Upgrading Slot Cars (and building a 200ft track)

I built a 200ft VR slot-car track! Go to establishedtitles.com/PROJECTAIR and help support the channel. They are now running an Early Black Friday sale, plus 10% off on any purchase with code PROJECTAIR. Thanks to Established Titles for sponsoring this video!
Thanks to @DIYPerks for helping me shoot this video!
👉🏼 The (FPV) camera I used www.amazon.co.uk/shop/project...
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Big thanks to Andrew Applepie for the music used in this video - / andrewapplepie
DISCLAIMER: This video is purely for entertainment value. Personal use of video content is at your own risk. Recreations of experiments, activities and projects are the sole legal responsibility of the person(s) involved in replicating them. I can not be liable for any information or misinformation, wrongful use, damage to personal property, death or any circumstances that result from replication of any projects seen. Be safe!

[@Project-Air]

Who wants more videos like this? Also, check out my downloadable project kits on my website! store.projectair.co.uk

[@HandleGoesHeree]

This is actually sick

[@United_states_America579]

Ok

[@suhanthemaker]

Dream come true

[@kalamar_from_slovakia]

This is like that one episode of Pat a Mat... lol

[@DaimyoD0]

Would love some more DIY Perks collabs.

[@DIYPerks]

Dude, the race was so much fun! I want a rematch though 😄😄

[@piereligiodisante]

From a subscriber of both channels, that was a very nice crossover episode ahaha

[@KJ7JHN]

#diyperks how can I make my own slot car track? ?

[@Project-Air]

You’re on! Let’s make it an annual thing!

[@Project-Air]

You were #robbed of the victory

[@desmond-hawkins]

I never thought I'd see this crossover, this was great. Here's hoping for more collabs!

[@5MadMovieMakers]

FPV slot car racing is such a cool idea!

[@5MadMovieMakers]

Also if you strip off the car shells and put the batteries and camera lower, the center of gravity won't be as high and hopefully the cars can stay on track more!

[@Project-Air]

Thanks! Your videos were actually some of the inspiration for this 😊

[@dan725]

all my favorite youtubers commenting on each other. :)

[@5MadMovieMakers]

@@Project-Air Ah that's epic! Well you took it to the next level! Super impressive track layout

[@Angrynood]

@@dan725 Honestly had a feeling that 5Mad was gonna see this

[@sadface]

This reminds me of the Tom Scott video about how they trained tank drivers using the models and cameras. It's a cool way of making a game/simulation without a computer.

[@articwolf7227]

Saaame I genuinely thought he was inspired by it

[@Frogprince69]

Omg same

[@KaitlinGaspar]

me too! they’re companion videos in my mind

[@guyguy1811]

Yea, was my first thought too. I assume he probably saw that video.

[@siskamore11]

It's the reason I clicked it lol

[@leightonwestbury92]

Absolutely awesome, 2 big kids realising their former little kid selves dreams.

[@Project-Air]

Absolutely!

[@KevinTalbotTV]

epic video bro!! ive wanted to do something like this when i was a kid

[@pauljaggers402]

Check out Racecastle in Waltham Abbey. At RaceCastle they have tiny FPV cars that are RC with full proportional steering around an amazing track. Some of these cars are even 3D printed.

[@loen9591]

did not know you watched projectair

[@alessioram6631]

Hi Kevin!

[@shippyshank_loves_carsandsound]

Yoo what's up kev

[@thercduos6239]

Hi kev

[@sidneyperry7623]

Wow, that brought back memories. late 1950s into the early 1960s spent hours and hours racing with my neighbor Tim in his living room. Slot cars, the track looks the same. Tim has now had a stroke and it's hard to talk with him, but the memories still live in my head. Thanks for sharing with a 74 yr. old guy who knows the fun in a slot car race.

[@inxomnyaa]

I loved those as a kid, all that has survived from them over all the years are the motors though. My set was incomplete, rusty, the magnets were dead and sometimes it smelled like shorted circuits, but it was still great fun.

[@funnyyylock]

Slot car racing is still extremely popular in some places.

[@CapTheNPC2]

The concept and the execution of this project were just incredible. So so cool.

