White Lake Formula One Ring

Overview - April 2011

2011-04-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

As is customary around here now I'll wrap up my latest flurry of posts with the latest track overviews. Spring is here and track work will subside quite a bit for the summer, but the racing will go on! Have a great summer Northern Hemisphere, I'll post up some more when its Spring time in the Southern Hemi!

Lets see a back to back champ with Vettel driving his Kinky Kylie in F1 2011.

And finally a small quote that I saw at my friend Dons house and it resonates quite a lot with me.

"Whatever you do... be the best"

-Abraham Lincoln

If thats not what racing and life is all about I don't know what is.

-James

Discovery Channel Visits WLF1R

2011-04-12T09:52:00.004-04:00

I imagine most of my friends and aquaintances have seen this but I thought I should post up the clip on my blog. Discovery Channel Canada was out for a day to film me and some friends racing on the circuit. It was a fantastic day with lots of HD cameras and audio. It finally culminated in a really cool piece Ben Schaub and his crew from Discovery put together that aired on their show Daily Planet. Thanks again to Don, Brad, Jimmy and Bryan for particiapting on that exciting day! Enjoy! http://watch.ctv.ca/clip417745#clip417745

Weather Station and Subterranean Garage

2011-04-12T09:41:00.003-04:00

The cars keep piling in so it was time for another garage expansion. This time 4 additional floors. That should keep plenty of space for the next couple years, or maybe months (I wish)!

On my daily commute I pass the White Lake / Oakland County Weather Station and it has this cool spherical Doppler Radar dome. That got me to thinking that a weather station would be cool to have and so I've built one on top of the garage. I searched toy shops and sporting goods stores for a small soccer ball that I thought would be a perfect geodesic pattern for the dome. I finally found a nice foam one with a good coating that would accept oil / laquer paint (without eating the foam). From there it was the domes support structure and two story building made from gator board, popsicle type sticks and sintra sheet. It's dressed in corresponding blue / gray to go with the garage look. So how's the weather? Partly cloudy or sunny depending on your preference and it never changes...

Race Control Comm Tower

2011-04-12T09:34:00.002-04:00

This new tower has been installed recently to help disguise a cord cover that goes up to the tracks new perimeter lights. Same style construction as the other towers primarily dowell rods and styrene. Back to the lights though, my friend/neighbor spent many hours with me helping me put up the light fixtures around the circuit installing dimmers and the like. The lights actually are pretty cool for night racing in that they have a set of blue leds in the center that remain on even when dimmed which gives a cool night look to the track. Thanks Smitty!

Medical Evac Euro Copter

2011-04-11T15:27:00.004-04:00

Well a pretty straightforward one here. I actually got this model in Virginia visting my fiance's parents almost two years ago. My soon to be father in law, also a hobby guy suggested we go to a small hobby shop while on a road trip. Of course I couldn't turn that down and boy was I pleasantly surprised to find several 1/32 scale euro copter kits from revell. Many nationalities and styles so I opted for the medical evac type and finally got around to building it over the winter.

Another few additions are the add-on to the Tux Tower with track side patios on every level and of course the clouds made from chicken wire and poly fill on the ceiling. Certainly a great place to string up the heli!

Revised Pits 2

2011-04-11T15:25:00.001-04:00

Here's a few additional pictures of the pit enhancements.

Revised Pit Elements 1

2011-04-11T15:06:00.003-04:00

The WLF1 pitlane has undergone significant upgrades. Some damage had occurred through the several race nights I've hosted while other upgrades were merely to enhance the authenticity of the main straight. Firstly I've built a more robust pit wall with new fencing and updated logos. Also fluorescent entry/gap markers and F signs indicating where fire extinguishers can be found. I've updated the Team control boxes with a few additional architectural elements. Also the overhead walkway towers get a stairway landing pad like brick pavers along with railings and new graphics. One of the more subtle elements are the Elf fuel canisters I made. I created the graphics from scratch off of some rather low resolution photos I found on the web. So although not entirely accurate to the real deal they are pretty close for 1/32 scale. The fuel graphics were wrapped around large sized glue sticks cut to size. Unusual but a perfect size for them!

First Boat Sets Sail at White Lake

2011-04-11T14:29:00.003-04:00

Greetings from the Ring followers. Its been another fun year of racing and building at White Lake F1 Ring. Spring is upon us so it's time for the latest updates on my track before my focus turns to the fine weather outside.

I did a rather haphazzard search for 1/32 scale boats to populate the lake in the middle of my circuit, and turned up with next to nothing. With some background in transportation design I figured I would create my own scratch built wave runner.

A relatively small craft with two occupants crusing through the viaduct at the East end of the track. I am including some build photos for those interested. I used sintra sheet to make the sides of the hull, then a balsa wood main deck. Seating was made from carved blue foam and the gantry, windshield and other small parts were made from various Sintra strips. It flies two flags proudly, the good ole starts and stripes and a vintage pirate. Its cool seeing it in its modeled environment with reflections coming off the water. I'll think I'll christen her the SS Eleven... go figure. Bon Voyage!

WLF1 Ring - Overview May 2010

2010-05-14T11:24:00.003-04:00

I always like to have the first post on the blog be overview shots, especially when I know I'll be leaving this site alone for a while... its summer afterall so time to enjoy the fine Michigan weather. So here it is WLF1 Ring overviews. Until next time...

WLF1 Ring - Details

2010-05-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

Here's a few shots of various upgraded places around the track. Turn 19 "James Boys" gets a scenic outer edge and billboards. The garage gets a 3rd floor (dare I say I ran out of space for two floors and am getting close to needing a 4th floor!) Also the garage ramps get more robust railings and blue trim pieces. Last place for the race is Park Ferme which gained a few visitors... and to the victor, the spoils!

WLF1 Ring - Triple Towers

2010-05-14T11:10:00.003-04:00

Here's another case of hide the house to make the track look more complete. This time its the rear marshall access door. I started with a shelf anchored directly to the door and then added some 2 inch foam rock base. I made three buildings of decending sizes and oriented them along the door face. The left side of the left most building actually stays with the wall and door frame stationary while the remaining right half and other two buildings swing away with the door. This way for big race nights you can open the door for a marshall, otherwise its closed for a more complete scenic look. These buildings are all gatorboard with flat wood stock trim pieces. I did a few antennae platforms too to cover up some more of the door moulding. The buildings are elevated to accomodate a small lot to park a few cars on.

