track materials and surface materials
 

let me know what works best as far as layout and surface type thanks guys give me some ideas. lata

well...semi-smooth plywood is good, and so is hard sound insulation board type things... anything with a little bit of texture. Things like glass, varnished wood, lanoleum ect are slippery and frusterating.

I'd like to see a whole forum dedicated to this topic, as it's sometimes difficult to find quality information picking through everything else!

We're building a modular track at work, from a 4' x 8' sheet of either plywood, medium density fiberboard, or something else (we haven't decided yet). I've tested small tracks on plywood, and it definitely works (as Cowfish stated above).

We bought blackboard paint for the track itself, but we haven't tried it out yet. This paint basically turns any surface into a 'chalk board'. I've read elsewhere that the texture created by the paint is nice and grippy for good control while racing. We're going to paint the areas outside the track green, and perhaps use foam rubber to create a grass effect (the type used on model railroads, etc.)

The track will consist of eight 2' x 2' modules, which will allow us to mix and match to create different tracks. It also allows us to create additions in the future (an over/under pass is slated for construction after we get the basic track done). Here are some pictures of the proposed initial design of the modules. They are fitted together to form some possible track combinations.


Now to the real issue.....what to use for guard rails?

Right now, we're using rope taped to the carpet on the temporary track we have set up at work. This works OK, but the cars will ride up the tape and jump out of the track on occasion. We stop the races for this, and it happens more frequently then we'd like.

Our criteria for a good guard rail material:
1) It should keeps the cars "in play" at all times
2) It should be bendable to create smooth curves
3) It should be smooth enough to allow the cars to rebound back to the track without getting stuck (more on that under "foam rubber" below).
4) It should not be such that "riding the rails" becomes an effective race tactic, the skill of the driver should prevail.
5) We'd like to be able to paint it up (in red and white stripes, for example), so it's asthetic quality is important.
6) It could be removable (not absolutely a must, but it would be nice for storage purposes.

What we've tried:
Rope and Tape -
Doesn't keep the cars in play all the time, and not easily painted to be sure. Doesn't look all that professional.

Foam rubber weather stripping -
I picked some of this up at Home Depot, and I thought we had a winner. The color was white, and I was able to paint red stripes on without too much trouble. The problem is, it's too grippy. Any contact with the rail, apart from the smallest angles (we're talking less than 5 degrees here) stopped the cars cold. The corner of the car would catch, and it would rebound backwards, usually causing the car to angle into the wall even harder. While I was OK with this, my co-workers wanted a more 'forgiving' rail that wouldn't require near perfect track driving. In an attempt to salvage what I thought was a good thing, I ran clear Scotch tape along the railing to create a smoother surface. It worked, but the tape just doesn't stick over time. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Stuff we're experimenting with now:
Cardboard -
Yep, good old cardboard from boxes. Though it bends, you can't generate perfectly smooth curves. However it does seem to have the right smoothness characteristics as described above in points 3 and 4.

Thinly cut birch wood -
I saw some of this stuff at Michael's craft and hobby supply. I believe it's used for model airplanes? Anyway, the super thin stuff is .4mm thick, and bends quite well. Only dilemma is how to attach it to the board? One idea was to rout out a groove for each rail in the board itself (maybe a bit TOO much work for what we're trying to accomplish?). Another was to use small wooden blocks at evenly spaced intervals, glued or nailed to the track, then glueing or nailing the birch rail to these. Neither have been attempted yet. I'll keep you up to date when we get to that point.

Another idea was to use one of the two above for the guard rails, THEN add low cut strips of foam rubber (painted in the stripe pattern) around the insides of the walls. This would create a "warning track" inside each rail. The rubber would be short enough to allow the bits to drive up over it without getting stuck, but the uneven surface would cause a slowdown before they hit the wall. This might cause an effect similar to the plastic stuff produced by Tomy themselves. (I've not used it personally, but it looks like the bits could go over it with enough speed)

Stuff we've seen other people use:
Styrofoam -
Quite a few tracks I've seen online use styrofoam. I'm not sure it would look so great when trying to paint the striping - and alot of them just cut the track shape out of a sheet. All the non-track areas are just solid styrofoam, not guard rails per se. We're not particularly fond of this look, so we're going to avoid it.

Wood siding -
Good and sturdy, but unable to bend, which disqualifies it for us.

I'm hoping this message will generate ideas from others.....stuff we haven't even considered. All the information I've collected makes me think it would be nice to access this from one source. I may throw a web page together that compiles all this info. If you have ideas, please reply to this thread or perhaps send me a personal email. When we do get around to building our track, we're going to document it with a digital camera. I'll post a step by step guide with pics when we're through. I would encourage other track builders to do the same with their projects, if they have the means available. That way we can all learn from each other.

If you'd like to send your tips/ideas to me personally, my addy is jon at digitdevelopment dot com.

