Besides spending quality time playing on the track, not a whole lot has been done. I've added a considerable amount of foliage to the areas earlier prepared with ground material. This is somewhat slow work as building up trees can be time consuming. It also doesn't help if one does these things in fits and starts. I find that I'll do nothing at all for a considerable period of time, then I'll get into the mood to add more stuff and will go great guns for a week or two before letting things lapse back into non-action. This is equally the same when it comes to working on building up new cars.
As a for instance. About three weeks ago, I got a super pair of bodies from Reineke Resins; a McLaren M12 and 1968 Cougar. The McLaren body has been prepped and painted and has sat in a box for the last several weeks. Fits and starts. Of course, this is all happening in the middle of Fall, one of my busiest times of year as I have a major leaf situation thanks to my dozens of trees. Most of my afternoons (when it isn't raining, or windy) are spent mulching, bagging and burning leaves. This tends to tire out an alud fahrt like me out and so little track work is done. Of course, there is the time I spend building models that also takes away the free time I have for running cars.
An
area in which I've put in some timerecently has been the pits. I was looking for
a material 5/16" thick to use in this area as that is the thickness of the
track. Well, it is also a thickness in which few materials are produced. After
having installed a double layer of foam core board, which at 3/16" thick is too
small by itself and too thick when stacked. It also cannot be painted as it
warps. I came across the idea of using 1/4" Lauan
plywood. I used the foam core as a template and cut out
sections with a jig saw. It was very easy material to cut and one 2 x 4 foot
section was all that was needed, though two were bought, 'just in case'. This
was all painted semi-matte black. Underneath it, I placed sections of cardboard
to allow it to level up with the track edge and it worked out better than I'd
thought, but not quite as good as I'd hoped, if you know what I mean. I'm not
sure how to tackle the gaps between sections and just may leave it all as it is,
at least for the time being. I would think that tape would be rather visible and
obvious, though it would seal the gap. As you can see from the image, it
isn't perfect, being more glossy than the well worn track surface. I'm thinking
I'll need to apply something to dull it down a bit. I was also thinking of
cutting some small slots in it for the guide of proper slot
cars
so I could put a few in there.
The other area of work has been more ground material and more
trees for the outer section of track. It is a slow go as making trees is not a
simple matter and I generally only do about a half hour's worth of work when I
do get down to it. I'm trying to put in enough to look forested, but not so much
as to block the view of
the
cars. Hence the trees are not real tall as they are in an earlier section of
track. The theory behind this section is that this area was excavated somewhat
to provide material for the roadbed. As a result, it takes time for all the
trees to grow back. Sounds plausible and so that is how it is being done.
You probably notice the plastic bases for some of these trees. Covering them
with 'grass' is something that will need to be done at a later date. Just like a
model kit, you get to the overall form pretty quickly with the details taking
the most time.
As
things move closer to the main area of the track, material is put down there as
well. Since it is a bit of a reach to get to cars in some areas of this, I'll be
keeping the tall stuff to a minimum. Another thing that slows down the build up
is that when I get to the track, I'd much rather be running cars on it than
working on scenery.
In other areas, with the holidays coming up, the manufacturers are all bringing out some pretty nice and desirable cars. I really wish they wouldn't do this as often I'll miss out on something I'd really like because I don't have the loot for them all and have to make a choice. Just like in the plastic kit world, some of these cars become really popular and sell out in a matter of weeks or even less. Unlike the plastic kit world, they are almost never reissued, at least not in the same exact livery.
For those wondering the cars in the header image are all rather recent releases by the same company in Italy called Slot.it. These cars offer the best value for the money spent and are the fastest overall brand on my track. From left to right is a Mazda 787, Nissan 390 and Ferrari F.40. The Ferrari is the smoothest runner and the quickest of the bunch. Interestingly, it comes as a kit, while the others are ready to run (RTR).
November 2009
I hope you learned a bit and if you have any questions or wish to share your experiences or images of your track, I'd like to hear from you on the subject so please e-mail me at mmreaders@aol.com.
Scott