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Old 2004.03.28, 01:15 PM   #1
davkin
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New foam mat track

Kinda. After several different attempts at several different designs for barriers for my foam mat track I've finally come up with something that I'm very happy with. I decided the hardware stores just don't have what I need so I looked to other sources. The construction is kind of a sandwich of materials in an attempt to get the best benefits from the two different materials while reducing the negatives. My first barrier system I made consisted of glueing the borders that came with the mats to the top of the mats. There were several drawbacks to that system. First, they took up alot of space, about 4" out of the lanes. Second, and more importantly, the foam while nice to the bodies wasn't racing friendly. A car that just barely caught the barrier would get stopped and thrown right back into the middle of the lane, resulting in many T-bones, the net result being actually more damage to bodies. Third, the system didn't allow for natural looking curves. I tried another system that I won't go into detail about because it was an utter failure. It did allow for flowing curves and saved space, but it wasn't very secure and was a pain to set up.

And now to the current system. The barriers are made out of foam and styrene. I bought rolls of 1" x 1" foam strip from a local industrial gasket maker. I also bought an 8' X 4' sheet of 1/16" styrene sheet from a local plastic warehouse and had them cut it into 1" strips for me. Using 3M #77 spray adhesive I glued the foam to the tiles then the styrene to the sides of the foam. A few hours of time on Autocad and I came up with a modular design that allows the fewest number of unique pieces while allowing me to make all the track features I want. What I did is make it so the foam pieces don't come all the way to the edge of the mats, only to the point where they interlock. The styrene strips go all the way to the edges however. When assembled the styrene pieces overlap. The advantages of this system for racing are, you get the impact absorption of the foam, while the styrene allows the cars to slide or bounce off the barrier rather than be stopped and thrown onto the track. That 3M adhesive makes for a very secure, permanent system. There will be corner dots at the ends of the walls that stick out, they are still under construction.







It almost looks professional!

David
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Old 2004.03.28, 01:17 PM   #2
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Here are some detail shots.





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Old 2004.03.28, 01:21 PM   #3
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Here's some pics with obstacles for Overland racing set on the track. They are made out of 1/8" hardboard sheet, cut up and hot glued together. They are made so that the vertical side plates are actually set on top of the barriers so the Overlands won't run into the ends and the ramps won't move around.



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Old 2004.03.28, 01:33 PM   #4
West.F1
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very clean put together track. Well done. Nice touch with the corner markers.

you have a group that meets to race?
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Old 2004.03.28, 01:58 PM   #5
Draconious
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Hmm some were I have a cad drawing that looks EXACTLY like those photos only I have it on an "ozite" base...

It does look very good

One "tip" to get more out of the tiles... is the corners... you can cut them into 2.. were u get the inside and the outside, best to do this only 2 4 of them, since you will more often then not have 4 on at the very outer corners... then u can ouse the outer part, as the "inside" of another corner... -- this is sorta why I wound up totaly redoing my track a bunch of times to get the most out of the tiles... (starting a foam track of my own soon as the tiles arrive tomarow, as I posted in another thread).
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Old 2004.03.28, 02:33 PM   #6
davkin
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Quote:
very clean put together track. Well done. Nice touch with the corner markers
Thanks. Are you talking about the red stripes? I just used red electrical tape for that. Before glueing the styrene to the foam I tore a bunch of short pieces of red electrical tape and taped them to the styrene folding them over to the back then glued the styrene to the foam. We'll see how durable that is.

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you have a group that meets to race?
Yes, though a very small group for now. We have just started a somewhat official club, I am working on a website and will be posting info here when I'm finished. It was just three of us but we're expanding, last time we had 5 total.

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Old 2004.03.28, 03:21 PM   #7
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Wow nice job! I like your lay-out as well...I love the fast back straight. AA++
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Old 2004.03.28, 04:16 PM   #8
Ken Mifune
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Nice system, davkin.
Yes, Super 77 is a great product.
I had thoughts on a simlar system utilizing two tiles with removable rails but now my inventory of RCP is plenty and still growing. Yours looks fantastic.
The rail foam looks like neoprene. usually expensive.
How about 1/4-3/8" bending-luan instead of hard board for the bumps?
Anyway, great job.
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Old 2004.03.28, 05:55 PM   #9
davkin
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Quote:
Wow nice job! I like your lay-out as well...I love the fast back straight. AA++
Thanks. The nice thing with it being modular I can change it and add to it.


Quote:
The rail foam looks like neoprene. usually expensive
Yes, neoprene is expensive, very. Neprene was about $2.50/ft, but this stuff is a sponge foam, cost less than $15 for a 25' roll.

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How about 3/8" bending-luan instead of hard board for the bumps?
bending-luan? What is that? The hardboard was for the jumps, that white stuff is corrugated PVC sheet, makes a nice woops section.

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Old 2004.03.28, 06:55 PM   #10
Ken Mifune
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Luan (loo-ahn)

Luan(rigid) is a type of plywood. The stuff that's commonly used for drawer bottoms.
Bending-luan(very flexible) is for curved surfaces like round pedestals or curved cabinets/doors.
I suggested this because I think it's less expensive than other flexi materials and the raw surface is great for OLs.
(ya, I meant for the jumps)
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Old 2004.03.28, 08:16 PM   #11
BenBmxer
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Hey davkin your track looks awesome and has inspired me to create a track of my own, my only question is what kind of foam did you use for the driving surface and where did you get it?

Thanx
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Old 2004.03.28, 08:28 PM   #12
davkin
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my only question is what kind of foam did you use for the driving surface and where did you get it?
They are foam safety mats. I got mine at Sam's Club, 8 for $15.77, they are 2' X 2'. You can also get safety mats at Pep Boys and Checker Auto.

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Old 2004.03.29, 06:09 PM   #13
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Thanx alot!
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Old 2004.03.29, 07:30 PM   #14
stuZ
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sweet rails, nice layout, too.
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