Pictures of the New RCP Worm Rail and Racing Curbs

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

See below for some prototype pictures of our new worm rail barrier portectors and racing curb. We will have available curbs and worm rails for both the 30cm and 50cm 180 deg and 90 deg inside radius turns. The rails are made out of a flexible plastic composite that incorporates some unique features which include a non-marring and very slick surface to help protect the plastic bodies of the dNaNo and Mini-z as well as allow the car to slide off the rail with ease when impacting the rail at less than 90 deg angles. We will offer kits that include both the curb, worm rail protector and any mounting hardware to complete 180 and 90 deg turns. We may offer custom black inside corner rails similar to the ones shown below. I think the black rails show better against the red curbs, since the foam red varies from pink to red depending on our production dyes. Let me know your feedback on this and whether you would like to have the black inside rails included. If you have some rails that are damaged or beat up, the new ones will add to the appearance of the overall track look.

The curbs are designed to add a more scale like appearance to your current RCP Tracks and the worm rails help protect the foam barriers on the inside corners. The curbs have a slight rounded edge to the front surface to allow the dNaNo and Mini-z cars to ride up and over. Riding over the curb will throw the car off just a little, so by not riding over them a small advantage is gained by running on the track surface. The curbs give the tracks a more scale like driving experience and a smoother flow when running more than one car on the track in racing situations.

The same curb and worm rail designs have been incorporated into our new dNaNo carpet and RCP tile track. For the new track we have designed 5 different curbs to be used at inside corners, 45 sweeps, outside grass run offs, inside grass run offs and pit lanes. I am finishing up the pictures of our new track and will post them on this forum sometime this evening or first thing in the morning tomorrow.

Picture below shown with Kyosho dNaNo Enzo



Picture below shown with Kyosho Mini-z Enzo



Picture below shown with Kyosho Mini-z Enzo




Picture below shown with Kyosho dNaNo Enzo

[arch2b]

i love the idea of the rail protectors. i like the idea of reducing car grabs at corners, especially so with f1's. should reduce the potential for rebound crashes as well. do you have any pictures or descriptions as to how they are mounted?

those are certainly tall curbs. this could be deceiving, only looking at pictures. are the attached to the rail or optional? they look great but i practice cutting the corners as close as possible and the rail protectors will play a huge part in this. i've never raced on a track with corner curbs so it's just a new concept i would have to adapt. i am intrigued though

i honestly like the white pins too. i'm still hoping we can at some point get those seperatly as you described, being white allows anyone to die them any desired color.

i just ordered more mini-96 parts kits this weekend and very excited to get them!

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

The pictures are deceiving. The curbs are just a tad over 3/16" in height with a smooth taper at the front edge. They are just tall enough to bounce the car around just a little if you ride over them. Some pictures above are with the Mini-z and the other is of a dNaNo.

You can use the curbs with or without the worm rail protector.

One note I didn't mention in the first thread, the bottom of the worm rail protector sits just below the top surface of the curb, so F1 cars wont get stuck under the rail at the 90 or 180 section. This is one advantage to running both the curbs and worm rails together.

When you are racing with other drivers, keeping the racing line outside of the curbs makes for a better flow with the cars through the turns. When we run PN and Mini-z Cup races, the cars sometimes get stacked up at the inside turns when one car cuts to sharp and everyone piles into it. It's all about keeping the racing "line" outside of the curb area which makes everything run smoother. Of course some drivers will still try and cut the turn and ride over the curb, but there is an advantage to staying just outside the curb and running a smoother line through the turn.

I am working with Philip from PN and we may incorporate curbs and protector worm rails for the track that is being used in the PN Worlds final in Spain. This event will be a great test for the new accessory.

Would you like to see black inside corner rails included with the worm rail and curb kits?

[jdob]

I love the idea of both the worm rails and the racing curbs. The only constructive criticism I would add is: I would like for the worm rails to more closely mate to the side rails without the noticeable gap/space between the two. Maybe the worm rails themselves could be colored red/white stripes like the curbs??? Just an idea...since the majority of them will no doubt be used on corners...And as arch2b mentioned above - the rounded profile of the racing curb looks a little abrupt, especially for a dNaNo. I would like to see a much less abrupt round curb and a more or less slightly angled curb, very slightly angled...

As far as the Black inside corner rails - I can go either way - I kind of like the red because it stands out and says "Here comes the corner - time to turn!"

Can't wait to see the upcoming pics of the grass run off areas and pit lanes! This is getting really GOOD!!!

[arch2b]

i expected the curb pictures were deceiving in terms of accurately gauging height, thanks for the confirmation. in looking back i did not notice the last enzo did not have an antenna like the others do.
can you desribe what the curbs are made of?

your description sounds right about the desire to keep pile ups at the turns thus the slightly enlarged corner line created by the curb. i'd love to try this out as i've never seen these used or driven on a track with them.

nothing better than real race events for product testing

back to the color question, black on red rails would look nice and have less of a visual impact as they would to some degree blend with the track surface, i think. might make gauging a turn a good 20-40 feet away a bit more tricky as well.

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

The worm rail protectors can be installed snug to the rails. I have them shown off the rail as with the mini-z it gives more of a cushion affect with 90 degree impacts. I will take some pictures of the worm rails snug against the foam rails and without the curb for those that are going to run them this way.

