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I retired approx 1.5 years ago. I was military, Search and rescue, helicopters, Ch113 and CH149 (Canada, equivalent airframes: H46 and EH101). 30 years of that tends to beat a body (and mind) up pretty good and they finally decided I was too broken up to carry on and gave me the "golden parachute". I've got lots of physical problems and scars (inside and out), but no regrets. It was a life well worth the sacrifice. Not many people can say the have lost track of how many lives they've saved (and how many things they never want to see again).
While I've no shortage of projects (new house build, C4 Corvette, Fox Mustang, Fj1200, 8x8 Argo, touring bike, etc), I'm just starting to turn the loft over the garage into "my space". As you can see by my "toys list", I'm a car guy, from way back. I've always wanted to build a model track, because, well, I'm a car guy. Trains just won't cut it.
When my FIL passed away, he left a lot of Nascar stuff behind. Specifically, he was a super sized Petty fan. One of the things that arrived in our house was a Life Like Richard Petty Daytona Nascar HO slot set. Complete, in it's original box. Stickers, warranty paperwork, poster, LL catalog, etc...all of it in mint condition. He pulled it out once to try it and then it went back into the box. For him, it was a collectable to sit on a shelf, not a slot car set to be run and banged up. But being HO, it's pretty small, reminded me more of the toy sets I used to play with as a child.
So I looked around at 1:24, 1:32, 1: 43, etc. The digital stuff all looked pretty good to me, with all the options it gives you over the old analog sets. But then came price. Ye-ow! That stuff ain't cheap! Even more so of a shock was a basic kit was pretty expensive, and I'd still have to add a lot to it (IE: $$$) to get to where I want to be. I've got lots of things to spend money on and a slot car set isn't one of them. At least not a "full boat" set with all the fancy options. Analog will do just fine thank you!
Scale also started to become a problem. I've got lots of room and could make a monstrous track if I wanted (room is 22x28) and the larger scales sure looked great with all their clearly visible detail! But all I really want is something I can build up to be somewhat realistic, have a little fun with and not consume the entire room. The room is multipurpose and it has to stay that way. It holds computer setups, 3d printers,industrial sewing machines (Leather upholstery), etc, etc. So I pulled my expectations down to HO size, mainly to keep it on a single sheet of 4x8 and have enough of a layout to still be interesting.
So now I can use the old LL Petty Nascar set and save even more bucks! I set it up, cleaned it up, fixed a few electrical bug a boo's and had a go:
Pardon the mess, still setting up the room. Had to change up the layout slightly to fit the table. It's only around 3x6 feet.
The 42 and 43 Pontiacs (Richard and Kyle) are the only slot cars there, the rest are hot wheels and such. The ones in the set are "Fast Trackers".
Was fun ripping them around, but I need more to hold my interest. And what is it with old controllers getting hot and stinking?!? Yeah right, pure, 100% resistance driven speed control.....ugh. After I get rolling, I'll have to look in to a different option for controllers other than straight resistance driven.
Off to ebay I grab a two more track sets, both Life Like stuff. One is "pole position challenge", but missing cars. I got it because it was cheap and there is a boatload of track in it. The other set was 40 bucks and it was a "Nascar truck challenge" set. Comes complete (and with an extra truck), but it's only a figure 8 track.
Then I grabbed a 77-79 Thunderbird AFX nascar. I paid waaaay too much for it, but one of my first cars was a 78 T-Bird and I wanted it. Grabbed four 440x2 chassis while I was there. That just about sets me up to build whatever I want and 10 chassis' to chose from to mount bodies. Bodies I will either 3d print, or use Hot Wheels or maybe scan the hot wheels and 3d print them. That way, I can scale up and down as needed.
Plan is to give each lane it's own power supply. Build it into the table (IE: MDF) and a full track setting around it. I want elevation changes, so some of the track will have to be "mountainous" I guess. Thinking I'll do a 4 lane track as I certainly have enough.
I grabbed a set of 4 turn out sections from a tyco (or AFX maybe) set. Plan is to build some solenoid "flippers" into the track to give drivers a chance to pit if they want. That's not going to be overly hard, but not simple either. I grabbed a couple NOS adapter pieces (LL to Tyco) to hook the turn outs to the LL track, but then realized since I am attaching the track to the table, I can just snip off the lugs, snug the tracks together, connect the electrical terminals from each set and we're off and running. I don't ever plan to break it down, so having it permanent isn't a big deal.
For pit lane I looked at the AFX hologram unit, but soon discovered that it is (for the most part) just a piece of glass to reflect your iPhone screen. The "hologram" is just an iPhone app. I downloaded the app and held it over a piece of glass and bingo! Holograms. The rest is just printed cardboard. I can do better than that and will make something up on the 3d printer. At least it will have a "real" 3d texture to it (ie: wood, brick, etc) instead of just printed cardboard. I also have several old iPhones laying around (we get a new one every time you re-up your plan) so I can make a couple pits with the holograms in it if I want. I don't need lap counting and such, I just want those neat little holograms.
Since it's all HO, some train stuff should work for some bits of scenery. Like trees, bushes and such. I've got one of those thick "HO train track building" books that will provide lots of useful hints and ideas about that.
Whatever else I need will be the 3d printer's job. Buildings, people, even car bodies. I've already downloaded quite a bit from the free 3d print sites and it's not overly hard to custom make whatever I may want. For anything mechanical, well....I've got a metal lathe, small knee mill, MIG and TIG out in the shop. I can TIG razor blades together, so I think I can handle anything I need for a slot car set.
Electronics? Yeah, this is all pretty basic stuff after working on helicopters, supersonic aircraft, heavy transports, etc my whole career. No challenges there.
Should be fun. I'll update as I get a few things underway.
While I've no shortage of projects (new house build, C4 Corvette, Fox Mustang, Fj1200, 8x8 Argo, touring bike, etc), I'm just starting to turn the loft over the garage into "my space". As you can see by my "toys list", I'm a car guy, from way back. I've always wanted to build a model track, because, well, I'm a car guy. Trains just won't cut it.
When my FIL passed away, he left a lot of Nascar stuff behind. Specifically, he was a super sized Petty fan. One of the things that arrived in our house was a Life Like Richard Petty Daytona Nascar HO slot set. Complete, in it's original box. Stickers, warranty paperwork, poster, LL catalog, etc...all of it in mint condition. He pulled it out once to try it and then it went back into the box. For him, it was a collectable to sit on a shelf, not a slot car set to be run and banged up. But being HO, it's pretty small, reminded me more of the toy sets I used to play with as a child.
So I looked around at 1:24, 1:32, 1: 43, etc. The digital stuff all looked pretty good to me, with all the options it gives you over the old analog sets. But then came price. Ye-ow! That stuff ain't cheap! Even more so of a shock was a basic kit was pretty expensive, and I'd still have to add a lot to it (IE: $$$) to get to where I want to be. I've got lots of things to spend money on and a slot car set isn't one of them. At least not a "full boat" set with all the fancy options. Analog will do just fine thank you!
Scale also started to become a problem. I've got lots of room and could make a monstrous track if I wanted (room is 22x28) and the larger scales sure looked great with all their clearly visible detail! But all I really want is something I can build up to be somewhat realistic, have a little fun with and not consume the entire room. The room is multipurpose and it has to stay that way. It holds computer setups, 3d printers,industrial sewing machines (Leather upholstery), etc, etc. So I pulled my expectations down to HO size, mainly to keep it on a single sheet of 4x8 and have enough of a layout to still be interesting.
So now I can use the old LL Petty Nascar set and save even more bucks! I set it up, cleaned it up, fixed a few electrical bug a boo's and had a go:
Pardon the mess, still setting up the room. Had to change up the layout slightly to fit the table. It's only around 3x6 feet.
The 42 and 43 Pontiacs (Richard and Kyle) are the only slot cars there, the rest are hot wheels and such. The ones in the set are "Fast Trackers".
Was fun ripping them around, but I need more to hold my interest. And what is it with old controllers getting hot and stinking?!? Yeah right, pure, 100% resistance driven speed control.....ugh. After I get rolling, I'll have to look in to a different option for controllers other than straight resistance driven.
Off to ebay I grab a two more track sets, both Life Like stuff. One is "pole position challenge", but missing cars. I got it because it was cheap and there is a boatload of track in it. The other set was 40 bucks and it was a "Nascar truck challenge" set. Comes complete (and with an extra truck), but it's only a figure 8 track.
Then I grabbed a 77-79 Thunderbird AFX nascar. I paid waaaay too much for it, but one of my first cars was a 78 T-Bird and I wanted it. Grabbed four 440x2 chassis while I was there. That just about sets me up to build whatever I want and 10 chassis' to chose from to mount bodies. Bodies I will either 3d print, or use Hot Wheels or maybe scan the hot wheels and 3d print them. That way, I can scale up and down as needed.
Plan is to give each lane it's own power supply. Build it into the table (IE: MDF) and a full track setting around it. I want elevation changes, so some of the track will have to be "mountainous" I guess. Thinking I'll do a 4 lane track as I certainly have enough.
I grabbed a set of 4 turn out sections from a tyco (or AFX maybe) set. Plan is to build some solenoid "flippers" into the track to give drivers a chance to pit if they want. That's not going to be overly hard, but not simple either. I grabbed a couple NOS adapter pieces (LL to Tyco) to hook the turn outs to the LL track, but then realized since I am attaching the track to the table, I can just snip off the lugs, snug the tracks together, connect the electrical terminals from each set and we're off and running. I don't ever plan to break it down, so having it permanent isn't a big deal.
For pit lane I looked at the AFX hologram unit, but soon discovered that it is (for the most part) just a piece of glass to reflect your iPhone screen. The "hologram" is just an iPhone app. I downloaded the app and held it over a piece of glass and bingo! Holograms. The rest is just printed cardboard. I can do better than that and will make something up on the 3d printer. At least it will have a "real" 3d texture to it (ie: wood, brick, etc) instead of just printed cardboard. I also have several old iPhones laying around (we get a new one every time you re-up your plan) so I can make a couple pits with the holograms in it if I want. I don't need lap counting and such, I just want those neat little holograms.
Since it's all HO, some train stuff should work for some bits of scenery. Like trees, bushes and such. I've got one of those thick "HO train track building" books that will provide lots of useful hints and ideas about that.
Whatever else I need will be the 3d printer's job. Buildings, people, even car bodies. I've already downloaded quite a bit from the free 3d print sites and it's not overly hard to custom make whatever I may want. For anything mechanical, well....I've got a metal lathe, small knee mill, MIG and TIG out in the shop. I can TIG razor blades together, so I think I can handle anything I need for a slot car set.
Electronics? Yeah, this is all pretty basic stuff after working on helicopters, supersonic aircraft, heavy transports, etc my whole career. No challenges there.
Should be fun. I'll update as I get a few things underway.
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