186 BIG, FLAT, RECTANGLES...

After the trip to see the lovely guys at Colour Create, my mind has been whirring. I need to rethink the design as the current scheme is too difficult to apply to the magnetic strip and then onto the car. Not going to lie, this is a massive blow.

But there is no use wallowing; it's time to find a solution to the problem, which means going back to the drawing board. <sigh>

One thing Barry and Kevin at Colour Create said was that big, rectangular graphics are easy to produce, so that may be the way we should approach this. Try to come up with a design that avoids contours and fiddly metal folds. I was worried that limiting myself to boring 'taxi firm' stickers would make the car look a bit half-arsed, and for a while I was right.

Then I found another slot car which piqued my interest. It featured a bold Martini stripe all down the side, cut at either end to fit the wheel arches, which looked really effective.

This should be easy to recreate, as there are no curves at all along the door, between the wheels.

There is another Martini stripe that goes right down the middle of the car, from the Abarth logo on the front, across the roof, to the Abarth logo on the back. The roof section should be easy to produce, as it is a large, flat surface.

The Abarth's bonnet has a bump up the middle, but the test with the magnetic strip yesterday showed the material hugs the contours, if they aren't too severe. The boot has a couple of body lines that may prove tricky, but look much more straightforward than the bonnet/wing section, which curves three different ways.

Although the car is silver, it gives me a good idea of how the new setup could look. I ran it past Lisa, who agreed it looked good and might be more effective than the original design. She is more pragmatic than I am; she was focused on the fact that it was easier to make and would be cheaper to produce while still doing the job.

I'll send the design to the guys to get their take. I'm hoping there will be less furrowing of brows than last time, and they can confirm it can be made. It is going to take some getting used to, though...