Jon

Wow, very well thought out, but I have to disagree with you on one point.

"Only dilemma is how to attach it to the board? One idea was to rout out a groove for each rail in the board itself (maybe a bit TOO much work for what we're trying to accomplish?). "

This is the exact same idea that I had for my track. I saw on TV they sell a hand held router. Just like a dremel. You could do 20 tracks in an hour. These things are so awesome, cause they're so fast. You could do a bunch of track designs, and then just switch the guard rails...

Other than that, it all sounds good.. In closing I must insist that the router idea must go back on your drawing board, at least until you look into this little dremel router.. Don't dismiss such a fantastic idea so fast...

I also think there should be a designated place for these posts. Good idea. Keep em coming.

silla

In our first real attempt at a track, TheFanMan and i did this: we used sound isolation board (2x 2-4' sheets) that can be cut pretty easly. we then used 1/32" plywood strips about 1 1/2" tall and, using a ruler, pocket knife, bottle opener (haha..be quiet) we set them into the track about 1/4th inch. See a pic here:

http://www.kassatsu.com/Enduro3.htm

Payaso wrote:

Wow, very well thought out, but I have to disagree with you on one point.

"Only dilemma is how to attach it to the board? One idea was to rout out a groove for each rail in the board itself (maybe a bit TOO much work for what we're trying to accomplish?). "

This is the exact same idea that I had for my track. I saw on TV they sell a hand held router. Just like a dremel. You could do 20 tracks in an hour. These things are so awesome, cause they're so fast. You could do a bunch of track designs, and then just switch the guard rails...


Actually, the other individual--who's working the hardest on this with me--has a router attachment for his dremel tool. I didn't think it would be practical, but I've never actually seen it in action. If it's as good as you say it is, that may in fact be the answer.

What does everyone think about using low-cut foam rubber (with painted striping, mentioned in my previous post) just inside each wall? Overkill? Or should we just paint the wall itself red and white?

Jon

Actually, there IS a 'Tracks' Forum specifically for this type of discussion (towards the bottom of the Forums listing)...I'm going to move this thread there. Please continue this discussion in the new location.

Thanks.

My apologies to the folks at TinyRC. Admittedly, being only a Bit Char-G user, I had never scrolled down far enough to see it!

I'm wondering if others are doing the same, as it doesn't seem to get much traffic down here?

Jon

This Tracks Forum is brand new, so it's going to take time for folks to get acquainted with it

STOP THE PRESS!!!!

You want an ideal grippy track surface??
How many of you live near a yachting chandlers??
If so go in there and ask for the additive that they use to paint deck surfaces. This is very small grains of polycarbonate which, when added to a suitable paint, will make an extremely grippy surface.
Warning though using this material will start to eat into your tires if you are really harsh with your charg. Just like real racing though.:D

i tell ya what i think would make a fantastic surface would be dense particle board (not plywood). It is dense and has a good realistic texture. And its better for routing or drilling then plywood it is a lot more dense. Has anyone tried this yet? I dont agree with the idea of the grip paint because you want to have some challenge having a track with total grip would not be as challenging. I might be new to micros but i used to race indoor onroad and monster trucks so i do know about track design. I am not sure on paint. Something semi gloss but its gotta hold up to abuse. the sides I have a neat changable idea but i will wait and try it first. I am not worried about landscaping my track all that matters to me is being able to change layout and the surface and side rails. keep the ideas coming guys lata.

track idea's
 

I think the routering of a small groove then tapping a thin piece of plastic into it would work, this doesn't make it easy to change the layout but if you plan it out you could have several different layouts.

(oh something just popped into my head)
If you bought a sheet of thin steel the same size as a sheet of plywood (4'x8' it's not really expensive) you could then get strips of plastic to use as the guard rails and use magnets attached to the strips to hold them to your painted sheet of steel. You might have to double side the plastic guard rails to hide the magnets but only on the inner parts of the track.This of course would allow complete freedom in track configurations and only take minutes to change.
The magnets could get expensive but then again I have seen small lots of them for sale on ebay cheap.

As far as traction any paint supply store will sell additive that you mix right into paint to add traction to a surface and you could even have some area's with higher traction and some that have very little just to make it interesting.

Magnets, very interesting idea!

Do those digital lap counters work? lt me know peace.

From what I've read......yes they work, but ONLY for one car at a time.

Sitting here on my couch i just discovered a pretty good surface - my couch - the fabric on it is MicroFiber which kinda looks like suede - its super grippy - the BCG seems to work pretty well on it - not sure how you'd make a track surface out of it but just putting in my 2 cents...
/mcm

Like i said my goal is not to make a track where there is no danger of slipping thats whats fun and challenging about racing. Finding that perfect setup. I think i am going with a particle board setup. I have not decided about the paint yet. Has anyone tried bigger rc tire compound yet? I have a bottle of it and might give it a shot one of these days. lata

Hello all. I'd like to join in this discussion if ya don't mind. ;)

I'm in the process of building an elaborate, elevated, 8x12' track on the cheap.

