# Microscalextric Braid Setup



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hi Guys,
Some of you may be familiar with the older Microscalextric which come with braids instead of hard pickups. What is the best way to set up the braids? I've only got three or four MSCX that I am using for runners, but it seems that in order to get them to run well and for more than a few laps, I have to bend the braids down to the point where the front tires don't touch the track.

So how do you set up a car with braids? Should the braids be wide and thin or narrow and thick? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks...Joe


----------



## christos_s (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Joe,
I dont know,
but...
I was wondering how these cars are? I've only seen photos. Do they look well alongside Tycos and Tomys? How do they run?


----------



## PD2 (Feb 27, 2003)

I don't own any of these Micro Scalextrics, but being from the 1/32 side of the house, you want braids on your car a little shorter than the guide - so trim any length they have on them - and then you want them as flat/thin and wide as possible. If they are pushing the front of the car up, try to get them to lay down more - this will cause deslotting if you leave the front end up like that.

Hope that helps and applies to the micro scalextrics.

PD2:thumbsup:


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hi Guys,
If I had to summerize the way Microscalextrics look, I would say they are just a bit larger than Tomy or Tyco; not a lot bigger, just a hair. If you have ever seen a Marchon car, then you know the size of a Microscalextric. MSCX took over Marchon some years ago. Some early MSCX look like Marchon while the later releases probably start taking more cues from their 1/32nd counterparts.

I like the way the cars look, especially the new F1s. They feel heavier than Tyco/Tomy cars and are designed to run at 12v. There seem to be a number of different chassis, as if they change them every couple years. The latest cars look to have a new chassis with a molded-in guide pin. I think I'd hate that if I ran them.

As I stated, I have only three of them that I have run so I am no expert in that area. Your best bet is to look on eBay UK. That's the only eBay market that has them. There's also a few UK websites, but you'd have to search for them.

PD2,
Thanks for the info and I'll give that a try.

Joe


----------



## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Are those the Aston's?*

Joe... Do you have the Aston Martin DBR9's by any chance? Our son is going to the UK this summer and said he's go to Hamley's for me and get them if he gets a chance. The Aston's look to be some of the nicer bodies they have put out. Post some pics... Whatya got?? nd


----------



## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

Actually the earlier cars had the proper shoes and everything from about 96 onwards has braids.

I usually glue them flat. You can buy the braid/pin assembly on its own so you can treat the whole assey as a throw away deal.


----------



## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

tjd241 said:


> Joe... Do you have the Aston Martin DBR9's by any chance? Our son is going to the UK this summer and said he's go to Hamley's for me and get them if he gets a chance.


Sorry to say that is unlikely to happen. I was about to email you on this very topic (you emailed Chris Frost at BSCRA, right?)

The infrastructure for HO is very weak here. Once the Tomy AFX stuff disapeared the UK pretty much became a 1/32nd country. We buy almost everything from you guys!!

The good news is the racing scene is clinging on. If your lad is over here and free on April 13th or June 1st he would be welcome to race with us in Edmonton.

Check out www.eahorc.com to see what we are about.

Deane


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

tjd241 said:


> Joe... Do you have the Aston Martin DBR9's by any chance? Our son is going to the UK this summer and said he's go to Hamley's for me and get them if he gets a chance. The Aston's look to be some of the nicer bodies they have put out. Post some pics... Whatya got?? nd


 Yes, I have them. I'll see if they are here and if so, I'll try to snap a few pics,

If you want Microscalextrics, my suggestion is go to eBay UK and find someone willing to ship to the US. That's how I do it now.

Thanks...Joe


----------



## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*okay then !!!*

Thanks Montoya.... and thanks Joe... pics would be great so I could see if they are similar (the Astons) to some of our stuff over here. Always nice to get that actual comparison. thanks again and good luck with the pick-ups. nd


----------



## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

So when is your son coming over?


----------



## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*He will be travelling in mid-late June...*

Originally it was March, but it's been pushed off now. His conference has been rescheduled by the host company. nd


----------



## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

Pity he is not a slot head.


----------



## christos_s (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi guys,
Actually Montoya because your country has switched to 1/32 there are some good deals on used HO stuff
What can I say, my country is now only 1/32 and the only thing around in the 60-80's were Fallers but those were few and not for resale. There were also some no-known-name italian stuff
Have fun, Christos


----------



## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I have about 10-12 Micro's and I love them. I haven't had the problem you've had though. I think they;re the smoothest runing chassis out there, at least on my track they are. 

What if you soldered another braid on top of the original? Just a thought.


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Here's a couple pics of the Aston Martins, the France F1 car (there's also a Germany and Great Britain) and the three new Nissans. The pic of the F1 didn't come out good due to the flash.

Joe


----------



## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Thanks for the pics Joe...*

They look well made. Would you say the basic scale is more similar to Lifelike or Tomy and larger than your average tjet body (let's say for sake of comparison... Model Motoring)?? nd


----------



## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

Bigger still (slightly)


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

tjd241 said:


> They look well made. Would you say the basic scale is more similar to Lifelike or Tomy and larger than your average tjet body (let's say for sake of comparison... Model Motoring)?? nd


 You know, I was going to put a Lifelike or Tyco next to these cars for comparision, and/or put them on a piece of track so you could see the size, yet I didn't. Duh! (I am now hitting the palm of my hand on my forehead)

Standard Microscalextric cars are the same size as Marchon cars. That would make them slightly larger than Lifelike, Tyco or Tomy. There are some MSCX cars that are way out of proportion, like the Simpsons skateboarders or the Ninja Turtles, but for the most part, they are close (but larger) in size to the magnet cars. That would make them larger than T-Jets.

They also feel slightly heavier.

Joe


----------

