Metal Meltdown Raceway - In progress

[jfuente]

Finally got all my track pieces in... testing out the foam core board idea out first. Not sure I'm a fan of the foam core board walls but the borders are working nicely.

Progress shots:




Assembled:




Got a few more walls to add, and then finish up painting the borders. Going to lay down the white base and then add the red checkers to it.

[jfuente]

More painting... looks nice w/ the borders painted.

[Billy boy]

Looking good. That’s some serious elevation on that turn.

[jfuente]

Will probably lower it once everything is painted/setup. The height helped me get to the lower section. Still got a lot of painting ahead of me.

[Fathead59]

Are you using the form cord board as risers for the track ?

[Fathead59]

The reason why I ask is because I was going to use pieces of wood in a wedge shape for it , I guess if they are glued together they are just as strong

[jfuente]

Yeah, I scored the foam core and then glued them together. I'm going to get something more permanent once I settle on the elevation/etc. It's working, but still just in the early stages at this point. Uploading a video of running a stock slot it GT40 here in a second.

[Bal r 14]

Looks good and excellent progress! Looking forward to the video.

[jfuente]

Still getting used to this Slot it, really moves compared to the stock set Policar BRZs. Haven't added any weight or anything, runs pretty good in my opinion w/o the magnet. Can't imagine once I follow some of the tuning tips here on HRW. Got some PG tires ready to put on among other tweaks.

[jfuente]

Slot It GT40 stock, no magnet -- running at 9V.

[Bal r 14]

Cool! Any idea how many feet long the lanes are?

[jfuente]

Just over 50'. Track designer says 15.33m so like 50.29 feet.

[Bal r 14]

Excellent space utilization. On my track, I'll have to figure out a way to go up another level when I want to expand... no more room to go outward.

[ourwayband]

Great looking smooth track..

[jfuente]

Thanks! Pretty happy with it.

[slothead]

Two thumbs up regarding elevations. Once the build is done you can go back and add scenery features that justify the elevation changes. No reason a great track can't be cut out of a hillside. Creates better sightlines for everyone.

A car in the outside lane of the turn after the downhill section may have an advantage because it seemingly can lean on the border.

[jfuente]

Planning on outfitting the track at some point with SCC's wiring kit. If I do so, I'll get those reverse switches on the driver stations. Figure it'll add some variety but running it in reverse, but yeah the outside corner is much easier on the tight turn. Otherwise, seems pretty even.

Yeah, just getting the initial setup done. Not 100% on the supports, would love to add some rock walls or siding of some sort down the road.

[chappyman66]

Nice work! It's always fun to see laps on a new track. Pretty quick at 9V, they become rockets at 12v which is why lots of short basement tracks run at 10v. You now know why.
Supports all disappear under the scenery so as long as they are solid they are fine.

[jfuente]

Yeah just trying to brainstorm some scenery ideas. Been browsing this section of the forum for inspiration. Was thinking for the elevated section maybe some brick or stone walls... Need my creative juices to kick in.

I did make some heli-pads to store my RC helis on the layout and have a few other things coming in. Until then, just chipping away at the painting.

[slothead]

For inspiration on all sorts of scenery check out model railroad videos on YouTube. I took an adult ed class in model railroading just to see how the club did scenery. In the meantime gather and save pieces of Styrofoam and leftover construction materials. Scenery is optional but if you check out tracks one of the first things that catches your eye is how realistic they look.

[jfuente]

Coming along. Got my race management up and running and slowly adding to my layout.

End of pit gate.


Creating some rock wall using Hydrocal applied via paint brush on paper towel, laid on top of some chicken fencing. We'll see how it works... considering it's so vertical.



Making an area to display some smaller RC helicopters I've got, feel like the scale is pretty accurate for smaller helicopters. Using hydrocal again to create this. The squares are foam core underneath, will likely layer some more hydrocal to soften the edges.




Start/finish line.

[jfuente]

Things left to do:

• Finish painting borders and walls
• Finish up heli area
• Finish up rock wall
• Add exterior area, thinking brick wall opposite of rock wall
• Add fencing
• Add some trees
• Finish up buildings

[slothead]

It's good you have a list to guide you. After building my road course and getting the outside lane wired up I started racing and never got to other tasks. I have a list too, but not making much progress. I bought a bunch of cars (100+), have spreadsheets full of lap time data, and run lots of solo races, but no scenery. Because it's a well designed routed track borders were never an issue and after a car went off the backed turn onto the floor I added outside walls. That was many 1000's of laps ago.

So yeah, I do need to make some legit progress from my list soon so I can post pictures too.

[jfuente]

Haha. I disassembled it to paint so now very motivated to get it finished to a point to get back to racing/tuning.

Got a cool idea to color the lanes, hopefully it turns out. Really enjoy the race management system, very cool feature and really adds to the enjoyment.

[Bal r 14]

It's coming along nicely. I predict you will be routing your own track before too much longer!

[jfuente]

Haha, we'll see. I'm torn on wiring it with SCC's kit. Originally I was planning to, so I could add the lane reverse switch and add a Difalco controller to the mix... now not so sure Not sure the expense warrants it at this point. Only benefit would be the ease of adding a more fledged controller. Still weighing the option but almost leaning against not doing it. Might just get an electronic PM controller and keep the resistor ones for the kiddos.

[Bal r 14]

SCC stations and wiring kit was definitely worth the money for me. I couldn't even find most of the electronic components they provide at hardware and big box stores. What I could find were inferior quality.

[jfuente]

Made some pretty good progress on my days off...

• Add exterior area, thinking brick wall opposite of rock wall
• Add fencing
• Add some trees
• Finish up buildings, one other pit garage left.

Probably going to hold off on adding the fencing and exterior area, as I'm still not 100% on whether I want to wire it or not. Adding the exterior would make wiring a lot more difficult, and my plan for the fencing involves attaching foam to the edge of the foam core and track, so will likely hold off on that as well.

I just need to go over the painted borders with some matte varnish/sealer material a few more times so keep my tires clean.

[jfuente]

Trying out an idea... I found I was getting confused on reslots and starting races, as my race management is that new to me. So... I picked up some Elmer's Opaque Painters pens. I'm a big fan of death metal and have a Swedish background, so naturally I had to go with blue and yellow.

I still need to go over them with a second pen, as the first yellow ran dry. Then I'll scrap off the remnants from the rail and use some fiber optic film to polish them up. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it and think it adds to the overall look!

[jfuente]

Added some trees - just testing out a technique compiled from Boone's slot car YouTube channel and some of my own.

Second set of paint pens come in tomorrow, so I'll be able to finalize the track painting.




Finalizing the track. I will lay a second set of paint down and then scrap the excess paint off the rails, it comes off easy with just a fingernail, and finish it off with a combo of fiber optic film paper to polish it up.