WLF1 Ring - Mid Views

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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!"