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New Track (s) In Hawkes Bay


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After years in the planning, musing, wishing, and mostly procrastinating, I have begun work on a couple of modular table-tops I can roll under my routed

track and use to mount plastic track.

 

The imminent arrival of the Policar track system - next Monday to be precise, and my need to have a test bed, gave it a nudge. But it is also the

opportunity to create a rally and RAID track that I have wanted for well, most of my time slotting.

I can run the Policar track mostly around the outside, crossover etc, then interlace it with the RAID track, using the natural elevations of the hill climb pieces

 

So this morning, full of coffee and optimism I wandered down to our local M10 Mega (That's the Kiwi equivalent of a Bunnings Aussie-Jim), and had the

nice bloke shorten some sheets of MDF and some lengths of 40 x 20mm kiln dried pine, to save me a lot of saw time.

 

The two sheets of 6mm MDF have been shortened to 2 metres, as this is the longest I can tuck away under Oakland Raceway.

portable1.jpg

 

The 40mm x 20mm kiln dried pine is light and fairly rigid. I had them cut 4 lengths of 5.4 metre into 8 x 1,960cm plus the leftover of 4 x 1,460 cm

That provides the framing for both tables.

The 40 x 20 rings the sheet, and supplies two extra stringers to run length-ways, and all I had to cut was the extra off the cross pieces sticking out below

 

portable2.jpg

 

Oh look, the legs of those resin folding tables look just right. - "Off with their heads/tops"

 

portable3.jpg

 

On this table I was able to pull the end rails apart, removed the two black plastic frame retainers that clip the ends of the metal frame together when

storing away, and use these in the ends of the legs in the new frame to hold the legs up and away for storage.

The other table I cannibalised had plastic retaining clips that wouldn't fit the legs there, so I will have to manufacture an alternate solution for table 2 legs

 

portable4.jpg

 

And in they go, screwed onto the internal stringers

 

portable5.jpg

 

If you do a bit of woodworking and don't own one of these, you're a masochistic mug. Two set screws allow changing of the drill bit - or setting of depth,

and setting the dept/width of the screw head rebating. I am using 30mm #10 screws. I can drill a run of holes identical depth, rebated, in about 30 seconds

 

portable6.jpg

 

Presto - each table took about 90 minutes start to finish once i had everything ready to go.

 

Next up I am fitting some 10 x 20 off-cuts underneath screwed and glued with construction adhesive to the frame and underside of the MDF, for

mounting of the casters this first table will roll on.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Looks good. Liking the look of the screw height rebater too.

 

I think I bought it about 15 years ago, when we were re-gibbing the ceilings at a new rental property I bought to reno., and it's been used constantly ever since.

The plastic stopper stops the gib paper getting ripped.

That would be the one where I busted my back carrying double sheets of gib. That would be the injury that made me give up squash and re-discover slots while lying on my back for 3 months.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Looking good Mark, and such quick progress, I think the record time for a track build in the Bay is 6 years 4 months 12 days!!!

2019 NZ RTR Nationals Gt 3rd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals NSR Classic 2nd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals Group C 3rd

2017 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 NSR Classic Challenge 2nd

2014 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 Garden City Invitation Overall Champion

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- Mark - we have to try and keep up with the Westport factory production line........

 

Next up I am fitting some 100 x 20 off-cuts underneath screwed and glued with construction adhesive to the frame and underside of the MDF,

for mounting of the casters this first table will roll on.

portable7s.jpgportable8s.jpgportable9s.jpg

Casters mounted, I used four of the fixed ones, and two swiveling. I think last time I must have used two fixed and four swiveling, as my other rolling table

is easier to manipulate sideways and it has about 250kg of track, scenic supplies and “stuff” on it. Go that way if copying.

 

portable10.jpg

 

Needing something to hold those legs in place, I raided Beloved’s sewing supplies – which rival my slotting supplies. Hey look! - some old 20mm elastic.

Stretched drum tight near the end of the legs, it can be pulled sideways enough to free them, but will hold them in place with almost no sag when one

table sits atop the other one.

 

To enable one table to sit on the other, I needed a reliable system of runners. Queue rat cunning and Scottish ancestry. The guide blocks on the bottom

bench as below are scavenged from the rubbish bins in the cutting area at M10, where they also throw old packing wood. Presto, a 75 x 50mm guide

block for the runners with a shallow flat groove 20mm wide.

Short pieces of the waste are cut to create six mounting blocks. The blocks are mounted at the four corners of bench one, and mid way along each side.

 

portable13.jpg

 

The cheapest runners to match this are some 18 x 18mm dressed, which I have mounted under the frame of the second bench. They overlap the outer

rim of frame a few mm to keep them from bending and have a packer midway for extra screw fixing. Sand the outside edges to avoid future splintering,

and presto a $14 set of runners.

