Ronan Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 I thought I'd post some pictures of my 3 lane routed MDF track. It is flat despite the name! (Three Rock Mountain is a large hill over looking our house on the southside of Dublin). It runs very well and I've had some good races on it so far. I've been painting in borders and markings for the start/finish area and I'm about to start work on a pit area (I have some card Bauer buildings and I'm awaiting some Fly pit walls in the post) and so far it's been fun! Here are a bunch of photos: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slots Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Hi Ronan and welcome to the board. Nice to see some of the Europeans are running wood tracks instead of the plastic. i like the layout, good use of limited space and if the track work is any guide, the scenery should be good too. Quote Stu Old racers race harder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted August 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Hi Ronan and welcome to the board. Nice to see some of the Europeans are running wood tracks instead of the plastic. i like the layout, good use of limited space and if the track work is any guide, the scenery should be good too. Thanks Stu! I have to say I see all these great Australian wood tracks here and on the other forums and I'm really envious! I wish I knew of another wood track in the same city as me although there doesn't seem to be. I have been in contact with a Dublin based group who race on 4 lane plastic track and I'm hoping to meet up with them, but I'd love it if they would come over for some good racing on my 3 laner and maybe I could make some converts! I must post some overall pics of the track later (the other end was too messy earlier when I took these pics!). The lanes vary in length between 46 feet to 50 feet (middle lane is 47.5 feet long). The track footprint is 16 feet long and 5 feet wide for half and 4 feet wide for the other half. The overall footprint is to best fit the room which is around 23 feet long but only 7.5 feet wide (it's a converted garage). I have lots of good scenery materials and ideas to get cracking with, all I need to find now is some more time! (A tall order with 4 kids, 3 under 3, but I know of some excellent track builders with many more kids than that, so they are no excuse! LOL!) :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slots Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Get the kids involved! Then you have an excuse to work on it so they stay out of the missus hair! By the way, where is the Darlek in the eighth picture going to live?????????? :nice: Quote Stu Old racers race harder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlotsNZ Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 (edited) Very nice Ronan, quality work on the track, and that wiring underneath, you make me embarrressed about my spaghetti. Is that 3 individual variable supplies I see there? - are you a "techy" by chance? Mate - with 4 kids and 3 under 3, you need to be somewhere the wife can't find you easily; - and occupied......the "room formerly known as garage" ssems the safest place....... Just think though, all the "captive marshalls" you'll have at your disposal in a couple of years Edited August 22, 2008 by SlotsNZ Quote Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict * Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose ) * Total kidder * Companion of other delusional slot addicts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Get the kids involved! Then you have an excuse to work on it so they stay out of the missus hair! By the way, where is the Darlek in the eighth picture going to live?????????? LOL! Actually the kids love the track! I have a 7 (nearly 8!) year old boy Rory whom I can have pretty good full on races with (although the tears can start to flow if I win too much!) and I have twins who will be 3 in November who love the track too. For the twins I turn the power down on their lanes to 4.5v which means they never deslot. They are boy/girl twins and my daughter Abigail loves cars most of all! She frequently requests to "do cars"! Mark my other twin is not nearly so interested in the slot cars but still likes them. (My surname is Donohoe so of course I managed to name one of my son's after Mark Donohue!). Our youngest Lucy is only 7 months old but I'm sure she will in time learn to love cars like her Dad! Ah the Dalek! LOL! We are all big fans of Dr Who in this house so Rory thought it would be cool to put a Dalek on the track! He has since been evicted for threatening to Exterminate too many cars! Not sure where he is right now although I suspect the twins have successfully removed most of the poor things appendages by now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Very nice Ronan, quality work on the track, and that wiring underneath, you make me embarrressed about my spaghetti. Is that 3 individual variable supplies I see there? - are you a "techy" by chance? Mate - with 4 kids and 3 under 3, you need to be somewhere the wife can't find you easily; - and occupied......the "room formerly known as garage" seems the safest place....... Just think though, all the "captive marshalls" you'll have at your disposal in a couple of years LOL! Well, the "clever" idea I