Show Me YOUR Tracks (and videos) Please!
 

Just wondering what all of your tracks look like!? Also would like to see your videos! Perhaps to get em all in one location!

What are your tracks made out of? How does the car handle on them? What would be the BEST material in your opinion?

I used the Track Maker program to make a close replica of "Special Stage RT 5" from Gran Tourismo 3! I'll attach the picture of the track below! I'll probly build this in my grandmas basement because i dont have enough room in my APT. but her basement is big enough!

I will get TONS of video as soon as i get my car and electronics!

whoops...

Looks like a cardboard track, am i right? What did you make the edges out of? What cars/scales do you run on the track?

Woops??

Sorry, posted in wrong forum so I removed my original post and replaced it with the 'whoops'.
The main track surface is a 1/2 inch solid piece of wood (particle board). Not particle board in the traditional sense, the wood sheet is made up of very tiny, sawdust type-sized pieces of wood, and glue. The banked ramp leading to and from the bridge are a solid piece of cardboard, but that is the only piece of cardboard used on the track as a driving surface.

** RE-RE-EDIT :)
Here's an image of our first track in its beginning stages. Hopefully soon, you be able to see more and read more when we release our website, but for now, here's what our track looked like a few months ago.
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/images/tracks/track01.jpg

We drive the Bit-Char-G cars on it.
Normal, stock tires work fine. Of course a 3.0 motor and high-torque gears coupled with 'hard' tires (slicks), you could produce some doughnuts.

Lol thas ok... i was looking for a WIDE variety of tracks... I just wanted to see TRACK pics in general! So your ok! Because it gives me ideas for what everyone uses. If there were a "general mini rc" section on the forum i would have posted this there!

So how do the cars drive on the materials on your track? What kind of tires they have?

I do have a track in my basement. The details of it are STILL at another fourm. I will be moving it over here shortly. Also, I do have many videos and even timed laps with all of my different cars that I will try and post in the coming weeks. Stay tuned :)

Gertman... seen your track... looks really cool! Im surprised that those shop towels hold up... I know they are strong. I use them when working on car, but i figure one good roll over or spinout would tear em up! Although if you buy that "Box Of Towels" you get a CRAP LOAD of track! lol!

Photo Album

A few pix:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...9/fd3d48ce.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...6/fd3d48df.jpg

Comments: This is a new track and we are not finished. We used canvas-type work uniform fabric stapled to particle board sheets to create an 8'x12' track. This stuff offers serious grip with stock tires...enough to flip the cars at top speed. Keeping the track tight or using slightly harder tires keeps them from flipping.

4 long strands of copper wire are connected together over the center of the track and branch out to the 4 corners of the track. Each has a loop at the end to hook the controller's antenna into. This creates an "umbrella" of antennas and there are no dead spots. (we all use booster contollers) Interference is not a problem.

We used rope lights for the outer "walls". We have had a car leave the table 2 times, both due to having the ramped track pieces too close to the edge, allowing the car to jump the wall.

I recommend using the track kits so you can change/create new tracks. No matter how good your track design is, it will get old. Plus designing new tracks is half the fun. We are using 2 sets of DigiQ "Chicane Mania" track sets. There is still about 25% of track pieces left over.

The DigiQ track pieces connect together quite firmly, but the cars can drive over them fairly easily. This is a good thing if you have honest drivers, since the cars do not flip or get stuck very often.

We are currently using clear boxing tape to hold the track pieces in place, but we will be switching to "rug tape" which is a thin mesh tape that is mildly tacky on both sides.

Video coming soon... ;)

Killboy, great track!
What are the rings for? Driving figure 8's around?
Also that border stuff you have... with the red and white stripes, how big is that? You think it would work well with a 1/24 scale? Would be a great realism add on!


ALSO! I just got a great track material idea... What about "Tar Paper" that you lay down before you do roofing? Its reletivly in-expensive and it wouldnt tear that easy BUT give great traction and look like REAL asphalt!

I don't know if I would go with tar paper.
My reasoning is that fast cars need a little 'slip' to handle the tight turning radius without flipping over.
Thoughts?

Well.. as long as the paper isnt in direct sunlight or in a really hot environment the paper is fairly slippery! Ive slid off a low pitch roof before when standing on it.

Doh!
What a way to learn, "the hard way", like me! :)

Let me know if you end up having set your track up in a climate controlled environment. j/k

Cool man, that's a good idea, let us know how it all works out!

Lol climate controlled... haha! :p basements should be good! the floor is always nice and cold!

