Layout Ideas- Help me out
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crazydave
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Layout Ideas- Help me out
Ok so I went and picked up a 4'x4' piece of fiber board, 30' weather stripping, and 2 boxes of cut tacks. I think I got everything I need to put together a track.
Now what? I can't do anything until I picture it in my head. I kinda like Cabo's track, but I've only seen it from funny angles, and I'm not sure if I want or have the space for a overpass.
I want something kinda technical and challenging, but not so challengeing it becomes tedious, and annoying. I'm kinda thinking about doing an oval around the outside, then doing a technical infield that can be blocked off, so it can be either a oval or roadcoarse, but not sure if I have the room for that.
How wide should my lanes be? What's a good radius for the corners, and bit's steering. Just tell me anything that might get me inspired.
Now what? I can't do anything until I picture it in my head. I kinda like Cabo's track, but I've only seen it from funny angles, and I'm not sure if I want or have the space for a overpass.
I want something kinda technical and challenging, but not so challengeing it becomes tedious, and annoying. I'm kinda thinking about doing an oval around the outside, then doing a technical infield that can be blocked off, so it can be either a oval or roadcoarse, but not sure if I have the room for that.
How wide should my lanes be? What's a good radius for the corners, and bit's steering. Just tell me anything that might get me inspired.
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CaboWabo
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you've obviously got your ideas floating around, so I'll just add what I like and some stats about my track.
the lanes are 9 inches wide - I'm convinced this is the perfect width for the size of my track amonst other things.
dunno if you've seen all these or not:
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/galle ... acks00.php
but if you still can't get the shot you're looking for, let me know and I'll try to snap it.
as you can see in the images, there's a perfect mix of straights, different types and degress of turns and chiquane (sp?) all of that makes for a great track mixed with speed, some sweeping turns, some tight turns, and a few other things.
the lanes are 9 inches wide - I'm convinced this is the perfect width for the size of my track amonst other things.
dunno if you've seen all these or not:
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/galle ... acks00.php
but if you still can't get the shot you're looking for, let me know and I'll try to snap it.
as you can see in the images, there's a perfect mix of straights, different types and degress of turns and chiquane (sp?) all of that makes for a great track mixed with speed, some sweeping turns, some tight turns, and a few other things.
Dear Life Cereal, Where do you get off? Part of a balanced breakfast and delicious? Who do you think you are? By now you may have guessed I'm speaking ironically and have nothing but good things to say about what you do. Life cereal do not change a thing.
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SilentWolv
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I'll throw out some ideas......
* Make a very small oval on a table, made by temp barriers, and note the radius of the cars natural turning ability. Will roughly be the centerline of the track. This will help you decide how wide to make the lane. I made mine 10" and I think Cabo's is as well. Smaller like 8" would be more challenging, harder to pass, but would alow more track on your layout.
* Next make a list of track styles, and any scenery you want to include like: a straight-away (you might need a long one for your mods), hills, banked corners, tight corners, sweeps, varying or consistent width, overpass, pit road, s-turn (chicane), And decorations like: buildings, trees, lake, small town, pit garages, homie hangouts, CW chop-shop, etc.
* Pencil *several* layout ideas on (graph) paper, and when you have one you really like. put up some barriers on the board, and see how it races in the space given.
* Think about the level of competition you'll be racing against too, and their ability to race on what you build.
Hope that gives you some ideas. Mine is coming along slowly. Haven't really had time to work on it in the last two weeks.............
Base is a 6' X 3,1/2' 1/2" sign-grade primered plywood. Yeah, its gonna be heavy, so I cut some handles in it and rounded the corners. Its going to have some elevated areas namely the banked corner and the corkscrew overpass, made out of 2mil sheet pvc, that I've supported with cut wedges of fence board. (small screws and glue).
I'll superglue and screw 1/2" angled-pvc railing almost all the way around. I'm wanting to detail it with model-railroading style grass, trees, rock, water, and....getto. That should be fun. First time I've tried any of that shick. My idea was to enhance the realizm of a small race-track. Have fun with yours. Keep us posted on the progress.
