new kid on the block!

58083 Views 324 Replies 37 Participants Last post by Ember, Feb 2, 2012

sig

Discussion Starter · Sep 18, 2009

hello all, after far too many hours spent reading all the excellent advice and information on this site i've got going with my wooden track and literally up to my elbows in contact adhesive, grouting and paint mixing, and loving every minute of building my new sandstone cliffs.i got going again with the old scalextric track over the summer as a neighbour gave me a load of old curves, the track grew, bigger than the toy room and into the big space i've got near my workshop, during august that track was decorated and filled with props (with help from my 6 year old, who built a lego snack area for the pits!) and we have since staged a successful tournament last saturday with 27 drivers of all ages (not bad for a village of 250 people), since then i started on track number 2 in wood, have done the levels, routing and nearly finished the cliffs, but awaiting the copper and still tons of modelling to do.....but how happy am i doing it?, you get to regress to being a 4 year old mucking about with dirt and paint and glue, then when its done you turn in to an 8 year old and speed around a small spanish village at 1/32nd scale....GREAT.

anyway, just wanted to sign in and will try and post some pics soon of the 2 tracks,(when i've figured out how!)

cheers sig

301 - 320 of 325 Posts

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Discussion Starter · #301 · Apr 12, 2010

hey ho!!...as i'm all hyped about finally getting imouie working again, i thought i'd update the rough film of the catalan track with the new bits on (crash scene , bridge , bar etc which we're in the last film, )and had a bit of a laugh with the sound effects program too.

a quick reminder of jordi juniors home town with the scene of the crash causing the whole nightmare which was to be the mexican airfield !!

hope you like it

sig catalan uillage film

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sig

Discussion Starter · #302 · May 1, 2010

ok to continue from the mexico thread, heres what happened to the rest of the footbridge..now linking nowhere in particular with somewhere else but making the back corner a wee bit more interesting, and remember as brad said back last year the bridges were the practise pieces of the local blacksmith who trained with err....thingy....you know that english engineer..help me out folks?!

also i want some ideas as to what to do in the space that track 1 took up... the thrack just looks really crappy now..i'ue learnt a lot, and i won't be using sclaley track again, rusts too quick. any ideas, concepts, gotta be REALLY good to do justice to the base which is from a friend??????????

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MrFlippant

· #303 · May 1, 2010

I say you take it all up and store it for future use and bashing. Lay down some appropriately thick MDF and trim it all off at the edges, and then just start freehanding track ideas right on the wood. Once you're happy with an idea, start routing and cutting, lifting and landscaping.

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Ember

· #304 · May 2, 2010

Any theme needs to be up to your standard of work... Hmmm.... How about another track, maybe deserted theme park? Or perhaps you need a race track for when there's more than one.

MrFlippant

· #305 · May 2, 2010

I bet you could fit a pretty nice 4 lane analog routed track on there.

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sig

Discussion Starter · #306 · May 2, 2010

hmmmm!, still not sure, themes kicking around at the mo:-

i like factories..probably busted ones

i like future.post haulocaust etc

i really fancy doing something monochrome.
i want the whole unit to look incredible as a thing. not just for the track, the whole piece, base included should look sculptural

i'm liking white and loe the effect of rubbed down plaster ouer the rails like an ice scape

sooooo....how about an island of ice, sometime in the next ice age, with flat long ice straights around the out side and building up to an industrial crescendo in the middle where theres some kind of half buried old factory spewing out toxic waste!, obuiously anything tall in the middle would obscure the uiew of the far side of the track, but maybe we can liue with that...i'ue got an image of i think a scene from superman where the kryptonite comes out of the ice....or am i making that up??

what d'ya reck??

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Ember

· #307 · May 2, 2010

Winter wonderland, complete with slot car bobsled? If anyone can pull it off you can.

MrFlippant

· #308 · May 2, 2010 (Edited by Moderator)

Ooohh... an ice landscape would be perfect for a routed track with all that sliding cars do on them.

A Superman's Fortress of Solitude theme would be pretty sweet. Like Ember said, if anyone can pull it off, it's you.
As for kryptonite coming out of ice, I'm not sure. There were those strange, kryptonite-based islands that Lex Luthor made in the Superman Returns movie, though. That might be a cool effect, too.

I agree that the whole unit should feel sculptural. That's why I was thinking of a nice, flowing 4 lane routed track. Nothing against highly detailed landscaped track, but you've got two of those already. Maybe a contrasting track that's all about simple, flowing lines would be better, and even help enhance the detail of the other tracks by their juxtaposition? (posh artsy buzzword!)

Did you see the beautiful figure 8 track the Thingies guys did for that museum/art show about Thingies? I forget if it was one lane or two, but it was the most remarkable simple figure 8 routed track you've ever seen. I'll look it up if you haven't seen it. The track itself was a work of art, made to display the functional work of art of a Thingie going around and around all day. It was really cool.

