View Full Version : Bow Tie Brigade...


rodstrguy
12-09-2004, 12:17 AM
Saw the Bow Ties at my Favorite Slot car shop in Milwaukee and I could barely keep myself from buying them. I have a master case on order and I still almost bought some to race today. Yes, they are that cool... sure one of the Vettes looks a little odd, and some of the roofs are a little big... But I just have to have them....

roadrner
12-09-2004, 02:15 PM
Still waiting for my inner case. Some good bods for customizing! :thumbsup: rr

Dragula
12-09-2004, 07:48 PM
To me,the blue vette is my favorite,the 59's look good to.But have you guys noticed the glass in these things are MASSIVE!I lowered my pro street 62 impala into the weeds,and most of the trimming done was of the giant piece of glass.JMO
Chris

ParkRNDL
12-10-2004, 12:45 AM
To me,the blue vette is my favorite,the 59's look good to.But have you guys noticed the glass in these things are MASSIVE!I lowered my pro street 62 impala into the weeds,and most of the trimming done was of the giant piece of glass.JMO
Chris
Looking at the pics of these things, I thought it might be possible to shave the bottom of the glass down.... can you post pics of yours? i'd love to see how it works...

--rick

TX Street Racer
12-10-2004, 09:10 AM
Looking at the pics of these things, I thought it might be possible to shave the bottom of the glass down.... can you post pics of yours? i'd love to see how it works...

--rick


Rick, I agree ......I'd like to see pics of your '62 Chris.... That's the one single casting from this series that I'm bouncing up and down for..... :thumbsup:

ParkRNDL
12-10-2004, 09:42 AM
ok, if all goes well, i'll be picking my case up during lunch today... :thumbsup:

--rick

roadrner
12-10-2004, 10:53 AM
Thanks rick. ;) rr

ParkRNDL
12-10-2004, 04:03 PM
SCHWEEEEEET... (thanks Mamilligan!)

Got a full afternoon with the family planned, so the detailed report with pics will have to wait till late this evening or over the weekend, but here are a few quick hits...

The '59s are OUTSTANDING. They're gonna look unbelievable on skinny Tjet rims and whitewalls. Just totally wild-looking... something about a slot car with outrageous tailfins. I'm thinking IROC-style race, with the ability to nerf guys two lanes over. :D

We know the roofs of the '62's are a little odd, and it seems the nose is a little long too, but i think sitting these on skinny tires/rims and shortening the screwposts will improve the overall look...

The hardtop Vettes are awesome. The convertible is weird, with the tall roof and too-short rocker panels. You can actually see the gearplate clamp with the body on. I'm planning on putting something there that looks like the sidepipes on the hardtops. If you look quick, the sidepipes on the hardtops just look like rocker panel moldings anyway. Also, the convertible seems to be configured in such a way that you could remove the roof to make it a top-down convertible and add only a little interior piece with two seats... in other words, there's something like a hard tonneau cover under the back of the roof.

I haven't taken anything out of the package and looked close yet, but on the Vettes and the '62s, it looks like the hood is a separate piece glued into the hood opening. The 59s dont appear to be like this. Wonder if this will help some of us who don't like the engines sticking thru the hood... maybe someone will resin cast the stock hood, or maybe it's easier to fill the hole with the hood off the car...

I thought the Nova was gonna have a flat hood. It's a cowl induction hood like the orange one from the earlier release.

Gotta go do family stuff, will post more as I get to it...

--rick

AfxToo
12-10-2004, 05:56 PM
Got my bowties today and just started going through them.

Agree with ParkRNDL about pretty much everything. The 67 Vette convertible is a train wreck. Big swing - big whiff. It still has that hideous pup tent roof, which I thought JL was going to fix! Without side pipes you can see the gearplate clamp. It's basically a bobble head caricature of a Corvette. The 67 hardtop Vette on the other hand is totally awesome. I'd rather have two of those in different colors than the goofy bobble head version. JL really needs to work on their convertible modeling techniques. The 59 convertible is the only one that was done well.

The Chevelle is identical to a JL pullback I already have. Definately a field filler. However, the case it came in says "1967 Chevy Corvette" on it. I wish the case was accurate. If this mislabeling is a widespread issue someone's going to be majorly po'd when they order a "1967 Chevy Corvette" and get the Chevelle instead.

The chrome Nova is ... what can I say ... a very festive holiday color. The wire they use to hold the cars in the case can be retasked to hang the Nova on a holiday wreath or tree. It would blend.