 

portable15.jpg

 

This gives me a total clearance of 85mm on the Bench One surface - enough for mounting track and barriers. All the major track elevations will occur on

Bench number two, which has about 420mm clearance to the underside of my routed track where the units will store out of sight until needed.

 

portable11.jpg

 

It lives. A bit of filling to do, then a coat of paint, and I will have a 4 x 1.2 metre platform on which to assemble plastic tracks, for under $300.

 

portable14.jpg

 

There is a little bit of flex, but not enough to cause a concern. The benches are held together when assembled by three bolts running through the

adjoining end panels, and I will simply disconnect the pieces of track which straddle the join when packing away to storage. The total weight of each

bench is under 10kg. With track and a bit of scenery mounted, I doubt it will exceed 15kg. That sort of weight should be easily handled by one person.

 

portable16.jpg

 

And here they are “in bed” stacked on the right hand side. The left side has all my bulk slotting things like track, scenery supplies, all kinds of junk in

wheelie bins. There is lots of storage space under a track.

 

Tomorrow is fill, sand and paint, ready for the arrival of the Policar track on Monday.

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Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Over the past few days I have painted the two benches, then sat twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my order to arrive, containing the Policar track.

Finally it showed this afternoon.

 

portable17.jpg

 

The benches sit end to end, and pieces of track straddling the join will be disconnected for storage.

 

The Policar test track has a running length of about 10 metres, with a longest straight of 2.5 metres,

 

portable18.jpg

 

And yes, that is part of a RAID/Rally track in the middle and underneath the table.

Once i have finalised the elevations fixed down the Policar track, I will begin weaving the RAID track in amongst the road track.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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What a difference one good session with the tools can make. Final design done and dusted. Both tracks use almost every CM of width and length.

I think the RAID is about 21 metres of single lane, the 2 lane Policar road track is about 10 metres.

All this on a footprint of 4 x 1.2 metres, that stacks to 2 x 1.2 and slides out of sight under my routed track when not in use.

portable22.jpg

Screwed down the "flat" end of the track to keep it stable while I worked on the final design of the RAID track and the elevations.

The 40 x 120cm offcuts from the two sheets of MDF gave me enough material to shape under most of the elevated track, and other waste for the uprights.

That is all finished apart from ONE measly piece of 20 x 20mm about 22cm long that I was short.

portable19.jpg

 

portable20.jpg

 

portable21.jpg

Once the "No More Nails" has hardened tomorrow, I can take off the actual track, dob some paint about, glue down some infills, fit the driver station for

the RAID, and start thinking about some basic landscaping to cover the elevation construction and the paddock. The RAID part needs to be Saharan.

 

Haven't decided what outer barriers to use for the RAID, but I do have lengths of clear plastic strip cut to 80mm I could fix all around, might be tidy.

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Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Nice work Mark

2019 NZ RTR Nationals Gt 3rd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals NSR Classic 2nd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals Group C 3rd

2017 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 NSR Classic Challenge 2nd

2014 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 Garden City Invitation Overall Champion

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It is two completely separate tracks within the same footprint, a two lane Policar track, and the single lane Raid/Rally track with the Ninco "rally loops" at each end for the returns.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Great thinking there Munter

2019 NZ RTR Nationals Gt 3rd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals NSR Classic 2nd

2017 NZ RTR Nationals Group C 3rd

2017 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 NSR Classic Challenge 2nd

2014 NSR Classic Challenge 3rd

2015 Garden City Invitation Overall Champion

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OK so with timing could you host a round of the WRP?

 

We would have to check whether the rally cars do all cope with the SCX straights portion, which is the slot car equivalent of driving over 100 metres of cattle stops - with the odd missing section of rail..... - and the Ninco RAID overpass sections, but a possibility.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Munter - bring a rally car or two to Club here if you're coming tomorrow - I'll have the track set up as I am still working on it - we can see how they go.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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I removed the elevated track, screwed some small blocks of 30 x 20mm under the MDF sections that support the RAID track, and painted what will be seen

once the track is reassembled.

portable23.jpg

I have lengths of clear plastic strip cut to 80mm width, so after reassembling the track, I measured a length and cut it so it will fit around the RAID

elevations as a fence. It can be cut okay on a Jigsaw so long as you go slowly.

portable26.jpg

 

portable25.jpg

 

portable22.jpg

And yes, when reassembling, I replaced three sections of standard track on the RAID hill with yellow RAID sections.

 

Fitted one of my driver stations for powering the RAID track. The whole thing runs off an old Lab supply with variable voltage. I had it up Thursday when

club was at my place, and some guys did laps on the RAID track. Once the trucks are set up properly, it will be a fun diversion. Scenery still to do

Meanwhile, the car is back in the garage, and I put this away in bed - I can manage this by myself.

 

portable27.jpg

 

portable28.jpg

 

portable29.jpg

  • Upvote 1

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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