Another Paint Session

But this time I filmed it. I'm going to put it up on YouTube in a few days. I just need to do a little editorial first. 

I painted all the new track I got, which was the Overpass as well as 10 straights. Pretty straightforward paint job, even though I ended up using some old tape that gave me problems coming off the rails. But otherwise it was good. Two coats and dried overnight. Ready to go.

And of course now that I have all those straights I need to do something with them. I still had the old layout up, which I liked, but it wasn't enough. So I started replacing curves with straights where they were supposed to go, and then using the larger radius curves to replace the 1/60's every chance I could get. I ended up using all of the fancy curves but one, and ended up with a VERY FAST race track. I mean, screamin'. And I still had five straight pieces left over. 

While it's really hard to tell from this Pano shot, it's actually a very fast layout with big soft curves, going into two 180° turns. I'm still not using the Overpass the way it's intended, but I'm still trying stuff out with it. It'll be all over in future layouts.

I also have quite a few extra 1/60 curves. I don't need them in the current layout, but I have 6 pieces I'm not using. So it's good to know that I have the length to make whatever I want, and I also have plenty for technical sections. 

There's a 7 piece front stretch and a 9 piece back stretch, and the curves taking it down the extensions are all larger radius, which means you can haul through them. I've gone around and added elevation for banking through all the fast turns, although I kept the big 180° flat. Just about every other turn is banked by a couple degrees. Just enough for a magless car to push its weight into the turn and break out slightly less. I have a feeling there's one car in particular of mine that's going to like this track, and that's the Porsche 962C. It's got everything that car loves to run. Straights and more straights. 

I think I'm not at the point where I can pretty much make any track layout I desire. I have more than enough straights at 29, so I can cover a good distance. Also with the variety of curves I've got a lot of options.

Class Picture 2020.

Race Idea

So I've been thinking as I've been running cars the past few days. Now that I have eight cars, it's getting difficult to get a session long enough to cram all the races in. So I'm thinking of doing longer races, but less cars per session. So, two groups of four cars, or four groups of two cars for endurance races. I've been wanting to do some of those, but they are long and require a lot of time. 

So I might do something like that. Instead of running all the cars in 20 lap heats, I'll run, for example, two cars in 100 lap heats each session. It'll also give me a chance to focus more on each car, in life and here on the blog. Sometimes the slower cars get left behind and don't get a proper chance. Then one race leads to the next and the next, and nothing has improved and it's out of championship contention.

Once I've run a session, I'll take those and put the times together. Once the cars have all run, that's the race. I'm also going to be re-instituting the OFFS score, as I'm going back to full-clock mode. No more stopping the clock on crashes. That made me lazy and careless. There was no longer a chance you'd have to run and replace your car. Now it's back. I'll still keep the 3 lap rule, which is if the car crashes in the first three laps of the race, I can stop it, check or fix the car, and have a do-over. 

The "I'm also going to do" section

I'm also going to do more garage work and new team orders. Cars will be well done over before each race. They will also be given specific setup care for best possible performance.

Crazy when I think back on those simpler times, on the rug, and pulling this car out of the box for the first time. Watching it effortlessly rip around the track compared to my Carreras. Completely falling for this car. My main wheels. It has done more laps than any other car by far. And to think that I now have EIGHT cars, each of which I love just as much as the next. Not a dud in the bunch.

I'm also going to do two races per layout, one inside lane and one outside lane. Both lanes offer unique challenges, so they'd be almost like two different tracks. Almost. If that gets boring or the results aren't interesting, then I'll probably scrub the idea. But we'll see. I'd be curious to see if times were faster on the outside, even though there's no safety barriers or borders.

As it is now I'm able to run drone cars, so I'll be looking for ways to incorporate that into what I'm doing. It's fun racing against drone cars, but I don't see how it would translate into anything but a good time. I haven't done anything like a drone race since the Drone Time Trial test way back in the beginning of 2016. There I just set them up at their fastest drone speed and timed each car. Took the driver out of the equation. Kinda want to do that again to see where we are now.

I'm also going to do a full article on the Overpass. It needs one. It's got potential if it's used correctly. It'll wreck your cars if it isn't. So far I've tried it as is, with one piece between the apex, and now with two pieces between the apex. Each additional straight piece added helps settle down the airborne effect. With two pieces it's pretty much manageable. So it'll make a good overpass, especially if it's got two straights in it. But this is all for another post.

So where does that put me, now that I have amassed so much track now? And eight cars. That's starting to become respectable almost. And I got another controller, so I'm all set in that department.

I'll continue to keep looking for cars, but I might be a bit more random in my future purchases. Track I think I'm good with, unless it's the occasional large radius curve piece. I'll keep an eye out for sales of those, but otherwise I think I'm okay. I have enough 2/30's and 3/30's to have good fun with and make dull sections interesting.

So it's going to likely be cars from this point out. There are a few other things I could use: lap timer/counter, power supply. But otherwise it's going to be about cars. I'll need to start looking at other classes, as I was just on the slot.it website and just about everything they have on offer I own. I'll need to pick up a McLaren M8D. But I'm going to look into more Group C cars to start, then maybe off to another manufacturer. Not that there's anything wrong with Slot.it. There isn't. Great race cars. But there are other brands and manufacturers out there, so maybe I'll try something else in the future. 

I haven't mentioned this, but the new controller is working great connected straight to the Carrera jack. I'm probably going to do the same to the SCP-1 as well.