I'm getting 4 SOLID (box-steel framed) tables from where I work for free. (scrapped/replaced with upgraded manufacturing equipment) They are designed to seat 4x6' sections of 1 inch thick planks flush.

In my search for a surface, I also have decided on fiber board. It can be picked up at Lowe's here for $11 per 4x8 sheet at 5/8" thickness.

For my "Town" section, which will consume about 1/3 of the table, I will be using green/brown felt as grass/yards. There will be no barriers so one can drive off the streets and through the yards with a speed penalty if they so desire. (can you say fuzzy axels?) The slow-down caused by the felt will encourage drivers to stay on the streets I think. I have picked up some trees at a hobby store for $5, and a set of 3 pre-painted ceramic houses which include 17 decorative pieces (people, signs, wells) from Wal-Mart in the seasonal section for $17. They are internally lighted and intended to be used as a Thanksgiving town scene, so I'm going with an "Autumn" look. (browns)

The streets of the Town section will be lit by street lights - I am using string Christmas lights mounted on floral arrangement sticks. (Green sticks with stiff wiring around the top to arrange flowers - sold in bulk for next to nothing) I also found a couple of LED mini traffic lights on posts in the Seasonal section of Wal-Mart for $4. They even cycle in synch. (one green, the other red, vice versa with yellow in between)

My "Racetrack" section will feature a Dragstrip all the way down the side of the table, which will have removable walls so it can be used as a connector for the town and race sections. A large, high-speed square will go around the outer edge of the Race section, with banked turns. (poster board) Infield of this "Super Speedway" will be a large road course with removable walls so it can be connected to the Super Speedway, which can be connected to the Drag Strip, which can be connected to the Town. :D

I am using black "Tube Lights" for the track sidewalls on the infield. These tubes have lights inside them that light up orange for halloween purposes, but the tubes appear opaque black when turned off. They come with brackets for clamping them to flat surfaces, and they are $8 for 18 feet.

I will also cut small rectangles from the grid of an old Lite-Brite and fill all the holes with X-mas lights to create 4 "Stadium Light" clusters around the sides of the Super Speedway.

All this lighting, along with the Tube Lights should allow us to run "Night Races" using only the lighting of the table and the cars.

Finally I plan to create a street of moving traffic on one of the longer Town streets by using fishing string to pull matchbox cars down the road along a loop that will go underneath the table, and be powered by a simple, low-speed project motor. The concept is hard to explain, but basically there will be 2 holes in the surface, and the string will carry the cars up through the first hole, drag them down the street, then they will fall down through the second hole to be carried across underneath the table and repeat. I plan to have 2 lanes of traffic, one slightly faster than the other so the traffic pattern will vary. Small, shallow grooves for the fishing string to travel in should keep from upsetting the racers.

This traffic will create 3 types of driving hazards. Crossing their street will take timing. Driving with traffic, and driving against traffic (wrong way) should be interesing as well.

I may look into the chalkboard paint for the surface, or I may try black primer. (good coverage, cheap) Also picked up a 4 inch wide, 35 inch long strip of "Brick Road" material, which is sort of rubbery, for $5. I plan to use it in some of the alleys in the Town section. There will be slick sections and rough sections to hopefully equalize all types of car setups. Maybe a jump or 2 also.

So there are some ideas to play with I guess. I still have many known and unknown obstacles to encounter, but you guys have helped me out with several snags, so I wanted to give something back ;)

hey its all in what you want. I am going for racing action not scale modeling but thats cool too. I just want to build a track that i can change layout anyway i want. Fiberboard i am not sure what that is or what we call it around these parts.;)lol My design uses a sheet of particle board. I dont think i am gonna do a four by eight but rather a three by six i dont have a huge room to use and i want to keep it compact i mean our cars are small.;)lol Well i gotta run peace all good ideas.lata

WOW
 

Wow killboy, Talk about giving something back. I can't wait to see some pics or maybe even a movie. It sounds like this isn't your first rodeo....LOL

silla

Thnx payaso. Photography and Videography are a couple of my other hobbies, along with video editing, (see website) so I hope to have some jammin Bit Char-G video put to music one day in the near future.

I also have a color spy-cam that I intend to mount on a Bit do a full lap on-board chasing another bit. :D (it'll be a while)

Had a couple more ideas for track surface material.

Asphault Sealant - Cheap; Good coverage; tacky/sticky; a bit hard to work with.

Fabric - Use the canvas type, like work uniforms are made out of. I tested my bit out on a large spread of this type of material and it was perfect. I'm going to cover the surface of our track with black or grey.

