Routed Oval With Road Course Infield

[MOPARGREG]

Hello there,

 

I got a bit of work done on my routed track yesterday. I was hoping to start routing today but it didnt happen, next weekend. I had a thread open regarding my oval but it seems to have disappeared. I drew up some plans about a month ago & yesterday I drew it up on mdf. The plans -

 

 

I drew this up as per the plan & I hated it.lol The size of the track was 3200mm x 1650mm. The reason I hated it was it was just way to short for how wide it was. The staights between the oval were like 1200mm max. The track was basically 2 massive corners. Also what I didnt like is my 1:1 2 door Valiant Pacer is behind the track & becasue of it width it left me with less than 25cm between the track & car.

 

I rubbed it all out & played around with it. No plans just drawing straight on the MDF. The track is now 3200mm x 1200mm at its widest & about 650mm at it narrowest on each end as the front of the track will be cut curved folowwing the oval. Lane spacing is 95mm all the way both oval & infield. 150mm Gutters all the way round. The downside was I dropped a lane & went to 2 lanes. Its very rare here we get 3 drivers as all the guys I race with are never that organised so 2 lanes hopefully will be ok. The photos are pretty bad as its quite dark in my garage as I have only hooked up 1 fluro light. I decided to start my track than fit the other 7 fluros. You can also see the track that I rubbed out so ignore the 2 big half circles. I measured the lane lengths & the outside lane is only 75cms shorter than my initial drawing. I am quite happy with this design as the backstraight is 2100mm which is alot better than before.

 

I think Im really going to enjoy it as its 2 tracks in one, I wanted a oval & a road curcuit. Something a bit different to the norm. Ill make up some manual flippers to change from oval to road course. The track is actually a very similar design to a fellow Rocky in the US.

 

I hope you can decipher the photos!! What do you think?

 

Wide Shot -

 

Right Side -

 

Left Side -

 

Centre -

 

Thanks

Greg

Edited June 21, 2009 by gazza

[Vinno]

Greg

 

That is very similar to Phoeno's original track from a few years back.

[slot car tragic]

hi Greg,

 

I like the look of the oval, kinda reminds me of Richmond with that long sweeping curve. The only thing I would add is I'd go three lanes. The group I race with have three ovals on our championship chase and the concensus is that with two lanes it can end up a bit like push bike racing on a velodrome, one guy at one end of the track and the other at the opposite end and you loose the feel of what oval racing is all about.

 

The three tracks are, one is a flat three laner with 6 metre lap length (based on Martinsville), one is an 18 metre lap length high banked 4 laner (shaped like Indy) and mine is in the middle at 11 metres, 4 lanes only slightly banked based on Darlington. Mine is on a board 1.8mX4.8, turns 1&2 are a slightly tighter radius with 90mm spacing while turns 3&4 are a larger radius with 70mm lane spacing. Others may say it's a bit tight but 1/24th classic NASCARs get around, admittedly it's door handle to door handle stuff but I reckon that's what it's all about.

 

My camera died and Junior's doesn't take a flash so I'll post some pix next weekend but once you have your oval up and runing you'll wonder why you didn't do it before, they're a real hoot.

 

Chris.

[MOPARGREG]

Greg

 

That is very similar to Phoeno's original track from a few years back.

I wasnt aware Phoneo had an oval track. I know his rally tracks & I remember his road circuit. Would love to see pics Phoneo!!

 

hi Greg,

 

The only thing I would add is I'd go three lanes. The group I race with have three ovals on our championship chase and the concensus is that with two lanes it can end up a bit like push bike racing on a velodrome, one guy at one end of the track and the other at the opposite end and you loose the feel of what oval racing is all about.

 

Chris.

 

I had decided to go with 2 lanes as it fits my space better & I didnt think I could fit 3 lanes in my space without loosing to much space in the infield for the road circuit. BUT I was playing around & I made it fit. So my track is back to 3 lanes on the oval & only the inside 2 lanes going into the centre for the road track. I shuffled everything around & by adding an extra lane on the oval it only changed the space I have for the road track in the infield by 90mm. My lane spacing is now 90mm. Its fantastic. Im sure Knoath would like to know Ive even got a tiny bit of room for some scenery, :(

 

No pics but I am routing it on the weekend so Ill post pics then. Fingers crossed. I would also like to thank Phil for his off forum advise with wiring. You should run your own Slotcar Advisery business! So thanks for all your help, Much appriciated.