WLF1 Ring - Harlan Tech Center Upgrades

2010-05-14T11:02:00.003-04:00

I left the HTC alone for quite sometime but recently revisited its structure. I never put the elevator doors on the original and the roof was a bit lacking in detail. Now you can see those added elements. Also I finally made the HTC sign which is a play on my signature. You can see the road way that leads up to it complete with manhole covers and a speed limit sign... 11 mph!? A little tip of the hat to my girlfriends nickname, Eleven. Recently I've been calling her Captain Slow though! ;)

WLF1 Ring - Track Terrace

2010-05-14T10:55:00.002-04:00

This ones been waiting around for a long time... When I first did my lake surround of rocks and boulders I left certain areas flat and "available" for some future scenic. This is one of those areas, the Track Terrace. It sits adjacent to the Schumacher Esses and overlooks that section of the track. It also has two staircases leading down to circular waterfront platforms.

It's constructed of wood dowels, gatorboard and corrugated paper. Also the hand rails are silver solder which is easily pliable and not necessary to paint if you want a silver railing. Spectators here can enjoy the best mid speed corners on White Lake F1 Ring!

WLF1 Ring - Circle Lot Marshall Cover

2010-05-14T10:43:00.002-04:00

Lately I've been working on hiding some of the substructure features of circuit. I race quite a bit with only a few guys and can actually marshall the track almost entirely from the drivers stations. So I began fabricating removeable or moveable scenic items beginning with the Circle Lot. This is a couple of 1/4 inch pieces of foam glued together and reinforced underneath with dowel rods. I scored the foam for concrete breaks and did a little rock and grass scaping to hide the edges when the cover is in place. Many people are quite surprised when I take out the Circle Lot for a big night of racing. The best of both worlds, good track access and complete scenic!

WLF1 Ring - Sector Towers

2010-05-14T10:35:00.002-04:00

My original Sector Towers were one of the first structures to go up. A little hastily and spindely I might add so late this winter I upgraded the structure based off the originals. Some of this was prompted by me getting ever closer to sector timing for my circuit via a friend of mine, BT. We're not quite there yet, but the custom chip has been developed, Copper gaps are in (to register cars going past) and soon it'll be all up and running for lap timing as well as sector timing just like a real F1 race! The new structures were made primarily of stick and sheet balsa wood, a little styrene and graphics. They certainly look more robust and are easily spotted from the drivers stations.

WLF1 Ring - Night Racing

2010-01-21T14:47:00.004-05:00

Night racing is certainly as much fun as day racing on the Ring. I haven't taken specific night shots in quite some time although there has certainly been a lot of lighting added. These are really just more overview type shots but it gives a good sense of what to expect when lapping the circuit at night. Still a few more power issues for me to address though as some of the lights are not illuminating due to bad cell phone transformers or inadequate power. Both the cell and radio towers have red LEDs on top. Also the crane has a series of lights. Still though just small details that very few will notice. Of course I always notice them!

WLF1 Ring - Main Straight Additions Part 2

2010-01-21T14:34:00.003-05:00

For the last part of the main straight I wanted to add team control boxes. Typically these are put on the pit wall, but due to my limited space there I opted for the bleacher side of the track and the walkways provide teams a way to get team members over there. These were more gator board and styrene pieces for the main components. The roof is scored clear lexan. The stools are cut out patterns that I folded up an added supoport tubes then glued them to the buildings. TV screens are graphics mounted to a strip of styrene and are color coded to the adjacent pit boxes. I dressed them up with some numbers and WLF1 Ring logos to add a touch more detail. If you're ever over take a close look at those monitors, you might find an interesting camera shot or two!

WLF1 Ring - Main Straight Additions Part 1

2010-01-21T14:15:00.003-05:00

This next batch of modeling has been quite a while in the making. It was always my intent to have the drivers side of the Main Straight complete with overhead walkways, bleachers and Team Control boxes. The bleachers are pretty straightforward and based off the same construction I outlined in an earlier post. To make the overhead walkways and towers I started with gatorboard to make the floors of the towers. I grabbed a large diameter bowl form the kitchen to cut the radiuses into the gator board. Bowls make great circle templates! After that I spaced out the floors using 1/2" gatorboard support posts. Then I measured the outer skin pieces onto sheet styrene. I scored the outer side of the skin to both help the piece naturally curve as well as give some indication of paneling. Corners were dressed up in red painted round dowels and then a few other red styrene parts to add some detail. Staircases were fabricated to let people out on the far side of the pitlane into the bleacher area. From there I moved on to the actually crosswalks. These started as a 1/2" piece of gator board for the floor, and the 1/4" gator sides. I capped the unfinished edges of gator with wood planks and painted the structures white. Then I added corrugated silver flooring material and black crochet mat for the railing fences. Later I added Christmas LED lights to the underside to help illuminate the area around the walkways. I would always suggest using LEDs when available. You are almost guaranteed they will never burn out. So the pit lane is looking much more complete from all vantage points. A few figures were painted up and glued down to add to the ambiance.

WLF1 Ring - Midfield

2010-01-21T14:07:00.002-05:00

I did some more tree and shrubbery work in the midfield area of the Ring. Primarily adjacent to the Senna Esses. I spent a little more time on the trees because I wanted a fuller look to break up the circuit from front to back. It in no way inhibits the drivers view and actually provides a cool shot of the cars screaming through the trees. I used the same woody weeds from my back yard, but this time I bought some multi colored green and brown yarn and pulled it apart to make it all hairy. Then I wrapped the trunks up with the yarn and doused with hairspray and covered in modeling flax of different colors. Time consuming for sure but worth the effort.

WLF1 Ring - Building Under Construction

2010-01-21T13:50:00.003-05:00

I had this idea of having a building under construction back in the industrialized area of my circuit. The main reasoning was I wanted to build a Tower Crane to sit atop it! The tower for the crane stared out as two styrene pre-fab trusses. I then cut additional struts to make a box truss. The top truss that the hook slides along was done in the same fashion but in a triangular shape. The cab was made from sheet styrene and I even put a little figure in there. The crane has 3 red LED lights in it, one on top, one at the tip and one inside the cab. I still need to run a power supply to it, but it is all wired and ready to go. The building is a custom made piece of aluminum that I dressed up with some rough structure to make it look like it is being built. I thought it would be cool to have a beam being hoisted and as a tribute to the hazard filled building days of the 1930's, I put a guy up there checking out the track, one hell of a view I am sure! I dressed up the supporting deck with a plant laden sidewalk and curbing. Also you can see the final curved bleachers from the previous post. I need to do a little more transition work back there but its one of those places that very few people will actually notice. That’s where the camera shots really add some fun to track building. You can place that camera in so many interesting spots your eyes could never go. I think I have years of interesting shots I can take of White Lake F1 Ring!