The only real bummer so far is the only car that I've taken out of the case to clean and setup has a totally defective arm. The arm is mounted way off center on the arm shaft and wobbles badly. Quality Control should have caught this during assembly. Ha ha ha ha. Yeah I know, like they even have a QC department.

I replaced the bad JL arm with a 16.5 ohm gray 2-lam Aurora arm. It works great, without wobble, but I'm a a bit surprised that there was no noticable loss in performance with the Aurora arm.

rodstrguy
12-10-2004, 06:34 PM
Just got my cars today, Love these things... can't wait to race them...

jack0fall
12-10-2004, 06:44 PM
Got mine today. All of them look marvelous.... Oops, is that the track calling me.... Gotta go. :D

Jeff

JPRcustoms
12-10-2004, 08:10 PM
And still no Bowties in NJ. Checked NJ Nostalgia Hobby (the BEST slot car shop in the whole state) this afternoon....NADA! I'll be checking 2 of 3 more hobby shops over the weekend, but I think I'm gonna get stuck waiting another week.

boss9
12-10-2004, 08:56 PM
Hello,

Thank you for the observations on this series.

It is important to hear first hand what to look forward to instead of reading the hype sometimes offered by the manufacturer or someone in distributing or marketing of the product. I think the information relayed by the end-user is great, but the fact that you guys were willing to share this with us--the day you received them, is really impressive and possibly the make-or-break to someone just starting out with these. One obvious point here is you guys critiqued them with no bashing or harsh words. This might be a critical point if anyone from RC-2 is checking the posts here and could reflect on the upcoming series. You just never know. Park's visual reflections seem spot-on, and Afx's relay of a hands on first time experience both show the pluses and minuses, while still giving praise--or at the very least options. The fact that you both posted your experiences' immediately after just getting these, shows the lack of grandstanding and a meaningful and responsible r...elationship to the Hobby-Talk board members.

Thanks again for the pure no-hype, undiluted information. :thumbsup:

It is greatly appreciated.

Cheers..

mking
12-10-2004, 09:08 PM
I got five from eBay as singles 2x59, 2x62, 1 vette).

I really really like the 59s. I got the black and yellow one and passed on the purple because I dont like blown engines on slots, but now I have to reconsider that. They are just too cool. I like the idea of adding white walls, I am going but to have to try that when I get home. I am not going to change the rear hubs, I'm just going to double up the rear tires. Use a plain black slip on silicone as the inner tire, and use a weird jack white wall as the outer tire. Works great, and don't have to change hubs. I've done this on a couple model motoring Chevy Bel-Air's and works great (after hogging out the wheel wells on the MMs).

The Corvette and the Chevelle didn't do anything for me, and I think the 62s look a bit odd (although the all yellow one does look pretty cool; I will have to get that one also).

Now I need to acquire some more 59s for customs. I really want to take a black one, paint the doors white and put a siren on top from the early release of the fairlane cop cars.



JLTO have really spoiled me. I used to have to look on eBay pretty hard to find a decent Tjet for 10 bucks, and the body was usually thrashed. MM has some pretty nice bodies for 10 bucks. Lots of custom resins that need a lot of finish work I'm not very good that) for 15 bucks up.



And thanks to Johnny Lightning I can get an absolutely awesome body with nice paint and very good details and a pretty fun running chassis for 10 bucks. Wow. Maybe that's why I have so many of them.

Pomfish
12-10-2004, 09:09 PM
[QUOTE=AfxToo]
The chrome Nova is ... what can I say ... a very festive holiday color. The wire they use to hold the cars in the case can be retasked to hang the Nova on a holiday wreath or tree. It would blend.

Afx Too,

LOL!
I may do this as I doubt it will be a big seller.


"The only real bummer so far is the only car that I've taken out of the case to clean and setup has a totally defective arm. The arm is mounted way off center on the arm shaft and wobbles badly. Quality Control should have caught this during assembly. Ha ha ha ha. Yeah I know, like they even have a QC department."

Oh, You Wanted the Optional Working Model? :)
I too have noticed many of the arms are mounted off center, most it doesn't bother too much, but some are problems.
The Aurora arm probably runs so well because of the strong Magnets in the JL.