 

Greg

Edited June 17, 2009 by MOPARDEVIL

[Vinno]

Remembering it now I think it might have had a wiggle at one end but the infield was very much the same with the straight and lane changers. I had a look on his website but it is not there, or at least no full pictures that show it that well.

[MOPARGREG]

Hi everyone,

 

I have hit a problem & was hoping you guys could help. What I was planning on doing was route the inside lane all the way around on both the oval & infield. Then I had planned on putting some yellow tounge inside the slot & make up a router template that was 90mm attached to the router & just push it all around the track against the tounge. Problem is my slot width is 3mm & the tounge is 4mm so it aint gunna fit!!!!!

 

Any ideas on a different method so I dont have to nail the flexible strip in for each lane. A method I had thought of was to use the router template at 90mm spacing like I was going to use & hammer 2 nails through it & cut the end of the nails off. The nails then run in the slot that was routed & route away. Will this work? Or is there a better/easier way?

 

Thanks

Greg

[kalbfellp]

You can just run a belt sander along the Yellow tongue. I have a piece here that has been over a linisher.

[MOPARGREG]

Well here it is all routed. I routed most of it by myself with my wife helping to nail in the strip & guide the extension lead sometimes. It probably took me about 7 hours from start to finish. Im pretty happy with it & hope it will run as well as it does in my head. There is an extra piece that connects to the back of the back straight not pictured to give some extra room for sliding without hitting the back wall. Since these pics all nail holes have been filled & sanded. I know this is not most of you guys type of track but it suits me with 2 tracks in one with plenty of track in a 3.2 x 1.2m size. I think its pretty good for a first attempt.

 

Edited June 21, 2009 by MOPARDEVIL

[Rene]

Thats looking great! Love the track design, great idea being able to switch between oval and infield.

 

I was just thinking, what if you banked the 2 large turns? Cut a 2-4cm wide wedge shape into the MDF and then bring the MDF together, should result in a nice bank...

 

 

Though I'm not sure if the slot will line up straight or if there will be a kink, maybe try on a bit of cardboard first to see if it works.

 

Ren.

Edited June 21, 2009 by Rene

[MOPARGREG]

Hi Rene, I am going to bank the right hand side corner only & will be banking it similar to how your diagram shows but instead of the wedge cut out in the middle of the corner ill be cutting the wedge out where the curve meets the straight so it is easier to line the slots up.

[MOPARGREG]

Well here it is. The track is up & running. The track folds down off the wall onto my work bench as you can see in the 1st photo. Track is 3.2m x 1.35m at its widest. I used Dulux low sheen paint for the track surface. The track is banked at the right hand end only. I dont know how many degrees it is but is banked slightly.

 

My wife & I ran it for about an hour over the weekend. We ran the track on10volts with a variety of cars & both of us felt it was plenty fast enough. Grip is suprisingly good with a wide range of tyres with NSR & MJK being the best. We even thought stock scalex was pretty good. Suprisingly stock Slotit was terrible basically wheelspin the entire track. Coming out of the flat corner on the left onto the sweeping straight is fantastic. Lane changing is manual & takes about 1 second to move the flipper. The flippers are made out of some yellow tounge. It is suprising how smooth the track is particularly when the cars go over the flippers. The track is not very big in comparison but it does the job.

 

I hope to finish it off over the coming weeks. Finish painting the barriers & part of the track & then sort out some timing. I have about 4 areas on the track where I can add some scenery. No idea what Im going to do yet but the theme is 70's American Nascar/Transam.

 

Edited July 6, 2009 by MOPARDEVIL

[kalbfellp]

I hope to finish it off over the coming weeks

:angry2: Not now that it is running!

 

Well done Greg,glad to see that bit all has come together.

[MOPARGREG]

Thanks Phil & thankyou for your helpful advise through the build. You are right though, every night I think ill finish the painting off but it hasnt happened yet.

 

I am actually planning to build another track soon. Either another track that folds down on top of this one or a large portable track that comes apart in sections & is stored against the wall behind this track.

[kalbfellp]

Greg: I only just finally painted the outside of my track after 12 months of use!

[MOPARGREG]

I thought i would give an update on my track. I have finished the painting with the track, borders & drivers stations. I just want to keep it simple. We have had a few great race nights so far with some really close racing. Its been great. Im glad I put higher barriers as we have had a few close calls. About the only problems Ive had are the flippers. Im on about mk4 now & its getting better. Im having problems with cars with larger guides not running smooth over them sometimes.

