[Bootylactin]

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