We can make the rounded edge as gradual as needed. These are prototype pics of one version. Of course feedback is good before we go into production. So far with the 3/16" height, the dNaNo does very well when riding up and over. I will have some video available shortly that will show the car in slow motion running through, up and over the curbs. You will see how the car reacts.

Again any feedback you guys have is very welcome. I would rather manufacture the first production run with something the majority of people would prefer.

I am working to get some of the prototypes in the hands of Tinyrc and arch2b to test out.

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Originally Posted by arch2b

i expected the curb pictures were deceiving in terms of accurately gauging height, thanks for the confirmation. in looking back i did not notice the last enzo did not have an antenna like the others do.
can you desribe what the curbs are made of?

your description sounds right about the desire to keep pile ups at the turns thus the slightly enlarged corner line created by the curb. i'd love to try this out as i've never seen these used or driven on a track with them.

nothing better than real race events for product testing

back to the color question, black on red rails would look nice and have less of a visual impact as they would to some degree blend with the track surface, i think. might make gauging a turn a good 20-40 feet away a bit more tricky as well.

Yes, the last picture is of the dNaNo Enzo. That makes the height of the curb look taller than it actually is. We can make two different curbs, one for the Mini-z and one for the dNaNo, so the tapered front edge is not so forcefull for the smaller car.

The black inside rails would only be used with the red and white curbs. I wasn't implying changing out all the kits with black inside radius rails. Just to clarify. Since the red color of the rails is a little between pink and red, I thought the red of the curbs clashed with them.

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Originally Posted by jdob

I love the idea of both the worm rails and the racing curbs.
Can't wait to see the upcoming pics of the grass run off areas and pit lanes! This is getting really GOOD!!!

Yes, I am just as excited to post the pics of the new dNaNo track. I think you will be very impressed by all the scale features we incorporated into the design. Everything we show in the upcoming pictures will be included in each kit such as grass to install in the run offs, custom curbs at all turns and worm rails to make any and all types of turns that you can imagine.

[arch2b]

i'm not comfortable with complaining about the racing curbs as it's often difficult to see exactly how cars interact with images. distance from the object, relative height in relation to the object can all distort perceived perspective. video and or close up pictures will be more telling, nothing better than first hand experience though

i do like the them and i think they will do very well in teaching corner lines to my kids who are currently smacking the corner rails often and or getting hung up with high angle rail collisions. they will essentially get a bit of buffer zone as they want to clear the turn close to the curb but still have room in case they cut it too sharp.

i agree the black rails look nice with the curbs and worm rails. thanks for the clarification though, turning into a black rail at some distance (like the pn/atomic tracks) would prove daunting indeed.

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Originally Posted by jdob

I love the idea of both the worm rails and the racing curbs. The only constructive criticism I would add is: I would like for the worm rails to more closely mate to the side rails without the noticeable gap/space between the two. Can't wait to see the upcoming pics of the grass run off areas and pit lanes! This is getting really GOOD!!!

We currently have in stock rail protectors for both the 30cm and 50cm inside turn rails. They come in strips approx 40 inches long and are sold by the set of 5 per box. The protectors are made from a slightly thinner material and have two perforations, so you can run them under and up the back side of the rail to lock them in. Once they are locked into the rail, they will not come loose. To make the rail protector bend around the inside turns, you just need to cut away using scissors, the bottom and back side of the rail protector. This will create a vertical wall around the front of the rail and will allow the protector to lock into the rails at the entrance and exit straight rail. I will take some pictures of the rail protector we currently have in stock. which will give you a better understanding how they lock in and are used at different spots on the track. You can purchase the rail protectors from the Tinyrc shop.

[jdob]

Yeah - I was hoping to see some pics of the rail protectors and how they were attached...I searched, but could not find any...

So the rail protector that is currently stocked is different from the worm rails/racing curbs posted above? What are the major differences between the two?

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Originally Posted by jdob

Yeah - I was hoping to see some pics of the rail protectors and how they were attached...I searched, but could not find any...

So the rail protector that is currently stocked is different from the worm rails/racing curbs posted above? What are the major differences between the two?

I am loading a picture of the rail protectors we currently have in stock now. I also have all the pictures of the new dNaNo track ready to go. I am uploading those pictures to the site in a new thread.

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Here is a picture of the rail protector on a straight rail. The thin plastic protector is perforated on the bottom in two places, so that it bends under the rail and back up the other side. This locks in the protector to the rail. You simply cut holes or slots in the bottom portion with scissors or a razor blade to allow for the PIN to travel through the plastic. The protectors come in lengths approx 40" long.

To install them on a turn, you will center the long piece on the turn and cut out the bottom and back side of the protector only where the curve of the rail exists. You will leave the bottom and back side in place for the entrance and exit straight rail to lock the piece together and tight.

I don't have a set of protectors here in my office right now. I am going to the warehouse on Wednesday and I will take pictures of each step for installing on straights and on turns..

We have distribute the protectors in a box set of 5 strips, 40" long. We currently have plenty in stock and they can be ordered from Tinyrc shop. I need to check to see if the shop listing is correct. I don't recall the price, but I don't think it is much for the set.

[jdob]

Cool! I am getting a feel for installing them now - Thanks!

Can't wait to see the new pictures as soon as they are posted! Awesome!

[RCP-Tracks, Inc]

Originally Posted by jdob

Cool! I am getting a feel for installing them now - Thanks!

Can't wait to see the new pictures as soon as they are posted! Awesome!

Loading pictures now.