[martin hall]

Guys,

Firstly, It has been an inspiration for me to look at all the most awesome tracks that so many people have put together and posted on here, please keep it up as they are just so great to see. Over the past few years and during a particularly difficult time for me I have taken great comfort in seeing these great accomplishments and it has enthused me to do something myself. As a very keen slot car racer when I was a child, I have long harboured the desire to have a proper scenic layout that I was never fortunate enough to have as a child. Without realising why, as a near middle aged man trapped by the responsibilities of adulthood, I started to buy the odd scalextric car and bits and pieces until I got a set for my son. We tried to play it a few times but he was too young (3-4 years old) The collecting carried on until I got around to venturing into my loft about 2 years ago, when I then put a floor down and put power and light in it. It has then taken me the last couple of years to get to where I am now and there is still some way to go before I can rest. Firstly, as I was not going to convert the loft into living space I was always going to be compromised with the area that I had to play with. My layout has to go through the 'A' frames of the roof supports creating a 'U' shape with access down the middle. More than a couple of track variants have been tried out from the basic shape. They have been thoroughly tested and progressively evolved into what I have now. I have tried to make the track as long as possible and as challenging as I could, without it being too difficult for the boy to have a go at. As I have just finished putting in the elevations today and testing it all works well I thought that I would share things with everbody. It has given me a lot of pleasure to get to where I am and the real fun hasn't even started yet as it's the scenery/landscaping that I am most looking forward to………..

After putting the table top in between the A frames and testing the first tracks...

Later eveolutions of the track and elevation construction..

Some early buildings and figures..

Video.. (I found it very difficult to film and race at the same time...so its just the challenger)
View My Video

Some favourite cars

 

[cobra]

like what you have put together btw where did you get the display case for the cars

 

[martin hall]

The display case came from here:

http://stores.ebay.de/Sorashowcases/Model-Car-Showcases.htm

Although it looks like they do not have much available during their Xmas close down. It is a nice product and I will get another very soon.

Some more pics

 

[kappatango]

I love the layout - great use of the available space Martin.

Only pointer about the thread - those pics are HUGE

, might be worth even halfing the size

Are you planning on keeping us all updated with the Scenery as it develops - what ides do you have so far?

Karl

 

[martin hall]

Karl,

Good advice I will resize the pictures. After posting them I realised that some were not as good as I first thought selecting them from the thumbnails, they are a bit blurred so I will take some more.

Of course I will keep up to date progress of the rest of the layout. Pictures speak louder than words.

I have tried to make the best of what I had available and the track is very enjoyable to drive. I won't rule out any changes just yet. I have more than the same amount of space left and am thinking of making it a bit bigger on the left hand side to house a pit building/complex without interfering with the view. It is a shame about the supports for the roof but thats just how it is.

I intend to make rock face/grass scenery between the elevations. Grass and tarmac on the flats and perhaps a tunnel from the first elevation at the bottom of the walkway. I have purposefully overhung this area above the track below to have this type of feature. I hope to do something with the back drop, not sure what yet. I have been wondering if there is any cheap wallpaper available that might do. I'm sure Vera Duckworth used to have this?

Martin

 

[kappatango]

Great news - Although the space looks like it would not suit, I think the weaving in and out of the roof joints makes for some real character

.

You could even incoprorate the joists around the pit area to in-build a Pit building - using the uprights as part of the building structure. I also wonder if you can run a shelf around the wall, to allow a second height fof track, then be able to utilise the space underneath again. Maybe a Carousel turn on the Left hand end up to a second level..... May not work in the actual space, but the pictures you show seem to suggest it might...

Karl

 

[kappatango]

Just to clarify, the angle of the joists almost match the angle of the Scaley Pit buildings windows:

I wonder if you could scratch build and use the joists as part of the building

Just a thought

 

[martin hall]

Thats an interesting idea you have suggested Karl, I will have a think about this.

