Well, since nobody wanted to buy my collection, I decided to set up a track. My oldest moved out and got married so I cleaned out his room and took it over. I usually have two 8x4 tables. But due to room size constraints I'm only using one table. I've tried to use as much track as I could and will be fully landscaping this layout. The problem is, I have enough buildings for three 8x4 tables as I usually set up a town like a train layout. But after seeing the wonderful race tracks on this board, I'm leaning toward a race course. Maybe part of it will go through town? It will be hard for me to pick what buildings to use and which to leave out. Anyway I will post more pictures as the layout progresses.
hojoe

Put a fountain in the Y sections -- that might be trick!

Looks like a good start. Don't forget to take progress pics.:)

HOJOE Sweet looking !!!

Definitely keep us posted as things progress!! nd :thumbsup:

HoJoe- Like the layout, reminds me of one that was in the aurora catalogs utilizing bridge tracks. Lots of racing in a small place but not overly jam-packed.
Looking forward to the pics.
Jim

Lots of racing in a small place but not overly jam-packed.

I'll say......how many feet of track is that?

It looks like about 46 1/2 feet of lock and joiner. I'm going to give it some juice and make sure I like driving this layout before make it more permanent.
hojoe

I'm going to give it some juice and make sure I like driving this layout before make it more permanent.
hojoe

Always a good idea :thumbsup: Keep us posted.

Well I spent the whole day bending connections and sanding rails and by mid afternoon I was finally able to run a few laps. Boy did that feel good (it's been a couple of years). I really like this layout. Lots of straights and wide sweeping curves. I only used four 6 in. curves, mostly 9 in. curves and a few 12 and 15 in. at the front end . I've even got some Super Model Motoring curves. I've got the guard rails and buildings pretty much set where I want them. I think I'll paint the guard rails silver. The track is sitting on 1/4 in. wallboard (plasterboard, drywall whatever it's called in your area). I will cut out where the track sits so that it is level with the ground. I'm not sure if I will keep all the guard rails on the track or off set it for more realism (opionions please).
hojoe

. . . I'm not sure if I will keep all the guard rails on the track or off set it for more realism (opionions please).
hojoe

Set-back would be cool -- would give you a little more room to slide out too.:thumbsup:

This is a tough one. Offseting the guard rails was my intent originally on my track project, but I couldn't get it to work. I liked it because it takes away the advantage that the outside lane has when going through the turns. The rail won't be there for them to lean on. Plus, I think it looks more realistic.

BUT......

I had zero luck with the idea. The polyethelene that the Tomy guard rail is made of did not take glue very well. I used several kinds trying to get the rail to stick to the nails I used as posts into the table top. Same problems with paint. The paint started flaking off as soon as I flexed the rails to put them in place. I even prepared the rails with a primer made specifically for plastic before spray painting them and it did not help any. For the sake of my sanity, I had to give up the idea of using the pile of Tomy rail I have and started scratch building retainer walls from flexible styrene.

I hope you have better luck with the idea than I had. Your track is looking good and it would be a nice touch.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:.... I'll second the set-back approach. Matter of fact, if the track will be countersunk into the wallboard, you may even find yourself re-thinking if you need them for certain areas. My own experience was that I ended up not using any. Once you start sliding out on some of the turns you'll see what you can get away with. nd

BTW: Rudy is right about painting them. It takes patience way beyond the norm. LOTS of brands WILL NOT ADHERE. This will be trial and error. OR... also like Rudy suggests, it opens possibilities for using other modeling materials. Sometimes they can look even more realistic too.

Or you could try to find guard rail molded in silver. Or find some LifeLike. It's molded in white, is flat so you can apply decals, and most people are very willing to part with it. I got this pic off of ePay.
http://i1.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/77/63/9347_1_b.JPG
Most lifelike tracks have more guard rails than track, so theres a ton of it out there.

Rich

www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I have the old lock & joiner guard rails, I have the white AFX guard rails and I have a ton of the orange AFX guard rails. If I break off the upright tabs (most of them are broke off already) I can stick the posts directly into the wallboard and with a little white glue they will stay in place. Not sure about painting them. If they are already flexed in the right direction the paint should not flake off.
hojoe

If they are already flexed in the right direction the paint should not flake off.
hojoe

Only up until the time that the first car hits 'em :freak:

Sorry....been there, had to say it.