-SilentWolv[/img]
* Make a very small oval on a table, made by temp barriers, and note the radius of the cars natural turning ability. Will roughly be the centerline of the track. This will help you decide how wide to make the lane. I made mine 10" and I think Cabo's is as well. Smaller like 8" would be more challenging, harder to pass, but would alow more track on your layout.
* Next make a list of track styles, and any scenery you want to include like: a straight-away (you might need a long one for your mods), hills, banked corners, tight corners, sweeps, varying or consistent width, overpass, pit road, s-turn (chicane), And decorations like: buildings, trees, lake, small town, pit garages, homie hangouts, CW chop-shop, etc.
* Pencil *several* layout ideas on (graph) paper, and when you have one you really like. put up some barriers on the board, and see how it races in the space given.
* Think about the level of competition you'll be racing against too, and their ability to race on what you build.
Hope that gives you some ideas. Mine is coming along slowly. Haven't really had time to work on it in the last two weeks.............
Base is a 6' X 3,1/2' 1/2" sign-grade primered plywood. Yeah, its gonna be heavy, so I cut some handles in it and rounded the corners. Its going to have some elevated areas namely the banked corner and the corkscrew overpass, made out of 2mil sheet pvc, that I've supported with cut wedges of fence board. (small screws and glue).
I'll superglue and screw 1/2" angled-pvc railing almost all the way around. I'm wanting to detail it with model-railroading style grass, trees, rock, water, and....getto. That should be fun. First time I've tried any of that shick. My idea was to enhance the realizm of a small race-track. Have fun with yours. Keep us posted on the progress.
-SilentWolv[/img]
The secret to life is Raku
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crazydave
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Ok, that's kinda helping. I had seen those pictures of your track, Cabo, but I guess I didn't really study them, I just remembered the vids. That is a nice layout, lots of straights, and different radiused corners. SilentWolv's track is coming along nicely too, but one thing about both yours tracks, is that they are both like 6' long. I had originally had a big piece of wood, that I was going to have them saw it down to 6', but their saw was broken, so I had to settle for the half sheet, 4'x4', and I think that's why I'm having trouble getting an idea now. Sucks that my longest straightaway can only be 4'. 
Taking consideration who I race against is a great idea, but leaves me with a another dilema. I'll mostly be racing by myself, that makes me think tight and technical, but if I ever do get anyone to race me they wont have very much if any experience, so maybe I should keep it simple.
I think I'm going to try to work out my dual purpose track, and I'm also thinking maybe varying the widths of the lanes to add/subtract from the challenge in spots, and save me space when needed.
Taking consideration who I race against is a great idea, but leaves me with a another dilema. I'll mostly be racing by myself, that makes me think tight and technical, but if I ever do get anyone to race me they wont have very much if any experience, so maybe I should keep it simple.
I think I'm going to try to work out my dual purpose track, and I'm also thinking maybe varying the widths of the lanes to add/subtract from the challenge in spots, and save me space when needed.
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crazydave
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Well, this aint gonna happen, I'm done.
That damn weather stripping they sold me wont bend around the corners, without kinking. It's not what I wanted, but 4 different people didn't know what I was talking about, so I was like close enough, but does it bend?, and dudes like flopping it in my face, oh yeah it bends. I'm not happy with my 4'x4' chunk of wood, they stuck me with.
So I wasted $30, the people in Lowes gave me a headache, and I aint never going back to that place again.
Lowes.
That damn weather stripping they sold me wont bend around the corners, without kinking. It's not what I wanted, but 4 different people didn't know what I was talking about, so I was like close enough, but does it bend?, and dudes like flopping it in my face, oh yeah it bends. I'm not happy with my 4'x4' chunk of wood, they stuck me with.
So I wasted $30, the people in Lowes gave me a headache, and I aint never going back to that place again.
Lowes.-
CaboWabo
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that blows dave, don't give up though - that little piece of wood can't keep ya down!
I say now that you're upset - your expectations of it probably have gone down. So just go nuts, make a track however you see fit (even if the corners are slightly kinked).