WLF1 Ring- Bleachers

2010-01-21T13:29:00.003-05:00

Greetings from the Ring! It's hard to believe its been six months since my last post. I've certainly done some additions over the last several months so I am going to bombard the site with several new posts to accompany all the pictures.
I'll start with this little bleacher set I made. These pictures show the set in various states of progress. The finished sets you'll see in a post or two from now. I tried to document my construction with photos but I tend to work more and take pictures less. I thought this would be a good one to show though because I think most tracks can certainly use some bleachers here and there and they are very easy to make. I used Pine and Balsa wood for the main pieces and these shots show the table I work on for everything. Notice that it is gridded, this is extremely useful to make sure you are fabricating with good right angles, parallels, perpendiculars and increments. I cut the pieces in assembly line fashion, cutting all of one length at a time, etc. This makes a project like the 4 sets of bleachers I produced move along much more quickly. The ruler was taped down to the table and the bleacher risers were glued together right along the edge of it to make sure spacing was good. You need four risers to make a bleacher set of 3 spans. The spans were cut from balsa wood, and in the instance of this set of bleachers I made it curve slightly by cutting the middle span at an angle. I wanted this one to curve because it was going to sit on the outside of a curve in the back corner of my layout. After it was all dried I painted it and then fabricated a simple awning structure from more pine and a corrugated paper. You'll see the finished results in the next post!

WLF1 Ring - Mid Views

2009-07-28T10:32:00.002-04:00

Here's a couple shots from mid track viewing northwest and northeast respectively. With summer beyond its mid way point I am gearing up for some race nights and winter modelling, but for now I'll keep enjoying the sunshine and the 2009 Formula One World Championship shootout. Next race Valencia, Spain.

WLF1 Ring - Park Ferme International Walk

2009-07-28T10:25:00.005-04:00

This ones fairly straightforward and adjacent to the sidewalk that connects park ferme and the pit lane. Flagpoles were made from tubular styrene and the flags were wrinkled up a bit and glued to make them look like they're waving in the wind. Pea gravel was used to fill in the area between the sidewalk and back rock terrace. You have to have some international presence at an international f1 circuit!

WLF1 Ring - Fountain Park and Fountain Bridge

2009-07-28T09:55:00.004-04:00

This Marshal hole, once the largest, has given up some real estate to make way for the Fountain Park and Fountain Bridge. The fountain is a small scale "Homemedics" water feature for relaxation. Its about 14" in diameter and came with a few slab rocks, water filter and light. I enhanced it for the park fountain by sinking the bowl below the track surface to bring the scale down some. I scavenged the back yard for slab like sandstone and re piled my rocks in a conical fashion for the fountain. Water drips from just below the top layer and down over the sandstone. A cool use for a $15 fountain and a beautiful centerpiece to the park. Sidewalks surround the fountain and are flanked on four sides by park benches made from toothpicks. The benches are an asymmetrical contemporary design as you might expect from me by now.

The Fountain Bridge started with a piece of perforated aluminum I've had for years now. It makes up the floor surface. From there I made a wooden spire that peaks out over the center of the fountain. It is tethered back to the floor surface with cable (dowels) to create an asymmetrical cable stay configuration. The railings started with plastic conduit clasps for the uprights and railings are red painted styrene strips. Lets take a walk to the fountain in between race warm-up sessions...

One last detail here are the blue and white barricades I made from wood planks (slightly smaller then popsicle sticks) I lined up about fifty sticks and masked them off for painting the blue and white stripes. Then 1 plank is cut in half, one half is cut in thirds and then glued together to make an angled barricade. I've placed these in various "Keep Out" places and the blue and white color is a nice contrast to the predominant reds of the architecture.

WLF1 Ring - Sky Scraper

2009-07-28T09:33:00.003-04:00

This ones in progress, but well on its way...

A 10 story Skyscraper fills a portion of the North West corner of the Ring. This was fabbed up from 3/8" rectangular dowels. Its really only two sides as the other two sides are never visible. I build these on the grided table in my basement. A grid is VERY helpful to keep things parallel and perpendicular especially when working in scale. The windows are actually contact paper, albeit metallic and applied to sheet plastic to add some rigidity. The contact paper is the type you line cubbards and shelves with. Not my favorite, but still effective. Its always good to experiment with things and use that imagination. Hardware stores, super stores and others are full of potential modelling parts. I just wander the aisles and look at things and how they might be applied to 1/32 scale modelling. The SS Tower will get some additional window mullions, doors, antennae and lighting efffects some time in the near future. Also I have space for probably two more buildings in this area that will anchor that corner of the track with a nice city skyline.

WLF1 Ring - Communications Tower

2009-07-28T09:14:00.003-04:00

Greetings from the Ring... Ring... Ring... Hello? He's racing Porsche GT3's right now. Can I have him call you back? Very good, good bye. Luca Di Montezemolo wants you to take Felipe Massa's seat in the Ferrari for the remainder of the season!

Ha! I wish...

Been a while folks so its update time. First up the new Communications/Cell Tower.

I started with a 3/8" diameter dowel and trussed the base with smaller dowels. Sintra and scrap plastic beams were used for the triangular transmitters and receivers. U shaped metal staples make up the ladder steps and all is topped off with a glowing red LED to inform any low flying aircraft to its presence. The base is a piece of 1/4 Sintra painted concrete color. Make sure that base is level otherwise the whole tower will be out of whack. Hit me up sometime now that the Ring has commmunications... 555-F1FREAK

WLF1 Ring - Overview March 2009

2009-03-24T09:59:00.004-04:00

Well after all those detail shots of buildings I figured I'd better roll with some overviews. Tracks looking good from a far. A lot of people have been asking for video so last weekend I rigged up my sony handy cam on a bodiless chassis to run it around the 'ring'. I had it all rigged up with minimal vibration. The car was struggling a bit in areas but I could have made a lap at decent speed. I charged up the cam only to find it is malfunctioning so unfortuneatly video will have to wait a bit longer. I just turned to the camera to snap up some pics of my progress so far. I've got call outs for my lane changers and such now, you can probably see the bleachers I made here too. Guys like the various vantage points they offer. My favorite shots I think are from the south east corner, you get a good overview of the whole track from there.

Up and coming for the Ring: Transmission Towers, more scyscrapers behind the benetton 90 corner (I left a huge vacant area there for those), Perimeter Track Lighting, Lap and Sector Timing via a good electronic whiz watery tart type friend ;)

You never know what else, with the time I spend pondering this thing anything might show up.

WLF1 Ring - Design Buildings

2009-03-24T09:48:00.002-04:00

More Low Relief Action!

I never liked the east side of my track. My first go was grass and weeds, kinda sloppily thrown together so I ripped it out and made the new Design Building Complex. A series of three low relief buildings. They get gradually less relief as you move down the hill to Eau Rouge. 1/4" gatorboard scored and cut once again and trimmed with wood planks, corrugated paper and train ballast for roof gravel. A new armco barrier outside the exit curbing and some trees and shrubs complete the image. A huge improvement for sure!

