Portable track made for ToyCon 2024
Comicazi, the comic shop I work at, sponsored a toy convention on Oct 13. This year it was decided a gravity track would be done. Me and the owner spent a week hammering out a track that could be made modular so we could transport it back and forth to the venue. The first image is the nearly complete track and the 2nd is on the stage at the con. I ran time trials for anyone who brought me a car for a few hours and prizes were handed out at end of day for the fastest times. A lot was learned about how to make a road track portable....
Discussion
Very cool!
be sure to keep us up to date on it's travels!
dr
- Right now it has travelled back to th store basement, where it will live for a little bit until we figure out what to do with it. It will likely be broken down and rebuilt using bolts and wingnuts instead of screws to connect the parts.. — StrayDog
- drill your holes while it is screwed together. I have used long 1/4" carriade bolts and wingnuts for a couple projects. use the brad nailer to hold the pieces, then drill all my holes, knock it apart, and pull the wire brads out — dr_dodge
- Sounds like a solid plan. Thanks! — StrayDog
Nice work !
Portable, That's my dream. Actually to have a store with 5 or so tracks where people could come in and race. Sell cars, trade em, race em. Like a miniature golf course, each hole a different track. If people could make them portable they could sell them to the store.
Keep going!
- It's the long term thought to do 3 or 4 in store events over the year, plus being able to bring it out to outside events that we attend. The big pipe dream is can I then get modular dioramas to slot between the tracks! — StrayDog
- I have thought about a frame "erector set" kit. designed around cheep shelf units and 1 x 6's. would breakdown easily and fit in the trunk. My hill climb, off road, micro drag strip, and womp all fit (not together...lol) in the trunk of my 2011 Challenger — dr_dodge
- along with 2 road cases with about 200-300 ft of orange and crash track — dr_dodge
- what would be interesting is a diorama competition, modular inserts like the model trains. Figure a size that would fill most open spaces, and it serves 2 purposes — dr_dodge
- use pink foam — dr_dodge
- The diorama has got me thinking about how to easily transport and slot it in while making it look like one piece. Pink foam is definitely it! — StrayDog
Nice! The first section looks like my track I'm working on.
Love the spread of the track!
Wow, nice job...you're chasing a grail...portable open track. It's one thing to drag a few straight lines from here to there but going your route is worthy of note, even just for the effort and attempt! It sounds like it performed well for the live audience too!
I'm sure we'd all love to hear more details on what you learned in making it...the lessons learned and all that jazz. I think limited portability is what keeps this track style such a mail-in dominated space.
- It had to fit into the back of the store owner's Rav4, so the first drop is in 2 sections that had connector pieces. Everything else went in as their own component parts. Most of what was learned was things of that nature - just being aware of it would break down, and making sure where ever the components met up were lined up with track connections. It was the first track either of us had built so it was definitely a bit flying blind and making things up as we went (along with copious amounts of swearing and forcing things into shape). Once we got it to the venue it took about forty five minutes to set up. I'm actually grateful we had Redline as an information source how to build a track to begin with! — StrayDog
Nice. What's the total set up or breakdown time?
Very sweet!!! I like the design and it's portable... hmmmm May have to look into that for kiddos... alternate drag race and road race...
keep up the great work!!
I like the short drop section. Not a typical feature, unless dioramas and camera angles make them less apparent.