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Portable Digital Routed Track

26361 Views 113 Replies 29 Participants Last post by  Graham Lane, 
J
I've been thinking about experimenting with a portable digital routed (PDR) track. The easiest approach, I think, would be to rout the track, and then drop in the plastic digital pieces. Given my constraints, it would have to be portable. I'm thinking that two 5'x3' sections combining to make 10'x3' (that is about 3.5m x 1m) would make a significant size for fun racing, but small enough to put in the back of my van or store under my current table. I'm thinking (of course) of a rally type track with some small elevation changes. Here are two preliminary plans that I drafted. I'm leaning toward plan #2 because it's simpler to make as my first go at this. I'd love to have any comments or suggestions.

PLAN #1


PLAN #2
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A new section of rock formation, and I'm still experimenting with the colors. I added some "brick red" into it this time. I think, perhaps, that I'd need to start with the red as a base color? I think I added too much white this time. Perhaps when it's all done I'll repaint it all -- if I figure out a technique and colors that suit my fancy...
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QUOTE (bleep @ 16 Apr 2008, 13:35) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Using more red would I think you are aiming more for something like this below however would this look real when done to 1.32 scale?

Undoubtedly I'm being a bit obsessive here. But yes, this is the sort of look I imagined. It's fairly easily to get a relatively realistic look to rocks, but much more difficult to create the colors in nature like these! I shall continue experimenting. In the meantime, I'm not displeased with the general look of the rocks. I tried spraying the rocks with water to get the paint to run (like you see in the picture), but was unsuccessful so far.

RallyP, I do have a "swapout section" so that I can swap out (1) a digital section, (2) a two-car analogue section, and (3) a cross-over single lane rally section. And, yes, I like the minis! They're the only real rally cars that I own.

Eye, yes, you're right. Adding the finer details (like those in the above photo) will certainly add the realism that I'm looking for. The colors of the above photo are strange to me (in a way). The pinkish-red is what I'm looking for, but looks almost unreal! I've clearly lost my mind. So, I'll just carry on.
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QUOTE (rallyP @ 16 Apr 2008, 18:47) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What minis are those? Are they scalextric? If so do they run well without magnets?

Bleep, behind your wonderful good spirits lies a dark side, those rock formations seem to be a nightmare to simulate.Those rock formations are evil! But soooo cool.

The minis are Scaley. I have some without magnets (for me) and some with magnets (for the kids). Without magnets, they run okay if you add a bit of weight to the bottome. They're not the fastest, but they're great fun.
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QUOTE (snowmanf @ 17 Apr 2008, 01:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Using the color scheme you want you need some finer textures too,
which is what you will find in that type of rock.

Also, as you probably already think, the colors are too vivid for that type.
I'm trying to think of what I would add to fade them.

One thought is to add the fading content to your paint mix last and not mixing properly.
trying to get a natural blendI think these are good observations by Frosty (and Drummer). I tried painting the rocks with more water mixed in with the paint. I also tried to intentionally paint more randomly to get more variation in the color. I like this better, but it doesn't match Ian's photo! This mold also has more texture to it, which is nice.
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QUOTE (snowmanf @ 17 Apr 2008, 10:34) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Pictures can change how a thing looks.
When it comes to color even things like monitors too.
Also, in real life rocks can have so many looks.
Some real rocks dont look real in pictures.
In the end, only you can decide.

Do you have pictures of your "ideal" rock formations?
I have looked at some photos of "ideal" rock formations, but I don't have one particular one. Perhaps I should have a particular photo, just for the color. I'm also a bit limited by the small scale of this "portable" track. You're so right about colors looking different with different light/settings/monitors. It's easy to wash out the colors with photos or make photos too dark, and not represent the colors well. And, of course, monitors can do the same thing...
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So, the basic features of the left side are now done. I began with building the frame for the plaster/hydrocal/sculptamold using cardboard.


After the rocks were in place, I used Scuptamold to blend the edges.


Now it's time for some painting. I'm still working with the colors for the sandstone desert scene. Looks fine, I suppose, but there must be some trick to getting better/more consistent/more predictable results? Now, it's onto some detailing (and maybe more work on the colors of the rocks?).

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For the general terrain, I want a sandy kind of surface so I decided to use fine "balast" like they use for model RRs. I need to do some research on desert vegetation. A little green, however, breaks up the scenery.



What the "portable" track will always lack is a background, but we can just erase the "noise" with photoshop...


or with photoshop we can have the cars racing off into the sunset...
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Now it's starting to look like something. I added the lines to the highway and the legs to the table. It's short so that you can sit down and race on it -- that is, if I ever get around to putting the copper tape on!
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For the electrical, I'm trying to KISS ("keep it simple"). I bought a Ninco terminal track, removed it from the plastic, and wired it up. Now some copper tape, and it works. Here's what it looks like.


