Building my own homemade open track, the journey begins
So, a bit of background first. When I first got back into diecast cars and found this site, I immediately wanted to have my own open track layout being inspired by many a track on youtube. The further I looked into it however, the more I realized that between costs and available room a permanent open track was not going to happen. So I settled for a really good vintage orange track that I put together with the help of ebay, the idea being that I can set it up and take it down in a variety of layouts.
But I still wanted the open track. I thought about it and realized this is just for me, I'm not going to host any "professional" races. This weekend it all came together, a way to have an inexpensive open track that I can set up and take down anytime.
This post will follow along the journey of what I did and how I did it. The idea of the track is that it is NOT from a grown up perspective. This is a track a kid, my inner kid would make if he had access to everything that I have today but with his ideas and his mindset, so more on it being "cool" and less on it being fair and balanced.
The track will be hand made and will connect to my orange track (sort of, in a "kid" way) and will again be able to be set up in many configurations.
For the straights, I'm using lengths of vinyl flooring cut to width. I cut the plank to 3.5 inches wide, sanded them down and primed them with auto primer. Then I will use cereal box to make detachable rails. I will post the first pictures of what I have finished later, unfortunately I'm pressed for time.
Jim @ Sunshine City Garage
Discussion
Another material you can use is coroplast which is plastic cardboard - I'll be using a mix of that and crash racer track. Good luck
I'm gonna be looking at using coroplast for some parts of my track
For building the straights with the vinyl flooring first I sanded the board so the primer will stick better, then I cut a plank of the vinyl flooring in half lengthwise which made two 3.5" lanes. Next I gave the first test lane a few coats of duplicolor automotive primer. Then I used the sides of a cereal box to make removable guard rails using a 3" section that sits under the track with a 3/4" section coming up the side to function as the rail using the corner of the box. This will provide a rail but can be removed for storage. I should have something finished and ready for testing this weekend.
Vinyl plank cut in half lengthwise below
Duplicolor primer
Picture of cardboard rail one side in place and the other side pulled out to show under side
Maybe cut the vinyl planks an inch & a half wider then score the underside 3/4" on both sides and fold them up to create your rails?... just a thought. Good luck on your build! They look pretty legit painted gray nice job.
Looking forward to seeing it!