[oldnotdead60]

My wife and I have moved into a two bedroom apartment while our retirement (hoping to retire next year) home gets built. We break ground next month and hopefully our home will be finished by December. I’ll have a nice size game room in the new house, but currently have a spare bedroom that serves as my office. Since it’s a low traffic area, aside from me working at my desk, I decided why not a slot put some slot car track on the carpet.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a Scalextric ARC PRO Platinum GT Digital set. It brought a digital base (ARC Pro), 4 wireless controllers, 4 digital cars including an Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Ford Mustang GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Bentley Continental GT3, and 30 feet of track including 2 cross-overs and a pit area.

Here’s a picture of the entire set, including my first layout with the track! After having a small hiccup with the base, I got everything running, even got my wife to try it out.

Since there is still open the carpet space, the obvious next step is more track! But that will be another post.

Jim

 

[MrFlippant]

In order to get you off on the right foot with decisions you will not regret so much over time...

• don't buy sets unless you really want cars that are exclusive to the set. It's never a bad thing to have spares for stuff, but you end up with STACKS AND STACKS of "standard" R2 turns that are as valuable as garbage.
• buy packs of 1/4 and "short" straights
• buy packs of R3 and R4 turns, and at least one pack of R1.
• for digital, avoid "gimmick" tracks such as squeezes and crossings and jumps and such. Digital has enough car to car interaction that you don't need forced interaction like squeezes.
• avoid "plate of spaghetti" tracks where you just pile the stuff up higher and higher. Unless that allows you to add an element you otherwise could not have, due to the space, but most of the time, that's not really what happens. ;-)
• start getting border/skirts/runoff pieces. Even if you enjoy racing with traction magnets, they still break loose and it's more fun to keep going than to "crash" every time the rear wheel falls off the edge.
• don't put walls up against the track. That just gives an unfair advantage to the lane that can lean on the wall at full speed... never mind the paint damage to the car. ;-)
• don't just buy every half-decent looking car. This is the hardest part, but there being no such thing as an infinite budget, there are often better things to spend on for the hobby than a car you only half-like.
• take care of the track. Try not to wiggle the pieces about too much while you dismantle them, as doing so will loosen the joints which aren't very good to begin with. Before setting up any new layout, place the track bottom up on a hard surface and use a tool to press down firmly on the tabs at each end. If it LOOKS loose, then it's already beyond functional. Even if it looks ok, press the tab down. Doing this will help you prolong the need to add power taps/jumpers.
• plan your track and get feedback. There are a LOT of people who have been through all the stages of these things, and can help you come up with a great design for your final track in your new home. Otherwise, expect to be making a lot of changes as you race on your various layouts, so don't nail anything down until it's been raced on by you and your mates/neighbors.

There's more, but that's probably more than enough. ;-)

Above all, and certainly not least, if last... as long as you're having fun, anyone's "advice" is worth the bits the data compiles into. ;-)

 

[GDSLOT]

In order to get you off on the right foot with decisions you will not regret so much over time...

• don't buy sets unless you really want cars that are exclusive to the set. It's never a bad thing to have spares for stuff, but you end up with STACKS AND STACKS of "standard" R2 turns that are as valuable as garbage.
• buy packs of 1/4 and "short" straights
• buy packs of R3 and R4 turns, and at least one pack of R1.
• for digital, avoid "gimmick" tracks such as squeezes and crossings and jumps and such. Digital has enough car to car interaction that you don't need forced interaction like squeezes.
• avoid "plate of spaghetti" tracks where you just pile the stuff up higher and higher. Unless that allows you to add an element you otherwise could not have, due to the space, but most of the time, that's not really what happens. ;-)
• start getting border/skirts/runoff pieces. Even if you enjoy racing with traction magnets, they still break loose and it's more fun to keep going than to "crash" every time the rear wheel falls off the edge.
• don't put walls up against the track. That just gives an unfair advantage to the lane that can lean on the wall at full speed... never mind the paint damage to the car. ;-)
• don't just buy every half-decent looking car. This is the hardest part, but there being no such thing as an infinite budget, there are often better things to spend on for the hobby than a car you only half-like.
• take care of the track. Try not to wiggle the pieces about too much while you dismantle them, as doing so will loosen the joints which aren't very good to begin with. Before setting up any new layout, place the track bottom up on a hard surface and use a tool to press down firmly on the tabs at each end. If it LOOKS loose, then it's already beyond functional. Even if it looks ok, press the tab down. Doing this will help you prolong the need to add power taps/jumpers.
• plan your track and get feedback. There are a LOT of people who have been through all the stages of these things, and can help you come up with a great design for your final track in your new home. Otherwise, expect to be making a lot of changes as you race on your various layouts, so don't nail anything down until it's been raced on by you and your mates/neighbors.

There's more, but that's probably more than enough. ;-)

Above all, and certainly not least, if last... as long as you're having fun, anyone's "advice" is worth the bits the data compiles into. ;-)

Interesting, learned almost all of those tips the hard way 🤷‍♂️.

Cheers

 

[Jack_the_Slipper]

Looking forward to your progress!
Nice list Mr. F! Thanks.

 

[oldnotdead60]

Thanks Mr. F. for the detailed advice!

Your bullet about buying cars is proving to be the toughest thing for me. I so want to buy some Fly trucks, the Batmobile (and maybe scratchbuild the Green Hornet's Black Beauty) and some 1960's race cars. I haven't yet done so as I still haven't paid the cc for my first two purchases!

Initially, I went back and forth about buying a set. Once I figured out I wanted the ARC Pro, wireless controllers, cross-overs, and a pit lane, purchasing the Platinum set became a no-brainer. Pricing out of the stuff above, individually, which I knew I wanted for my permanent layout, came out to about the same price at the set. This meant that I got the 4 digital cars for free! Honestly, I like the cars, but if I even change my mind, I can pull the chips and use them elsewhere.

So, I ended up purchasing 3 expansion packs: hairpin curve (R1); straights; and R3 curves. Also bought some more R2 curves and a few smaller straights as filler pieces.

I put everything thing together and have home office layout, v2:

and "closet curve":

I ended up using every one of curve pieces and most of my straights.

Total carpet layout is about 12' x 7'. Not fancy, but fun.

Jim
x

 

[chappyman66]

Fun is what this is all about. Nicely done.

 

[oldnotdead60]

Had to make a minor tweak to the temporary layout as when I ran the Magic ARC app (pretty cool! ), I had the ARC Pro base backwards, and the app wasn't tracking the cars on the track.

Here is the track plan, at least for now:

Jim

 

[MrFlippant]

The following thread, though on the older side, continues to be a good instructional and inspirational resource for designing your turns. Try to avoid turns that are the same radius from entry to exit. Click this link to see some great examples.

Show me your curves!!!

Hi All Been doing more layout planning than normal as I get ready for my foray into the loft... Spent some time thinking about types of corners and what they bring to the "game" especially those that can create an entirely different feel to the circuit when run in the opposite direction...

www.slotforum.com