I was also thinking if you staple it to plywood you could use a dremel and take out small chunks of the pywood and then paint them!! Tadaaa... Pot holes! Put them near the edges of your track where "track maintnance" is less worried about (but you know you or others might end up driving)

Realism is cool!

Yaw!
Excellent idea.
We toyed around with the idea of adding potholes, never did though.
We were also thinking of making the driving area look more like road. Bare driving surface in the lanes (where cars contact the track most often), then on the outsides, near the where the 'shoulder' would be, adding fine grit sand or sandpaper. Just enought to allow a little slip and slow, but not crash. Like on 'touring' tracks IRL.
I also have another idea for 'short-cuts'. Just like in games, the short-cut would be extremely hard and daunting, not inviting at all, so most would prefer the normal route. However, if there happens to be some egocentric driver that thinks he can do it all, he has the opportunity to take the short-cut. But, he had better be as good as he thinks, because 1 mistake means the short-cut turns into the longest section of track in your life.
And yet another idea is to create 'scenes'. Like driving on a normal track, then suddenly there's a clear, round, plastic tube, leading off the track - through an aquarium - and back out the other side!
I think that would be awesome. If you did it right, the tube would be just slightly larger than your bit, and it's round, so theoretically, as long as you were lined up correctly for the entrance, you could floor it in the tube, not have to worry about steering as the tube would force the car into the path of least resistance, which would be straight on down the tube!

Okay, back to reality. :)

*jaw drops*

Thats an awesome idea! I love it... sand, or some grit on the track edges. You could also use pieces of waxed tile pieces, counter top laminent (or somthing similar) that look like the same track material for slippery sections! If you wanted to make lane lines you could get a sponge and cut it to the size and shape then sponge stamp the lines on the track... that would give them the worn look!
I want to go for a fully realistic track, with all the grandstands and so on... If you have ever played Grand Tourismo the track that i made a image of above (Special Stage RT 5) is a layed out street coarse... so you could make the track and lanes go off as they would if it were a real street before parts were blocked off for the race track!! Having fire hydrants, regular cars - plastic models, buildings and even mailboxes on the street parts that arent blocked off for the track.
This would probly be easier for the 1/24th cars!

Anyone know where to get scale buildings??

You got the idea man!

We've got grand stands, announcer's tower, advertisements, etc.

I'm thinking combining 'train modeling' techniques with 'bit track' building techniques would render some awesome tracks. The buildings, grass, hills, roads, etc. so much detail, that'd be friggin' too cool!

Now, what can we use for an oil slick or ice patch?

Love your idea on blocking off streets too, I'm already imagining a scene from the Fast and the furious! :)
Using those cross-sections of streets, theoretically, you could block off certain streets to make an entirely new course on the same track!

Oh man - now that'd be awesome! You've got my mind reeling now.

For the ice slick and slick section i mentioned that counter top laminent... thats pretty slick crap and comes in ANY color. Also could use thin pieces of vynal tile or vynal flooring (also comes in any color).
I like the idea of building a city... that would offer infinent street tracks... although id be upset if someone lost it, jumped a barrier and smashed my model building or such... but who cares thats even MORE real! You could hang a video camera above the track too to catch all the action!

The rings are just obstacles you can go over or around. The red/white pieces are the DigiQ Chicane Mania track set I mentioned. The are not walls and the cars will drive over them.

Hey for building a city we had thought about printing out pictures of skyscrapers from the 'net and glueing them to tall skinny milk cartons. (keepin' it cheap ;) )

:eek: Killboy thats GENIOUS!! You could make all kinds of buildings that way!!

AWESOME!

our Bit Char G track
 

I thought this would be a good place to post some more pictures of our track. The track features working lights, a lap timing system, traction control in the corners and it folds in half for tansportation. It will be on display at the Canadian Hobby Show in Toronto on November 7-10th

more pics
 

here's a couple Bit Char Gs in for repair...

more pics
 

Digi-Qs on the road ...

more pics
 

front start with lap timer ...

That's a fun track, hadn't thought of lego.:)
I'm working on a folding track at the moment, an 8'x4' that folds to two 4'x2'x4" boxes with carry handles. Will post some pics when it's finished.

Just seen that tinyrc has a lego track, how'd I miss that before?:rolleyes:

OK,

Here is a link to just one of my videos to wet everyone's whistle :D :D. It's in quicktime format.

I'am going to make a thread dedicated to my track soon.