Thanks,
Keith

AfxToo
12-10-2004, 09:31 PM
I could just sit and stare at the blue and white 67 Vette hardtop for hours. It's really that nice. I don't mind the blowers on these cars because it's plausible that you would actually see a blower on the cars that have them. Same with the scoop. JL took on an ambitious task with this release and without doubt they succeeded. One or two subjective "issues" with one or two of the cars in the set in no way reduces the positive result they have achieved. These car will sell very well and getting them out in time for the holiday buying season is a real bonus.

red73mustang
12-10-2004, 09:38 PM
JPR and others, Just got the "Bowtie Brigades" in at VroomVroomhobies http://www.vroomvroomhobbies.com/(New Jersey) and we ship world wide ! Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Let the fun begin !

Chet

ParkRNDL
12-11-2004, 12:08 AM
I got the black and yellow one and passed on the purple because I dont like blown engines on slots, but now I have to reconsider that. They are just too cool.

I don't mind the blowers on these cars because it's plausible that you would actually see a blower on the cars that have them. Same with the scoop.
Funny, in Chat the other night, I was telling Roadrner that I was planning on trading off the cars with scoops/blowers... but now that they're sitting here, I was leaning toward keeping them, they look that good. Then my 6-year-old got a look at them and sealed my decision: those three are his favorites.

--rick

micyou03
12-11-2004, 12:12 AM
Its great that they are doing something for the kids. They love that kind of stuff.

ParkRNDL
12-11-2004, 03:44 AM
UPDATE: The hoods of the '62s and the Vettes appear to be held on by 4 pegs that are placed through holes in the body and then melted underneath. Grind off the little melted blobs, and it appears that the hood will lift off. FYI for those who don't like the stuff on the hoods and might try to do something about it...

--rick

TX Street Racer
12-11-2004, 09:49 AM
UPDATE: The hoods of the '62s and the Vettes appear to be held on by 4 pegs that are placed through holes in the body and then melted underneath. Grind off the little melted blobs, and it appears that the hood will lift off. FYI for those who don't like the stuff on the hoods and might try to do something about it...

--rick

That might really yeild itself to some nice customs.....just think.....perhaps big blower motors in the cars without hoods....or perhaps a small 265 or 327 that might fit under the hood...with a hinged hood ;)

JPRcustoms
12-11-2004, 02:22 PM
IT looks like we are going to have TONS of potential for customs with these "Multi-peice" castings. Just swapping hood, blowers, etc, should give dozens of combinations. Im on my way to pick up a case now. THANKS to Chet at VroomVroom!!!!!!!! Let the games begin!!

Pomfish
12-11-2004, 02:22 PM
I lowered the White one much the same way, w/ skinny tjet chassis.
Got my front just a little lower though.

Haven't run it yet, did dremeling at work :)
Looks like I need to attend to the glass next.

Pics soon.

Thanks,
Keith

Pomfish
12-11-2004, 02:26 PM
I lowered the White one much the same way, w/ skinny tjet chassis.
Got my front just a little lower though.

Haven't run it yet, did dremeling at work :)
Looks like I need to attend to the glass next.

Pics soon.

Thanks,
Keith

Disregard this post, it should have been in response to Lowering the 62 .
Sorry, Duh.

Keith

roadrner
12-13-2004, 02:11 AM
So many posts, just would like to get mine.Dremel is ready. May have to do the auctions. :eek: rr

dlw
12-13-2004, 11:49 AM
Gonna be sending my money for a case today. Nice thing is that the seller is in Rochester, so they'll get my money around Wed/Thu, and I'll probably get my cars next Monday.

newbombturk
12-23-2004, 11:45 PM
My case finally arrived today.

A/FX Nut
12-24-2004, 12:39 AM
Maple City Hobbies in Goshen, Indiana recieved 6 cases monday and the 2 cases they opened had a White Thunders in them. My favorites are the 59 Impalas and the 62 Impala and 62 Bel Airs.

lenny
12-24-2004, 01:02 AM
Maple City Hobbies in Goshen, Indiana recieved 6 cases monday and the 2 cases they opened had a White Thunders in them. My favorites are the 59 Impalas and the 62 Impala and 62 Bel Airs.Must'a been either the 'A', 'B' or 'C' case... A is Vette, B is Impala, C is Chevelle. D is no WL. But I'm sure everyone knew that already...