It'd give you experience so next time you build you'll know what you like and what you don't. It'll give you something new to race on. You won't feel like you completely wasted your cash. I'm guessing too if down the road you really hated it, you could take off all the weather striping and start over.
just trying to inspire man.
I say now that you're upset - your expectations of it probably have gone down. So just go nuts, make a track however you see fit (even if the corners are slightly kinked).
It'd give you experience so next time you build you'll know what you like and what you don't. It'll give you something new to race on. You won't feel like you completely wasted your cash. I'm guessing too if down the road you really hated it, you could take off all the weather striping and start over.
just trying to inspire man.
Dear Life Cereal, Where do you get off? Part of a balanced breakfast and delicious? Who do you think you are? By now you may have guessed I'm speaking ironically and have nothing but good things to say about what you do. Life cereal do not change a thing.
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SilentWolv
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Thats what I liked about CW's track was them 8' straights. Technical corners, get the cars pointed, and let 'em rip.
4X4 size has advantages and disadvantages: certainly lighter and easier to store, and one big advantage: its 4' wide. That means you'll be able to get 4 lanes into it. I could only get 3, and it limitied my layout ideas.
I like the dual purpose idea that lets you change the layout. You could have the smaller 4X4 technical layout, but leave the option to attach another 4X4 section to it with dowl pins. It sure would be hard to store an entire 4X8 sheet if it wasn't in two sections.
Or if you wanted to stay with just the 4X4, maybe put the straight diagonally, that would give you 5' straight.
I have the 6 different frequencies for the rare occasion that we have enough people over to race, but would also be mostly for my own practice. I almost changed it to a simple oval, but my wife actually wanted me to keep it more technical.
Yeah, those dudes at the hardware store aren't too helpful when it comes to something like this. I didn't even want to tell them what I was making. <G>. Talk to some more people at customer service if you want to exchange it for the 6'. Tell them you buy alot of stuff there, and it was because of THEIR broken saw that you tried to make this work. Check out their tubing also, for possible walls. Comes in many sizes and colors at about $.17/ft I think.
And I agree, don't give up. The first track is the "learning one". Advise is cheap from no expert, but hope its some help.
-SilentWolv
4X4 size has advantages and disadvantages: certainly lighter and easier to store, and one big advantage: its 4' wide. That means you'll be able to get 4 lanes into it. I could only get 3, and it limitied my layout ideas.
I like the dual purpose idea that lets you change the layout. You could have the smaller 4X4 technical layout, but leave the option to attach another 4X4 section to it with dowl pins. It sure would be hard to store an entire 4X8 sheet if it wasn't in two sections.
Or if you wanted to stay with just the 4X4, maybe put the straight diagonally, that would give you 5' straight.
I have the 6 different frequencies for the rare occasion that we have enough people over to race, but would also be mostly for my own practice. I almost changed it to a simple oval, but my wife actually wanted me to keep it more technical.
Yeah, those dudes at the hardware store aren't too helpful when it comes to something like this. I didn't even want to tell them what I was making. <G>. Talk to some more people at customer service if you want to exchange it for the 6'. Tell them you buy alot of stuff there, and it was because of THEIR broken saw that you tried to make this work. Check out their tubing also, for possible walls. Comes in many sizes and colors at about $.17/ft I think.
And I agree, don't give up. The first track is the "learning one". Advise is cheap from no expert, but hope its some help.
-SilentWolv
The secret to life is Raku
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joez2872
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TRACK
4x4 is what i have ,,,put up tubbing around the edges like outer oval and make 2 circles in the middle oval with a cut trew its works great to mess around on and its chep have fun oh yuh blacl chalk board paint for the road ways ho scale stuff tress grass houses etc ad that little finishing touch have fun enjoy your track ,,OH YUH DONT FORGET THE HOMIES NO TRACK SHOULD BE WITH OUT THERE PIT CREW LOL 
( . )( . ) LOL HANG UM HIGH!!!!ROCKEY MT.FEVER LOL!!!
