Hi everybody,

Her's my home track, a tyco 4ways race track. The track support measure 4 meters x 1.30meter. (I already don't know the track length, I need to trace it on a software).

The layout design is inspired by Riverside racetrack. For now, the track have no scenery, I just made the electric and laptiming part of the job.

Power supply : one tyco wall pack for each lane
controllers (for now) : 2parma eco, 1 tyco and 1 aurora afx controller.
Laptiming : Ultimate Racer 3, and ILS detectors (reed switches). Works really fine with all chassis types.
types of cars I race : tyco 440x2 (formula one serie, stock tires), tomy turbo (LMP-GT-canam serie, stock tires), magnatraction (GT classic and US muscle cars, stock tires and silicon), and tjet (gt and US muscles cars, silicone tires).


I'm also the french webmaster of the (unique ) h0 slot racing forum :

http://hoslotforum.free.fr/


And I'm a modelist too (I don't do it professionaly anymore) :

http://demether.scenics.free.fr/

Now the pics of the track :


First tests and settings, and general view of my slot room :

(on the first photo, we can see my 1/32 3lanes work in progress on left side of the room...in mess because it's not my main track...h0 leads the way )


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0164.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0191-1.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0168.jpg





some pics in action :


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0169.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0192-1.jpg





The track today :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0254.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0253.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0252.jpg




See you on the forum, I'll post my track scenery work in progress soon !


dimitri

Cool :thumbsup:

Do you run it clockwise or counter-clockwise?

That's a great looking layout DM. I haven't raced on Tyco set up in a while, and forgot how much I like the lane spacing on it. This looks like the makings of another great thread. :thumbsup:

Rich
www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars

Nice, I like the layout.

Dimitri
Wow I can't wait for more progress reports. I just checked out your diorama work. If you do anything with that attention for detail with this track it will be incredible.
Mike

Riverside has always been a great layout both to race and also to see real modellers have at it!
I am new at the detail side of the hobby and I am chompin' at the bit to see what you can do with that track!!
Good luck
Mike:woohoo:

Excellent sites and awesome looking track.

Dimitri
Wow I can't wait for more progress reports. I just checked out your diorama work. If you do anything with that attention for detail with this track it will be incredible.
Mike

I couldn't agree more. Anxiously awaiting the landscaping updates. Your diorama work is spot on! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

thank you a lot !

for the scenery, I'll try to approach the real Riverside buildings and structures, but for the natural landscaping, I 'll make it more "green", with trees, grass, etc... because I don't like the desert/waste envrionnement on the real Riverside.


Do you run it clockwise or counter-clockwise?

For now I run anticlockwise, like on the real track. But I placed the laptiming sensors on a slow place (hopefully, quite the same on the real track) where I 'll be able to count turns on each side. I'll have to create a reverse switch.

That's a great looking layout DM. I haven't raced on Tyco set up in a while, and forgot how much I like the lane spacing on it.


I believe It's the same spacing than tomy and aurora afx. h0 stills quite "standard" on measurements I guess. Tyco is interesting here in Europe because it was much better distributed than tomy or aurora tracks. So we can find quite easily some used tracks.

The major issue with tyco is the electric contacts. I restored entirely my track pieces, piece by piece, because last summer I tried to set up my track directly out of the (old) box...big mistake. I had to dismantle everything, and treat each track piece to restore it, and afater that I tested each track piece one by one...Titan's work :drunk:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/PIC_0259.jpg


I'll start the scenery in the next weeks, I 'll post all my work in progress ;)


bye

dimitri

Nice looking layout! Diggin' that long straight!

Very talented scenery artist you are!!!! In complete agreement.. I can't wait to see this one scenic'd up!!! Lots of potential here!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

thank you all for your comments ;)

scenery is my next project, now I've to finish to wire my 1/32track and have a few h0 lexan cars to finish.

First steps on the scenry will start in 1-2weeks I guess.

Dimitri,
Some great looking pix! :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr

Hello,

A little news, I'm actually fixing permanently the track, and making the sliding extentions for the corners. I'll make photos before the end of the week.

So the scenery will start really soon...

bye

adding the track plans :



http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/4v.jpg



track lenght : 12.20meters (42 feet) in the interior lane, 13meters (= more or less 42.65 feet I guess, because your measure system is so complex for us ^^ ) on the exterior lane.

bye ;)

Cool Track !

http://www.world-of-smilies.com/wos_auto/burnrubber0.gif

thank you !

I made some progress on the track :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0514.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0510.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0513.jpg




I fixed it (with screws), painted the wall in blue (to make the same effect used in model railroading for photos), and started to make the track borders with a sort of foam.

Next steps : finish the borders, then paint in black the screws, and verify track joints to avoid the bumpy cars effect.

Very nice track.