I have taken and resized some pictures:

 

[perthor]

Hi Martin,
Looks great! What a fantastic use of your loft space, I am sure the little one must be quite happy with his new play area

Good looking car display you have got as well, I look forward to se the scenery evolve.
Regards Per

 

[martin hall]

 

[martin hall]

If you missed it in the oversized pictures here is the video again, it also seems broken since posting it:

View My Video

Edit...Sorry the video still seems to be broken, I will sort it out soon.

 

[kappatango]

Really like the Video - all videos look like the cars stick to the track better than mine - might be a trick of the eye - as when I race, maybe I dont k=notice how quick it is.

Video time tomorrow for me I think

I love that track Martin, works really well. Looking forward to seeing it develop.

Karl

 

[gtslot]

Yes, the car looks fast BUT it's only a challenger, i.e. the little computer inside figured out just how fast it could go, and on a tricky track like this I imagine it would embarrass many humans!

 

[taxi]

Nice track Martin, great use of a tricky space. Looking forward to seeing this develop

cheers,

Rob

 

[JW789]

Yes very nice use off space love the video as well...

 

[martin hall]

Its been about a year since I made the last post on this and although alot has happened to the track, and I have spent loads on some great cars, It is far from finished and I am not able to show a proper update just yet, but I have just had a bit of fun putting some pictures and video clips together. More of a test to see how to do it really. So, here it is and soon I will show some up to date pictures of it in more detail.

Young and Old (My first attempt at a movie) Had to remove the soundtrack as I couldn't host it with it attached, it was Queens: It's a kind of magic

Here: View My Video

 

[martin hall]

It's been a while since I last posted any updates mainly because there simply hasn't been many, but I recently
decided to pick this up again and see my track through to completion. I decided that a few changes
were required to improve things. Some more lighting, a new section of track and to go digital before I
add the scenery. Also since being away I have returned to find that copper taping is no longer the
preferred way of keeping the rails alive which although being in the loft my rails suffer terribly I was a
bit nervous about having to do it. With the Inox oil I don't need to.

I first went about dismantling the track in the area of the new section I have planned.

And with the additional lights fitted, ready for the track laying

Can anyone advise if there is a limit on lane changers you can have in a circuit? I remember some
discussion years ago, I'm sure there was but don't know if it is still an issue with the APB.

 

[MrFlippant]

Nope, not an issue to worry about. You'll run out of money first.

More is not always better, though. Strategic placement is key to effective lane changers. A good rule of thumb is to place one at the end of any straight longer than 3 full straights in length.

 

[martin hall]

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 27 Jan 2014, 04:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Nope, not an issue to worry about. You'll run out of money first.

More is not always better, though. Strategic placement is key to effective lane changers. A good rule of thumb is to place one at the end of any straight longer than 3 full straights in length.

Thanks, I don't want an unlimited amount but I do have a few already that I've 'collected' and wanted to know if I can use them all or not without mods. There are 3 turns and 3 straights plus I did want to include a pit stop.
So, a parcel arrived with the track pieces I needed for the extension. While I was ebaying for them I came across this car for a fantastic £20!

I have just fitted my first try of the new loop and included the LC's and you are correct they all work fine.

I have some elevated sections to sort but this attempt was just to see if it would all work with the APB and it seems good.

A quick video

View My Video

 

[MrFlippant]

3 CLC, 3 XLC, a 1 pit lane would not be a problem for the APB.
Personally, I like putting the XLC at the end of a straight, because you have to slow down to take them safely, so why not put them where you have to slow down anyway. Same with other lane changers, make sure there's at least one full straight before the lane change sensors. Same goes for the pit lane. For the CLC, hopefully you got some, or all, in-to-out type. Those are the best for a variety of reason. If not, they can be easily converted from out-to-in, to in-to-out, if you wanted to.
It looks like you have lots of nice, long straight to pit a pit lane on, so make the it nice and long, too.

That's all my opinion, though.

Oh, and if you don't already have power taps/jumpers, you might discover they are needed. When 6 cars are sharing power rather than 2, the lack of power in some sections becomes more pronounced.

I look forward to the video of a bunch of cars running around together.

When's the first public race night?