[@arthurmann578]

As a guy who used to race slot cars with his family and friends WAY back in the 60s' and 70s' as a kid, I found this video ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! 👍👍 PS: I believe that I still have my complete sets still buried in my closet somewhere from those LONG AGO days and now I want to go find them! 😁

[@joeshmoe7967]

My last racing I was in grade 11, 1978....I am 61 and also have my old slot stuff in a box somewhere....I really really want to find that box! My carcass is older but my mind is still just a kid. - Cheers

[@jakedevries1455]

What a wicked project I can only imagine how fun that must have been! It reminds me of that on game micro machines where you used to race miniature cars around worktops and desktops avoiding obstacles like glue that'd slow you down and across gaps using rulers as makeshift bridges. Thanks for the flashback to my childhood and goes to show that you're never too old to have fun and play with toys 😁 wicked video as always 👍 Thanks.

[@Project-Air]

It was loads of fun!

[@leoncaples2947]

Micro machines on DS was super fun and way too challenging at the same time :)

[@-M0LE]

Micro machines was awesome

[@jakedevries1455]

@@-M0LE yeah man it was wicked.

[@TOYHOUSE]

*_Great idea, great video! Good luck with your new projects!_*

[@properprinting]

It was already exciting when you talked about this, but I didn't expect it to be such a neck and neck race. Just awesome!

[@elliotmarks06]

This is awesome! Someone should definitely sell DIY kits that allow anyone to do this conversion.

[@Zipy54]

I have found that designing the track/cars/and figures buildings etc. myself and 3d printing them to be the most fun you can have, even if you don't have room for a massive track like this.

[@JF9]

I used to have a ton of these as a kid, probably what got me into RC!

[@Project-Air]

They're underrated

[@vincentberg]

Hey project air. Was a good video!

[@James02876]

I launched countless slots cars into obstacles as a child. Actually, now that I think about it, these cars were one of the first things I ever managed to break, disassemble, and eventually learn to fix. My set had track that went up the wall, and I think I put a few dents in the ceiling. I always wanted to experience it in FPV, thanks for this video!

[@agepbiz]

This looks like so much fun!

[@fpvgods]

We ALL won!!! I have never watched a videos in its entirety. However, this video was viewed with huge smile and excitement during EVERY second. Thank You for sharing your wisdom. My best wishes to all. You brought out the kid in me. 🙏

[@k1ortia]

wow, just amazing. i used to have a scalextic set fro when i was a kid, through to the 90,s. i remember my dad always going to the model shop to buy new sets of brushes for the cars. And constantly fiddling with the metal track parts to get it all working.But when it all worked, it was amazing.

[@user-xe8oi5oq6c]

It's unreal fun. First I thought you did it for your kids, but then I saw two adult guys playing. I think your kids in future will be happy to have such dads. Keep doing this! You are cool!!!

[@EdwardSargeant]

This was so much fun! I loved racing these as a kid. Nice to see Matt making an appearance, also - great video!

[@happyocd]

Brilliant! When I play racing video games I always run with the "in-car" view. You have done this with slot cars. This concept is very intriguing and entertaining. Great job!

[@CDRaff]

I can't wait until my son is old enough for slot cars. One of my best childhood memories is racing my dad on Christmas morning.

[@Drew791]

I’m shocked how good the mini radio camera quality is!

[@BenRyherd]

Looks like a blast! If you do another it'd be cool to see if you could take advantage of the ability to run vertical. I'm not sure they'd run if the track was flat to the wall but running horizontally, but if they did it'd be cool to do a "quarter loop" up onto the wall, drive up the wall, do a 90 degree turn, some straight, another 90 degree turn and then drive straight back down the wall. Also a sort of mirror maze that hides a sharp last second turn could be interesting as well as something like the tinywhoop light tunnels that flighttest has.

[@dave3657]

Pretty cool. To avoid the sharp bends at joints you can make custom track pieces. Gently warm a piece and bend it carefully.

[@SJR_Media_Group]

That is the most amazing use of miniature technology I have in long time. I grew up in the days of huge indoor slot car tracks. Serious hobbyists spent fortunes on their slot cars. Once a week there would be very competitive racing. Putting mini cams on top of cars is brilliant. VR goggles is also brilliant. Seen it done racing drones, never seen it done with slot cars. Job well done mate.

[@RSpudieD]

This was a really cool idea and looked like a lot of fun! I could see this being a thing at arcades and other gaming places, especially with more lanes and cool worlds to drive around in!

[@kmorris180]

This may not be my favorite video you've done. But it's near the top. It's always great to see someone accomplish something I've always wanted to do.