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ronMcRain

· #309 · May 2, 2010 (Edited by Moderator)

Yet another intriqueing idea, sig!

Just throwing in a couple of ideas .. How's a secret testing facility close to the Polar Circle way up North/Lapland?

There's at least two I know of, Arjeplog [Sweden*] and Rovaniemi [Wabco-Finland] .. I'm not sure of their officially labeled names.

But anyhow, you could also throw in some scenicly interesting features, like The Icehotel at Jukkasjärvi. Totally built of ICE!
A Saami village nearby, with cottages. Reindeers, sledges, perhaps even races with Ski-doos ..
A piece of terrain track with icebridges, snow-hangs and lots of other "naturally sculpted" items.
As background, when turning lights down low in evenings -- Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis glistening in the night.

The possebilities are endless ..

*I believe Beemer has their own, very tightly guarded area at Arjeplog. But all brands, Audi to Alfa, Bentley to Beemer, Ferrari to Ford, whatever visit the facilities at some instance I think. Perhaps with their brand new vehicles .. So the cars on a such could be anything and everything!?

-- ron --

Edit: Btw. There's also an international SpaceRocket testing site at Esrange, northern Sweden. Just a snowballs throw from Jukkasjärvi. Could provide an interesting, scenic background

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sig

Discussion Starter · #310 · May 2, 2010

hi guys, thanks for the feedback. ron excelent as always, "you is da man!"picked up some cool images off the web of those places, rockets, stratospheric balloons, radars (again!), fortress guns, and those excellent test tracks, sculptural in their own right.

mr flippant don't know the thingie track , sounds cool, can you try and dig up the link.

regarding detail or simplicity? a tricky one, i was toying with doing polished white fibreglass roling gills with slots cut in them, but apart from being an incredible amount of work (and toxic)its not really my bag.to be honest most of what i get out of the tracks is the building, i couldnt really care less about racing and all that...sorry eueryone!!

i really enjoy building miniature scenes, that are dynamic because of uehicles mouing around them and cool illumination..i guess its like set design or mini architecture

saying that i think this track should be quite minimal and beautiful around a more detailed centrepiece..much like some of these images, and thereis ofcourse the james bond filmdie another die chase scene

heres the cool pics thanks to ron

keep the ideas coming please

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Ember

· #311 · May 3, 2010

Do I detect the temptation for more circle work?

MrFlippant

· #312 · May 3, 2010

Sig, the whole thread is interesting, but this post has the most comprehensive set of photos of the event that the track I remembered was built for:
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=390553

sig

Discussion Starter · #313 · May 3, 2010

wow mr flippant, now i see what you mean, that is REALLY nice, a piece of furniture euen, the guys track on the next page is also cool, now you'ue gone and put a spanner in the works!
cheers
ember, actually hadn't thought of the spirals but like the alien crop circle effects maybe keep it dead geometric?

PSRRFH

· #314 · May 3, 2010

How about using the "table" for the plexy track as an jacuzzi, it would be cool to drive slots at the same time I thing

Ember

· #315 · May 3, 2010

You'd want to make sure things were well insulated and water proofed. Otherwise it could be a shocking waste!

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akronmark

· #316 · May 3, 2010

With all the plastic figures available (and vehicles) just run your race through the streets of Stalingrad, circa the winter of '42-'43...plenty of ruined buldings, rubble, burnt-out tanks...plus dodging all those Soviets and Germans shooting at each other. It's certainly a grey, monotone landscape, with plenty of ice. Look on the wargames sites for scenic inspiration....

...wrecked planes, too!

http://home.planet.nl/~wijer037/Stalin/images/stalingrad.jpg

sig

Discussion Starter · #317 · May 3, 2010

ooh mark, you trying to confuse me more arn't you!, the temptation to blow stuff up is indeed great, and i'm dying to do some tanks...BUT i'm also needing a bit of cleanliness in my life!....crikey its complicated isn't it

Carl Jen and Harry

· #318 · May 3, 2010

wow... Im so jealous of the space you have to play around with. Some excellent work here. I have been in a bit of a lull this past couple of weeks and reading your thread has inspired me to to crack on with trackside scenery model building. Keep up the good work... truly inspiring.

Carl Jen and Harry

· #319 · May 3, 2010

what do you think of my garden chairs? Reading your thread last night made me fire up the laser cutter this afternoon.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain

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sig

Discussion Starter · #320 · May 3, 2010

you would.nt be jealous of the space if you knew how much stone pointing, reroofing and glazing the place needs, it was raining hard today the place is like a colinder!, , chairs are great, really pleased the laser thing is getting goingwe haue to embrace new technology in our hobby to shake off the old men in a shed image!

thanks to mark i found a great pic of stalingrad, now dirt aside, it really would be fun reproducing this!

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