Indoor Micro/Mini Course
 

I have a few Axial SCX24 rigs and Christmas day I hot glued a bunch of wood and twigs to a 1x6 board. It was great for a few days.

Then I expanded with a scrap piece of plywood that is roughly 16" wide by 36" long. Cut some PVC pipe slices amd hot glued them. Cut some slices off of twigs and stacked and glued them. Then made a stack of PVC pipe pieces that can be rearranged.

Re: Indoor Micro/Mini Course
 

Then started in on this beast. LOL.
Doesn't look like much, but it is challenging. In fact I had to sort of re-do the top to make it easier for the young ones.
They are still learning throttle control and it is very difficult for them. I'm going to make another but just have it simple ups and downs that are bumpy along the way.

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Definitely looks challenging!

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After having the kids test run it again last night, a new one needs to be constructed so they can just drive up and down with minimal steering inputs.

I was way too ambitious with this mountain.
Also I forgot to account for the width of the trucks and had to widen every area of the thing.

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@air8 what is the white mountain made out of? How are you able to change it?
Looks nice. I need to build something for some inside crawling. Too cold & wet for outside crawling.

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I started off with a few cardboard boxes and packing paper that I crumpled into fun shapes.
I used the hot glue to attach cardboard to wood, paper to cardboard, paper to paper, and paper to wood.

Not sure if it makes ANY difference, but I use the hot glue that requires higher temps...I think it's called All Purpose hot glue. I didn't use the low temp stuff which is used for fabrics, foams, and delicates.
So the hot glue is good and strong when it sets up...like the glue will rip chunks off 2x4 studs after setting a few hours.

After getting a rough shape, and what looks like fun angles...I try to picture what the surface would lool like when covered with plaster cloth. The white plaster cloth sets up fairly rigid when left to dry overnight. The plaster cloth is so flexible when wet that you can push, pull, stretch, and shape it really well.

In fact that is where I ran into issues. The cloth shapes so well, I made peaks and crevasses too high and too low for the 1/24 sized trucks.

After the plaster cloth dries I cut cardboard and crumpled more paper to fill the low spots...hot glued them to the plaster cloth.... and recovered with plaster cloth.

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In the top picture above, notice the wild carboard shapes I hot glued onto slanted cardboard. When covered with plaster cloth it makes an awesome looking mountain feature.

In the picture below you can see another feature at the bittom of the pic. Same type of thing. Hot glued a piece of cardboard that had a long curved slope and covered it with plaster cloth. Oh and at the far left of the picture below you can see the angled feature I referenced above.

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I keep getting distracted. So yea basically hot glue amd cardboard to keep widening the path, cause I accidently made it too narrow, and more of the same to fill in the diff hanger spots simce the little ones don't know yet how to avoid getting them caught.

A little insight...I suggest a 5-inch wide path for the 1/24 scale trucks. That seems to allow some steering and path correction while driving. And try to take into account the wide turning radius the tiny trucks have.

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Well I'm going to severely alter this little mountain...or start from scratch again. After laying down some sanded grout the mountain is still too difficult.

I'm a skilled RC driver having raced nitro off-road and electric indoor off-road for 15 years now. This thing is crazy challenging.

My SCX-24 trucks are bone stock right now so that isn't helping. With some brass added there would be several more places the trucks could climb around. I taped some magnets on to prove that weight helps.

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I think I will start a new build that is simple for the kiddos. I can take pictures of the process and detail the build if some of you would be interested. For some reasonn I am having fun building small courses and obstacles for these mini trucks. LOL

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I don't think it is bad t have some undrivable lines.
I think a mix of easy and difficult lines is best to keep it from being boring immediately.
As skill and upgrades permit, the harder lines keep it fresh.
You can even place gates to require that a particular line be used if the easy line becomes used too frequently.

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I did make flagged gates by putting a drop of hot glue on wax paper waiting for it to cool slightly and sticking a toothpick in till the glue sets.

But I then peeled the glue off the wax paper and I can position the flags anywhere.

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Scratch start for a simple course. Wood base is 19"x21". A leftover from a cabinet I built 20 some years ago.

These trucks have lights so might as well put them to use.
This tunnel will be about 12" long. Tunnel height is 5-1/2". Tunnel width is 6".

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Filling in gaps...adding bracing.

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Adding features, getting creative.

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Adding bumps to jiggle the trucks around. When covered with plaster cloth there will not be sharp edges for tires to tear apart. It will be just a smooth transition.

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Adding more terrain.

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Amd more...

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Overall look so far....

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Test fit vehicle every step. LoL. I don't want to make this one too difficult for the kiddos.

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That will be a fun challenge.

Cant you modify the first one to be bit easier? Its got great potential.

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Yes I will modify it the original one. However it has some great lines for us adults....so.... I wanted to make a new one before I start. I'm procrastinating basically. LoL.

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I like the way your cutting up cardboard then covering it with plaster cloth. Might have to try that on my next project instead of smashing $1 aluminum baking pans from the $1 store.

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It works really well. But sometimes cardboard is hard to get with out finding a store that sells packing/shipping boxes or something.

However if you're into RC...99% chance there are boxes or packing around.

Also plastic jugs for milk, pop, juice, etc. work well.

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Getting close to a stopping point.

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Made a small recess for a cave. The kids have several small figurines that can have a picnic while trucks crawl and crash around. LoL..

Hoping to start on plaster cloth tonight...however big indoor off-road race today. Big turnout...so I'll probably be there. Then a friend and I are headed out crawling with 1/10 trucks.

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A little test run with the kids. Of course they won't keep their trucks in frame for me but her animals are in place. LoL .

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Another action shot of the 5-year old lady figuring out the outer limits. LoL

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Can you tell I'm having fun???

Flexxin' on the crest of the hill.

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Steep decent angle and the oldest requested the light bar be put on. And at 6-yrs old she said she like thr B-17 Betty "most because of the detail.".... Her actual words. :mrgreen:

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LoL.

In the background the youngest had to go to the drive -thru at Sonic for a "slushlee." The Deadbolt is making his order now.

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Combine both structures for new driving lines.
This is my driving here. The 3-yr old is done for now....she found dolls.

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Been a few days. Added some finishing touches and a sort of sky bridge thing.
Also added some traction bumps for the steep areas. The trucks are really close to making it up the cardboard with the traction that cardboard offers. Once the plaster cloth and sanded grout are cured it should be perfect. LoL.

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Here we go. Adding the first bits of plaster cloth with the thing upside down.
....Remember ladies and gentlemen....Don't fight gravity unless you're an astronaut. LoL

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Good advice about the gravity. Waiting to see this section finished.

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I should have quit adding to it and stay with my 'simple layout' plan. But everything is almost driveable just with cardboard. Once traction is added it will be money.

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Plaster cloth going on.

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I cut strips narrow so they bend and form easy.

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About 90% cured. Some spots are damp still but I test ran the track with the C10 and Deadbolt. Both truck stock....well the C10 has body posts raised and front bumper off currently.

All pretty good, but in the pics there ended up being a teeny tiny wall that the passenger rear tires can't climb.
This is one area that is damp still. Aaaaand it it going up the tallest part of the track.
After I get grip on the surface maybe it will work out.

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Another section that ended up troublesome is this short vertical wall.
I'll make some transitions to smooth it out because it is just totally in the way. And above this wall is very narrow causing high center issues if ya do attempt it. LOL.