[@Gkid8]

I can’t stop thinking about this, so fun! I also have some ideas of my own to make this something you could race a friend remotely

[@pe5erbarnes]

The set we used to have had track pieces for doing loops and all sorts of other crazy track designs, would love to see a part 2 using some of those!

[@kasroa]

We used to spray furniture polish on certain parts of the track to make it more interesting

[@parkerk3599]

That looks like so much fun and I put a FPV camera on my rc car yesterday and explored the house with it and this reminds me of that.

[@kolten808]

Yea I think the dude meant FPV on VR goggles, FPV is on another level of fun, if you want to kick it up a notch look into HD FPV 🍻😄

[@whoever6458]

I don't remember us having this kind of thing when I was a kid. There were some plastic tracks where the sides were supposed to keep the cars in. My brother and I found it boring and, since jumps were not included, we made some of our own, which is usually when our cars would fly off of the tracks, but that was really the best part. I really like the cameras you put on those because that makes it even funner!

[@lookup7318]

Hey I grew up in the 80s where racing sets we're the best thing to find under the Christmas tree.. Thanks for the awesome memories... the race was super cool 😎 😁😁😁

[@angryalbatross8948]

This seems like so much fun!!

[@Project-Air]

It was!!

[@nielscremer599]

Can we talk about Matt instantly replacing his car on that jump crash at the end?? That shii ain't easy with goggles on!

[@killemtoenjoythesilence]

I have a permanent 1/64th scale and 1/32nd scale track and grew up racing 1/24th scale. Needless to say I love slot cars. This looks like so much fun. I'm definitely doing this.

[@davidrumbelow]

In my youth 60 years ago, guys made their own track. I had Minic cars and a railroad crossing, beat the train.

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic work, James! Really well done!!! 😃 Great race both of you! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@Sawer]

Really fun video! You guys have fun chemistry together and Id love to see more collabs from you two! Perhaps a plane collab or something?

[@theviperman3]

YES Please!!!! Re-match with a spiral and a loop in the track. Had a Scalextric track about 34 years ago .. what a joy this was to watch!!!!

[@tireballastserviceofflorid7771]

Having grown up with these I have a few tips. 1. Wd-40 on a lint free rag and wipe just the traces on the track after a good cleaning. 2. I good lubricating oil on a lint free rag and just wipe the pins where the track sections connect. Use just a trace of both. It gives much longer times between cleanings as it reduces oxidation on both the pin and trace. Lot of fun to see these in action again. Been about 45 or more years since my last lap.

[@vocalpro]

Matt then turned the whole track into a brass and wood laptop. Good work fellas!

[@shayanbavar1036]

I would love to see you guys attach some rc cars to a sim racing wheel and pedals and try to go around this track like that!

[@teebob21]

This is the first video I have ever watched with an in-video sponsored ad where I was interested in researching/buying the product. Lord Teebob sounds good to me!

[@pdtech4524]

Brilliant I've always been a bit of a slot car fan and this is a perfect solution to a longer circuit out of line of sight!😁👍

[@simonabunker]

You need to add a rocket motor in the car for an extra boost! The idea of putting this online would definitely be interesting too.

[@WingNuts2010]

That was really enjoyable to watch. Probably already exists, but a TV programme series where people have to build a different course each week and then race their cars with FPV.

[@Davett53]

Ha, ha!...Boy was that fun! (I'm an oldster,...at 68 years old),.....and I used love playing with my slot cars,..in the USA in the early 1960s until 1969. Back then the cars were simpler and we did't have that magnetic, feature. The tracks looked the same. People had small tracks in their parents houses, but we also had public tracks to go to. Public tracks were sponsored by large department stores, with toy departments, where the slot cars were sold. A few hobby stores, also sponsored public tracks,....on all the tracks I ran on, we had to pay by the hour,....and for a kid, it could get costly. I had slot cars in two scales. I preferred the 1/24 inch scaled size. Me and my pals had so much fun with this hobby,....we built our cars from kits and parts swapped with other kids cars. We sometimes fabricated parts, from metal & plastic stock materials. I belonged to a slot car club, in it we ran the smaller scaled cars, and used our plastic scale models for the bodies. It was fun to be a "spotter" at those large public tracks, where there were 10 or more tracks. We ran and saved cars that got stuck along the way or ones that got bumped off the track. Thanks guys! It was a trip down memory lane, for me. Cool!

[@Project-Air]

Cool to hear!

[@microbuilder]

I've been putting off doing a micro FPV plane...no longer, this looks like way too much fun, awesome project!