Wish I had that kind of space to work with.....some day I guess

The track table is 4 meters long x 1.30 meter...The only problem is the summer and winter temperature....but we can't have everything :thumbsup:

The track table is 4 meters long x 1.30 meter...The only problem is the summer and winter temperature....but we can't have everything :thumbsup:

Dimitri, 13' 1.4" x 4' 3.2" is a nice size for the Riverside layout. You have captured the proportions of the track quit well. :thumbsup:

thank you !

the eraly version of riverside was more accurate with my track, by the way...my track is a sort of "mirrored" riverside.

If I could make the track not along the wall, I could make it more accurate, but here I 'd to make modifications for easier marshalling. :thumbsup:

A little "artistic license" is allowed and usually necessary to use when builing a replica of a real track. You have captured the spirit of the track and that's what counts. Tres bien!

We can see from your videos that the track looks fun to drive. That is really the most important part. :thumbsup:

Hutt :drunk::hat::freak::dude::tongue:

I agree. This is the first track I build where I made a LOT of testing before starting the scenery.

By the way, the scenery will be quite different than the real riverside : I plan to recreate the main buildings, but for the landscape I 'll make a "spring version" of it (more like the nature we can see here in south west atlantic side of France).

Riverside real track is in a desertic aera. I plan to create a natural scenery more green and tempered : grass, bushes, a lot of trees, etc...


Perhaps I'll create a real pitlane building too, as far as I know, Riverside didn't have one.

UP

Today I painted driver stations, and add some marshalling color marking in corners :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0750.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0743.jpg


to do now :

finish the track borders
paint it in black , and the track screws too
fix the wires properly under the track
add lexan walls
start scenery !

I believe It's the same spacing than tomy and aurora afx. h0 stills quite "standard" on measurements I guess. Tyco is interesting here in Europe because it was much better distributed than tomy or aurora tracks. So we can find quite easily some used tracks.

The major issue with tyco is the electric contacts. I restored entirely my track pieces, piece by piece, because last summer I tried to set up my track directly out of the (old) box...big mistake. I had to dismantle everything, and treat each track piece to restore it, and afater that I tested each track piece one by one...Titan's work
dimitri

Dimitri,
The lane spacing on standard two lane Tomy/Aurora track has the lanes closer together, therefore lanes 2 and 3 in a four lane setup are farther apart than lanes 1-2 and 3-4. Lane spacing on Tyco/Mattel and Lifelike is even; all lanes are the same distance apart when making a 4+ lane layout.

Mattel improved the physical and electrical connections while remaining 100% compatible with Tyco. My Mattel track has been up for about 2-3 years and I have not had a single electrical problem. Even with Mattel, I needed to put a little more bend into the ends of the rail (on some pieces) so that the pressure of the rails from one piece to another was increased.

If not for the molded letter and too much flare at the end of the slot, the Mattel track would be really good (as far as inexpensive plastic track goes).

Thanks...Joe

Today, I'll continued my work on the track. I want to start the landscaping, seeing great projects here. So I have to finish "technical" part of the track before I can enjoy the scenery building.


I finished all the track borders, and plastified it with PVA glue (because the metal guide pins scratch the foam I used) :


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1317.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1318.jpg



After drying, I'll have to paint all borders in flat black.


and a little general view of my slotroom (too hot in summer, too cold in winter...but I've got plenty of space, it's the important thing), including my 3ways artin 1/32 track in progress too :


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1321.jpg




To be continued...

Hi,


tonight I installed new laptiming software, to replace windows UR3 with slot race manager 2 on the good old DOS :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1326.jpg


It's more clear and usable for my taste.

THis week end , I'll paint the borders, I think.

bye

Looks very nice! :thumbsup:

I'm very curious about the landscaping. I personally don't have the patience for that ;)

BTW: in the new SRM v2.50 software (coming soon) you can customize the timing screen colors: letters colored, background colored (inverse) or both colored.

the landscaping will be a "europeanization" of Riverside USA : the real track is desertic, so imagine that the track was rebuilt in south west of France. More trees, vegetation, etc...

I'll make other modifications for the playability and protection of my cars (tires walls, concrete walls, etc...).

If you want to see some scenery I 've done (and my old 1/43 track) you can go there :

http://demether.scenics.free.fr/

my old track (destroyed now) :

http://demether.scenics.free.fr/rally.html




I hope my h0 track will be better, because the scale is very adapted to scenery tracks.


bye

edit :

for screen display, I'm happy with that colored text on black background. I changed the colors to match my lanes colors and driver stations, so people can see easily their laps and times :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf0743.jpg

Hi,

here's the next steps of the track building process :

I painted the track borders with acrylic (latex paint you say in USA ? ) black flat color:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1336.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf1337.jpg



pretty cool ! I'm happy to see the track improvements...landscaping time is near !



bye

She's shaping up D!! I can't wait to see how you handle the scenery!! Your modeling skills are incredible, so I'm sure we won't be disappointed with this set up!! :thumbsup:

If I'm not mistaken, Riverside ran the road races clockwise.

I don't think so, but perhaps I'm wrong ;)

http://img20.xooimage.com/files/a/5/4/riversidestandard-4e79b9.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK5TecTzsDQ

BTW , I'll make a switch to go in the two directions.