A/FX Nut
12-24-2004, 09:19 AM
Must'a been either the 'A', 'B' or 'C' case... A is Vette, B is Impala, C is Chevelle. D is no WL. But I'm sure everyone knew that already...
Lenny, I didn't know that. I'll rememder that.

lenny
12-24-2004, 10:55 AM
Lenny, I didn't know that. I'll rememder that.It used to be Roman Numerals on the 12 car case which would tell you what WL was in there. Now it looks like RC2 is going with a letter.

dlw
12-24-2004, 09:31 PM
These are worth getting.........even with blowers and motors on the hood...Nice variety colors, too. If you can do Paypal, e-bay has cases under $90 + shipping. search for 'bowtie brigade'.

boss9
12-26-2004, 05:25 PM
I got my Bow-ties they other day and was pleasantly surprised—I’m not going to critic the faults here because they have been covered in depth already. Instead I would like to point out how really good they did on this series. Some of the bodies are very well proportioned and the paint is smooth as glass. The colour choices were well thought out and they even went to the trouble of producing their own packaging style.
But the topper for me is they went back to using chrome bumpers and bits. I never really liked the fact they were shying away from this by using paint instead. The chrome bits really make the cars for me.
Oh, and the candy-chrome Nova was also a welcome addition since I already have a handful of these in the standard colours. I like the candies as they make for an interesting display piece. I hope they offer at least one in every future release. I bought mine from a HT supporter here, and now I’m 16 for 16 in the cases (inners) that have come with a white lightning—the latest being the 59 convertible, white w/yellow roof.


Cheers..

Al Markin
12-31-2004, 11:00 PM
3 pages on these Bow-Ties, and nobody can post a picture???? I think somebody should get out the new digi-cam, and let all of us take a nice peek at these Chevy's!

jack0fall
01-01-2005, 11:47 AM
Hey Al, Check out Motorcity Toyz (http://motorcitytoyz.com)in the "coming soon" section. He has all of the Bow Ties pictured there.
I am planning on taking pics of mine, just haven't gotten around to it yet. HTH

Jeff

MCD4x4
01-01-2005, 02:35 PM
There a guy on e-bay, he sells them from 5 bucks each if you take a minimum of six. That's were I got all my JL's. He will take back anything that has a problem to. If you can't find him I'll give ya his e-mail address. Have Fun.

MCD4x4

ParkRNDL
01-01-2005, 02:42 PM
Al, check these threads:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=97869

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=98246

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=97957

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=98123

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=97879

I posted them all in the Customizing forum because I hacked on all of the screw posts, but technically, that's exactly what they look like from the package, just higher. I haven't done any paint jobs or anything on these yet...

--rick

MCD4x4
01-01-2005, 03:42 PM
Hey Rick, em impressed, and that aint easy.

ParkRNDL
01-01-2005, 08:47 PM
Hey McD, don't be too impressed... all I did was lower 'em. Wait till someone does the '59 as Junior Johnson's '60 Daytona winner, or one of the '62s as an accurate NHRA drag car... or even a rocker-panels-on-the-track lowrider...

Brooklyn, huh? My wife is from Bensonhurst... I was born in Queens and lived on the Island till we got married and escaped... :D

--rick

MCD4x4
01-01-2005, 10:48 PM
escaped?, lol lol lol. Where'd ya go?

Al Markin
01-01-2005, 11:18 PM
Thanks everyone for all the Bowtie Brigade pics. MCD4X4, if you have that guys e-mail, let me know! ---Thanks!

ParkRNDL
01-02-2005, 07:27 PM
escaped?, lol lol lol. Where'd ya go?
Chambersburg, PA. About an hour south of Harrisburg. Usually takes us less than 4 hrs. to get to the old neighborhood to visit her mother, and my folks are an hour further out in Huntington. We're there for most of the holidays and usually once during the summer. We both have relatives that love NY and would never leave. We just wanted a change...

--rick

roadrner
01-02-2005, 09:17 PM
I have my inner and they look great. However, I've been thinking about dumping all of my screw ons in favor of the AFXes and Xtracs. Have sold off all of my Aurora TOs, Wild Ones and standard ones, JLs will be next. rr

madsapper
01-03-2005, 12:10 AM
I have my inner and they look great. However, I've been thinking about dumping all of my screw ons in favor of the AFXes and Xtracs. Have sold off all of my Aurora TOs, Wild Ones and standard ones, JLs will be next. rr
Shoot me an e... I am dumping my clip ons for the screw ons!!

roadrner
01-03-2005, 09:33 AM
Shoot me an e... I am dumping my clip ons for the screw ons!!
done! rr

A/FX Nut
01-03-2005, 08:59 PM
The man that is supposed to be selling cars for $5 a car isn't. He said he had some older series for $5 a car at the Long Island Show. But none now at that price. Randy.