I think now that the track is off the floor, it's a lot more fun. It's certainly better on my back and knees. I'm up in the attic racing a lot more than I was before, even if it's just to get a few laps in.
I used to look a pictures of other tracks and think about how much fun it would be to make one. To be able to have the room to put up a table and put a track on it, with scenery and everything. I've wanted something like that since I was a kid racing AFX cars on Saturday mornings. I wanted something that could take your mind off things, be interesting and fun, and be a hobby I could really get into. I mean, c'mon, slot cars!
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I'm at an interesting point right now. I've gotten the track design I like and am pretty much* ready to make permanent, and am now working on track elevation. I started very conservatively at first, going up by only 2" at the highest elevation. It was not satisfactory.
Over a few days the track got progressively higher, finally settling on a 12" max height in the right corner.
*what I mean by "pretty much" is that there's always a possibility that I have some holiday track coming, so I can't be too definite around this time of year. My wife knows that I have only asked for slot car-related stuff this year, and had a pretty specific list at her request. On it was track. Good track. Wider radius turns. Cars too.
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| The right side of the track is coming out like I thought it would, although the altitude change has little effect on car performance. It's there, but it's more of the on-the-edge type of thing than the climb having an effect on the car itself. The track is currently being held up by empty cookie boxes, by the way. They work great as a temporary support. |
Once I have a final decision on track height, I'll take measurements and cut 1.3's for support of the roadbed that I'm going to cut. The track will be attached to the roadbed, which is attached to the supports, which is attached to the table.
After that, I'll be running screen from the track edge down to the table to add depth to the track. I'll cover the screen with a thin layer of plaster, then treat the plaster with various design elements.
In the shot above the area the track engulfs will be a valley, with the track running high along the cliffside. The valley will have a house or two and a farm, a road maybe. Cows.
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| My version of the Mulsanne Straight. I couldn't resist. Once I knew I wanted to get some of the track in the air, I knew I wanted the drop to be on the main straight. Since I've set it up it's proved to be much more challenging than a flat-level straight. So many potential panic braking points. It's a 12" drop in a space of about five feet, and doesn't start until you're almost halfway down the straight. It makes it really difficult to determine where acceleration ends and braking begins. And it looks awesome. I strongly recommend considering some height if you ever come up with a permanent track design. |
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| The layout as it stands now. I want to change that left section off the back straight all the way to the 180º turn. My hopes are to add to the straight, put in a more progressive curve, ending at the front with an ever-tightening turn. But that'll only happen if this extra track comes through. If not, I'll go with what I have. |
My wife and I don't spend much on ourselves, and prefer to wait until birthdays and holidays to do that sort of stuff. I've been racing slot cars since I was a kid, and I was always used to waiting for that to happen, so doing it now is just part of the fun. Sure, I could go out and spend 100 bucks a week on cars and not have to worry about anything, but I don't think it would be as fun.
I remember my favorite AFX car, a Chaparral. The wing had long been lost, but it was still bad ass. Hardly ever lost a race. It was one of those cars that my brother hated, because it was always better than what he brought to the table.
These cars today are like those when I was a kid. I love 'em and hate 'em, have favorites that change every week, treat some better than others [I'm not telling which ones]. But I knew every little thing about them. Keeping yourself to a limited car collection allows you to really get all your cars kicking ass.
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| If this blog ever became popular, like to the point where hundreds of people would look at it [and not the 6 that have as of this writing], imagine what a great free advertisement it is for Slot.it. Am I a whore? A shill? A fanboy? I don't know. You'd probably call me one anyway. |
But there's always the possibility that another car [or two] are going to turn up under the festivus pole this year. She asked for a list, and on that list were almost a dozen cars. Yes, they were all Slot.it cars, but that's only because that's what I want right now. Yes, I want and NSR car and a Racer, but not until I've gotten a mediocre Slot.it car. And I just don't see that happening.
On this list is a bunch of Group C cars, as well as one or two Classics that I want. I found all the cars for between 32-40 euro each. That's pretty dang good and hard to pass up. The various Miller, Jagermeister, Warsteiner, Layton House, Wynns, etc cars were all on there. I'm looking forward to the challenge of a slightly different car and motor setup. Hopefully my wife will remember the motto "cars always need to come in pairs." If she remembers this, we're good to go. If not, I'll have a Group C car mixed in with the others. That's cool.
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| I can't believe that mirror has lasted over two years. |
I have my mind pretty much set on the theme and time of my track. I want it to cover Le Mans in 1966-70. I want to have a few features of the track [Mulsanne Straight, original
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| I've been watching lots of vintage racing on YouTube and Jacky Ickx' name keeps coming up. Prolific dude. This car is still rocking the original rubbers, which I hope to replace soon. |
So there you have it. Overall, I'm happy where I'm at with the track. It's almost ready for the next step, which will begin soon. Holidays are bringing excitement, so we'll see how that works out.
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