Here are a couple pictures of 98-99% of my 1/43rd custom collection. I still keep finding more in drawers, dining room table, garage, at work. I'll never have them all in one place.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f288/micyou03/07-08-06CustomCollectionPile02a.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f288/micyou03/07-08-06CustomCollectionPile01a.jpg

Is that a blue AMX in the lower left of the upper picture/ upper right of the lower picture??!!!! I see several cars I like. I have gotten burnt out on HO and have been considering a larger scale, mainly for realism. Where doees one find the muscle and stock cars in 1/43?

For Muscle cars I like to convert AMT 1/43rd models. The blue AMX, white Vette and burgandy Torino are all AMTs I have a few more to do too. I have a Mustang, Camaro, 57 Chevy, 68 Firebird and a 60 Chevelle. I usually end up payiny like $10 including shipping for these on e-bay. Also I can put a lower profile motor in these cars an add drivers.

For older stock cars these the "Legends of Racing Series" that I find on e-bay. Many sllers think they are diecast because there is a weight under the body to make it feel heavier, but they are plastic.

For newer NASCAR we get bodies from Sunoco promotions, Windracers, and Pullbacks. The Windracers and Pullbacks are already painted they just have to be mounted. These bodies are a little longer than Artin chassis, but the great thing about this scale is that the bigger chassis can easily be lengthened, or modified in other ways when necessary. Most of these bodies cost about $1-$3 a piece, and we 1/43rders are always trading or just sending stuff to others because its all so cheap.

Carrera Go!!! is releasing some NASCAR stuff this Fall.

There are people in our circle that make aluminum CNC chassis to fit the various bodies we are finding and sell them for only a couple bucks apiece. There are like three people making vac-formed bodies and selling them for like $2-$5 each.

There is another guy making Aluminum rear wheels with Wizard silicone tires and selling them for $4 each. I just saw that he is now doing custom axles and gears.

The possibilities are just endless and the costs are minimal in this scale.

So what should I look for chassis wise? Are Artins any good? Right now I am considering 1/32 scale but like the smaller size which translates into a larger track in the same space.

I like the Artin chassis. They remind me of a T-jet chassis the way they slide around the corners. They run great on 7-9 volts. I usually just but the $9.99 figure 8 sets at TrU keep the cars for the chassis, keep the straights for trading, if the controllers are variable type I keep those for trading or giving away, and I throw the curves away. You need the true the front rear tires very good to get the chassis to run good. We have found that bringing the rear tires to 16mm in diameter anf the fronts to 14mm, and lubing and they run pretty good. I also buy cars for SCW Slot Car World for good prices. here is a link to what they have available.

http://www.slotcarworld.com/143ArtinCars.htm

I also enjoy Carrera Go!!! at 15 volts. They remind me of like a Tyco 440-X2. They really only require a little tire truing and lubing. Here is what SCW has for Carrera Go!!!

http://www.slotcarworld.com/143CarreraCars.htm

Here is a link to a great 1/43rd informational website.

http://homepage.mac.com/pmarchand/newindex.htm

If you want to have a look here is the 1/43rd forum I visit.

http://p198.ezboard.com/fhomeracingworldfrm9

I hve to say, you have a unique way of displaying your collection. :p

Thanks for the links. Question: Do these cars rely on chassis magnets as traction aids? The reason I ask is that I would prefer to rout my track as opposed to using plastic.

They do, but I run some cars without magnets and a little weight and they ar very fun like that. The Carrera go cars rely on much stronger magnets then the Artins do.

Checked out the HRW site. Awesome. After looking into the Oval racing forum, I am going to go with 1/32-1/24 set-ups instead of 1/43. Those Live 8 cars are sweeeeet!!! Gonna rout a 5 x 12 oval and live 8. Gonna mount them back to back on a rotisserie and just turn up the track I want to run on.

I saw your post over there. You will be able to run 1/32nd, 1/24th and 1/43rd if you want to. Actually I wish I laid down a 1/32nd track for my 1/43rds because there would be more room for my 1/43rds and I could still run a few 1/32nds that I really like. I can't afford to go totally 1/32nd because as you can see I have an insatiable desire for more and more cars and at a min of $20 per it would be a big expense.

Whatever you do just enjoy yourself.

Great collection Mic. Looks like a diorama of traffic in the DC area. :eek: rr