Italian Job / Alpine Track (The build begins) Options

[yakboy]

So I have been bothering you folks for the past few months, I thought it was about time to reveal my plans and see what you think. I'd thought I'd post in here and not in Tracks and Scenery as I thought it would be of limited interest to the 1:32 folks.

So I'll start at the beginning, as I've said before I come from a 1:64 RC car background and have had lots of fun over the past 6 or 7 years or so but with the kids coming along I don't get to play with them as often as I would like (the cars not the kids ) and the cars don't like sitting for too long, the batteries corrode and it was taking me a couple of hours to get the cars up and running before I could have a blast.....I like the modeling and scenery aspect as much as the racing so created the circuit below...a bit basic but it's collapsable and all the scenery is removable


So I decided it was time to move to slot cars and of course it had to be 1:64 or smaller, hence the bothering of you folks.....Got some track and cars from E-bay and started having a play. I was initially thinking in terms of a four lane raceway or a race of champions style circuit but after playing with the Tomy Turbo's I found them too fast and stuck too much to the circuit when compared to my micro RC cars, so I changed tack slightly and removed the magnets which I found more satisfying..the I stumbled on the "Kastelburg Raceway" on Hobby Talk and was just blown away.



I was initially going to do a similar thing to my RC track and have it in two halves with removable scenery but seeing Kastleburg changed all that...I could only afford space for an 8 by 4 circuit and would need to store it overhead in the garage.... after reading a few threads on here about winching the circuit up and the complications of rigging I managed to find a commercial solution


It's a 4 by 4 platform so I thought if I got rid of the platform I could adapt it to lift up a baseboard..so today I bought 8 by 4 12mm ply and some 3 by 2 and built a base board, added som hooks to the side and voila...



The cranking handle doesn't work as you get to the top but I should be able to get it to work by welding in a universal joint but I'm very pleased with the results and once cranked so the garage door won't hit it there will be just enough room for the scenery I have planned.

So I started laying out a shortened version of the Kastleburg Raceway (thanks Ogre for the plans) , this will be my base but I will be changing lots of sections and my wanting lots of hairpins to butcher may give you a clue to whats coming..as does the title of the thread.



Just to let you know that this is a long term project and half the joy for me will be building it so don't expect quick progress but I will post regularly.

[montoya1]

Looking good so far, have at it.

[mission65]

very nice , like the space saving aspect

[diesel]

Hairpins posted today.

I think there are a lot of people on here who will LOVE to see Tomy hairpins cut up

[yakboy]

Hairpins posted today.

I think there are a lot of people on hear who will LOVE to see Tomy hairpins cut up

Ha Ha....but not cut up in the way you would like !!!!!

[montoya1]

Cut up, mutilated, set fire too, crushed and so on.

In fact we need to convince Top Gear they are the new Caravans

For EAHORC races we used them once in a blue moon, but as we expanded the chassis choice several could not get good electrical contact where the rails do that little kink and squeeze.

[yakboy]

I will be soldering my track together eventually so hopefully overcome poor contacts

[Julian_Boolean]

Are you intending to use the haipins as rally loops, so that you use both lanes of the track as one lane, I've done this but you run into the prblem of the rails being in odd positions on the inside lane of a Tomy hairpin, if you want to make rally loops I've made better ones out of 90 degree 9" bends and a 15" straight, if your'e limited for space you could make them out of 6" bends and a 9" straight.

[diesel]

I'm thinking cut the middle section out so that the entry and exits can be set at different elevations for some serious hill climbing.

[yakboy]

I'm thinking cut the middle section out so that the entry and exits can be set at different elevations for some serious hill climbing.

Great minds think alike diesel...I have done a test piece and it works very well.

Julian I am going for a 2 lane alpine switchback rod in the right hand side of the track...(that big space on the piccie)

[Slotrace.dk]

This is an awesome track!

[yakboy]

Check out the thread on Hobby Talk

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=238347

and have a look at the gallery...very inspirational...I don't know if I will achieve this quality of finish but I am going to try my hardest

[Ogre]

I'm using the same lift as you, but made a 4'x 8' table. Your idea of using a joint on the crank is a good one. I think I'll do that as well, I had to add a hole in the table to get the proper table height I needed to clear my Jeep. Good luck on your build.

[col_de_turini]

I'm a big fan of The Italian Job 1968, so looking forward to that aspect particularly. Got the cars yet ?

Kind regards, Leo

[montoya1]

That track is (or was) for sale.