WLF1 Ring - Tux Tower Atrium

2009-03-24T09:26:00.003-04:00

After the success with the low relief ARC building I quickly moved to something a bit more ambitious... the eight story Tux Tower Atrium. The goal here was to begin and cover some of the trim from the doorway at the back of my track, so I went slender and tall. Tux Tower sits prominently over the viaduct leading to the Tech Center and covers some of the door trim quite well. It's of similar construction as ARC, blue foam, gator board, tint film on polycarb, etc. For the main focus though I wanted an arcing atrium overlooking track side. The atrium itself is 5 stories and is trimmed in black and white decor, hence my dubbing it Tux Tower. Plant Pots and Benches are plastic end caps for metal tubes. I found a slew of them at my work and quickly made use of them. They've got just enough detail and paint up easily. The atrium has LED lighting on each floor and is wrapped in clear polycarbonate, wood trim and black crochet mat cut into strips. I call it additive building. My basic constructions start out pretty sloppy knowing full well that you can add layers of detail with increasing precision to get a nice finished look. Tux Tower Atrium, A great view of the tra...ck Hey I can see down that ladies shirt from up here! ;)

WLF1 Ring - A.R.C. Building

2009-03-24T08:59:00.002-04:00

Geometry rules! The A.R.C. building is a tribute to that fact for me. Aerospace Racing Corporation is a name I came up with as a teenager drawing cars and such. It derives from my love of aircraft, space, speed math and racing wrapped up in a tidy geometry term: An Arc!

Low relief buildings have been my target for the 'ring' lately and ARC was the first attempt. It's cleverly positioned on the uphill section of Eau Rouge and is basically a sheet of 1/4" blue foam scored and cut with bricks and windows. From there I created a single story triangular shaped out crop that comes out over the track. That was fabbed up from 1/2" gatorboard for the triangular trusses and the whole thing got a concrete stipple paint effect. The windows are window tint film that I applied to a polycarb graphic laminate. Clear poly plastic would work well too. With the tint film you just need something more stable to mount it too so it doesn't ripple all crazy-like. Make sure you spray water on both surfaces before squeegying. This will help get a nice smooth bubble free surface. Then it was all cut up and glued in behind the basic gatorboard architecture. Its great for making buildings you don't want to see in to. From there I cut up some plastic gas line for smoke stacks (yeah baby, Pollution!) and made armatures for the "smoke" out of silver solder. I shredded up some cotton balls and spray glued the armature then adhered the cotton to the wire. I sprayed with non-aerosol hairspray which shrivels up the hairy cotton and make it look more puffy. After that I spray painted the undersides with gray primer (any gray really will do) to help amplify the shadowing. First try and it looks pretty good and EASY to do. A few additional details like a guard rail, shrubs, second story deck, white trim pieces and such help make a low relief building like ARC really pop off the back wall. The cars look sweet screaming under it on there way up Eau Rouge en route to the Benetton 90. I gotta do some more of this!

WLF1 Ring - Propeller Speed Station

2009-03-24T08:15:00.005-04:00

I've had this access hole in my layout for some time and I had an inspiration for a lake side deck bar. I'm calling it the Propeller Speed Station. A name paying some tribute to the Bar's canopy I made from toothpicks. The deck itself was cut to shape from gatorboard and covered with plank wood strips and stained. It looks very authentic, but a note to the model makers out there: Hot Glue Guns and Stain do not mix! I had to repair several planks when the stain softened the hot glue. I'd go for wood glue next time. The 2 Bars were framed out in gatorboard then counters were covered in diamond plate textured styrene. Some corrugated paper trimmed out the exterior and I made glasses out of tube styrene. Stools were made from conical plumbing washers for the seats and Tile Spacers for the feet. Those two parts were connected with another piece of tube styrene. By the way, Tile Spacers work very well for chair or stool feet. They're four sided and come in various sizes. Not to mention you can get a bag of hundreds for just a few dollars. The one downside is some types are a bit rubbery but at 1/32 scale it didn't seem to matter too much. Adjacent to the station is a two story building which encases my basements support pole. That was constructed from gatorboard, scored for a wood plank look and trimmed in wood pillars. It's a great way to disguise the pole at track level. Eventually I will have a deck walk connecting it to the Propeller Speed Station.

The downside at this point are the cords coming down the pole from the track lights near the ceiling. I have plans to introduce all perimeter light fixtures and eliminate those lights on the pole. Its definitely an eye sore at this point, but will be fixed soon.

Oh and if you were wondering, Propeller Speed Station serves up Labbatt Blue Light, Diet Coke and Water... I miiiight be able to scrounge up a Jaeger for Martin though :)

WLF1 Ring - Post-Race Part 2

2009-01-27T14:03:00.005-05:00

"Well the Technical Center looks almost complete"

"It appears the Elevator has yet to be installed"

"I see the street lights are in"

"The Marshall Towers look fantastic too"

"Inspired from the Jerez, Spain testing circuit"

"Well done in the WLF1 Ring's signature red"

"Wait here comes the post race tribute..."

"Ahhh Michael Schumacher in his B191"

"Here's the Circuit Stats coming up now"

"Hey who are those honeys?!"

"Is that Marshall Number Eleven on the left?"

"See you in two weeks folks at the next GP"

"The teams will be testing here at WLF1 Ring in the coming week"

"A tribute to the success of the circuit designers to attract the teams back for testing..."

"A fantastic race weekend for sure"

WLF1 Ring - Post-Race Part 1

2009-01-27T13:56:00.002-05:00

"We hope you've enjoyed the race today"

"Lots of overtaking action and no major incidents"

"Lets go over to the Garage area..."

"Boy the circuit owner has some real gems in there"

"Always room for more!"

"Ahh the victors are parked and are coming out to the podium...."

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 3 Part 3

2009-01-27T13:47:00.002-05:00

"We're around the podium complex now"

"It looks as if Park Ferme has been re-done"

"Yes plenty of room there now"

"I see they have the victor position signs up already"

"That stained concrete adds a nice checker effect to the area"

"At the Start-Finish now, end of lap one, Mclaren holds on to a slim margin over the Ferrari..."

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 3 Part 2

2009-01-27T13:38:00.003-05:00

"They're out of Eau Rouge now climbing the hill up to Turn 16 the 'Benetton Ninety'..."

"A pretty dramatic left hander that can be taken nearly flat our as the road falls away from you after the apex"

"Mclaren still with the advantage as they approach the 'Wall of Champions' on the exit of Turn 17"

"The wall bears many marks from its prior encounters!"

"We're into Turn 18 now... the 'James Boys'..."

"It looks as if Renault is going to hold onto third place"

"They finally got some timing equipment and furniture in Race Control"

"Ha! and probably a little warmer in there now with Glass on the windows!"

