Ultimate Racer

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the crappy Race Management System (RMS) I bought from Scalextric.  This morning I checked out one of the Scalextric forums and found a highly-rated RMS program called Ultimate Racer.  This provides a track editor (again much better than the free Scalextric one I've been using) as well as a fully featured RMS.  My 58'7" (or 17.85m) track looks like this in Ultimate Racer, with arrow indicating the direction of travel:

The software is highly configurable so I've been designing my own race screens - mainly so we can read the key information without having to squint at the screen!  You can also build up a list of drivers and a garage of cars, and it will store all the racing information for posterity.  And of course, you can choose your own sounds for events, so I'll be googling for Murray Walker audio files next...

It can work with a variety of sensors including the hardware that came with Scalextric RMS and has the option of controlling all sorts of other signals through other ports - for example, it can shut off the power if you haven't refueled in time, or will control gantry lights to indicate the start of a race.  These require a fair bit of wiring and a trip to Maplin, but I'd quite like to get a gantry working at some point.

All that, and it's free.

Testing the track

Thought I'd plug in the Scalextric Race Management System software running on the laptop and see what the lap times were looking like.  Most cars coming in around 10 secs with the faster (and more magnetised!) models getting to 9 or below.  Much longer lap times than the original circuit despite only a having a few more pieces of track - just what I wanted as this reflects the increase in the number and challenge of the corners.

Although they are still quite small, the kittens have discovered how to climb the metal loft ladder.  Since they've also mastered finding their own way down again, we've stopped trying to prevent them.  So I had a spectator for my track testing this evening...

Elevating the track

Plenty of cutting today, with mask and goggles to keep the nasty MDF dust at bay.  The track now has MDF supporting all the elevated places, rather than just balancing the track directly onto supports, and I've fitted all the barriers - going with silver on the corners, alternate red and white on the elevated sections, and ditched the original Scalextric ones in the strange orange colour.

I wanted the far back corner higher than the 180 turn in front of it, so that they could eventually be landscaped together into the same hill.  This made the approach from the left rather steep, so I elevated the start of the incline and raised the hairpins to match it.  Which actually means the use of the hairpins makes more sense i.e. to climb a hill in a confined space.

I also cut MDF sections around the hairpins to allow the cars to slide their tails right out without coming un-slotted.  Above is Starsky giving it some gas on the second corner.  Below is a video of the Audi Quattro testing the hairpin sections - much more tail happy now I've removed the magnet completely.  (If you're reading this in an e-mail, the embedded YouTube code might not work, so click the link at the bottom of the e-mail and it will work in your browser).








Finally I drilled some holes in the table struts to tidy away the wires.

Lady Racers have a pink box

Andy's original plan for my birthday present this year has fallen through so he very kindly provided some some vehicles for my garage.  The first of these is an old favourite - the 1980s Audi quattro.  A devastatingly successful rally car that introduced four wheel drive to motorsport and road cars.

It's a fantastic model, highly detailed - the navigator is even holding a ring binder with pace notes written on it - and has genuine 4WD.  But it comes in a garish pink box with Lady Racers written all over it!  This is the somewhat dubious packaging of Fly's range of cars successfully competed by women drivers (Fly are a Spanish company and probably the top slot car manufacturer).

This car was driven by Frenchwoman Michèle Mouton who is the most successful and well-known female rally driver of all time.  She was the first (and so far the only) woman to win a round of the World Rally Championship, the Rallye Sanremo in 1981.  Below is her rally-winning car and you can see how accurately Fly have copied it (although it's in sparkling podium appearance in the model).

The model drives well and makes more noise due to the cogs driving both axles.  I think the magnet might be a little strong so I might see about swapping or raising that, to help get the back end out properly.

The hills are alive

I've been thinking about how the elevated lengths of track could be supported and built into hills.

The slopes up and down into the elevated part of the track will be like flyovers with bridge supports.  The carousel turn (foreground of picture) will be on a hill with its centre continuing to rise.  The fast turn (background of picture) will be built up into a hillside, and the two sections will be connected by a tunnel piece.  In cheesy Paint-o-vision, it looks a little like this...

A good weekend's work

Two working days of effort this weekend have resulted in my Scalextric tables being made and installed in the loft.

Mid-morning delivery of 4'x8' chipboard, 4'x8' MDF, and metres and metres of 20x95mm softwood, plus some 45x95mm for the legs.

 

One of the tabletop frames.

Unsurprisingly, the loft floor wasn't completely flat, so the most challenging job was trying to balance the frame, keep an eye on the spirit level, and fix each of the four legs.

 

First table finished with chipboard attached.

 

Second frame under construction.

 

Both tables finished.

 

MDF fitted around the outside of the tables to catch cars that leave the track.

The track layout, piece by piece...

 

The finished track, with spotlights installed and new pictures on the wall (subject of a future blog, I think).  I had the first test session with Herman, one of Louise's Maltese cousins.  We tried rally cars, with and without caravans in tow, then Formula 1 cars and lastly (since Herman is a biker) the Valentino Rossi motorbike.  The track ran very well and the variety in the corners was really good. 

The track is elevated with video boxes at the moment.  I want to have several test sessions before starting to build hills or anything semi-permanent.  You know where to come...

Just a teaser...

Been working all day on the tables, and I've got 15 mins to shower and change before we go out, so here's a quick before...

...and after...

Full story to come later.

End of the original track

After another blitz on clearing the loft last night and with the wood arriving tomorrow, all the Scalextric track is piled up in stacks in the corner.  Here's the video of that first, now dismantled, track.

New Le Mans car

Although Andy has an extensive collection of Scalextric cars, I want to make sure that I always have a pair of equally matched cars to race against other people - for example, I currently have a pair of rally cars, F1 cars, and American muscle cars.

The Aston Martin freebie from the Scalextric Club was my first contemporary Le Mans car and therefore I needed a counterpart.  So tthis weekend I bought a Maserati MC12 Le Mans car.

The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater long-tail coupé-spider.  The original has a 6 litre engine producing 630hp.  This smaller, second-hand version is slightly less powerful but features sub-frame engine mounting design for better road holding, a highly detailed interior design and etched metal parts. It has working lights, adjustable Magnatraction positions and easy change pick-ups.  It is also missing a wing mirror ;-)

After several disappointing conversations with the national DIY stores, I finally ordered today the wood and boards I need to construct my Scalextric tables from a local family-owned builders merchant.  It should all be delivered on Saturday morning so I know what I'll be doing this weekend...