My permanent digital track begins .... Options

[Ian B]

I was driving the other way round " thats Digital for you!"

[Savage]

OK, had a bit of a rework with the track planner, trying to A: slow down the pit section, was too fast for my liking. and B: include room for pit in/out sensors.
I have lost my car park area, but TBH I would rather have the track driving how I want than a car park

I will give this a try:

[Savage]

Damn. I've lost the edit function as It was a while ago I posted !

Anyhoo ... as seems to often be the case, the track design program is at odds with what fits, and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon trying to fit something in.
Oddly the track plan I now have, when shown on the program, is way out, but it all fits in reality !

I have a mate coming round shortly, and we will get some testing in, see how it shapes up under race pressure

[1eye101]

Hi Tel
Just caught up on your pms. August museum meet sounds good, Ill check out with her in doors tmw.

The new changes look good, I'll check with the calendar about coming over soon for some testing.

Let us know how you get on tonight

[MrFlippant]

Savage, so out of whack that the gap suppressor wasn't able to straighten it out? The thing with the track designers is that they are WAY more precise than the real world. In reality, it's easy to fudge a track. The gap suppressor in Track Power works pretty well when it's just a minor offset, but when it's something that really needs another track piece, it just doesn't work. I usually use the gap suppressor before I take an image or print a layout, 'cus I know it will work in real life. Looks like your plan could use a lashing by the gap suppressor.

On another note, how to you deal with sight issues on that left hand loop? If someone is standing in the nook of the L shape, those to their right will not be able to clearly see that loop. Do you make sure the taller racer is on the right? ;-)

[Savage]

I never seem to be able to get the gap suppressor working
But the image posted above looks close that it would fudge IRL, but it wont ! maybe I missed something in my plan lol, but the new one is further out on the program, fits lovely IRL .. just gonna post that up as I think I will keep this as pretty final, some great fun tonight, and most issues were caused by the scaley borders being to close for tail out, and occasionally the lack of borders when getting squirelly down the straights !
Both of those won't be an issue once the MDF borders are down, and I need a grab arm for any derails on the end of the straight, but otherwise everywere else is easy enough acsess.
just about breaking into sub 10's with the mag free Fly 911 GT1-98, and the rocketship magnetized boxster was hitting 8.7's, more importantly for me, the track needed a lot more driving than the original layout
Obvioulsy visibility is compromised on the L section, but I am sure a little stool will negate that, I was the one with the compromised view, and I drove it part blind, knowing all bends are R2 helped !
Practically it would be better to be just an oblong board, but for what I wanted I am happy to make the compromise

Stuart, sounds good for Aug I am hoping you can make it round sometime for further testing, I feel very happy with the newer layout, but more testing can never hurt

Plan of tonights (final ?) layout below, just pretend the misalignment doesn't exist and you are there

[MrFlippant]

It took me a bit of fiddling to learn the gap suppressor. that gap looks like TrackPower probably wouldn't suppress it, but I can see it working IRL. The trick to the gap suppressor is to select a lot of track on one side of the gap, then with the mouse near the gap you'll see the pointer have a dot rather than a track piece at the tip. At that point, hold the CTRL button and click the RIGHT mouse button (the opposite of the normal clicker for most users). Not sure why he chose to make it so convoluted, but there you are.

Anyway, I like the look of your modified track. Care to toss up a new pic of the right end?

[Savage]

Your wish .....
Taken just before I marked it up and took the track off ... courtesy of Scalextric for making the LC/ Pit pieces 2-3 mm thicker than the other track pieces, I routed out the difference on those parts so it all sits level
Sorry about PQ, didnt realise the first pic wasnt focused until it was too late !

[Savage]

A small update, Stuart mentioned I should get the background in before I started any other scenery, so I added some hardboard borders and painted the sky on ( Yeah OK I went overboard with the clouds but nevermind )
It may not be as artistic as many on here, but I am pleased with my first artistic attempt
I plan to add some basic rolling hills in 2 shades of grey-green to attempt to get some false perspective once this is all dry.

Thanks to those that helped me find the posts with the technique for this

Borders up and basic sky blue painted:



White brushed on to lower part while still wet:



Clouds added with sponge:



I left the clouds paint to start to dy a little then I found dragging a brush over helped blend them a bit nicer, and we see the finished but still wet result:



I think the colours will have less contrast when dry, so hopefully that will improve the appearance a bit more.

I have also just managed to locate a grey for the track I like, as well as some other track colours, (not as easy as you might think to find darker grey emulsions).
So I am going to pick them up tommorow in case I can't find them again when I need them !

.

[jmswms]

Well done with the backdrop!

[Sledgehammer]

Looking nice, good idea to get the back drop done first.

John W.

[K3ITH]

Savage,

Your track is looking good!

I'd be tempted to put one more XLC in the underpass area before your Pit-Lane, you want to maximize the opportunity to get in the correct lane for pitting.

Keith...

[Savage]

Thanks fella's, I think I did too many clouds on the short section (well it is the UK !), or maybe they should have less variation in height ? I am not sure why, but something doesn't look right there to me
Maybe I should paint over a few clouds ?

K3ITH, I had thought of that, but it has 2 potential drawbacks, firstly it will only have half a straight before the sensors following an R2 S, so non mag cars may well miss the change. Secondly, its under a bridge, so could be a potential deslot problem area.
I have the XLC before the PB and a curved LC on the bend before the R2 S section, so hopefully that will provide ample opportunity to get on the correct lane for pit entry.
I did manage to snag an extra XLC off ebay, which I was thinking of placing on the approach to pit exit, but that will have just 1/2 straight lead in too ...

[PSRRFH]

I think it's a very nice backdrop, maybe if you paint it over with a thin layer of white the clouds will become a little more subtle, and maybe some green areas at the bottom, then I'm sure when you add bushes and trees in front of it it'll look great.

cheers

[lgl007]

I think the whole thing looks awesome so far... just brilliant. I wish I was that handy with woodworking... unfortunately my skills religate me to using card board and foam core and such... but MAN your track is just super!!!

-Greg