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 3 Part 1

2009-01-27T13:25:00.003-05:00

"Mclaren's at the top of the hill now, before the Eau Rouge Complex"

"I see they've added a double high armco barrier there"

"Yes there have been plenty of accidents in the trees there during testing"

"Here we come now to Eau Rouge!"

"The cars chassis' will be bottoming out here"

"Absolutely! They're under a tremendous G load through this left-right left"

"I see they're almost complete with the new technical center"

"They ran into delays with the boaring equipment while creating the access tunnel through the mountains"

"Speed limit Eleven?! Whats up with that?"

"Ahh well no limit on 'The Ring', lets get back to the action"

"Passing the final Marshall Tower now... it looks as if the BMW has pulled off the impossible! A pass through Eau Rouge"

"Miraculous!"

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 2 Part 3

2009-01-27T13:22:00.003-05:00

"The Renault has retaken the position form the BMW-Sauber in the first apex of Turn 12"

"We're coming up on the second Sector Tower"

"Here come the times...."

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 2 Part 2

2009-01-27T13:12:00.002-05:00

"Well we're heading up the hill now towards Turn 11, the 'AJH Hairpin'

"Yes the order remains unchanged"

"I didn't know Benetton still sponsored F1"

"Hmm circuit planners must have offered a good deal to old Flav for those billboards"

"Hold now! The BMW has taken the Renault in the AJH hairpin"

"He's accelerating hard now down the 'Bridge Straight'..."

"Looks like the marshall was sharp for that pass... unlike the last time"

"Ok they're beyond the Marshall tower now"

"They'll be topping out at 210-215 mph for this looooong straight"

"Should be some good overtaking possibilities at the 'Bridge Turn'... a double apex-er"

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 2 Part 1

2009-01-27T13:00:00.004-05:00

"The BMW Sauber didn't pull of his manouver, the Renault is still in front of him as they approach turn 9 'Parabolica'..."

"They're passing the lakeside dock now"

"Not too many yachts out there today"

"Ohh a nice display of some vintage F1's out there though"

"Hold on! The Ferrari made a move going into 'Parabolica'..."

"He's got the Mclaren"

"So it's Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault, BMW, Williams and Honda languishing in sixth place"
"Yes, we're approaching the 'Apex Quad' now, around the Heli Pad"

"Ahhh what a spectacle!"

"Looks as if the Heli Camera Crew is doing a pit stop of their own"

"Yes, a beautiful corner with the Race Control tower in the background"

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 1 Part 3

2009-01-27T12:55:00.003-05:00

"Ok they are on the first Sector Tower"

"Mclaren still out front, but the Ferrari is awfully close"

"The Marshall has his blue flag out!"

"It must be the BMW Sauber closing fast!"

"The 190 R is not the most opportune spot for overtaking..."

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 1 Part 2

2009-01-27T12:44:00.003-05:00

"They're headed down the back straight now towards the 'Spoon Curve'

"Mclaren is in the slipstream of the Ferrari!"

"The new adjustable wing flap seems to be improving the cars stability in the wake of the Ferarri"
"Yes! It looks as if he's gotten him under braking in Turn 5!"

"Whoa the Ferrari is cutting the curbs close, he's run onto the grass-crete and nearly clipped the apex pylon"

"A good exit out of Turn 5 for the Renault as well as they pass the second Marshall tower en route to the 'Senna S'..."

"Those new Light Towers are highlighting the track surface very nicely"

"The circuit planners have done a good job with that..."

WLF1 Ring - Race Action Sector 1 Part 1

2009-01-27T12:29:00.004-05:00

"Into Turn 1, 'Pit Straight', the Ferrari has moved to the inside and is shouldering the Mclaren wide"

"Yes they're under the bridge now accelerating quickly towards the first left hander of the 'Schumacher Esses'
"It looks like the Renault is trying to pass the Williams on the outside of Turn 2"

"That Marshall in the tower better have his yellow caution flag ready for a bold manouver like that!"

"Yes the Renault is around and positioned himself perfectly for the inside of Turn 3!"

"Ok Ferrari still out front as we come under the pedestrian bridge at the exit of the 'Schumacher Esses'..."
"Ohhh oh! the BMW has run wide and the Renault slips through just as they pass under the bridge"

"Fantastic start for them, two positions before the first sector time..."

WLF1 Ring - Pre-race Part 2

2009-01-27T12:19:00.003-05:00

"Qualifying in sixth position is the Honda"

"It's surprising to see them here today, what with the team closing its doors"

"I imagine they've showed up as a courtesy to the circuit developers..."

"And in fifth position the Renault"

"Its seems they haven't adapted well to the new aero regulations"

"And on the outside of row 2, the Williams"

"Their KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is by far the class of field with its flywheel approach"

"Lining up in third position is the BMW Sauber"

"An impressive package again for 2009, its seems though they are still falling a bit short of the leaders"

"Outside row one is the Ferrari"

"Yes they were just pipped in the closing stages of qualifying yesterday"

"And on pole for the debut grand prix of 2009... the Mclaren"

"It looks as if they and ferrari are set to dominate again"

"Here come the lights..."

WLF1 Ring - Pre-race Part 1

2009-01-27T11:30:00.003-05:00

It's getting close to WLF1 Ring's one year anniversary, or at least the anniversary of groundbreaking! I've had lots of requests for updates so I figured I'd give you all a lap of the ring through pictures, starting with the pre-race "helicopter" fly by of the circuit...

White Lake Formula Ring

White Lake, Michigan, USA

.9 Miles (145 feet in scale)

19 Turns

Ambient Temperature: Frickin Bitter! (It's January after all so probably hovering around 0 degrees)

Track Temperature: A balmy 70 degrees

Lap Record: jmghF1

"Looks to be a dandy day for a race gentlemen, hard to believe this circuit is less than one year old."

"They've done a super job with the circuit layout, pit complex and other amenities"

"I love that garage with access right to the track, they're featuring several classic and modern race vehicles in there for todays event, we'll have to check that out later"

"Lets take a look at todays grid..."

