2005.07.05, 05:48 PM
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#16
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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Well I was there for about 30min befor i got my first oncall of the night. It was cool having digitalmafia there to be a 3rd man on the line. I hadn't yet got the IW02 out to run befor i had to leave early, but my MR01 handled really good except for some scuffing noise in the corners. I think i need to ease out the toe a little. DM picked up a pebble in his diff to pinion gear mesh, but i heard he got it going again shortly after i left. Dustyweasel's McClaren was definately hooking up better after going to some stickier rear tires from GPM. As always DW did a great job of setting up the track, and of course i forgot my camera again so no pics from me. Digitalmafia did get a pic or 2 though. The next Phx GTG should have a fourth as dustdevil should be able to join us. Then we'll have a starting line with 4 cars on it. Slowly but surely the infield is growing.
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2005.07.10, 06:49 AM
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#17
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Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 863
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I started on my DIY track odyssey today by picking up six packs of foam mats from Walmart. The MPEX Fitness mats were 6 to a pack (w/ edges) for $17.76 each. So for $106.56 I got 36 2x2 tiles (144sq ft @ $0.74/sq ft).
What you see in the pictures is the right-out-of-the-box assembly for testing, so it’s not pretty. They have a textured side and smooth side. To keep things challenging I plan to use the smooth side. While this is a good bit cheaper than RCP, I’d say the quality is just so-so. As you can see in the pictures the seams aren’t always smooth and the surface had a few minor inconsistencies, but it never affected the car so it’ll work just fine. The textured side makes an interesting insect-like sound. Whrhrhrhr-whrhrhrhr. Probably freaked the dog out.
Seen here is the 2ft wide lane test, as that’s all I could fit into my house (it’s bloody hot out, even at night). I stuck the edge pieces on just for some quick walls. I have something more elaborate planned similar to this one: http://slcminirc.homestead.com/files/track/track.htm (there’s a thread here about it construction but I can’t find it now).
I’ve determine 2ft wide is just too narrow for one car much less a pack fighting for position. 4ft wide seems a bit too wide, though it’ll work. My plan is to make ‘grass’ boarders and curbing inset 6in from the sides for that just-right 3ft lane.
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2005.07.10, 02:57 PM
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#18
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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Awsome! I saw those at the Walmart by my house and thought about them, but they only had 2 packages. I know how difficult it is to find them at different places and have them be able to interlock with each other. I was hoping to find a whole bunch at 1 place and buy them all .I was gonna go check out Pep Boys later this week, but maybe i can see if i can afford to pick up the ones they had at walmart so that we can add them all together for a larger setup at the next GTG.
Maybe the edges could be glued together with hot glue, i would think it would bond fairly well.
At 2' wide that would be tight for multiple cars, but great for practicing solo. And at only 16 tiles that looks pretty cool. You could have an awsome layout with 36 and even with them doubled it could be easy enough to do a single wide chicane somewhare in the design.
We definately need to get access to my clubhouse for all the open floor space and airconditioning. There are also chairs and tables there as well as outlets for charging and whatnot. Any airconditioned space with access to atleast a 20'x 30' open area would do nicely.
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2005.07.11, 12:55 AM
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#19
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Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 863
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I did a larger scale 4ft lane test today. I’m four tiles short of the RCP “Wide L” design but this is similar. I plunked down some Losi Dots for wall reference points. Again only a test layout, no markings, walls, or pretty things. Just getting a feel for what works best.
The Losi Dots stayed firmly in place on the mats, so if you simply had a large contiguous mat area you could mark out a track using these. On asphalt and concrete they can slide a little when run over.
The full 4ft width was obviously much easier to drive but still challenging enough, especially if there were other cars. I might change my 3ft lane/6in boarders to 3.5ft lane/ 3in boarders. Maybe.
While the tile quality is only about a 5 out of 10, it still held together just fine even with the elevation changes from the grass up onto the uneven flagstone patio. The car still never got upset. Though I did manage to overdrive it occasionally (have video but can't upload). That big brick wall at one end really motivates you to make that turn. I nailed it good once and the little Z just kept right on running. Great quality, thanks Kyosho.
BTW, I’ve never raced on RCP but have seen it in person. The quality appeared to be a 10 out of 10. Price is always a factor, but the main reason I went DIY was the lack of 45deg corners. Well, that and the pride of one’s own workmanship.
What I want to do is apply a 6in slippery grass runoff along either side of the road. It needs to discourage driving across it while still allowing the driver a chance to recover. Any ideas? Green Latex paint, Astroturf, sprinkle on model railroad grass?
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2005.07.12, 03:33 PM
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#20
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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Calling all Phoenix Z'ers. Who would be up for a GTG this week-end the 15th, 16th or 17th? Evening or morning? I'm also sending out an e-mail to those i already know, but more are welcome to race your 1:18 or smaller R/C. Well anybody can bring what they want, there just may not be a race for you.
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2005.07.12, 06:15 PM
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#21
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learning the hard way
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Surrey B.C
Posts: 607
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I've run my Z on a similair surface and to better mark the track we used a colored masking/duct tape. but man it sure beats those pretty bodies.
__________________
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[Western Canada's Mini Rc Home[/URL]
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2005.07.13, 01:42 AM
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#22
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Glendale, Az.