She's shaping up D!! I can't wait to see how you handle the scenery!! Your modeling skills are incredible, so I'm sure we won't be disappointed with this set up


I hope so ;) thank you!

I came across this layout of Riverside and thought you might be interested in it. I know you don't care for the desert look, but the interior of this layout was well done and definitely has potential. With your modeling expertise I'm sure you could really bring this layout to life reproducing the actual terrain and look of Riverside. Just thought it might help generate some ideas. Anxiously awaiting the start of your landscaping. :)

http://www.farroutslotcars.com/Tracks-Michael-Smalleys-Riverside-Raceway.html

thank you yankee3b, I've already bookmarked this website. Great carrera track !

Well, this afternoon, I found some courage to work on the track. SInce my track is in a non isolated cellar, the best periods for slot racing are marsh-june and september-october.


First issue, my track border lost their paint coat :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3372.jpg

SO I decided to clean all that mess, then I sanded the borders with thick sandpaper. The goal is to achieve a good base for coating with some sort of wall filler/plaster.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3376.jpg


Then, with some stuff I had in my mess, I filled the "holes" between the track pieces, and started to add some elavation on the track.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3379.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3378.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3381.jpg


I also let the track support plain wood, because we have to use as a support (for our hands) for marshalling. SO it will be just painted in black.



To be continued, tommorow ;)

great looking track!hope to see more pics soon!man i can't wait to get my stuff outta storage!

This is great!!! A real life Riverside! :thumbsup:

Thanks !


I finished the elevation :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3383.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3382.jpg


I'm quite happy with the result. Once I'll add trees, fences and other stuff, it will be cool, and I'll be able to make some cool photo spots :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3384.jpg


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3386.jpg


TO be continued ! Next I have to do the borders coating, filling, etc...

nice work!thanks for the update!now if i can just convince my gal to lemme use her workshop....

THis track is quite massive (around 4.50meters x 1.30meters) but if you don't have so much room, the cool thing with h0 scale is that you can build a cool track even on a small door size support : so you can put it under a bed, for example.

i will probably go two lane four by eight feet with all the excess table cut out.like a small L shaped layout.

I just love what you're doing with your Riverside track. It is a wonderful combination of a tribute to a real track (and Riverside is a great one) and what looks like a great layout for endless hours of scale racing. They don't always go together, but yours looks superb. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks !

I made some compromizing with the real track, to make a cool speedway-style racing track. It works marvellous with 440x2 f1, tomy turbo nascar, magna/xtraction, tjets, magnetless cars (tycopro, 440x2 modified, etc...).

it's really cool when you make 4 players races and you're sitting on the 4th slot, just in front of the big turns : when you race close with the other cars, the noise, when the cars go in the turn , it's really fun :thumbsup:


My version of Riverside will be a "spring version" of it. I don't want to make a desert track, so we 'll imagine that Riverside is more green that it really was :p



Here's a pic of my favorite cars : 60's GTs; xtraction chassis with afx racemaster bodies (except the corvette GS : resin kit I painted). I started to make the borders filling/coating.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3392.jpg



bye

demether - very nice :thumbsup:

Are the table and the track level?

I don't understand what you're asking (I'm french) ?


THe track is fixed on the table, without any elevation, if it's what you're asking :thumbsup:


It's the scenery wich will bring the 3d terrain feeling ! ;)


Here's some pics of the week end work in progress. I finished the borders, added some plaster tissu on the big hills, and started to add the coating on inner hills too.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3405.jpg


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3407.jpg


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3401.jpg


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3402.jpg


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3403.jpg




You can see the famous Riverside esses now !


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3406.jpg



to be continued...

I don't understand what you're asking (I'm french) ?


THe track is fixed on the table, without any elevation, if it's what you're asking :thumbsup:


It's the scenery wich will bring the 3d terrain feeling ! ;)




For not understanding, you nailed the answer :thumbsup:

From the photos, I thought that the track was not elevated, and the scenery added depth or 3-D...I just wanted to make sure I was seeing the photos correctly ;)

Thanks :)

I thing h0 cars doesn't like elevation, or to be more specific, they like flat track. Since my used tyco track is not so flat, I prefered to fix it (with screws) without any elevation, to make it the more playable I could. :thumbsup:

The other point is that elevation take more time to be done. Since I can work only on week ends on the track, I choosed the simpliest way, to make the things easier and faster. ;)

Hi,

The last update for the week ! It's too cold here to work more on the track.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3411.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3410.jpg



I also tested a new texture method :

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/dscf3409.jpg



When the coating (sort of plaster) is not dry, I start "smoothing" it with a soft sponge, to remove the coating knife traces. Then, With the green ruff side of the sponge, I dab it on the fresh plaster, to create texture. Since my track will not be entirely grass flocked, the textures effects will be visible on the ground.


Next stage : next week end :thumbsup:

Looking good - that'll be great with dirt & turf on it.