had of using transparent duct tape to hold the wires in place lasted about a week before it all started hanging down! So now I've glued the sensors in place and I've secured the wires with a staple gun. The track has held up really well so far, 3 months after completing the basic structure it is still in tip top condition with minimal maintenance. Not a "techy" at all! Just an enthusiastic amateur! My real job is as a GP in a not so great area of Dublin (lots of drug and alcohol related problems...) but it pays well and that is always good for funding a slot car habit! LOL! I bought the 3 separate power supplies online from Maplin in the UK and they were not too expensive. The idea of course is to allow me to run at 12v while the other lanes can be turned down (to 4.5v I find usually) to allow my twins (who only seem to know the "full power" setting so far!) to play without constantly deslotting. Actually the kids love the track too which is great as we can all escape into the "car" room! Leaving my wife to settle our youngest (7 month old girl) while watching her favorite shows on the telly! Not a bad arrangement! I'm hoping to meet up with some other slot car enthusiasts in Dublin (precious few of us so far it seems) as I'd love to host a race night, so hopefully that will happen soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Great little track there Ronan A lot of us over here have gone from the big grand speed tracks to the smaller "technical" tracks around the 12-14 mtr length (around 40 ft) makes you think while driving. If the guys over there are anything like the ones here you'll have no problem getting a few over for a meeting, and you'd be surprised how many come out of the woodwork Quote Quickly read this post before it is deleted or i turn grey again Gary http://www.facebook.com/Rallyproxy2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted August 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Great little track there Ronan A lot of us over here have gone from the big grand speed tracks to the smaller "technical" tracks around the 12-14 mtr length (around 40 ft) makes you think while driving. If the guys over there are anything like the ones here you'll have no problem getting a few over for a meeting, and you'd be surprised how many come out of the woodwork Thanks Gazza! Yes, parts of the track are pretty technical but I do love my long straight too! I'm a bit out of action at the moment with a bad back but I'm hoping to meet up with some other racers next month and I'm hoping they might catch the routed wood bug just like I did! Thanks again! Ronan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2008 I took some (poor quality!) video of the track in action over the weekend with some of my slot.it's on urethane tyres (including Porsches, plus both my Alfa 33's and Ferrari 312PB) I put the short result on you tube to see how it worked and here it is: name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> I plan on trying to take better quality video soon but while I'm good at digital photography I'm a total noob with video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I've been working on the scenery end of things and I've just finished adding in a lighted Sunoco sign as well as grass, bushes, trees, the lot. Now that I finally started doing some landscaping I'm enjoying it in a big way! Here are some photos of what I've done so far: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoeno29 Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 bloody good work mate ! like it a lot Quote Find me at Card Guys for custom trading cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 bloody good work mate ! like it a lot Thanks Martin! I feel it's really coming along nicely and most importantly it drives well too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTR XU-1 Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thats bloody awsome! The track and the scenery are both a credit to you. Where abouts did you get the Sunoco sign from? Well Done! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slots Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Good work there Ronan. Have you got an overall shot of the track? Quote Stu Old racers race harder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggy Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Looks great Ronan. I am a scenery man myself and love the way it adds to a tracks appearance, color and realisticness Certainly makes racing that much more enjoyable IMO. Keep it up and plenty of pics. Quote * Avatar used with permission Normal people worry me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slider Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 All of the above good stuff Keep the photo,s coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thats bloody awsome! The track and the scenery are both a credit to you. Where abouts did you get the Sunoco sign from? Well Done! Dave Thank you! I've learned a lot about landscaping and scenery from forums like this and it's fun to put what little I know into practice! The sign is by Miller Engineering in the States and I think I bought it from them direct. Here is a link to their "latest releases" page which shows the Sunoco sign. I also have a Gulf and a Shell sign to add to the track later on and hopefully