There was a thread a while back on painting guardrails. DSlot found a way that appeared to work for him -- but it wasn't quite as simple as spraying them silver...

See this thread (http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=220573&highlight=brads).

-- Bill

True dat, WM. Doba's guardrails look way cool.

I countersunk a hole and tapped the guard rail (sans clips) into it. It's so secure that I was able to pick up this small piece of wallboard by holding onto the rail. Now I just need to find the right paint for it. Heck, even if a car hits the rail and leaves the orange showing through I can always add some paint of a different color to look like someone left some paint behind.
I also noticed that my wallboard is 3/8 (not 1/4 like the track), so I'll have to put something under the track to bring it up level with the wallboard. This in turn will deaden the noise of the plastic track.
hojoe

Heck, even if a car hits the rail and leaves the orange showing through I can always add some paint of a different color to look like someone left some paint behind.

oooh.........I like that :thumbsup:

Last night after the TM went to sleep I went into the track room to run sum laps. Flipped on the TV for some background noise and on a local channel was Hot Rod Girl from 1956 starring Frank Gorshen as the troubled teen and Chuck Conners as the young cop just trying to help. Runnin' laps and watching old hot rod movies, it doesn't get any getter than that!
hojoe

I've never come across a thing that sticks to the AFX guard rails. I've tried everything from deglossing agents for preparation of the plastic to special paints recommended by RC car painters. Even gave one to someone who swore he could find a way to make paint stick to it. He couldn't. It's a miracle substance that's impervious to all coatings. If it was molded in white or silver it would be a non issue, but the orange is not very attractive.

tried marhyde?

Try "krylon" from rustolium...I've seen plastic lawn furniture painted with it....it bonds to the plastic...good stuff...

It's Krylon Fusion to be more precise. It does work well on plastic lawn furniture. If Tomy guard rails were made from the same plastic as lawn furniture we'd be set.

Tried this about 5 years ago and had some luck. It worked well enough I think. Pre-soaked and scrubbed the guardrails in dawn and warm water as step one to degrease them. I knew that flexing could present a problem so I made a simple jig out of plywood with holes drilled for the curved pieces to sit in. The rails sitting in drilled out patterns were then sprayed as they would be installed. I used the track pieces as a template. Some were left straight and sprayed as such. These shown were painted in 2002 and have been kicking around different drawers and boxes ever since. Suprisingly, they held up decent despite being shoved and shuffled around for 6 years. They can be bent with minimal cracking, although if you really start yoking on them they will. Ideally you would want to spray them in the configuration that they'll be installed in (just to play it safe). If you are inclined to change the layout frequently you will likely see some cracking, so forewarned is fairwarned. My former layout was permanent, so it was not an issue. The only cracking was on pieces I messed with, but that was touched up and then seemed fine. nd

you have done a great job on your track, love the long straight aways, looks like alot of fun, cant wait to get mine going, good luck shon:thumbsup:

Just a thought, has anyone ever tried dying them? (Guardrails) I have no idea what colors you could get I am sure Joe would know.. ( Hippie tie guy tree-hugger)..lol


Dave

What about Testers oil paint?

Well it's been three months since I've made any progress in my landscaping. But, after not having a track set up for nine years I'm sure you can understand my reluctance to break it all down. I had many cars that I aquired over the years that had never seen a track. Now that I've got that out of my system I'm ready to move on. Below is the palster board all cut out like a jigsaw puzzle. And then the track is added to test fit. I went a little wide on some cuts, but I can fill the gaps with spackling. Now I have to build up my hills.

Looking good!!!! I almost wish I could start over... Depending on the TM's mood at certain times, I just might have to???? :rolleyes: Mood swings are soooo much fun!!! Keep up the great work and keep us posted!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

UtherJoe

HoJoe- Looks great, now that you have the base done, you can race while you landscape. The hardest part is complete. The tough thing now is going to the layout to work on the landscape, then picking up a car for a few turns, then another car and another. Next thing you know, no progress, but fun racing!
Jim

Has anyone tried painting guard rail with colored magic markers? Hot Rod Girl IS a cool flic!