Enjoy

DTM-X4

you may want to right mouse click and do a save as

I'm new to this board, my first post. My boss just told me about these cars and now I'm addicted. I started my track today and have made it so that I can have four different tracks by removing certain sections. I still have a lot of work to do. I have to stripe and paint the track and board along with a few other things. Will post more pice when finished.

Road circuit

Speed Circuit

Reefer, looks good, what's it made of?

So far so good. I think the track is looking ok. The track is made of two layers on pressed hardwood from Lowes. It's the stuff like you would use on top of a work bench. Also it's the same stuff peg board is made of. The bottom is a 4' x 8' sheet. There is another layer on top the I Rotoziped the track into and glued it down to the bottom piece. I still have some more painting to do. Like I mentioned in my first post, one of the cool things is that there are removeable pieces giveing me 4 track variations. Here is another pic.

my track
 

I just found this site and thought I'd share my track building experience. First, a short story. When I was a kid, I had one of those slotless race tracks and my friends and I raced for hours. Then came Atari and it was hard to get new cars or parts, so 6 cars became 4, which became 2, and then one and finally the last pickup shoes were completely shot and that was it. Twenty years passed and then I saw these cool tiny remote control cars at an airport in Japan. It was kind of expensive, but I got one (Yen seem like monopoly money anyway). I now have a zip zap as well. I have a movie of the zip zap racing on my track, but it may be too big for this site.

Track info (everything was bought at home depot). The design is based on distant memories of the slotless set up I used to have. The track is made of 1/8" thick particle board (the kind that is rough on one side and smooth on the other). The rough side gives great traction for the cars - unlike dusty hardwood floors which are great for doing endless donuts. The particle board comes in 2'x4' pieces (I think they were $1.87 ea). These can be easily cut with a coping saw (I had one, but they're about $8). The tricky part was the guard rail. I originally tried to use vinyl tubing (I see others on this site have had success with this). It was easy to bend around the curves and seemed fine, but when I raced the cars, they tended to get stuck to it and not bounce off. I got some plastic window trim that works great (about $2.50 for 8'). It gives a hard flat surface that the cars can slide against without losing much speed. I used 1" machine screws coming up through the bottom of the track as posts for the guard rail. For most of the turns, the trim is flexible enough to just bend around, but for sharper turns, notches can be cut in the back to create more bending. I found a $3 can of grey paint in the paint discard section to make the track look more like a roadway. The lanes are all 8" wide (a little less due to guard rail width). The total cost of materials was about $30. Now that I know how to do it, I could probably make the track (no painting) in one afternoon. Hope this is useful.

That looks like a fun track! I especially like the underpass. Oh, and the Chia Pet is cool too! :) Chia speedway! Now that gives me an idea for grass on a track....

Where do you get this Track Maker program you guys are talking about?

Some of mine - just the begining...

Hey you can't just do that...
 

I need details Beetyii!!!

What are those "gurad-rails and how are they held on for starters... *grin*

What is your surface and how does it drive?...

Etc, etc, etc... :D

Hello D.M. ,

ground : 2000x1200x19 mm MDF (wood)

outside guards : L - profile plastic (ABS) 40x10 mm

inside guards : aquaristic clear tube 8mm and 6mm to put two 8mm ends together

nails 1.2x20mm are holding the inside guards

The paint is normaly used on beton grounds in your house - the grip is very well. You can get this in different colours.

Look here for more details :

http://www.tinyrc.com/forums/showthr...ighlight=track

Hope that i can help you - if not ask...

beetyii:)

My new track
 

This is my new track. The wood is Chalkboard ($10au) the rails are corner molding ($7) and glue ($3). cheap track but it's the best one that I've raced on.
http://www.geocities.com/tastoymuseum/teck4.html

Neat
 

Thanks Beetyii!

Tech-Nik: nice idea... I've been wondering where to get BB paint around here... never occured to me to just look for pre-made BB sheets... *smacks his forhead*

plus it's cheaper (and a heck of a lot easier) than spraying paint on in consistant layers as you'd use two cans to get the quality.

what did u think of the corner molding idea?

I likey...
 

I dig the mouldings... I have some of that (the tall stuff) left over from remodelling the kitchen.

Think I may be using that kitchen moulding for the exterior "walls" and something like Beetyii has used for the interior.

Pre-drill some different layouts into the BB panel and use "pegs" instead of nails for quick disassembly (on the interior tubes AND the exterior walls...

Shaping up to be a fine track... in my head... *smirk*

Still want to work on a quick to assmeble/disassemble "elevated track" area, that is still stable, to add extra racing room with out having to add on to the garage... :D