WLF1 Ring - Reflections of the Ring

2008-11-07T11:41:00.003-05:00

I've looked in the mirror of White Lake and it is beautiful! I finally got around to finishing up the lake, two days of 'seat of the pants' modelling. I'd never done anything like that before but figured I might as well learn on 20 square feet of lake bed! Ha! First I painted in the depth of the water with darker shades of blues. I could have spent more time on that but once the epoxy was down I was definitly satisfied. I knew I had a big area to cover so I ventured to GL Hobby for the ready to pour water stuff. Firstly I'd need about 15 bottles, secondly their 15 bucks a pop! Thirdly they only had 4 bottles. I bought two cars instead. Plan B: Home Depot, Polyurethane by the gallon. I was alomost out the door of HD when I saw this Parks brand two part epoxy/urethane that claims it is equal to 60 coats of varnish, I figured "go for it" Its about one third the cost of the Hobby Water stuff so I just earned a couple more cars! I knew my lake bed was far from level so a thick coat would be necessary. The Parks brand was fantastic! Easy to mix, easy to spread and a deep mirror finish. 20 feet of lake bed done well by a rookie, I was quite pleased. There are a couple spots where the lack of level-ness is showing but I have plans for some boats and they will easily cover the one or two blemishes. That or I can use 'very small rocks', 'churches', or 'A DUCK' to cover them (for you BT). After all ALL those things float like witches (come on Python Fans!).

Other additions around the ring include canopies in the pitlane with lighting, Helicopter Fueling Station and Building with lights, Furniture, doors, walls in the control tower, Benetton 90 corner finished up with hills and billboards, people, marshalls (#11 is in the tower though) and grid girls! Whew hot stuff!

See you next time, in the reflection of the lake, but more then likely, in my mirrors!

WLF1 Ring - The Virus

2008-11-07T11:22:00.004-05:00

I'm a full blown carrier of this slot car disease and apparently I've helped spread the virus to others. I figured I'd share some of the other track designs I've done for people. Jimmy A. was kind enough to say that I have created a new era in ac2car track design, he dubbed it the "Post James Era". I guess I have a brought a skill set to design that hasn't been seen before but is surely making itself known to the slot car geeks. I've only seen pictures of two of these tracks in various states of creation: RB's Vintage Mid Ohio and PT's Rochester Hills Circuit. Take a look, but careful, if you catch the bug call me for the antidote!

WLF1 Ring - Race Control, Garage and Heli Pad

2008-10-28T10:33:00.004-04:00

I've started the race control tower which I have been making out of 1/8" brass tubing, hand curved and glued into a three story complex. I've got red styrene stairwells I fabbed up to connect the levels and created a two story observation deck out of some more plastic plates like the podium. I then connected it to the podium with a cool glass walled catwalk. There's a ton of work to do on the tower before I can finally close it up with glass (Polycarbonate) Desks, chairs, computers, lighting and doors to name but a few.

My collection of cars has been growing with every trip to the hobby shop and I decided to make an area on the track to store them. On the leading edge of the circuit perimeter I extended out a bit to make a two story parking garage out of 2x2's and mdf. I made some brick walls in the back and added light rope in the ceiling. It looks sweet! I am thinking I should have made it bigger because it's already about two-thirds full. Hmmm, I am thinking sub-terranean floors are in my future! There are concrete ramps connecting the track to the two floors as well.

Someone turned me on to a 1/32 scale helicopter model available in china so I bought that kit and it took about 3 weeks to get here on the slow boat apparently. Anyway when it arrived i proceeded to paint and build it all in one night. A nice custom paint job in my typical black, yellow and silver color scheme. A very cool element on the track which then required, of course, some helicopter landing pad lights!

I remade the brick walls under the bridge areas. It was a detail I made long ago but was unsatisfied with the original scale. Its now a much smaller brick and I trimmed it out in white sintra pieces. A big improvement for sure.

Next post coming soon to showcase the enhanced pit complex. Also furniture, and doors in the race control tower, Heli refuelling station and a lot more light effects. Those are done I just need to take pictures. Oh did I mention I painted the basement walls sky blue?!

WLF1Ring - Let there be light

2008-10-28T10:05:00.003-04:00

And the Slot Gods said: Let there be Light!
And so it was. And it was bright. And it was flashy. And it was blinky. And this is good.

The last several weeks have been spent introducing lights and effects to my track. It really has been fun and challenging to put fixtures and effect lighting 'round the Ring.
I found these cool mini landscape lights at Michaels (Craft Store). Their used for those tacky mini ceramic homes and stuff but are a decent scale so I used them for lighting the bridge and a few other areas around the track. Apologies if you like Tacky Mini Ceramic Homes.

Also I have been collecting old cell phone transformers, hell any transformer I can find and building custom LED fixtures for other areas. You just need to match up the voltage with the LED voltage draw (or at least close) and you can get series of 3-5 LED's on a transformer. So I have a series for the Red Start Lights, Pit Box Lighting, Pit lane strip of about 50 mini lights along the pit wall, and 3 bridge top lights, two of which flash. Hey you can't be too careful with helicopters and stuff flying around the Ring. Speaking of which I painted in the Heli Landing Pad and a section of 'concrete' for a fuelling station. As a result I have searched high and low for a 1/32 scale Heli to no avail, so I'm just gonna have to build one from scratch. Ahhhh back to the Transportation Design Days...

I made a podium out of styrene and a plastic plate turned upside down. Eventually from the podium there will be a catwalk over the track to the 3-4 story race control tower. I have a vision for that, but am still noodling how best to build it. Park Ferme (Winners Circle) is there now too for the victors. I've disguised the final two marshall areas with landscape, rock and trees. Lastly I put up Sector Arches over the track in thirds including the start light tower. Hopefully I can get BT to hook me up with a 3 sector lap timing system, but I'll probably have to do that graphic interface for him first, oh and actually own a real laptop pc.

I had a race night a few weeks back with Dave B, Todd, John A, Steve, Brian R, Brad, Donny, Martin, Chris and the neighbors. A good night of close fought battles. Now if I can only figure out how to better capture the racing action on film...

Also Pete T came out last night and I have to say he is officially hooked on CNC routing and AC2 car style for his massive table he's constructed. His overall responses "The racing is so smooth" and "its much cooler to race on a landscaped track" Buh bye 400 feet of Carerra plastic track!

Until we meet...the next lap.

WLF1 Ring - Its the Pits!

2008-10-28T09:58:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the WLF1 Ring Paddock Complex, or at least the beginnings of it.
You'll need the proper F1 Credentials to enter, but I'll take you on a behind the scenes look because surely none of you have the proper credentials.

Michael Schumacher, Raikonnen, Hamilton, Alonso and others cross under the Viaduct waterway and enter White Lake. There they park their far to expensive speedboats at the pit box docks and enter through their respective side doors and prepare themselves for a day of testing at 'the ring'.

The pit crews are active on all the cars (purchased plastic talent from Scalectrix which could use some paint detailing and will get some, some day)
Some crews are working on refueling strategies (Also from Scaley and requiring further detail) while others are practicing tire changes (which by the way the Scaley Pit Crew Kits come with some kick ass sticky tires for F1's which was a bonus, but you'll need two crew sets to get two rear tires) and yet others are chilling on the paddock's upper deck catching some rays with their SPF 1 billion on their heads (actually helmets but hey it blocks the sun, right Jennie?!).

