Twins?

I checked my Facebook feed when I got home tonight and spotted a posting by Scalextric of a layout they were excited about.  I started watching the video and it was immediately familiar!

It was my design but not my track, and watching it was quite a strange feeling.  All was revealed in the comments where the owner of the track (another James) had credited Highwood Circuit as his inspiration.

James had found my track design on Google which had led him to this blog.  I'm really pleased to discover that Highwood has a twin on the other side of the country, and I hope to follow its development.

Unique dust cover for slot car track

Slightly bizarre housing for a slot car track, not least because you'd be on your knees to play with it, but it does look pretty cool.  Full story here.

Top Gear Test Track - Part Five: Detailing (Final)

The track is now finished.  Using the satellite imagery of the test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, I've now painted on the airfield markings and suggestions of the painted lines that indicate the test track route.  These three images show the steps from satellite, to plan, to final product.

The following three photos provide close-ups of the details:

And lastly, a video of the track in use, either embedded below or click here for YouTube.

Top Gear Test Track - Part Four: Shaping & Painting

I re-routed the track between Chicago and the Hammerhead, and filled over the mistake.

I then shaped the 4x2 board, rounding off the corners and adding a carry-handle, before painting the grassed areas.

The cars run much more smoothly around the extended curves.  Just some detailing and labelling to do now.

Top Gear Test Track - Part One: Design

Welcome to the Christmas Project!

When I'm testing and checking cars in the "games room", I've often thought it would be handy to have a small test track rather than running up and down the loft ladder when I want to run the car.  Using some spare Scalextric track to make a very simple loop would be too easy - I wanted to make my own track this time...

So I started researching the slot car forums and scribbling different designs for a test track.  And then I remembered that Lotus had already designed the perfect test track for Top Gear.  A quick google and I had the satellite imagery with the track marked up:

I then printed a graphic version to fit the MDF board I wanted to use - 2 feet by 4 feet so it can be slid under the games room sofa when not in use.

I drew a grid over the paper and copied the track onto the grid I'd drawn on the MDF.

You can see in the image where I had originally drawn this lower down in the hope of making the board two-thirds the width but this wouldn't have provided enough space for the cars to get their back ends out, so I had to re-draw it into the centre of the board.

This is an accurate representation of the Top Gear Test Track but on the small scale I was using (not just 1:32, it's much smaller than that) the corners would be far too tight for the slot car guides.  So I had to use some artistic licence to keep the same basic shapes but adapted to ensure slot cars could get round it.

Track Design

The original temporary layouts on the floor of the loft were constrained by the two joists that sat proud of the loft boarding. The final layout was pretty long but being at ground level meant that it got covered in chipboard dust when we stepped over it, and there was just too much bending involved to put the cars back on the track. Just as importantly, the track design (below) wasn't interesting enough as there was too much similarity in the shape of the corners.

My key design principles were:
- track at waist height
- two lane track that doesn't require marshals i.e. all track must be within an arm's reach so the racers can re-slot their own cars
- variety of types of corners
- preferably some variation in height
- room for a pit lane

I found a site with some great advice on track design and different types of corners e.g. carousels, hairpins, 180 degree turns, and sweeping turns. So I wanted as interesting a track as possible, whilst fitting on two 4 feet wide tables positioned in an L-shape.

This is the design I want to build...

As you can see, the track needs elevation to let the long straight (which will be the start-finish straight) run under three parts of the track. The alternative would be elevating the long straight but a sloping start-finish start feels wrong. The other alternative would be to avoid any elevated track altogether. Andy (builder of the much-missed Minchinhampton GP track) has cautioned me about the challenge of effective track joints on slopes, so I have also designed the following track which will fit on exactly the same pair of tables - so if my preferred design is a disaster, I have a fallback option.