' can be seen in action at Islip
Speedway around 1972. You can vaguely see the '10 Pins' Falcon following the 8$ Mustang driving around the big wreck seen in the lower frame...

TRIPLE NICKEL ISLIP SPEEDWAY WRECK -

[Vintage 1/24]

Slowly coming together...

Added a 3/8" (offset) cooling hole, soldered the 'tension wire' to the metal Womp chassis halves, and added a brass 'stop' so the lower plate/pan lays flat and clears the tech tool.


The left side body mount will be connected to the brass 'stop'.


ROLLING CHASSIS -