 

I now have a timing system. I bought one of Brent Carlson Sensor Harness's. It cost me $55US shipped. It can with everything I needed. All I did was install it in the track. Took about 5mins, plugged it in the power & into the computer. It hasnt missed a beat. The only cars I had trouble not counting were blue guide Scalex which now have black guides. Problem solved. Im using UR3.0 & LT2000. Heres a pic of my timing, no gantreys or anything needed. I highly recommend this product & his service was supreme.

 

Here is the track folded up against the wall. It great out of the way. I can fold it up & down by myself & the controllers & everything fold up with it. Nothing is unplugged it ill folds with it.

 

I am now thinking of building another track to complement this one. I am going to either build one that folds down onto this one. Both will fold up & down. So the new one will have to fit inside this one. It will be tight, I have 210mm height to work with. Or I will build a large modular track that will fit together in sections & will store on the wall behind this track. I dont know which way Ill go yet but either way they need to be easy to setup. If I go the first option I plan on having both tracks live with power so that way I can use the existing drivers panel & controllers. The larger track is appealing though but the downside is Ill need to back a car out of the garage & set the track up. Not as easy as folding it down & off you go.

 

Ill start some infield scenery now but I have no idea what im doing. If anyone wants to come around & turn some laps the just let me know. Anyones welcome to come around.

Edited September 1, 2009 by MOPARDEVIL

[Ben_M]

Well done Mopardevil. Fits in really nice. I really like the simplicity of the whole build. Is the next track going to be combined oval/road course again or something different?

[knoath]

Hey Mopar... the "QIK202" plates caught my eye... were they from a Torana?

 

Track looks great, what a difference a lick of paint makes!

 

Dick

[MOPARGREG]

Thanks for your replies.

Ben, Depends On which way I decide to build the next one. If I build the fold down onto this track idea it will definately be some sort of 3 lane road circuit, not a oval at all. If I do the modular larger circuit idea it will be a 4 laner & probably be able to set it up in a few configurations. One of them being an oval probably & another being a road circuit. No flippers this time though, they are driving me bonkers.

 

Knoath, Well spotted. Damn the Toranas out of the bag. It was my first car, I wasnt allowed a Chrysler as they were to big apparently. Ended up selling it for a Val. Any ideas for some scenery on my track Dick? There is about 4 areas in the infield that I can put scenery. I dont know where to start.

[knoath]

Any ideas for some scenery on my track Dick? There is about 4 areas in the infield that I can put scenery. I dont know where to start.

Geez mate... doesn't leave much room for a BandAid!!!

Grab a couple of pics from higer up so we can see what we have. Include a reference (a car perhaps) to see what sort of room you've got... it looks tight from these pics.

 

No room for a fence on the inside of the back straight either...

[MOPARGREG]

Well the tracks been closed for the week due to some renovations. The gardeners have come in to do some landscaping. But that didnt stop some of the T/A guysrunning some laps in the downtime.

 

I still have loads to do, next step is to do more grass work as its a bit patchy & also some colours to break up the grass work a bit as its a bit neat for me. Ive got some half car tyres & a few other things to go in also. Oh & thanks for you guidance Dick. Long way to go though.

 

 

I added a line around the outside of the oval. I figured out a great way to add in an ultrasharp line & quick as. I used one of those liquid paper tape things. It seems to stick really well & & very sharp. If you were worried about it scratching you could run some pva over the top. On my track I didnt want a pristene line as I wanted it to look worn so I ran a wet scourer over it & ended up with a worn line. Photo blurry though.

 

 

I will hopefully do more tomorrow night

[kalbfellp]

Starting to look like a track now Greg. Very good.

[MOPARGREG]

Ive done a bit more scenery, Ive got as few more bushes & some track weathering & im done. It was quite enjoyable to tinker with the scenery. I was going for a 70's style track thats a bit run down as my theme.

 

Ratrods on the infield

 

 

T/A's coming around the infield

 

 

My old school lap board in the back

 

 

My rock wall

 

 

Some nascars coming around the oval. I used some foliage out of the garden & I sprayed some hairspray on some & some clear paint on the rest. Im going to see how long they last for. Some of the smaller ones in the middle are looking droopy but they were before I sprayed them.

 

 

Some wide shots

 

[Obsidith]

looks great hopefully the trees last