Hey Guys

Just outta Hospital and hit my Track again. I got 2 Questions about marking the lanes.

1. What four colors are tradtionly used. And in what order


2. what is the best way to mark the lanes, Tape would be good, paint not so, what is the easiest


Thanks

Tom

1. Blue, red, white, yellow, outside to inside gutter.
2. best and easiest aren't always the same thing, i'll let the guys who have more experience with that speak up. There are a ton of threads in here already about tape and paint, you might want to try a quick search, probably more than you'll ever want to know. :)

Just be careful of paint build up,it will de-slot or upset t-jets in stock trim.
DRAGjet

There was one thread on painting lanes that was pretty recent. 2 HT members Ligier Runner a.k.a. Pat and bobhch a.k.a. bob-zilla used this method and from the looks of their tracks, I'd say it's pretty darn good!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: I myself don't have painted lanes because my 2 lane layout is too tiny to warrant having any, but if I did I would opt for ocasional flags instead of continuous stripes and just refer to the paint products in this thread. On both Bob's and Pat's layouts the lane markings are very well executed. They both used a paint type marker (not Testors) from Staples. As Marty says there are a ton of threads on this, but here is that particular one.....

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=185452&page=1&pp=15

nuther D.

Bob had great success,check his post!
DRAGjet

I'd suggest looking at several of the track manufacturer's websites(Maxx Track, Brystal, Wizzard, etc) and checkout their lane color coding sequences. I have been racing HO in several different groups(HOPRA, MARA, MASCAR, etc.)since 1981(geez, I am old!!!) and when I started out in the midwest lane color sequence was Red/Blue/White/Yellow from the outside to the inside. I have a 5' by 27' road course here in my home that I built with that color coding. I also have a 4' by 16' Wizz track here that is color-coded Red/White/Blue/Yellow from the oustide to the inside. I have seen several other tracks here in the East that are color-coded that way, too. I have seen a couple of strange tracks over the years with really bizzare lane colors.....imagine if you can, a purple and even a pink lane!!! Remember, you need to either have matching "lane dots" or narrow strips of electrical tape to put on the cars. Oh, I have used the Testor's paint pens in the past and they have worked okay....though the last ones I got at a hobby shop (a competitor of ours) must have been on the shelf a LONG time because they didn't work anywhere near as well as the ones I got from Wal Mart. The Wal Mart ones were a pack of three (Red/White/Black) for $6.00.....The two from the "hobby shop" were over $4.00 each.

Have fun!!!

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
A and H Hobbies
Clemmons, NC

The color sequence shown in the link posted earlier is correct: Red - White - Blue - Yellow from the outside to the inside. The drivers stations should be setup with the Yellow lane on the far left as you face the track, followed by Blue, White, and Red to the right.

These colors are easy to deal with. If you go to Home Depot you can find roles of electrical tape in these colors which give you a lifetime supply of lane markers for your cars.

In my opinion...

Paint markers work best. A 1/8th inch wide line on both sides of the slot is ideal. Too wide of a marking obscures the track for me. The ugliest thing is rail to rail marking. Some folks only paint a stripe on only one side of the slot, which leaves more of the track's natural look intact but makes it harder for marshals. For home use you can get by with a single line or even intermittent marking, maybe even a few dots every couple of feet around the track.

I should mention that the colors and order I listed above are what HOPAC uses up here in the Northwest and other places that follow the same rules....

There really is no correct way to do it, unless you are wanting to host a race within an affiliated group.

When I was deciding on lane colors, I decided to replace Red and White with Orange and Green. I wanted to save the white for a possible outer track stripe, and skipped red because my turn borders would have red on them.

I realized I was breaking away from the standard striping, but figured that even if a seasoned racer were to marshall my track, he would not have a problem trying to figure out which lane to reslot a car.

http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/22114/2244925370099980462S425x425Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2244925370099980462ihxpXS)

http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/20303/2099704470099980462S200x200Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2099704470099980462zQeduq)

When I was deciding on lane colors, I decided to replace Red and White with Orange and Green. I wanted to save the white for a possible outer track stripe, and skipped red because my turn borders would have red on them.
http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/22114/2244925370099980462S425x425Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2244925370099980462ihxpXS)

I'm going with the same colors for my track as well. I don't like the idea of using white for the same reason, I plan on painting the lane colors on the drivers stations as well as the lane numbers so I think red & white would just blend in with the red & white I used for the controller colors.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c394/tycobro/HODriverStationsPicIII.jpg

I have nothing productive to add.

Just trying to raise my post count. LOL ;)

Interesting thread though.

I realized I was breaking away from the standard striping, but figured that even if a seasoned racer were to marshall my track, he would not have a problem trying to figure out which lane to reslot a car.



It's your track, lane markings are lane markings. The intent is to keep it easier for the marshalls to determine what lane is what during the heat (no pun intended) of the competetion. Colors, what does it matter as long as your happy with it and you don't switch lanes on the back end to really screw with the folks. A friend got turned around doing his #2 and #3 lanes on the backside of the track. When he finally brought the paint pen around the last turn to the front straightaway, his color on that #2 lane didn't match. We laughed our arses off, good thing we had consumed some Silver Bullets. Then again, that might have been the cause to start with. :freak:

:devil: rr

Just remember to always bear in mind that you may have some guys who are color blind. You therefore don't want to use any two colors that are anywhere close to each other. The original four colors listed are pretty distinct.
I remember playing Intellivision football where one guy was red, the other black, on the green background. I had a real hard time seeing that red guy, so I always had to be the red guy - at least I knew where I was supposed to be.

Joe

My painted markings turned out well. I used the technique described at hoslotcarracing.com. I think it was easy compared to what I imagine the tape process would be.