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| Doesn't seem like much, but it really makes a difference and will allow me to vary my curve radii. |
I also added a 45º winglet to put that extension to better use. At 2'x4', it's not much, although it's about as far as I think I'm going to go. Each corner is 6' deep now, and mostly not easily reachable. I probably could have gotten away with 4'x4', but my plan is to put a bit larger or a radius curve there, so I don't want to get into a situation where I have to use three 1/60 curves in a giant U-turn [like it is now]. I hope to put no more than two 1/60 curves together in any place on the track.
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| A Tale Of Two Turns: On the left, a big, fast section getting more technical as it goes due to tightening turn radius. The larger radius turn allows for more speed out of the back straight, and staggering the radii allows for more interesting turn sections and a much better flow. On the right, all done with 1/60 curves. While a tighter turn can be more challenging, that isn't so much the case when the radius of every turn on the track is the same. Once you find the breakout point on a tight curve, it just becomes a matter of not going over that speed. There's not much strategy to that, and it becomes more a race of who can get just the right amount of trigger in the straight away. |
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| The elevation will change midway through the back straight and be at table-level before it gets to the big turn at the base of the extension, which means it'll be going downhill. That section will also be a more gradual turn cut into the hillside, which should help prevent flying cars. |
It's less than a month until the winter holidays are here, and I've got some things on my list, notably larger radius curves. If those show up, I'll get to the next step, which will be the semi-permanent track design. I'm going to spend some time with this setup for awhile, taking mental notes on which sections I like, where the car comes off, potential trouble spots, etc. There will likely be minor changes, but most things are going to remain where they are. After I've settled, I'll start adding elevation. Then once that's done, we'll start the scenery.
Scenery
My plan is pretty open, but there are things I do want. I want a forest section, but not the whole thing forested. I want cliffside racing, so I'll have to work on that as well. A large aspect to the scenery design will be the mountain in either corner, so the track will need to integrate into it. To protect against cars flying off the end of the back straight, I want to rest that curve against a cliff, with an elevated section in the corner behind it. Since that part of the track won't be very reachable, I'd like to be able to prevent the cars from going that far into the corner. I think my solution will do that. That's going to also provide me with one of the best areas for scenery. I'd like there to be farmland scenery. In fact, I want farmland and forests to be heavy in the theme.
I'd like to have border space throughout the track, with billboard guard walls and rails off in the grass away from the edge of the track. I want the back straight to cut through a hillside as well as go down it, and I want the drop to be impressive, much like the way the Mulsanne Straight used to be. It might require me to raise the high-elevation.
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| While not the final layout design, this section will start to climb right after the esses on the bottom-left. This might be one section where I keep the turns tight so I can save space on the climb. If it cuts back on itself, I can make a nice valley in the middle of it. By the time it gets to the back corner, it should be close to a foot higher than the foreground. It will also be cut into a hillside at the curve and slightly banked to help avoid flying cars. This is also where the largest part of the forest section will be. I'd like to line the right side against the roof with houses and maybe a small village. |
Overall I certainly can't complain about the length. I'm using every piece of track I have save one straight. Replacing 1/60 curves with the larger radius curves will change the design a bit, but otherwise make the track faster. I'm also considering pushing back the infield a bit so it isn't right against the edge of the table in front. It'll give me more possibilities, and the wiring won't be an issue.
I'm planning on wiring the main power straight into the table, then adding controller connectors on the side of it. This will allow me to change controllers easier, and get a little distance from the power straight. I kind of don't want the power straight to determine where the start/finish line is, so I may end up painting that away at some point and making one when I decide where the start will be. I'm not even sure how detailed I'm going to get about the raciness of it all. While it's a race track, the theme has more of an integrated countryside feel to it.
Current Layout
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| Runs counter-clockwise. The left side will change significantly, with the back straight being longer, the turn more gentle, and more of the table being used. The right side will probably have a few changes to the curve on the extension, but we'll have to see just what I have in the way of track pieces. |
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