k76

It has taken me a while to finish this, but at least I've had the chance to use the track while sorting out the finishing touches. The track is now fully braided, which was a bit of work (easy though), but definitely worth it. The braid appears to stick so much better than the copper tape, I haven't had any issues of it playing up at all. The other major item has been to move the track to its final location, the back deck. Making it hoist up was a little bit more fiddly than I thought, in the end I resolved to having the hoist ropes at each end go 2 into 1, leaving me with one rope to pull at each end. I tried to make it work with a 4 ropes into 1, but friction and stretch in the ropes made it too hard. It looked a bit strange when I lifted it up, but now that I'm used to it it's ok. Putting a false bottom on it to hide the wiring was essential, there is just no way to make exposed wiring look tidy. Thanks for the inspiration and tips from other people on this forum, I've picked up a lot of useful stuff from this forum.

Thanks for the replies, I think braid is the way to go. I've had a bit of progress today with scenery, got about half the grass down and built a pit box out of MDF. Still contemplating the best way to finish this, either painted or printed overlays.

Progressing a little slower at the moment, but got one track up and running. First impressions are positive, a bit less grip than I'm used to, but it drives well. The copper tape I have laid down is a bit of concern, it doesn't seem to stick that well. It's been a week now, and still needs some pushing down. as I under-ordered copper tape anyway, I'm starting to think more seriously about braids now. A couple of questions: Any experiences with how tape vs braid holds up in humid conditions? If I do decide to braid, where to buy?

I wasn't going to cut off the corners, but thinking about it now! Have already built a frame to support the full sheet, that would need a bit of a rethink to make it work. I'll see tomorrow. Progress have been good, most of the painting done. Track has been painted with Jo Sonja black Gesso, I think it looks great if a little too perfect black. I really wasn't sure about the best way to deal with curbs/run off areas. I ended up with a modern F1 inspired coloured area, with tar run off areas. It is a lot of red, jury is still out on that one. At least it makes it easier to see the shape of the track! I'll try to incorporate some kind of pit area in the far corner, it is unrealistically tight but I need somewhere to park cars.

Picked up the routed plate today, very pleased with the result. Did a trialfit of the acrylic barriers I made earlier, snaps nicely into a routed groove. Priming and painting next!

He's got a Carrera Lighting McQueen, so he is happy. Except it doesn't have lights, I have to do something about that now that I have a car with lights.

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while, but as I move into actually building something I though't I'd open a thread. The intro is probably familiar and a bit lame: A year ago I bought a slot car set, my then 2.5 year old son provided more than ample excuses to get back into it. We've had a lot of fun with it the start set (ability to dial down the controller for the little guy is great!), but i've had enough of the carpet full of dog hair! Having space constraints, a lifting setup at the back deck was my only option. I contemplated a plastic setup for a while, but as I kept reading it became clear that routed is the way to go. 2.7m x 1.2m was the biggest size i can live with, so after looking at a few different layouts I ended up with modifying a fairly standard loop. I was keen to get something with decent length, and not too tight corners. I tried making it a bit more like a real track by not having perfect corners and straight, the curves are fair but the radiuses are not 100% constant. As I have more skills on a computer than a router I decided to get the thing CNC routed, for the hours and the risk of stuffing a sheet of MDF I'm hoping it was money well spent. I'm picking the sheet up tomorrow, we'll see then. For now, here is my layout: