[PINHEAD69]

hi, thought i'd post a little vid of my track, as described in the title, it took me 3 weeks to build start to finish
ive added more detail since this video and its much better, but at the time of making this, i had no idea you could buy scenery items like grass etc to make life easier, at the last minute i did get a gravel matt and put some down, but after using one, i'm positive i can make them better, the rest is made up of my vivid imagination...also, this is a 3 part take down track, whick goes up in 20 minutes, when stacked away, it takes up no more room than 3ft x 3ftx 4.5 ft ideal for thos people without much space and cant have a permanent setup
the 2 joints are, 1 by the end of the tunnel and the other left of the small steward building, ive done my best to hide the fact it comes down.....
items i used were...
for the grass i used, nortons 12" moss look basket liners, 3 in total costing roughly £1.50 to £2.00 each
these are from most good hardwares, but some look better than others...
for the mud i used 151 brown frame sealant, again from a pound store, its like acrylic so you can paint it....
for the mesh fencing i used, a roll of gutter guard and cut it into trips, it does loads, again from a pound shop..
the stripped pillars are large wall plugs cut down.....
the scrap metal lying around is a cut up barrier...
the barriers are attatched by pot rivets that are slotted into the boards and drilling a small hole through the barrier struts...
the rocks are done with expanding foam, but with a gun aplicator rather than those useless tubes, you have more control over the flow, then when it gets a thickish skin on its surface, i then mould it with my fingers to create a more realistic rock shape...
the tunnel and steward hut and the derelict archway are just built from mdf....
the hut has a tiled floor and wall graphics inside aswell as a small work surface......
the lights i use, are small LED's from cigarette lighters, they operate off small watch type batteries, again better than adding extra electricity where kids are involved...
this was my first go as an experiment, but i know i can do it 100% better

 

[PINHEAD69]

let me know if these video's dont work ;-)

 

[JamieG]

Where is the video?

 

[distantkiwi]

clicked on the pictures, and they took me to the site but then I got a security error

 

[PINHEAD69]

thanks for telling me guys , i did mention for someone to tell me, but the first 40 didnt, i'll try again
http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m621/H...ACKFINISHED.mp4

 

[Sabata]

They worked for me.

 

[distantkiwi]

Still isn't working, but I not signed up with photobucket. Maybe that is the issue?

 

[Ember]

Worked fine here Pinhead. Nice job.

 

[crazy wrx]

worked for me too

Track looks good.

 

[nam 1961]

hi ya pinhead,coming along nicely,but what colour did you use for outside of track???

neil

 

[PINHEAD69]

oh good, they do work then ;-) thanks all,
i have a better quality video's of it , but my pc wont grab video recordings from my old handycam, well not until i find the right software, shame as ive added little more subtle detail to it , like painting the barriers supports and putting paint scrapes on the barriers at corners to simulate racing accidents, rust etc etc
anyways, hope my material tips helped
i will do a video how to paint all the track in 40 minutes like i did, without masking the rails off, the paint is that thin it does'nt crack or does'nt leave scratch marks, you can also add tyre wear to the tracks in the method i use to paint it
you can also use any water based paint you wish , no primers, and the track can be raced on 10 minutes after you finish... people worry to much about painting the track, will it stick, does it crack ,what about the rails etc, mine was brand new track,
as i did mine before even knowing about all these sites, and all the worries people question in painting a track, i had no fear and just did it, it really isnt as hard or as technical as people make it out to be.....ive finished mine now by doing the centre aswell as on this video, it just has the edges done, but i liked the 2 tone track so i just made it a little less black than the unrealistic colour it comes in, if i ever have to replace a track piece, the painting is easily matched up, you never want a solid colour as race circuits dont have, that makes painting it this way by hand... easy.......

 

[PINHEAD69]

hi nam, i will do a video how i did it all if i manage to sort out my pc and camcorder issue, its just like a battleship grey colour really, a medium grey i guess...the main colour was as is
but when i mixed black and white into it , i made darker shades and lighter shades, so there was basically a blob of paint in the middle of my tray and different shades around the outside of it, so i had options to create wear as i painted

 

[RikkiGTR]

Looks great!
Loads of detail, very nice track in a fairly limited space. Love the scenic work, and the two-toned track is unusual (but looks brilliant). Nice

 

[PINHEAD69]

i was aked a few question about this layout on my other thread by sealevel, so i'm duplicating my reply here so it makes more sense of it all....
thanks all , glad you like my effort hehe
firstly, sealevel
i measured what space was available to me in my room to the mm hehe
then i put all the boards together before even planning my track, as i knew whatever track design i use, it has to fit this space..
i then thought, ok its a reasonable small setup, so i need to design a track thats not boring and utilise as much space as possible with track without going over the top, i also didnt want a full throttle track, i always prefer throttle control so you have to slow down...so i layed down what i thought was a nice track

now as i wanted to hide the joints and make fixing it together more ridgid, i tactically put a tunnel top left so the first joint would be disguised by the end of the tunnel, if you look carefully, you will see another small piece of wood attatched to it, that is the next section starting, it also gave me another place to put a removeable screw to hold them flush, the next joint is by the loudspeaker next to the little stewards hut....
now as the rocks are expanding foam, and foam would be hard to join together in seperate pieces i worked out the height i wanted the rocks to be, then put upright sections of mdf at each edge of each board, this giving a nice tight joint when joining them together, i then foamed against these upright boards...with me ? then when they were all screwed together, i just tried to disguise it all... the only joint line visible is on the white wall just before the track enters the tunnel with the large pillar supports...
now as its a take down track, none of my track is fixed down, it is very solid and does'nt move, this is because ive cut strips of 6mm mdf to the shape of the track in most parts and screwed it down...
and in answer to your other question, the track joints do not line with the board joints, this would be virtually impossible to do, although a few almost do in places, it doesnt matter as its a take down...besides, it helps to hide the board joints aswell....
you asked about securing them together, they are screwed and a few wing nut bolts for ease of removal underneath through the board frames...mine is set on a small table so this helps when removing them as apposed to being supported by its own legs....
the pot rivets are just sank into the boards, but make them a snug fit, i just got a drill bit as close as, drilled the holes and pushed them in with pliers, i didnt use a pot rivet gun they are used as is...then with a small drill bit, drill through the barriers "pretend" supports and push them onto the pot rivet.....i will do more pics....ive never looked at or held an armco barrier as yet so i'm not sure, i'm guessing they are similar.....
as for the weight of each section, i can carry them upstairs by myself
i will pull a few things up and do some more pics soon, so you can see........ hope ive answered all, feel free to ask away

 

[distantkiwi]

I was using chrome, so I just tried it in IE. No problems.

 

[PINHEAD69]

hi folks, i was asked about how i use the pot rivets for my barriers, so here are a few pics, you can put barriers wherever you wish doing it like this, so your not limited to a border or a track edge.......it also helps if you have to remove a track piece as they are not atatched to it ;-)

i first drilled a hole fractionally smaller then the pot rivet head

then using pliers to push it in

i then drill a tiny hole in the barrier "post" this can be smaller than the shaft on the pot rivet as it will push through tight

then just push it on

by using these pot rivets also means you can have 5 on a barrier should you wish, this helps curving them exactly

and a little video, double click .......
http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m621/H...trackmovie1.mp4

 

[Ember]

Clever idea. I use the discarded shank as a mounting pin for trees etc, but didn't think of using the whole rivet as you've done.

Smart thinking.
Embs

 

[nam 1961]

gday pinhead, must be something about the water from brum,that how i put my barriers in,same method
regards neil...(see avatar)

 

[PINHEAD69]

thanks Embs...the whole rivet is more sterdy so use it all, if the base shows you can always paint it
or hide it with grass, bushes etc etc
and nam, that was the first thing i spotted, that funny coloured messy avatar lmao
yeah i do remember you asking me how i did mine, so yeah it must be the water over here
you know what they say, great minds hehe
up the blues, laters

 

[sealevel]

You are a very clever clog, are you not?

And YES you do have Armco barriers.... those grey ones from Scalextric.
I saw a similar thing done with a finishing nail but yours is much more sturdy and tidy.
Kudos to you!

And thanks for sharing!

BTW, a couple more questions for you:
1) near the 2:00 mark of the second video you show a closeup of a white retaining wall after the second overpass (2nd in the video at least). It tapers down from the overpass to the track. What is it made from?

2) at some angles your track appears black between the rails and grey outside of the rails. Did you paint it or is this just the optics of the sunlight on the track?

Love the layout!
Cheers!