[@EdwardChew]

That 90 degree hill climb is hilarious 😂😂

[@slartibartfast2649]

What power was the TX? That seems to have pretty good reception for such a small unit. I've never had such success with cheap units from Banggood.

[@paulkazjack]

Usually 25 mw.

[@jm1551701]

Have always loved slot cars used to race them myself when I was a wee lad, this was a lot of fun to watch from concept to race day, great work guy's .

[@thedarkknight1971]

LOVE IT !!! Two guys I follow regularly (love the weird, whacky, and often highly polished/professional DIY projects that Mat @ DIYPerks creates) and ProjectAir crazy land/air/water speed ideas... But this? GOOD OLD FASHIONED FUN with a modern twist!! Brilliant!!! 👌👏 😎🇬🇧

[@gs425]

Great video, but I'm sure you are aware by now Established Titles is a scam.

[@yurei3714]

Established titles is a scam don't promote it

[@rcrallyevox918]

This gives me masive flashbacks to the old scalextric episode of James May's Toy stories! Loved that episode so I of course enjoyed this video very much!

[@HunterBHolmes]

I would absolutely watch this as a competitive sport. It looks so like so much fun!

[@DiyClassics]

Established titles is a scam...

[@RealRaideRR]

Wdym?

[@Rowan.24]

@@RealRaideRRthe sponsor is a scam

[@yogidemis8513]

Being a 80s kid I always got slot car set up for Christmas every year. They were alot of fun. I actually think I still have them all packed away in boxes in the attic. Watching this video makes me wanna go find them.

[@12volthighpeakvanlife.62]

Better than any Scalextric set i had in the 70s 80s , Brilliant to watch , Big thumbs up .

[@n.gravey3735]

If you get the digital version of the cars and power strip, then you can take the power from the track as it is constant with the speed of the car controlled by the pulse wide from the digital controller

[@jasonericson]

This was so much fun! I loved the bits where we could see you guys running to fix the cars through the POV cameras!

[@bigwendigo2253]

What an awesome track! You KZbinrs are always able to use money to put towards such fun projects, I’m definitely jealous, but also super glad you guys are able to put something so fun together!

[@hoppinonabronzeleg9477]

This is so cool, what James May did at Brooklands a decade or so ago, has been eclipsed by a much smaller, yet more thought out idea! Nice sporting pair of lads, Competitive yest sporting.

[@HAWXLEADER]

Always thought these were lame when I was a kid (Well there were RC cars in the 90's so...) This takes it to another level!

[@chrisgalloway9531]

You are a complete unadulterated genius to come up with this idea if only I had something like this when I played with my Aurora AFX and Tyco tracks it would have been awesome I think you should patent this idea make it where the video is admitting through the windshield and Revitalize slot tracks I would buy more than one I think kids would get back into this Hobby. Thanks for sharing this with all of us it made my day.

[@nickrich56]

My first slot car kit was called Hell Drivers and had a jump ramp! -circa 1966. In later years I changed the bodies with model kits.

[@sauce777]

This brings back memories of slot cars when I was a kid. This would be so much fun.

[@jefflolI]

5:22 dang that actually looks good

[@googon1735]

Cool vid man seemed like great fun. How about going for a land speed record and modifying them for a drag race?

[@aterxter3437]

Well, the idea struck me immediately after thinking about the power issue : In model railroad, the matter of powering the locomotive and makind it moove are decoupled thanks to the DCC system : a dcc controller gives some square AC with variable frequency to the tracks (the information is numericaly coded bit by bit in the variable frequency), thus providing constant power to the locomotive, you just need a full-bridge rectifier and a filtering capacitor, the tracks AC goes directly to a little electronic circuit, a dcc decoder which decodes the information, pilots the motors at the specified speed and can even power up accessories like lights, some can even pilot servos. The dcc decoder itself is a really tiny pcb, 2*1cm max for HO scale, even less for N scale and can easily power motors that draws under 2A dc

[@andyjdhurley]

Is that how they worked? I never could quite work it out as a kid but then I never could afford it either so it was always just an aspiration. I just had to make do with isolators and motorised points.