Pit boxes were constructed from Gatorboard, painted and detailed with various styrene plastic parts. Its all removable at this point so I can get into the pit boxes to add tool chests, telemetry monitors, led lighting and such at some point. They are color corrdinated with my logo red, yellow, blue, green and numbered etc.

Roofs are covered in gravel (railroad ballast), the upper decks and catwalks are made from more styrene and polycarbonate for the glass railings. Those will get some paint on the decking eventually for a metallic grate look. All in all its looking pretty good and brings a real sense of scale having people in the mix, even if they are a bit lack luster in detail at this point.

On deck for the ring:
-Race control tower
-Podium Complex
-Paint and Epoxy the lake
-Helicopter landing pad (oh yeah F1 drivers love choppers!)

WLF1 Ring - Circuit namesake takes shape

2008-10-27T18:47:00.004-04:00

Landscape and a lake has been the order of the day in June. Areas have been filled in with rock wall which is various blue foam thicknesses. Those were then gouged up with a knife and burnished by hand, then painted in various, browns, blacks and greens. I used a custom mix of train ballast on the top layers for a loose gravel look.

The boulder wall around the lake I made from actual landscape rock. Eventually I need to paint in some color depth for the water and epoxy for a deep lake appearance. I then made some piers for the pit boxes which are on the agenda. Some day I'll have little driver speed boats docked for a day of testing. There's a viaduct too that runs under the track off to some distant sea. More blue foam there scored for a cool brick pattern.

Foam, mdf and whatever scrap material I have is being used for filling in the negative areas and then getting coats of modelling grass. I've been making more trees from my backyard and inserting as I move around the layout. Gravel traps now occupy most of the run off areas and I've created some grass crete in the apex areas of corners. Those were from plastic crochet grids cut to the corner shapes. Then some fluorescent clay orange pylons to mark the apex points and to prevent drivers from cutting corners (if they weren't on slots anyway).

WLF1 Ring - Details, Details

2008-10-27T18:36:00.002-04:00

Beauty is in the details, and after a busy couple weeks I realize I've only scratched the surface.I've been trying new things and bouncing around the track in different areas to work up some aesthetics and landscaping. Tire wall signage has been added which brings in some nice color to the turns. I tried to keep sponsors in line with my turn names where possible,like Benetton in the Benetton 90 corner, Porsche at Porsche Kurve, etc. Then just some brands I have an affinity for, Like F1, Elf Fuels, Bridgestone, O.Z. Wheels and others.
I finished the lower Bridge pilings which came at cool, but now I realize I should paint the bottom of the Bridge too!
I did some Pit Lane Work, like the Wall with WLF1 graphics, and fencing, which I used Drywall Patch Tape for the wire mesh parts and that worked out really well. Painted in the Red Sponsor area there and added Static Discharge details at the pit stops, but those are hard to see in the pictures (In real life these pull any static charge out of the car before fueling begins).
I also began some landscaping which I must say, makes the track come to life!Trees were made with some woody weeds I found in the backyard, Gravel Traps with train ballast, Styrofoam tiering and grass in the bridge and Schumacher Esses, as well as some stone work which I will have surrounding the yet to be conceived White Lake under the bridge.
Oh and I have been driving some, but hey I'm a designer so I keep looking at it and want to build more. This thing is exactly what I had hoped: F1 racing, design and model making rolled into one kick ass package!
More in a few weeks...

WLF1 Ring - Running 'round the Ring

2008-10-27T18:28:00.002-04:00

Greetings from the White Lake Formula One Ring. I've been busy juggling form and function the last weeks. I'll get into a little detail here for those that care.

I built apex curbing, 20 some sections from 1/8" blue foam sheet. Starting with tracing the lines and transferring that to the foam sheet, then cutout. From there it ways DAYS of filing the directional bevels (Right and Left Handers) and a couple coats of white and fluorescent red paint then glued to the track. These things are sooo cool, there's a few sections where I have the cars race line hitting the curbing and they perform just like rumble strips. I had to burnish a few down so the cars wouldn't de-slot, but now they are working very well. I think Max Mosley and the FIA would approve, maybe Max can come out and certify it after he stops philandering with prostitutes (If you're an F1 fan you'll have some clue of what that means).

Tire barriers were next and after contemplating how I was going to afford 30 thousand scale tires at 5 bucks per four ($37,500) I ran across a thick walled gas piping at Lowes. It's a perfect scale and dirt cheap. Now how am I going to cut 30 thousand scale tires? Anyway I just cut pillars to a scale height of three feet (about 4-5 tires piled up) glued the tire pillars together right on the track. Then I took the tire wall sections outside for paint, dropped the tire wall sections, broke the tire wall sections, reglued the tire wall sections, ah yes and painted the tire wall sections. Back to the road surface where I wrapped them in thin hobby foam which will some day get some track signage. Functionally they're set in the most obvious run-off areas and have already saved Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and the drunk guy in Martins Jaegermeister Car.

My Professor Motor controllers came in about 10 days ago and at first I couldn't get them to work. I tried to sub them right in without Diodes like I had Dave's and zilch. Not working. After some panic calls to theProfessor himself and Dave they both suggested hooking up with diodes and viola! High speed action across all four lanes. Two cars per lane so true AC2car style! Thanks to Andy (The Professor) and Dave for helping me sortout the controller issue. They are fantastic Andy.

Ok enough function, lets get back to some form. I made some concrete walls for under the bridge and a few additional areas. These were from the same blue foam as the curbing. I went for a textured checkered pattern and all in all the came out pretty good. Well that's the black and white of it anyway.

I Started working on the upper railing for the bridge section. That's all wood dowels, cut and painted and its really sweet seeing the cars speed by through the railings. Some day I'll hook up little LED lights along the railing for some cool night racing.
Last weekend my brother Chris came to stay and we ran the track, all four lanes until 3am Friday and Saturday night. easily 8 hours of running between the days and it was great. Lots of close racing and passing via wider sections of track and using the lane changers. The whole paddock of cars had their motors humming at some point, including the drunk guy in Martins Jaeger car, but he crashed, the cops came and they took him off to jail...
Thanks for all the positive feedback slot car fans! Until the next update.

WLF1 Ring - Operational!

2008-10-27T18:17:00.002-04:00

So it's April now and I was finally able to take the first laps! A lot of labor laying down the copper tape, installing power, power jumpers, fabricating and installing lane changers to name but a few. Awwww who cares! We're racing, and it is INCREDIBLE! The CNC routing is key here for an ultra smooth slot and the dynamic curves I created for the racing lines are awesome. Lane changers are working well and I am starting to remember all the little nuances and passing areas I created in addition to the lane change options. It should prove to provide a lot of tactics in the races and years to come.