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crazydave
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After I got over my little bitch fit, I realized everything that Cabo said, before I read his post. Smart guy he is.
So I figured I might as well make use of what I got, and realized it is my first time so this is just a practice.
Once I got going, it worked out pretty well. I just had to snip at the corners to get them to bend.
And cabo was totally right, with lowered expectations, I'm really pleased with what I did end up with.
Check it out:
Simple Oval(square) track:
Technical track:
The technical version is a little to hard with a 3.8 and fast gearing, but that was to be expected. Time to break out the slower motors again, and save the 3.8 for the Oval track.
Thanks for your suggestions, I think I have a much better idea of how I'm going to go about this in the future.
So I figured I might as well make use of what I got, and realized it is my first time so this is just a practice.
Once I got going, it worked out pretty well. I just had to snip at the corners to get them to bend.
And cabo was totally right, with lowered expectations, I'm really pleased with what I did end up with.
Check it out:
Simple Oval(square) track:
Technical track:
The technical version is a little to hard with a 3.8 and fast gearing, but that was to be expected. Time to break out the slower motors again, and save the 3.8 for the Oval track.
Thanks for your suggestions, I think I have a much better idea of how I'm going to go about this in the future.
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CaboWabo
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hell yea dude - I knew you'd pull it off.
that's a dope little track, can't beat that it's multi-purposed either.
very good job crazydave.
that's a dope little track, can't beat that it's multi-purposed either.
very good job crazydave.
Dear Life Cereal, Where do you get off? Part of a balanced breakfast and delicious? Who do you think you are? By now you may have guessed I'm speaking ironically and have nothing but good things to say about what you do. Life cereal do not change a thing.
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crazydave
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Yeah, I'm happy with it. With a little practice I can almost negotiate it with a 3.8. I originally had the inside set up more technical with 7" lanes, but that was nearly impossible, so I pulled it up, and redid it this way, and I see why 8" to 9" lanes work out well. It seems to fit bit's steering radius.
And now I have the little pit area, before I was trying to cover every inch with track.
And now I have the little pit area, before I was trying to cover every inch with track.
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SilentWolv
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payaso
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crazydave
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Yeah, it's totally fun to race on, I think I charged my cars more yesterday, than I normally do in a week or two. Probably be more fun when I get a friend over and we have a few beers. 
I bought some posterboard, and paints. I'm going to try to paint some stripes, and a starting line. Use the poster board to try to make some bleachers, and make jumps and whooptie-dos to make it a temporary rally track when I want. post pics when I'm done.
I'm already making plans for the future, get another 4'x4'x1/8" piece of fiber board, attach the one I have, from the back so I can fold it. Rip up the weather stripping, paint it with chalk board paint, and use pipeing for the rails. The traction is fine on the fiberboard, I just want to use the chalkboard paint to fill my old holes, and because besides traction I think it would be cool to be able to mark directions and stuff in chalk.
Then with the larger track I should have room to really add details, a long straight away, and be happy.
At any rate I ended up having plenty of fun with it as is.
I bought some posterboard, and paints. I'm going to try to paint some stripes, and a starting line. Use the poster board to try to make some bleachers, and make jumps and whooptie-dos to make it a temporary rally track when I want. post pics when I'm done.
I'm already making plans for the future, get another 4'x4'x1/8" piece of fiber board, attach the one I have, from the back so I can fold it. Rip up the weather stripping, paint it with chalk board paint, and use pipeing for the rails. The traction is fine on the fiberboard, I just want to use the chalkboard paint to fill my old holes, and because besides traction I think it would be cool to be able to mark directions and stuff in chalk.
Then with the larger track I should have room to really add details, a long straight away, and be happy.
At any rate I ended up having plenty of fun with it as is.
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warmaster259
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hey dave the with of the track depends of the amount of people ur gonna have racing on it. my track is 4' * 8' and it has 8 1/2" wide lanes thats plenty big enough for me i figured that i would always have tons of people over to race but now i find myself only using it for time trials so i guess u need to under guess the width of the lanes u need hope i helped.