[@aterxter3437]

@@andyjdhurley The current DCC system works by giving constant AC to the tracks, a 1bit is transmitted when an alternance (one side to +VCC and afterwards the other one, polarity is flipped ) last around 56 +/-2 microseconds, a 0 bit is transmitted when the alternance lasts more than 100 microseconds. The data is send following this principle, from the controller : 1) 7(if my memory is correct) 1bits for synchronization followed by one 0 bit 2) the adress of the target decoder, can be a loco or an accessory like a motorised switch track, followed by a 0bit 3) the target action with according data, for speed, the value between -127 and 127, for a function like a light, the corresponding number and value (True/False),... followed by a 0 bit 4) the result of doing an xor operation from bit of data to bit of data, the decoders does it on it’s own, if the decoders has correctly understood the instructions, the result will be the same as what the controller send, if the decoders misunderstood a bit, the result will be different. As such it acts as a safety to ensure a correct data transmission without bidirectional conversation. A simple controller can be cheap, like a multimauss from Fleishmann/Roco, around 150€, I have a project to make my own based on some arduino libraries like cmdr. The main issue is the individual cost of each decoder, begining at 30-40€ each

[@jonathanshelton2137]

I love seeing your guys great sportsmanship! Keep on rocking 😎🤟

[@mozkitolife5437]

I was not expecting that much exercise to be involved. Highly entertaining!

[@Roscoe.P.Coldchain]

Spent hours in the loft with the scale electric set up at my cousins..Spent hours up there as kids at the Christmas family sleep overs even if we did need our coats and shoes on, no electricity up there apart from the lights in the 70s lol..Brilliant ❤👍

[@shythephotoguy]

Haven't seen anything more fun than this besides fpv flying

[@KJ7JHN]

That was epic! I've so wanted to do this with a spin bike. Well done and thanks for the video.

[@kellingc]

You guys look like you had a ball with this. I love how you went into the testing and construction. Great video.

[@madbren]

Now we all want to do this thx for the inspiration guys and sharing this with all of us 👍👍

[@mordechaitaub3594]

Wow, that was awesome, and you used Mini Coopers, my dream car. Well, a green one, anyways, so awesome.

[@deantubeful]

Great formula and fun it seems. 55 and still excited watching. Thanks guys.

[@thedude8046]

Very cool! The long track and camera makes it so much more fun!

[@shawns156]

Awesome FPV video, 11:00 showing off his Dr.Squatch stock.🤣🤣

[@schoemaeckercyril336]

Un rêve de gosse réalisé ! On veux une revanche, ou alors une version rallye !

[@PalomboDylan]

Now this was nice. Fun to watch and makes me want to go get a new starter set of slot cars at my local hobby lobby here in the US and go play slot cars like I used to when I was a kid. Good racing by the way guys. The track was well thought out and absolutely cool.

[@joetintern]

Amazing great work guys me and my son used to do similar to this for fun before he grew up 😅

[@knoopx]

1/28 scale rc cars are also very fun to drive with fpv cameras, you can't go as crazy as you did but driving skills show off when competing

[@kkuenzel56]

That was a Hoot!!! I played with slot cars in my youth and had many many hours of enjoyment! Having the FPV system would've been awesome! Great video guys!

[@paulraye3817]

Looks like a lot of fun I had a smile on my face the hole time watching great fun guys

[@edteach3r]

So much fun! Thanks, guys.

[@eekee6034]

OH! This is like 2 of my childhood dreams combined! :D And that was just the best race ever! :D :D :D You could convert the cars to a model railway system with constant power and digital control. You'd have power for the camera then. It does feel like complexifying for no purpose though. Those batteries are very light.

[@crusader10]

KZbin was made for this kind of entertaining videos

[@peterszar]

Man, that setup is what I had wanted to construct. I'm quite surprised they came up with putting those magnets on the chassis'. No wonder those Mini Coopers can negotiate those tight turns. Pretty cool.

[@Tutterzoid]

Awesome idea .. And Super Awesome to watch from the car view camera .. Well Done !!!

[@TheGryxter]

As a Mini owner (rare in the U.S.), and a slot car fan, you have made my day! Best video I've seen in a long time. That looked like so much fun.....cheers mate.

[@Navidain]

Driving under an actual Mini was such a cool touch.

[@brianroberts815]

I love this tiny, little AIO units!!! I use em in almost all my RC vehicles. Not so much in fixed wing airplanes, but most of my quads(drones), boats and crawlers and off road trucks. So inexpensive, at around $15 , ya can't beat em. I prefer those that use a small 4.3" LCD monitor as opposed to the ones that send video to my phone. I, use hot glue to mount it to a controller. Great track here. Good job.

[@EV-olution]

Very cool and those slot cars brought back some great memories! Thanks for making this video.