WLF1 Ring - The Bridge

2008-10-27T18:08:00.002-04:00

The last and probably most challenging section for stabilizing the circuit was the Cable Stay Bridge. I wrestled with a few concepts for the spire and supporting structure while modelling in Lightwave, eventually settling on this concept in late March. I then printed a full size elevation to use as a template. With PLENTY of 1/2 inch MDF left over it became my primary bridge material. I laminated 2 pieces of 1/2 inch together and taped the template down to cut it out with a jig saw. Then I sanded it, drilled holes for the cables, inserted aluminum collars and fastened to the track. From there I ran 1/8" Cable from under the table through the spire, under the table, back and forth, back and forth finally securing at the end. The coolest part which was a bit unexpected is that the cable stay bridge actually supports and stiffens the road beneath. I was expecting some of that but it worked far better then I could have hoped. Keeping good tension on the cable was key there.

WLF1 Ring - The White Stripes Play at White Lake F1 Ring

2008-10-27T17:57:00.002-04:00

You'll have to bear with me here as some of these posts are old emails I am refineing and some are merely memories of where I was at. This paticular post being the latter and my memory is terrible.

So the track definition is coming together with white perimeter markings that I actually masked out with tape to have a smooth white line. Start line boxes are there, a finish line and I am starting to block out the pit lane.

I also airbrushed in a raceing line and some burnout marks on the start line and pit box, all in reference to a modern F1 circuit.

WLF1 Ring - Paint and Prep

2008-10-27T17:49:00.005-04:00

Here's the latest. The overviews are where it sits as of last night (Some time in March 2008). Half the track is finished with road surface paint. The other half of the track has a final coat of Gray to wrap up (It looks like stippled beige stuff now. Bridge and Pits are done in concrete look. After road paint, I'll add track markings, white stripes and such to define the track, pit entry, etc. From there its airbrush time for the racing line and then copper hopefully this weekend.I'm loving the close up shots and I can't wait to race the thing!

WLF1 Ring - The Build

2008-10-27T17:37:00.003-04:00

After I received the CNC panels I couldn't stay away from the basement. I started building. 16 hours and a couple of late nights later I had the track connected and sitting on the 3 foot subplatform. Since then I've added banking, attached the track completely to the frame and painted the initial gray colored road surface. Once that is done, I'll need to lay about 1000 feet of copper tape and wire it up to the vintage Lionel transformer I purchased. It is truly a labor of love and I am looking forward to much more activity landscaping and building track architecture including a cable-stay bridge that is the 20 foot straightaway!

WLF1 Ring - Groundbreaking

2008-10-27T17:31:00.003-04:00

I should have had some Grid Girls and Champagne present!

Some WLF1 Ring Details:

Lap Distance: ~140 Feet (1/32 Scale =.848 Miles)

Two 2 car lanes with two 2 car passing lanes (Four Lanes Total)

19 Turns

Elevation Change: 2.5 Feet (1/32 Scale = 80 Feet)

20 Foot Bridge Straightaway

Lane Changers: 2 for Fast Lanes, 2 Pit Entry, 4 Pit Stops (8 Total)

Fastest Lap: Unknown

The track was designed three dimensionally in the computer. That data was exported to create CNC routed panels. This made it easier to plan for the dramatic elevation change but still fill the space entirely.When the track sections are joined and put into correct elevation everything will align perfectly. That's twelve 4x8 sheets of MDF there! From here I will mark out my 2x4 Subframe, pull the track panels up and begin fabricating the 3 foot deck.

White Lake Formula One Ring - The Design

2008-08-17T17:07:00.003-04:00

So I'm full of ideas after that fateful venture to Legends. I have to build one of these! It's all I could imagine as a designer: creation, ambition and racing all rolled into a sweet little package (well maybe not so little). RC car who? Thus begins the travels down this large adolescents path towards something kick-ass, at least in my own mind.

As I said I am a designer, an exhibit designer to be exact and that has exposed me to some rather unique tools. Those of which I have studied endlessly to perfect and have enabled me to create this monstrosity I have dubbed the White Lake Formula One Ring. Lightwave 3D and Adobe Illustrator - my weapons of choice. I set out on the layout and in short time came up with a decent circuit that comprised many of the challenges one might encounter on a modern F1 circuit in slot car form of course. With some insight from DBR and his cohorts JA and BT I decided on the AC2car system for my layout. A bit of insight for the ignorant; AC2 allows 2 cars to run on the same slot. By integrating lane changers you provide users of one slot to change lanes and pass the competitor. As a result each driver has 2 paths around a track. If your track length is each 100 feet, thats 200 feet of unique slot lines a driver can take. Basically double the fun! WLF1 Ring is 142 feet of track so that's 284 feet of unique lines for each driver! I have roughly a 20 foot x 20 foot space, and AC2 enables you to maximize track length in the smallest amount of space. With my digital files in hand it was off to the CNC router with 13 sheets of 1/2 inch MDF. And wait, and wait and wait... Files submitted in December... finally finished panels in February! Well now the fun really begins, or so I thought.

White Lake Formula One Ring - The Inspiration

2008-08-17T16:32:00.000-04:00

Did I mention I was a rather large thirty-seven year old child? Well in those years I have become a rather avid Remote Control Car Racer, F1 cars of course! Strangely and unexpectedly late in 2007 I took a trip to this co-workers house to check out his "slot-car" track. I use those quotes sarcastically at that time. I was completely pessimistic and was used to the full control one gets at the hands of a RC car. Throttle, braking and steering to mention a few. Skill most importantly and I thought slot cars were anything but. Enter DBR and his magnificent Legends International Raceway of which you can see more at AC2car.com. No pictures handy to support this, but I encourage you to check out the site and see for yourself. I was utterly in awe. Not only was there this race track in front of me, but it was beautiful in the scale model sense. It was a thrill to drive and most importantly it was a challenge to race on. I was instantly hooked. I quickly had visions of a designers creation mixed with a passion for racing. Maybe most importantly I have gained a good friend, someone I can share this insane hobby with. My thanks DBR.

White Lake Formula One Ring - The Background

2008-08-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

I Love Formula One. It seems to emulate everything I'd hope to be as an individual. It's Fast. It's heroic. It's technically superior. It is the pinnacle. Of motorsport at least, and I adore that. But alas, I am a designer at heart and profession. I am no nearer to Formula One then I am to a great designer such as Frank Lloyd Wright, but I try relentlessly and for me that has been enough. I suppose simply, I have passion for anything I might try. With that I have set out on a rather unexpected path and when I sit back and gaze I realize I have created something quite extraordinary. Endlessly unsatisfied as other designers can attest, I have only just begun...

-My love to my lady, my number Eleven, for the encouragement to share this creation with others that might share my passion.