So excited, I had to tape one lane just to see if it all worked. I'm using simple pressure contact points for the joins between the tables and the swapout section. Seems to work okay. Will try to finish the taping in the next couple of days.

Also, I had one last rock formation to finish off and paint. A few photos... the new formation is in the top right




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Well, it's all together and taped now. But I've got to figure out a simple way to create more reliable power joins between the two tables--right now I'm just using contact points, but there's not enough reliable contact. And, I've got to get a simple catchment system in place for cars that go off the table. But the cars run pretty nicely on it.


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QUOTE (Mb. @ 23 Apr 2008, 08:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Btw, what brand are the Mini's from?All my minis are Scalextric (although I may get some Nincos in the future). The Scaley run pretty smoothly--are the Ninco minis any good? The only problem with my minis is that they're all chipped for digital, which means they run on an analogue track but don't have brakes, which is kind of tricky on the analogue version of this track. I still haven't hooked up the digital swapout section.
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A short movie ...

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QUOTE (rallyP @ 25 Apr 2008, 22:20) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The poor little driver and co-pilot, of course. Their faces distorted with horror as their legs frantically step on the non functioning brakes, Actually, it is kind of cruel.
I was unable to see the video (it said it was not there), I will try tomorrow with a faster connection.You can also see the video on Photobucket if you're having a problem with the embedded YouTube. The real "person" who dies is the car!
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QUOTE (bleep @ 25 Apr 2008, 23:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So now I'm in a quandary I'll have to have two sets of cars those with chips for my track and without for racing

This is where DPR could come into it's own.
This is where I'm at as I also belong to an analogue club. So, I've got analogue (i.e., non-chipped) cars (e.g., the Fly Porsche 906 in the video). But all my minis are chipped, and I don't want to extract the chips. In any case, this track is just an experiment in doing a portable routed track. So, I'm going to sell it, but I will be building another routed track (I see a hill climb in my future). So, eventually I'll want better solutions to the digital/analogue car issue.
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QUOTE (col_de_turini @ 26 Apr 2008, 12:01) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Why not just use a digital powerbase? No lane-changing involved on this layout but you would have brakes and other stuff.Actually, as the title suggests, I did plan to have a digital section, which is why I put in the "swapout section." And, I bought the digital components to just drop into this section, as you can see in this photo. So, I could easily make it digital with lane changing, but as I don't plan to keep this track, I've decided not to actually put in the digital. So, for now, I'll just drive my limited selection of non-digital cars on the track (and also look forward to more SSD DPR cars).
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I've relocated the portable track in my office at home so I can just wheel around and take a few laps. I also hooked up a small Model Power train transformer for power, which lets me dial down the power so the cars can run around at more reasonable speeds. I'm starting to put in the oasis, but still waiting for the palm trees that I got on Ebay. I used Envirotex for the water, which exhibits its usual "creep" so I'll have to correct that--perhaps with more "water" and some touch up around the edges.


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QUOTE (1eye101 @ 1 May 2008, 22:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Looking great Bill, I really like the simplicity of the whole project and the colouring of the road is fantastic, the creep looks as though the water is evaporating from the sun! Is the long grass home made or modeling product?The long grass is Woodland Scenics product.

I got some Palm trees from "Museum Models" and then dressed them up a bit by following some advice I found here. Basically, painted them with flat green paint and then added a touch of yellow highlights. That pretty much completes this little rally track.


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QUOTE (knoath @ 4 May 2008, 18:42) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So are you happy with the outcome, seeing as how this was a trial run...?
What will you do differently on the next one?I'm quite happy with the outcome, and it was easier to do than I expected. It's fun to drive, and it's nice to hook up the variable power supply which contr The main thing I'd do differently is to make sure I find 3/8" MDF (instead of 1/2"), which is important if you want to do serious elevations. The next track I'd like to try is a small, radical hill climb (.7m x 3m and 1.5m in elevations). I'll have to get rid of this one, however, to free up some more space.
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I'm continuing to experiment with this track. I decided to completely "scenic" the off-road part of the track. It looks more finished now, at least to me. The cars, however, don't slide as much. I suppose they'd slide with a little cocoa powder!




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QUOTE (knoath @ 11 May 2008, 13:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Pity about the cars not sliding much though..... I've seen and heard a little about the cocoa powder, what can you tell me about this?Dick, I've never used cocoa powder. The person to ask is col_de_turini; I believe he uses it on his track. I'm a bit afraid to try it as I think it would make a mess. As for the cars not sliding, this will happen if you add most textures to the painted MDF. As I mentioned, I'm okay with the cars not sliding much on this particular track. Of course, they'll slide a little bit.
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