1/24 scale Indoor Track Design - Turns?

[Skyd]

Hey all, so I got my SCX24 JLU earlier this week and I've messed with it a few times, already love it and can't wait to get some more free time with it.



Up here in the "north country" of NH winter fast approaches we'll most likely see snow in the next 30-45 days. So I've got some extra space in my Den and me and my youngest son want to build an indoor crawler course.


I've settled on a size of aprx. 42" x 72" and actually used painters tape to mark out the size on the floor for a visual. I'm a planner and already have drawn out 3 designs on graph paper.


Here's my problem/question. Turning, in my short time with the Jeep I've noticed it's not a sharp turner in fact I can turn a circle inside my taped off area, but without much extra room to spare. For those of you that have made courses, how do you handle sharp corners? I don't just want to make an oval....I'm not into Nascar :lmao: Should I just keep the corners wide for multi point turns?



Any tips and tricks for course design are welcome.....this is my first go at it, I've got the process for building it nailed down, it's the design I'm hung up on.


Thanks!!!

 

[twchduk]

Hey there Skyd!

My first recommendations are for vehicle design. You can reduce your turning radius (slightly) by shortening your wheelbase, and sacrificing some climb-ability (my Deadbolts shipped with shorter links, but I am unsure for the Jeep). Additionally you can pick up the front overdrive mods causing your steering to pull more than the rear and the rear to drag a little reducing your turning radius.

Now for course thoughts.
1) Your surface grip/traction is going to effect your turning; a slipperier/sandy surface will allow for more sideways slip during a turn rather than the "hop" you can when turning. As a fellow Jeep driver, I'm sure you've dropped into 4x4 on a surface that had too much grip and felt this (bonus if you've ever also locked the diffs :shock. You can look at the YouTubes on why open (/limited slip) diffs are essential for on-road cars and what is going on here.
2) Rather than having an oval/figure-8 track, you can build a raked track having several long-wise tracks (extra coolness points if they cross over each other) and a turning section at the end.
3) Features not tracks. Instead of having pre-determined lines, you can create features that can be approached from multiple angles or linked in different ways

 

[Skyd]

Thanks for the response! I'll have to look into the mods for tightening up my turning radius although I think the JLU already has the shortest wheelbase, I'll have to check that.

As for the course design, those are some good ideas.....almost like a supercross track which I kicked around that idea a bit too. I have too many ideas and not enough space to implement them all so I'm gonna have to sacrifice some. I do like the idea of crossing up some of the lines, I plan to leave a space open where I can change the obstacles out from time to time as well.

 

[islandlife]

Im a big fan of the “area with obstacles” instead of the course idea.
The “offroad park” my som and i threw together for our scx24 is basically just a bunch of kindling and firewood stacked/placed in a roughly 3 1/2’x 5’ area. We used a bunch of softball to golfball sized rocks to fill in some gaps, hot glued a “kindling mountain” together. Works pretty good, and easy to expand, not very “scale” though lol. Unless you know anyone who wheels in a downed redwood forest with boulders strewn through the mess haha.

As far as turning, you’ll find if you make a few ledge type obstacles, where the little truck bellies out a bit, it’ll pivot on the ledge. Throw a ledge or tall speed bump in the middle of a corner and itll spin on the obstacle a bit.

 

[Skyd]

Ya, well I dunno wheeling among downed redwoods and boulders does sound pretty fun.....not sure my 1:1 Jeep is equipped for that though. LOL. Thanks for the tips on the ledges, I am trying to do sort of a semi realistic look/approach but I'm thinking perhaps I need to think less in terms of a track/trail and more like an offroad park with various lines