Folly Corner

I was after a feature for the carousel turn and found what I wanted on a wargaming site.  It's a 25mm scale keep (i.e. 1:72 scale not the larger 1:32 slot car scale) but with the doors out of view, the keep looks just right as a folly that one might find on a country estate.

It's removable so we can use it for wargaming as well and the banked centre piece still lifts out to give access to underneath the track.  This is the last large piece of scenery on the layout.  Almost finished now...

Turf

I finally thought of a quick and easy way of grassing the space between the inner and outer tracks on the hills.  Rather than sculpting hills to fit in the gaps, I've simply used sections of "grass on a roll" held down by the pieces of track themselves.

Seems quite effective.

Screen Test

Ok, you can blame Stuart for this one.  Disappointed with the lack of verisimilitude caused by having a laptop plonked on top of a hill in the middle of my track, Stuart urged me to find an alternative.  There was no other place to put the laptop where it could still be reached so the only solution was a separate monitor!

Yes, it was a hell of a job getting under the table to fix a shelf in the alcove between the two chimneys.  The ghostly glow behind the curtain is the laptop which still controls everything but the race can be started, paused etc from buttons on the table.  I've installed some software on the laptop so I can quickly switch between displaying the race pane on the new screen...

...or switching back to a nice slot car picture when I'm making changes to drivers and cars before the next race...

Flanking the new screen are the Scalextric Go Kart Ladies and Gents Champion cups that Louise and I won on Andy's old track many moons ago.  And I've already ordered a feature for the hill which used to host the laptop.  It's coming from the US so will be a few weeks before I reveal it...

Safety Marshals

A chap on eBay was selling old Scalextric spectator figures that he had modified to carry flags as safety marshals.  I bought half a dozen and they looked pretty good.  I smartened up the painting and rebased them to match the grass, and they're now ready to be placed around the track.

This is my last day before returning to work after two wonderful weeks off so expect the frequency of blog postings to return to usual!

More figures

Some more figures for the track.  TV cameraman and commentator on top of a camera tower from Slot Track Scenics:

Camera crew and presenter interview a driver (you can see from the styles that these are figures sculpted in the sixties):

A hotdog vendor and programme seller (not getting much business from the Chinese figures whose lack of eyes mean they don't even know they're there...):

And lastly, a vintage Scalextric item which I've restored - the race starter on his rostrum.  Pulling the cord underneath the rostrum makes the starter wave his right arm holding the flag.

Detection perfected

I've had a lot of trouble with setting up infra-red detectors to act as lap timers when the beam gets broken by the cars.  The components from Maplin never seemed very reliable and having a large IR source above the track didn't look right at all.  So I reverted to using the old mechanical detector produced by Scalextric (although still linked to the software for timings).

When Louise's cousin Herman visited a few weeks back, he knew of a much more reliable detector component that acts as its own transmitter and receiver i.e. it sends a beam out and detects when it gets reflected back.  Herman kindly wired up four of these sensors onto a relay card.  They arrived from Malta a few days ago and I linked Herman's card to the interface card I cobbled together from a gamepad.

The sensors are about 20mm deep so as well cutting holes in the track, I had to cut openings in the table to fit them under the track.  All the wiring is out of the way under the table (except a single USB cable to plug into the laptop) so this is all you can see from the track...

...and from above...

I've got two pairs of sensors installed in the track - the first pair are wired up to detect laps as the car passes and the second pair act to refuel the car when the software is in fuel management mode, when you stop your car over the top of them.

This setup is a huge improvement.  Some of my cars have shallow slot guides that didn't always trip the mechanical switch.  And some of the cars were so fast, they could sometimes drive straight through the mechanical switch without triggering it.  I've seen other sensor setups but they usually have a light bridge over the top - sometimes quite subtle, but sometimes (like my first attempt) with halogen lamps burning down on to the track.  These self-contained sensors do away with this, look much neater, and work much better - so many thanks to Herman!

Safety first

A visit to Brooklands at the weekend for another slot car festival although it was the historic motoring and aviation exhibits that justified the journey.  I had some success in the slot car auctions (of which more later) and also managed to find the companion car to the Capri - this is the RS street version driven by a German with classic 70s mullet and big moustache.

In the background, you can just make out some safety fencing from Slot Track Scenics that I've put around the tyres and concrete (actually polystyrene) wall on the first hairpin.  Here's a closer view.

I've also put this fencing on the corner at the bottom of the hill and here, at the end of the start-finish straight.

More hills

Back to the chicken wire and plaster of Paris to make some progress with the scenery.  I just completed this in time for cousin-in-law Stuart's visit today for a Scalextric / PS3 all-day session (highlights of the day: the BMW 2002s and Blackburn Rovers!).  Here are the stages of construction and finally the piece fitted in place with the control tower in the centre.

The ultimate 70s Ford

One of my more traumatic childhood experiences was my Dad trading in a fabulous Ford Capri (the 1600cc GL with dark purple paint and black vinyl roof) for a brown Austin Allegro (or "All Agro" as he later called it).

That Capri was my favourite car when I was growing up (although I won't repeat here my earlier regretable history with the car that some readers will remember - sorry Uncle David!) and I've always had a soft spot for them.  So when I spotted a new Carrera model, I added it to my birthday list and received it from Mum today.

This is the RS 3100 model and with an Essex 3 litre V6 bored out to 3100cc, it was the fastest Ford production car at the time (1973).  The car is in livery of the one raced to victory by Klaus Ludwig at Hockenheim in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) racing series.  It's a fantastically detailed model as you can see from this photograph of the real car, taken at the Essen Motor Show in 2007.  A few sponsors stickers have changed but the paintwork and wheels are perfect.

Now to find one in purple with a black roof...

Keep on truckin'

Fly produced a range of racing trucks a few years ago.  They are very sought after now and change hands for more than the original price on eBay but I managed to find a bargain last week that no-one else seemed to spot.  It's a MAN truck from the 2001 racing series.

It drives well although it has a tendency to deslot and carry on forwards when it reaches corners!  There is lots of detail in the model and particularly inside the cab - not the easiest to photograph, but I've had a go...

A trio of Beemers

Andy bought me three BMW 2002s manufactured by Spirit, a Spanish company who seem to specialise in small ranges of cars in a variety of liveries.  Mine are from the RAC and Olympia Rallies of the early Seventies, and the bright orange of German spirit Jagermeister.  These little cars run quick and are very tail-happy, so lots of fun.

I have control

An upgrade I should have done months ago...  Louise bought me new controllers for my birthday.  The Parma controllers (right) have much more sensitivity and control than the stock Scalextric items (left).