NEXT STEP! I took everything off the table and laid down some thin stadium blankets that I picked up at the flee market last summer. This will deaden the clickety-clack of the lock and joiner track. Then I put everthing back together and built up my hills. The hills are built around wood or rocks any any filler I have handy. I used joint compound to shape my hills. If it cracks or is uneven, it doesn't matter cause real hills aren't perfect. It's really starting to take shape now.
hojoe

Well it's almost a year later and I'm finally starting on my landscaping. I've been having so much fun running on my track that I had a hard time dismantling it. I have painted all my driveways, sidewalks, etc. Either grey for concrete or black for blacktop. All other areas are painted brown and will be covered with green (sawdust?). Whatever that stuff you get at the hobbystore is made out of.
What I need to know, has anybody found a better way of glueing the green stuff on besides using the thin glue that you get at the hobby store?
hojoe
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/DSCF0003.jpg
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/DSCF0002.jpg

Taken straight from the school of nuther Dave, paint the grass areas a light brown, and then sprinkle the ground cover right on the wet paint. I would use the stuff Bachmann sells for ground cover. It's a finely shredded foam, and is available in a few colors. One big jug will cover quite a bit, so if you have a hobby store handy, just buy one big medium green, and maybe a small lighter green for highlights. This way you don't buy too much, and if you need more, it can always be got down the road.

You will still need to spray the white glue/water mix on to keep it all in place, and I would highly recommend getting the woodland scenics spray bottle and the glue. It's hard to find a spray bottle that'll mist correctly with the glue. Once the glue is dry, you can wet and sprinkle more ground cover on if needed, or simply vacuum the remaining loose stuff up and start laying the track back down.

Looking good Joe fcb

Glad to see you back at it HoJo!!! Try some grey primer on those guard rails, it'll dry flat. For a little more sheen, try some Duplicolor, lacquer base silver auto touch up paint, spray can...RM

Well I got all my lights installed. I use regular train lights for exterior and each building has a christmas tree light in it. Next, cover the brown with green and then trees.
hojoe
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/DSCF0005.jpg
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/DSCF0004.jpg

We want track.... We want track.... We want track.. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: nd

Awesome!!!! You are gonna love running on it!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: I like that layout too!!!! :)

Can't wait to see this all done. Lights are looking good.
Jim

hojoe,

I know what you mean by running and not doing landscape. Am getting back to working on my layout also now. Great looking layout man! Love the lights and all the detail you put into this.

Bob...we are in our own little worlds aren't we...zilla

I have a tip I'd like to share, but it's not a tuning tip so I put it here. If you have a bunch of wires under your table here is a good way to support them. I've tried tape but it just doesn't really work. Just staple a twist tie under the table and then wrap your wires in it. Then if you need to replace or work on the wires it can be untwisted and is not permanent.
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/slots/DSCF0007-1.jpg
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/slots/DSCF0008-1.jpg
hojoe

hojoe, nice idea. For something a bit stronger and permanent you can do the same thing with tie wraps and a staple gun.

Ignore this non-post.

tracks looking good!

All my grass is in place. I now have to re-assemble the track and check for continuity as I go. I have all my guardrails primered grey and and ready to be attached.
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/sans.jpg
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/DSCF0002-1.jpg
hojoe

OK, it's all back together and the guardrails are in place. Got both lanes running smooth. Next I'll add my trees and then details, details, details! I have over 500 people, static cars and many planned scenes.
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/rails.jpg
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad203/hojoe_inmo/tracks/trans.jpg
I've got to address that transition between the bright green and dull green. Some lichen will probably do the trick.
hojoe

That is coming to life and looks great hojoe!

Bob.. like the gaurdrails in gray alot...zilla

Looks great hojoe!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: I miss my scenery alot, but I can't do anything until I get caught up on bills.:cry: At least the 1:1 car is back on the road!! I'm trying something different this time. The past few days (and nights) I've been running most of my cars. Hard to believe I had cars in the case with 0 laps on them still. I have most broken in now, tuned and ready to roll. When the scenery goes up, I'll actually have cars to drive on the track that can make a lap!! :lol: