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Craig W
Forum Admin
100 Posts |
 Posted - 01/10/2007 : 12:28:30 AM
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Bruce's routed wood track is the club's first on this surface and I think I can say most all of us prefer it to segmented track. Maybe if we paved over the plastic  , we might get something similar? High-quality electrical tape? Until someone builds a bigger one we will have to get our routed-track thrills at Bruce's jammin' double-D raceway. Sorry, no pictures right now.
Bruce, when you have the time, can you please tell us about some of the details of your track? How did you build it, what material did you use, what power supply, what timing system/software? What was the primary goal in building your track? What was the most important lesson learned? Please reply in this thread. Thanks for sharing both track and words.
Craig W.
-- Drive smart and leave the accidents behind you. |
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roadster61
Starting Member
25 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2007 : 04:50:22 AM
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Craig: Congratulations on the Forum! I'll get you some photographs so folks can see the course.
Circuit Villeneuve started as an idea in April of last year. It was completed September 9, 2006. The first race was held September 10, 2006. But before I talk about that little adventure, a bit of background... I had been re-introduced to slot car racing by an old childhood friend last February (2006). In the 60s we raced our Monogram F-1 cars and built Revell and Strombecker kits in my parents' garage. And up until that fateful February telephone call, I had resisted slot cars, keeping myself busy with a couple of 1:1 Porsches. My hands were full. Or so I thought. I bought a Scalextric set and we were racing within an hour. But almost immediately I recognized that it was too small! I wanted something bigger... Now I find myself back in a garage, racing and having a blast. Be careful what you wish for.
Circuit Villeneuve sits on two 4 X 8 tables. It is a four lane routed wood track and I can't believe I built the whole thing. I am a professional photographer by trade, and work mainly on movie sets, shooting publicity stills and advertising campaigns. I design photo books and have just finished writing my first adventure novel. But, I consider myself fairly handy around the house and when that house is a 1929 two story Spanish Stucco, you learn how to refinish floors, paint, strip wood and handle power tools.
I had never built a race track. So I approached that the same way I prepare for my photo shoots, with tons of research. I went on the web, visited forums and slot car sites and asked questions. By the time I drew out my course on two 4 X 8 sheets of MDF board I knew that the best place to buy steel braid was from Magnatech in San Antonio Texas (Jim Honeycut) and that a guy named Luft in Canada at www.oldslotracer.com had the best instructional DVD for building a routed track. The answer to extra exciting lane curves was a combination of his flexible Lexan strip and conventional slot car lanes laid out with equal spacing.
I think the biggest challenge was getting comfortable with the router. Actually, the routing is easy. The most important thing is to PAY ATTENTION to where you put your fingers because a router is a dangerous high speed power tool that can do a lot of damage in an instant if you get distracted. As long as you remember that, it's easy and the sense of accomplishment is fantastic as the track starts to take shape before your eyes. I would respectively advise anyone doing this alone to take your time and pace yourself, and do no more than three hours a day. Wear eye protection! Bits of sawdust and wood chips are lethal to eyes. If you must work at night have plenty of light and if you are going to be using power tools remember your neighbors and cut the noise after 9:30 PM. I found it best to work early on Saturdays with breaks throughout the day.
When I designed my track, I wasn't interested in having four equally spaced lanes where there was no interaction between the cars. I wanted to get as close to real racing as possible. The answer was the squeeze lane. Each lane is approximately 34 feet long. But this little course is packed with surprises! First, the cars blast down a twelve foot straight, into a medium banked left-hand turn and then dive into the esses as the lanes all converge just like real race cars trying to get the best "line". The cars have to drive almost single file through the esses, up a slight hill and then into a right hand turn. The lanes open up creating passing opportunities for sharp eyed drivers and then close up once more as the cars go into a big sweeping left turn and then the lanes open up and the cars go into the last left turn at 90 degrees before blasting down the straight again.
With this course, everyone has to pay attention. Having the fastest car does not guarantee a victory. Sometimes you get stuck in traffic and you have to wait a lap to set the other guy up and then make your move.
I use the Track Mate power supply and Track Mate software for timer and race format. This equipment can be purchased in Canada. And I use the "dead strip" method for counting laps. Most commercial raceways and track builders use this method. I have found this to be the most accurate way to count laps. My problem is where I placed the dead strip. Because I put it just after the squeeze lane opens up, sometimes in the heat of battle, cars jump out of the lane missing a lap. So during racing we have to have a sharp eyed marshal to check that each car is in the right lane and hits its own dead strip. A 19 inch ViewSonic monitor is used to see lap times and number of laps.
Lastly, a number of club members have talked about the track surface. I used Latex outdoor flat paint. But first, I prepared the MDF board by sanding lightly and filling all nail holes with Bondo body filler (yes the kind you use on cars). I wiped the track down with tack cloth and then used oil based outdoor Varathane Premium Spar Urethane # 92 with a brush as my base coat in the slots and on the track surface. I let it soak into the MDF board. I let it dry for a day and then lightly sanded again to rough up the surface. Then tack cloth. Now I was ready for the final track surface. Behr flat Latex exterior paint from Home Depot. I used a FINE roller and a brush to fill in tight spots next to the routed slots. I would dab the brush tip into the track surface instead of brushing the paint on. When the paint dried it looked like it had been rolled on. I kept the paint away from the slots and where the magnabraid would lay on each side of the slot. This way I obtained the best adhesion for the magnabraid. I used 1/4" 3M double sided tape and it worked perfectly. Less messy than glue. I laid it down first. Before I laid down the Magnabraid, I wiped the steel braid with a cloth and paint thinner to remove as much oil as possible. I dried it and then pressed it on to the track. Perfect fit.
Regarding the track surface, I only did one coat of the Behr Latex and after thousands of laps it still is holding up well. I use Scrubbing Bubbles to clean the track if there is excess oil in a lane or if track surface is starting to look bad. This does not seem to affect the nice rubber buildup that has been laid down from use. Traction and handling is excellent. For retaining fencing I am using Home Depot's finest rubber base coving that is used to finish the bottom of a wall where a floor and wall meet. Add decals or advertisements and it's a perfect fence! When the cars hit the wall, it absorbs the shock and doesn't hurt the cars.
That's about it for my track. Now I will turn my attention to some scale landscaping. The track is named in honor of the late Gilles Villeneuve, the Canadian Formula One Ferrari driver. I have a giant six ft framed photograph I shot of Gilles in the pits adjusting his gloves before going out to set the fastest lap to win the pole position for the 1979 Long Beach Grand Prix. Circuit Villeneuve welcomes all racers. I look forward to some spirited racing in the OTHG 2007 season!
Bruce Talamon
roadster61
Bruce W. Talamon |
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hotrodbob
Junior Member
310 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2007 : 2:00:08 PM
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| Bruce, your track is a blast to race on! |
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roadster61
Starting Member
25 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 4:58:03 PM
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Bob:Thanks. Sorry it took me so long to reply. I was in Miami for three weeks. As to new updates on my track, I hope to have major landscape and building additions before I host my next race. I'm gathering scenery and doing research on a scratch built Dunlop Bridge. I'm thinking of using an actual Dunlop bicycle tire for an off road bike. Also, I'm going to be building a Pit Row and will be looking for photographs of LeMans Pit Row 1967-1980. Also trying to research the type of trees that grow in the region of France where the LeMans Raceway is. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the help.
BT
Bruce W. Talamon |
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