AFX “Clear” Series Cars by Paul Shoemaker The great thing about the slot car hobby is the vast variety of subject matter we have available to us, regardless of what scale we fall sway to. For the most part, 1/32nd scale has held the crown and the kingdom for the most realism in the reproduction of our favorite pastime. In the HO world, to get the extreme details of interiors, drivers and motors, most often a customizing skill was needed and a lot of patience. There have only been a few samples of interiors being done by mainline manufacturers in the past, mostly in open cockpit or convertible designs...until now. 
The Devil’s in the Details AFX has been turning out some awesomely detailed and painted cars in the last couple of years, especially
in the historic racing genre. The original releases of the Cobra GT Coupe, Ford GT 40 Mk II and Chaparral
2D are incredibly detailed examples. So how do you improve on that kind of effort? By adding even more detail of course! The master craftsman at AFX added clear windows to the previous design and by some really cool “trick of the eye” illusion, have added an interior to each of the previous releases. What really blew my gaskets was the fact that the windows appeared seamless to bodies. I was concerned the changes in the mold masters would ruin the appearance of an already great work. Now here’s what surprised me. After taking several photos of the new cars, I popped a body off the chassis to capture how the interior was located inside. The body mount tabs didn’t appear correct in the picture. I went back and examined the body thinking maybe I had a damaged sample....Wrong! What I wasn’t seeing was the body mounts were transparent! The whole body was cast in transparent plastic and very cleverly masked and painted on the outside as normal, leaving the window areas clear. The masters were not changed at all, simply cast in a different material. The paint definition was absolutely crisp and the interior detail easily viewed through crystal clear windows! Cockpits, Fuel Cells, Spare Tires, Oh My! The interiors are a pretty ingenious concept in itself. A simple cardboard section with a detailed printing of the interior components is shaped to fit into the body using the chassis mounting tabs and the rear of the body holding it all in place. Light and easy to work with, it captures the illusion of a three dimensional cockpit in the tiny area provided by an HO slot car. Each interior is crafted for each of the three body designs and is unique to each one. So the Cobra GT is different than the GT 40 Mk II as is the Chaparral 2D. Details include a spare tire, fuel cell, racing seats and harness. Viewed from outside the windows of the car, these give off a convincing impression of a full 3D interior. Three Body Designs, Lots of Details! From here we will take a peek at each of the four new cars, 1 Cobra GT Coupe, 1 Chaparral 2D and 2 new paint schemes for the Ford GT 40 Mk II. Ford GT 40 Mk II | | | | Here are the two new Ford GT 40 Mk II designs covering the rides of Andretti (Blue) and Whitmore (Yellow). | | | | | | | | | | All the crisp details are still here. Nice, low stance and did we mention the interior? | | | | | Incredible details, inside and out. Makes you feel like you can just step in and take them for a spin! | | | | The Ford GT 40 Mk II interior panel along with all its detail. | Cobra GT Coupe Details on the Cobra. Any more and we would start seeing fangs! | | | | | | | | One very slick snake! | Chaparral 2D | | | | | The interiors stay tightly fit against the body mount tabs and the rear of the body. Notice the body mount tabs are clear, as is the whole body casting. | | | | | | | | The Chappy is awesome too. My sample came with the new Mega-G rims and that was icing on the cake. | We’ll take a look at the new AFX “Giant Racing” Set on the next review. Over 62 feet of racing in a
4 foot by 8 foot area and now includes the Tri-Power pack. Until then, Go Fast, Turn Left and Repeat Until Checkered.
-Paul |