For those keeping score, others have also listed:
Chalk Board Paint
Black Primer
Styrofoam
Fiber Board (raw)

Looking good, booster. Just a suggestion, but you might look into covering the cork with felt. There is a place in town here that sells it in all sorts of colors at 7 sheets for a dollar. Each sheet is 12x18". You may not need barriers then, as the felt slows the cars down so if anyone drives across them they will be penalized.

another idea
 

I was just thinking about track details and remembered that some of those old (I havnt seen the new ones) print shop type programs have craft projects that allow you to make various buildings and stuff that could be scaled to almost any size and printed with an endless variety of details.

paper buildings = cheap + custom + safe for the bits and it might be cool to watch a bit crash into/through a building.

just a simple thought from a simple mind.

Along those same lines, slugbugg, I had considered making a city of tall buildings using tall skinny milk cartons and print outs of pictures of skyscrapers glued to the sides of them.

I ended up using ceramic houses. :D I may still one day to a city...

I'm using rubberized undercoating. I sprayed it out last night and it was dry this morning. It's got a pavement type look and is quite tacky. It doesn't lump up very much either. I'll try to get a close up pic when I'm finished.

Is that the stuff that goes up under fenders on cars? (full size cars, not RC cars, toy cars, model cars, or transformers (toy transformers, not electrical transformers))

Ok I'm going to bed now.

Yes. It doesn't build up like the stuff they use from the factory though. it only layed out about .5 - 1mm compared to factory car oem that's like 1/8" I bought it at meijers but walmart or any store like that should carry it.

I just got a sheet of 4x8 5/8 particle board at my local lowes today painted it with chalk board paint. Took two cans I didnt get a chance to try it out yet it looks nice real nice pavement like texture i cant wait to give it a shot. next i am working on barriers and walls. I will take pics of my track as i progress peace.;)

Hmmm, Im making my track out of Carboard, and painting it. I sprayed black epoxy and then will cover it with paper if its too sticky, or leave as is. Its still drying, but I think it shall be nice and smooth. :D I also have a sweet ramp.

I'm building a track in my basement for Mini Rc's you should go get some Masonite then lay some carpet Ozite or something simular over top

track building link

the chalk board paint works great almost too great.;)lol I gotta get a tire set use harder tires up front. I turn and almost roll the bad boy over. Then again i was using a 2.6. I think the front tires being medium have too much bite on the surface i have i will get a tire set and try the harder compound tires. peace.

I had a few ideas of materials, but havent had te time or space to try them yet. Have you guys had any luck with these.

Truck bed liner paint.
It seems to have a nice texture, but i'm not sure about whether the traction is low enough. Its nice to not have to aggressively bank corners, not have the car flip over and of my desk :)

plexiglas
if cleaned with rubbing alcohol every week or so (to keep our natural pils off the track as well as dust) I'd think plexiglas would make a neat material. Even cooler would be a multi-level figure 8, so you could see the guys racing under you as well :D

I might try the plexiglas if I can find the time and space, apartments are not a good place to take powertools into, trust me on this. Madness from the neighbors is a bad way to end the day.


laters!

I am telling you guys those puzzlemats are great. The mat company isn't paying me to say that.:rolleyes: I use the underside of the gray colored ones. They are lint free, quiet, looks like asphalt and give a good balance of traction and they are portable.

my track:

http://groups.msn.com/TheAdmiralsLai...y.msnw?Page=21

Check page 22 too.

the mats:

www.ourmats.com

How did you glue your rail posts down? Has anyone seed this: http://www.constplay.com/family/prod...AKHVN3Q08R98G5 . It looks like the right size (probably 10" lanes).

for all you guys looking for a good track surface, try Flat spray paint, gives the track good grip plus there is enuff give to get some drift goin. I used flat grey for mine worked great.

I posted my track in another forum, not knowing this was here. ill copy it over shortly with the pic

my first track, laid out on 4x4 pegboard material. flat spray paint for the track, panel board molding for the 2 curve barriers, microsizer track parts scattered about.

That tract looks great! How wide are your lanes, and what size motor is best to manage the lanes and curves? Good work!

I just started making a track but have a room issue so i came up with the idea to make it out of 1' by 1' sqaure MDF board i have the lane start in the center of a side and end in the center of another side. im gonna make many of these some with 90 degree turns some with straites some with a winding motion but with all of them ending in the middle of any side it make it so i cant put the squares together in any order and the track can be ever changing. With this i will be able to make u turns or s turns really anything i want and i can stack them and put them in a closet wince they are only 1x1

Thanks Rogue,

track widths are on avg 8 inches, they go into to 6 and 5 in some spots, 1.0's work great a 2.6 with good turning and a driver with some handling skills can manage the track no problem.

next track will be a rally type, mild offroad, dont wanna break my cars ;) already looing at some of the tracks in the forums and gathering ideas.