it will really look good then! Miller Engineering new releases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Good work there Ronan. Have you got an overall shot of the track? Thanks Stu! The rest of the track is a mess at the moment but in the photos at the top of this topic you can see the overall layout of the track, plus a few posts up is a link to a short video of the track in action on you tube. I have to sort out the pit area (I have some neat concrete barriers in resin to paint and place and I have to finish off my pit wall (made from cut down Fly parts) and then I'll try to take some good quality overview shots of the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Looks great Ronan. I am a scenery man myself and love the way it adds to a tracks appearance, color and realisticness Certainly makes racing that much more enjoyable IMO. Keep it up and plenty of pics. Good to know I'm not alone in liking scenery! Since I mostly use the track on my own then it is nice to have it looking somewhat realistic. I've tried to keep it practical though, and making sure the scenery does not get in the way of the smooth running of the cars is important of course. Next job I think is to finish off the pit area so I'll have lots of pics of that area too hopefully soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 All of the above good stuff Keep the photo,s coming Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlotsNZ Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 That really is looking a treat Ronan, thanks for the update. I hadn't come acorss the Miller signs before, they are really great. Sigh, another way to lighten my wallet........... I suggest you put a handkerchief over your mouth, then send a voice message to them in best Irish accent. " you're going to be getting a lot of orders from slot car people 'down under'. I'm expecting a wee commission on all yer sales there. It kin be deposited to my nombered account in Zurich....there will be no further messages......" Quote Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict * Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose ) * Total kidder * Companion of other delusional slot addicts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 That really is looking a treat Ronan, thanks for the update.I hadn't come acorss the Miller signs before, they are really great. Sigh, another way to lighten my wallet........... I suggest you put a handkerchief over your mouth, then send a voice message to them in best Irish accent. " you're going to be getting a lot of orders from slot car people 'down under'. I'm expecting a wee commission on all yer sales there. It kin be deposited to my nombered account in Zurich....there will be no further messages......" LOL! Well, it might be worth a try! Mind you, my track could end up looking like the strip in Las Vegas! They really are super looking signs though, I think they would look good on pretty much any kind of track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ontheflipside Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 That really is looking a treat Ronan, thanks for the update.I hadn't come acorss the Miller signs before, they are really great. Sigh, another way to lighten my wallet........... I suggest you put a handkerchief over your mouth, then send a voice message to them in best Irish accent. " you're going to be getting a lot of orders from slot car people 'down under'. I'm expecting a wee commission on all yer sales there. It kin be deposited to my nombered account in Zurich....there will be no further messages......" LOL! Well, it might be worth a try! Mind you, my track could end up looking like the strip in Las Vegas! They really are super looking signs though, I think they would look good on pretty much any kind of track. I have had the Good Year one for 18 months but haven't found the right place for it yet. Looks and works great. Very reasonably priced as well. Quote I can't believe that I wanted to grow up Mount Salt Panorama Track Combined Road and Rally Track built near Salt Pan Creek Padstow - Sydney A quick build rally track 2017 WRP Round 11 at Mt Salt Panorama https://i128.photobu...zpss7sqiwfj.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 That really is looking a treat Ronan, thanks for the update.I hadn't come acorss the Miller signs before, they are really great. Sigh, another way to lighten my wallet........... I suggest you put a handkerchief over your mouth, then send a voice message to them in best Irish accent. " you're going to be getting a lot of orders from slot car people 'down under'. I'm expecting a wee commission on all yer sales there. It kin be deposited to my nombered account in Zurich....there will be no further messages......" LOL! Well, it might be worth a try! Mind you, my track could end up looking like the strip in Las Vegas! They really are super looking signs though, I think they would look good on pretty much any kind of track. I have had the Good Year one for 18 months but haven't found the right place for it yet. Looks and works great. Very reasonably priced as well. A Goodyear sign sounds nice, that's one I haven't seen. When you do get it up and running I'd love to see some photos of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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