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Race To The Sky


Ember

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Ok. So, you're desperate for a routed rally track. But you have absolutely no room. Can't even find room for an 8'x4' table. What do you do?

 

Climb up a wall, of course!

 

His Lordship started this project almost 2 years ago. But shortly after he got things this far he discovered fly fishing and the track languished unloved behind a blue tarp.

 

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If you look closely you will note there is no slot in the track. He wouldn't believe me that the usual thing is to route the slot and then set the gradients. I left him to it and let him work it out for himself.

 

Then suddenly inspiration dawned. Or maybe it was that the lake was closed due to blue green algae. The blue tarp was lifted and the router started buzzing.

 

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I threw a bit of paint at it for him while I could. Road bed is done with a Dulux Tuscan sample pot. I hoped it would be a bit more textured than the interior suede. It is. I'll do some more work on it as the scenery comes into play.

 

Right from the beginning I was a little worried about the right hand end. It's awfully steep with a lot of pitch on those corners. With the slot in place I was able to illustrate my concerns.

 

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Top corner. Going either up or down this the guide isn't even in the slot. The car seems destined to continue forward in a straight line.

 

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Same thing here.

 

But he was determined to tape it up and test it properly.

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Car and 9 volt battery seemed to support my theory, but no, he pressed on.

 

And I'll be pickled! It works!

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It's not an easy drive, but it wasn't meant to be. The two corners that I was concerned about are achievable with everything that's been tried. At least they are on a downhill run. At the moment can't get the direction change switch to work. But that's a minor thing. When he sorts that problem out I suppose I'll get the ceremonial handover for scenery.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

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Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Great idea.

 

That's a bit steeper than the switchbacks I am proposing but its good to see its possible. I was going to try 600mm rise over the four, how high is that.

 

Not sure if 600mm will be achievable if I go with plastic track though probably stick with 300-400 max.

 

I love hill climbs, what landscaping are you planning or is it just this is it, just wanted to see if it would work sort of thing.

 

Great idea

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It's so long since it was done, I'm not totally sure of the height, but I think it's very close to a metre on that end.

 

My intention is for mountain goat country. Lots of blue basalt. Green lush ferns and water in some areas. Hopefully some tall mountain ash. At least, that's the hope.

 

I have to find myself a source for some styrofoam or XPS though. Beginning to look like I might have to ship a couple of sheets from Melbourne at the moment.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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I'm with you guys, believe me. I think the right end needs to come down at least 100mm but probably more. That way I might even be able to see the road surface at the top. :)

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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track looks good/interesting seeing the guide rise out of the slot... even more so that you are able to drive it...... I imagine you'll be placing a flexible crowd / photographers on the outer of the corners just waiting to be hit...... I too am looking forward to see what you do with sceeney

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Was that 9mm MDF used it looks a little thin, if so how deep is the slot cut.

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Its looking good Ember, I shall follow the build with interest as I hope to do a similar track one day. A small footprint but some height to get a reasonable lap length. Can't wait to see you get started on the scenery, a few 1/32 mountain goats, Ibex and Thar should do the trick.

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Love it...

Can't wait to see the final result...

 

I've built a few corners with scaley track that you couldn't push the car through or the guide would come out.

They ended up being quite fun. The trick was to get the right ammount of slide...

Too little and you ran straight on, too much and you looped it.

But if you drifted it just right, you got arround quite well and quite quickly...

 

Oh, and about a month ago, I threw out a trashpack full of crushed styrofoam from PC packaging... :(

It was supprising just how much you could fit in there once we broke it all up.

Edited by shadow_rusty
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It's 9mm MDF with an 8mm(ish) slot.

 

The targa track is largely bulked out in the old fashioned white bead polystyrene sourced cheap (free) from packing materials. I was wanting to try something a little more carving friendly. But I'm beginning to wonder if typical hardshell and cast rock might be the go. Lots of time. I've a few proxy cars and a couple of dioramas to get sorted before I can get stuck into this one.

 

Also hoping I might have access to someone who can laser cut ferns for me so that I don't finish up paying a not so small fortune for the Japanese paper kits. I'm already thinking on ideas to reproduce dicksonia trunks. I really want this to be a complete opposite to the other track. Wet and lush and green.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Hey Lynne , don't change the height as it makes it all the fun . As you approach the top of the hill you wont be able to see it clearly so you'll have to take it it easy. In saying that a few runs will get you in the swing and and the times will fall. The first rally track I had , had a mine section in it , again you could not see what you were doing but if you came out , sweeeet. The pick below is of the mine section with the car going through the mine. The pick was taken from a door I put in so that if the car de slotted , it was easy to put back on the track.That track could also be driven in opposite direction so you weren't able to get a feel for it. Except for me ;) Again tip toed at first but once you were used to it times fell. It was fun , thinking if I can do it again on the current track. So hopefully no changes to yours and HR's track. Gazza has a corner similar to yours with the guide coming off one side , you just have to learn to drive it so momentum carries you through . In saying that , I hate that part of Gary's track , but hey each to their own.

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Craig

 

"You can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

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Ember,

as for the difficult corner, you could try leaving the elevation struts/poles variable. Over time you can subtly adjust the pitch until you get a reliable drive. On my wood track I have a couple of adjustable height points to change degree of difficulty. On a bend, just 3-4mm can make all the difference.

 

Holty

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Started filling in with fly screen but ran out of mesh. It's not an easy track to resolve scenery for. So far I've used a whole box of staples.

 

I'll get back to it when I finish the commission piece I'm working on.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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