Posts: 122
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Wow-Great job on the track You are on the way to creating something very cool and fun! After watching you layout the track using your dots you will no doubt come up with some great layouts. Cant wait to test out some of your designs!
I am on board for this weekend-anytime.
DM.
www.mini-az.com
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2005.07.14, 02:25 AM
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#23
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Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 863
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Thanks, I have fun making the tracks.
So far there's been surprisingly little damage from rollovers on the asphalt. The surface is smoother than it looks, but it's no foam.
Well, one last single car test. I setup for 2ft wide lanes again, this time with a 2ft radius for the ‘standard’ corner and a 0ft radius hairpin to test an extreme tight corner. There’s also a subtle chicane in there.
With only one car this is drivable, challenging, and fun. Exiting onto the straight requires slow finesse on the throttle to keep it straight, smooth rotation through the turn, and brakes and precision through the slow hairpin.
For all these fun reasons I doubt even two cars could cleanly run it. They’d be bouncing off the walls and eachother constantly. On the other hand maybe it’ll force smooth and patient driving (“Don’t be a turn 1 hero”) resulting in longer part life . I’m not sure the Z can be quite that precise though.
Before I give up on the 2ft idea I want to test it at our next GTG, maybe it’ll work out ok. I hope so because the smaller size makes a greater variety of corner types available. 4ft lanes would take twice as much space, require twice as many tiles, at twice the cost.
Anyone out there raced the RCP Mini-96 with multiple cars? What was your experience?
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2005.07.14, 12:48 PM
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#24
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Jordan, Utah
Posts: 6,877
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I have run on the track the you show from slcminirc, beleive it or not we have acutally run 6 cars at the same time on there. yes, it's very crowded.
We now race on Rcp Track we have 3 wide "L" track. it's a big improvement.
one suggestion. when you make you side rails, use something soft. that way you don't kill your bodys in the process of racing.
Check out our track pics on www.saltlakemini-z.com
Brian
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2005.07.14, 03:11 PM
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#25
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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If everyone agrees to just race and have fun then there really shouldn't be to much bashin going on and this could lead to all the drivers getting better. It all comes down to how familiar you are with your cars handling and having the confidence to be in the mix. Some rubbin is gonna happen, it's a fact. When i baught a new helmet for MX racin i got to the track and proceeded to drop it on the ground and let it get dirty and scratched before i even hit the track with it. I didn't want to be out there thinkin about the money i spent on my new helm and not about what i was about on the track.
I say we try it, if we don't like it, then we expand the track. Plus as you've shown with the last pic it would be easy enough to have the fast sections be 2 mats wide and the more technical stuff be 1 mat wide. Or the reverse, It could also be mixed up to provide passing lanes. Initially we could also just break into pairs until everyone is familiar with the single mat set-up.
I've included some pics in this post that i found elsewhere here in the forums to show what could be done. Track 6 is from lakeshore, but is a 1 mat layout.
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2005.07.15, 01:48 AM
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#26
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Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 863
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Thanks Brian. I was checking out the videos for SLC, quite a setup. Too bad Utah is a long drive away. Do you guys still use the custom narrow track? How was the racing on it? I only found video of that track with a couple OL’s doing jumps, no real side-by-side racing.
I plan to do a smooth wall similar to that one too. For now I’ve just been using the side pieces that came with the mats.
Saiyan, ‘racertrack (24)’ is another possibility I’m considering (padded pole walls/dots). That would give us total freedom of lane placement. The only catch with that is the ground has to be perfectly flat. Any elevation change would leave a gap for the cars to get stuck in.
I’m thinking if we do much foam testing this weekend, maybe we should GTG at my house instead of the parking lot. We could setup across my driveway and into the yard (no ‘event’ lighting in my backyard yet). No street sweeping, cool grass, and inside electrical outlets, air conditioning, fridge, and bathrooms.
There's also a street light smack dab infront of my house so there’s sufficient lighting. I'm at 35th Ave and Deer Valley. Saturday 7:00pm sound good? Let the sun get good and low so the plastic doesn't melt.
The catch there is if we abandon the foam we’d have to run in the street with the 1:1’s. Traffic is light but we could only chalk out a track. The asphalt here is very smooth though.
Last edited by Dusty Weasle; 2005.07.15 at 01:53 AM.
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2005.07.15, 02:41 AM
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#27
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Glendale, Az.
Posts: 122
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'No street sweeping, cool grass, and inside electrical outlets, air conditioning, fridge, and bathrooms.
SOLD-Thanks for offering up your place - really cool. Cant wait.
saiyan-nice group of track pics-any of them would be fun!.
DM.
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2005.07.16, 05:05 AM
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#28
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Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 863
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Here’s the planned setup for the first multi-car 2ft lane test. It’s gonna be tricky since there are no actual walls yet, only marked out boundaries.
Any other Phoenicians out there? We can’t be the only few in the valley who bought Z’s (or IW, or XM).
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2005.07.16, 01:33 PM
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#29
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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Kewl. Can't wait to try it out. I'll be there.
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2005.07.17, 10:51 AM
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#30
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BooYa!!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Glendale Arizona
Posts: 1,800
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Well, last nights gtg was interesting to say the least. The track was descent, but the weather didn't play nice . There will be a link posted soon to some video of the race that went awry . There are some pics of the track posted at mini-az.com if you want to check them out.
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