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Borders: Borders are an issue with Artin 1/43, as there are
none made by the manufacturer. It turns out that you have plenty of solutions
anyways.
o
The easy way out is to
use Ninco borders. It turns out that for
R1(45 degree) Artin turns, the Ninco inner curve outer borders (part
number 10206) are a perfect fit. You can also cut them pretty easily as I
had to do to fit one or another odd corner where the entire border does not
fit. Note that for Artin 1/43 R2 curves the Scalextric Sport borders (R2
borders at 370 mm radius) also seem to be great fit.
o
Another solution is to
use neoprene foam rubber as can be found at http://www.mcmastercarr.com/. (Side
Note: Mcmaster-carr is an incredible resource for any material, essentially a
mechanical engineer’s wet dream!!!).This
material comes in rolls of 50 feet, 1/4 inch thick, which is the exact
thickness of the Artin 1/43 track. They are adhesive backed with a very strong
adhesive and really easy to put down. I have used the 1 inch wide (part number 8694K78) but they also have 2 inches (part number 8694K79). These rolls are pretty stiff but once you remove the
backing they can be bend very nicely around almost any corner. For more details
on this, there is an article at http://www.homeracingworld.com/trackborders.htm.
o
I have also used another
technique where the borders are made out of 3/16thick
foam core display board (available at Office stores such as Staples or
Office Depot or Arts & Crafts stores) painted with a grey primer spray or
black paint spray. Where needed, I added a 1/16 cork layer (sold in rolls also
at Office stores) underneath to match the track thickness. These materials let
you build almost any arbitrary shape border you need and are rigid. To cut all
of this just use a razor blade (or Xacto knife); make sure the blades are super
sharp.
·
Rails and Walls:
o
In some cases I have
also used the Neoprene foam rubber as borders/walls. The material is ideal to
catch a car gently and can be mounted vertically along a track or a border very
easily. I have also painted them on the adhesive side (which usually becomes
the inside of the wall, towards the track) and after painting it turns out that
the adhesive property disappears since the glue is now covered with paint. For
that I have used a simple flat black and painted it with a simple brush.
o
Because I have turns in
elevation where the cars might get airborne and eat the concrete, I also made
some catch fences based on a tip from Place. I combined these fences with foam
core borders as can be seen in this picture.
·
Banners and
Billboards:
o
The logos I used for my
banners, billboards, and buildings are designed to be printed on 8.5x11 full
sheet clear (Avery # 8665) or matte white (Avery # 8255) labels.
v
file 1: pdf file with wall and guardrail/barriers banners,
as well as building wall signs
v
file 2: pdf file, signs I used for my bridge and flag stand
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file 3: pdf file with wall and guardrail/barriers
banners(this file is from Hellonwheels, a member of the Slot Car Illustrated
forum).
v
File 4: pdf file, more wall and guardrail/barriers
banners . I modified this file from something I found originally at http://www.lugnutsracing.com/. These
are meant to be printed on Avery adhesive
labels where each label is 1 x 2.75 inches, which is just fine for
the1/43scale. See Picture.
v
File 5: pdf file, sponsor flags (this file is
from Showmemore, a member of the HRW forum).
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File 6: pdf file, Sunoco sign (this file is
from Showmemore, a member of the HRW forum).
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More files from
Showmemore: File1 , File2,
File3 , File4
o
Here are a few more
links to places with a bunch of racing logos:
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http://www.slotcarplace.com/banners/banners.htm
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http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/Billboard.html
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http://www.carrera4fun.de/4_gebaeude/banners.htm
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http://slotcar.zanzaman.com/billboards.html
o
Finally, for any company
you might think of and you want the logo, check:
v
http://www.logotypes.ru/default_e.asp
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http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
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If these two places
don’t have it, it probably doesn’t exist J
o
You can also download this Zip file (Thanks to the Judge from the
1/43 HomeRacingWorld forum): it contains tons of high quality graphic files for
companies such as Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Bugati, Chevy, and many others
o
If you need some Vintage
Billboard pictures, check this link out, not all
of them are usable for editing and printing but it is a great resource
nonetheless. Thanks to “Thatguy01” a Slot Car Illustrated forum member for
pointing this one out. Here is another great link for vintage
signs(Thanks to HellonWheels again J).
o
For all kinds of racing
related art (posters, program covers,
etc ..), check this link
out. Thanks to“Scatman1” a Home Racing World forum member for pointing this
one out.
·
Buildings and related:
o
I bought a couple of Scalextric buildings: namely the pit stop and control tower , plastic version, not the cardboard ones. Even
though they are meant for 1:32 scale, I think it still looks Ok. I have
equipped the control tower with four red flashing lights on the roof (Radio Shack part
number 276-308, directly on
5V,or if you think this is too much voltage, put a resistor in series).
o
I also use a plastic building (F1 garage found at SCW, part number 3206 )
and modified it a bit so that it would suit my needs (see picture)
o
I found a Schuco Junior Diorama
on e-bay, and I am also using an old Minichamps, Toyota pit crew that I had on a shelf.
o
Note that I also used
painted foam core display board to do the entire paddock area.
o
Very nice paper building
templates can be found at:
v
http://www.carrera4fun.de, click the
“Gebaude and Deko” button on the right hand side
v
www.artin.com.hk/Html/index_download.htm
v
You can also get
buildings in 1/43 scale from all the brands of "O" gauge model
trains. Some of them actually would look good on a track, for example check out
the Lionel
Heliport (scroll down to part number 6-14084), a
little paint and decals and there is a nice track building.
o
I also use a Goodyear bridge on the layout.
·
Lighting:
o
For the lights on the
track (got to have that night racing), I went the easy way, I purchased them
all rather than try to rig my own. I found on e-bay a few lots of Lionel and Life-Like lights:
v
Yard
lights on the outer perimeter of the track
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Streetlights along the
track, where needed
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Spot lights on the
top of the pit buildings
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Double
Floodlight Tower (also called Stadium lights by some slotters)
o
I connected all of this
to an AC-AC 18V, 5A transformer (top left on
picture) with a 5A in-line fast fuse also found on e-bay. All the lights are
controlled from the switch bank (top right
of picture), See wiring diagram for the AC
transformer.
o
If you ever have trouble
finding replacement bulbs for these lights or if you prefer white LED
illumination, here is an article on how to
adapt LEDs to the Lionel light fixtures.
o
Here is a quick wiring and info to make LED based
red-yellow blinking-green caution lights with a centralized single switch
control.
·
Some useful links for
scenery related topics:
o
A really good primer on
scenery and another one
here.
o
Cheap and easy ways of making your own modeling flock and conifer trees,
by Demether.
o
Check
this site out to find nice 3D textures and graphics to augment your
scenery. Here is another one.
o
This site has tons of
backdrops.
o
Here are pictures of
spectators for your grandstand backdrops: Pic1, Pic2, Pic3.
o
Anything you need with checkered patterns.
o
Need any traffic signs
for your track: check this site out
(thanks to ListerStormGT from the HRW forum for the pointer).
o
A great compilation
of links for scenery.
o
Looking for inspiration
for scenery, check this great compilation
of really good looking tracks, and this one as well.
LastUpdate:3/23/07 Drop me a note
