THE WORLD’S MOST COLLECTIBLE SLOT CARS SINCE 2008
THE WORKSHOP
From the drawing board to the track, here in the Pioneer workshop we detail the planning and processes that go into creating our slot car models, and we discuss our upcoming project - the 1970/71 Plymouth Cuda.
01. THE DRAWING BOARD
Boarding concept designs is the first stage to producing any slot car model. Initial ideas are discussed, liveries are finalised, historical research is assembled. As with all of the models in Pioneer's 'Muscle Cars' series the Plymouth 'Cuda' was designed to capture the true likeness of the Cuda's iconic status in its every feature and detail.
02. THE ARTWORK
- featuring an exclusive from Mick Rimmer, Graphic Designer and Content Creator at Concept60seven
'To get each design project off to its best start Director Jules Birley provides me with a bank of visual research and historical detail specific to each car, I then create a number of options. Attention to detail and capturing the personality and heritage of each model is what sets Pioneer apart from other manufacturers. We like to have fun in our work and add playful elements into the design, particularly with the fictional liveries.’
Concept60seven designs the Pioneer branding and packaging artwork unique to every model before handover to commercial printers.
03. A FIRST LOOK IN 'CAD'
CAD (Computer-Aided Design) is an industry standard technology used to digitalise concept designs in preparation for either prototype production or fully featured design files used in actual manufacture.
Pioneer's CAD designer will use a full-sized vehicle or historical photos to begin building the shapes and lines of the car before scaling them down to the required dimensions. The body design is completed first before commencing a chassis design that will enable the model to perform on a slot car track.
04. A CLOSER LOOK IN 'CAD'
Click on the CAD drawing to enlarge and explore.
05. MOLDING THE MODEL
The majority of parts for our models are injection molded from plastic, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (often abbreviated to ABS), but before any moulding can be done the tooling must be engineered and cut. Every model can have a variety of different tools to make an assortment of its components.
The cavities within each tool that form the shapes of the plastic parts are ‘cut’ from steel using CNC machinery, guided by the data produced in the CAD files. After the shapes are cut there is often a requirement to hand polish to allow a super smooth finish to the molded part.
At various stages of the process, short test runs at different molding pressures and temperatures are produced of the model to check for fit and finish, and any inadequacies are sorted at this stage to achieve the best possible molding speed and accuracy.
06. IN THE PAINT SHOP
The bare plastic is cleaned and prepared for paintwork. Modern acrylic paints are applied with industrial airguns and further decoration to the model is applied by ink pad printers that can produce fine detail and multi colour print graphics. Test samples of the model are produced and then approved before the final production run of the model is given the green light.
07. TO THE TRACK
The elements fitted to a Pioneer chassis have been tried and tested to work across all analogue and digital configurations so that our models can be used on any plastic or wooden slot car tracks.
Image Courtesy of Falcon Raceway SCC
Image Courtesy of Pendle Slot Racing UK
Image Courtesy of Sakky's Collections Japan
Image Courtesy of Falcon Raceway SCC
COMING SOON...
The 1970/1971 Plymouth Cuda
