Progress at The Pines, Break from racing , Beach day.

[Barc 1]

I was showing my daughter the progress on the track, and when she saw the garages with interior lighting, she mentioned it would be good if there was some stadium lighting to light up the pit area as well.


Well that was a remark I picked up on and set about finding a solution for some track lighting. So I went down to the local Canadian Tire store and found these high intensity flash lights with about 20 LEDs in each array for about 5$ a piece. I brought them home and disassembled them. All I was interested in was the multiple LED arrays. I looked in my scratch building supplies and found a bunch of old bridge I beams that I had been hanging onto for a couple of decades. In no time at all I had fashioned three large light standards to mount the LED arrays on. So with soldering iron in hand I wired in a switch and laid down copper tape as a conduit to run power all across the front of the pit area. This allows me to add more towers easily if I feel the three are not sufficient. Power is supplied by an old Blackberry charger I had kicking around. All in I have less then $20.00 tied up in this project.

Here are some pictures of some nightime action at The Pines.

I also built a table, some chairs, and lit up the Race directors building as well. Looks like the roof is a little askew. Never noticed until now.


Cheers
Dan

[docdoom]

those came out great.....

[modernslots]

Your new lights really look good Dan. Smart daughter!
Rob

[Fast Co.]

Your lights look fantastic Dan, as do the pits in general. Nice work!

[War Eagle River]

Cool!

[Barc 1]

Spent some time doing a little bit of scenery. Again this is a first pass photo. Gives me an idea of things to fix and cleanup as I move to add another layer of scenic detail. This area will get some bushes in front of the brick wall as well as some static grass. From the photos the guardrails do not pass the test as the weathering effect on them does not look good. I will most likely airbrush some light gray over them to tone down the effect.

I plan on planting my first pine tree some time this week. Trees will be 15 inch tall forest trees with 10 inches of the lower trunk with only bark detail. This will allow drivers to see through the trees as they drive their cars.

Cheers

Dan

[TuscoTodd]

Those lights turned out great!!!
Definitely a slick idea!

[Barc 1]

Well I got a couple of pine trees built and planted.

[4424ever]

I really like that shot Dan the ground covering under the trees brings it all together
looks very realistic

[ourwayband]

Great pictures and track!!

[Barc 1]

Thanks. I do my scenery in Layers of detail. Right now I will be tree making and planting. The next pass will include some root detail, more forest floor type stuff. Fallen trees rotted out trunks, and maybe even a chipmunk or two. Wife was joking about a road kill bump to add some character to driving at The Pines.

Since I started this track, I have yet to build a single car, but am really enjoying this aspect of the hobby. My train layout is N scale which is 1/160. Modelling in 1:32 is a whole new animal, where every tree is a model in itself. I have used different methods on every tree looking for something that looks Ok, but doesn’t take eight hours to build. Funny how this little bit of scenery really, “extends” the feel of the track. Following the car as it goes over culverts and through some trees really implies some distance being travelled.

This track is a real mix of scale. Lane spacing allows 1/24 scale cars to run. Building and scenery is 1/43 scale, and Most of my driving lately involves 132 scale cars.. Scale looks ok except when running the 1/24 scale stuff. It is then obvious something isn’t quite right with the stands and buildings .

[pfuetze]

the track looks great, Dan!
awesome pictures!

[Dundee Denny]

Lots of inspiration here Dan!

Dundee Speedway is getting some upgrades so your a real source of ideas to replicate

Dundee Denny

[Barc 1]

Well I have the layout completed with the first layer of scenery. Now I go over with adding more detail. I think about 50 trees will do this layout justice without getting in the way. I am modelling Lodgepole pines so their canopy is up high and you can see through the trunks pretty easy to see your car. As the scenery layers progress, much time gets eaten up and you really have to look to see what has progressed. Should provide me a winters worth of stuff to do. Lots of static grass and more ground cover to blend in. I.e the fallen tree should just about disappear in underbrush.

I spotted the helipad at the sharp right handed at the end of the straight. This will allow this high incident corner to be marshalled easily.

I went back and started another layer of detail adding a fallen tree and some wild flowers growing in the stump. This area has a bog to model as well.

I have included pictures that show the entire layout as it sits now.

I will probably take some time and clean up my shop and then build a Brass Am car for Harry's proxy. A layout milestone has been reached with the first layer done, so I think I will change gears and build a car.

Cheers

Dan

[downtowndeco]

The trees look nice!