Thunder Mountain Raceway First steps into building my diecast raceway

Playz Tuesday, 6/29/2021

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New guy to site long time collector and I kinda needed to do more with the cars I love so much. And of course it all started with 3d and his glorious racing videos, like so many others.

anyways made a silly little video of as title says 1st steps before we start building properly...

all just testing and trialing size and design ideas, nothing set in stone yet 

Iets see where it goes 

i.imgur.com/E0VU3ZL.mp4


Discussion

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Playz 7/9/21

just started the build. All very rough at the moment figuring out heights and how to piece various bits together. 

tough part is I wanted to be compact in width so as track loops underneath itself  I have to figure out how to brace the track above it without obstructing the view below.

anyways no real rush apart from wanting to have it done yesterday...

I'm back on the job today, see how far I get.


  • A great start! Good idea to have the track layered on top of itself to reduce its footprint. — H3zzard
  • That layered footprint is the way to go, makes it nice and compact without sacrificing track length. This is going to be quite the killer track! — SpyDude
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Playz 7/10/21

Has some progress but took a quick time out to test

youtu.be/L35K0L0NVxc


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Playz 7/13/21

Video of some testing on layout

youtu.be/SiKLxuip6vM

looks good

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Playz 7/18/21

few progress pictures 



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Playz 7/24/21

Hi, track is making progres, orders for various diorama stuff is on its way and in my free time I am trying to learn how to make half decent videos. Novice is not even close, I would like to move up to that level soon! 

Any help with video creation is welcome...

New learning video...its like when the kids bring home some scribble as their masterpiece. Be kind LOL

youtu.be/ZsxWZQDcU2s

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Playz 7/31/21

update on progress, things are moving along a smooth rate...still too much to do but it's not a race...

I have added a few of the latest videos, be great to hear what you all think!

youtu.be/QtdKim0uFYE

youtu.be/9UdxVPmq5BU

youtu.be/Mkus_JU9LF4


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redlinederby 7/31/21
Site manager

It's great seeing your progress photos and how it's gone from 2x4s and tape to a functional track. It's always a good reminder to see that it doesn't require much to get started making a fun track.


  • Thanks mate I really appreciate the kind words. I really know the true meaning of the old phrase, it all take time...the doing isn’t the issue, every part just takes time — Playz
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Playz 8/2/21

Started to paint the the rock faces of the mountain 

went from this

to this


  • That's some top tier terraforming! Amazing work — H3zzard
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Playz 8/6/21

Little video of progress and a bit of fun...

youtu.be/pV2oeuae-6c

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BattleStreet 8/26/21

That looks like a sweet setup! That gray track looks awesome, I'm just waiting for my crash racers set to show up from eBay so I can start laying out my first track. Great inspiration looking through the track builds on here! 


  • Cheers mate, I saw your post just before and I’m a fan of everyone’s track so I’ll be watching out for progress updates too!! — Playz
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Playz 8/31/21

things are progressing nicely, I even moved the track inside. Now I don't have to freak out every time there is a cloud in the sky. I had it wrapped up in tarps but still was a worry it may be destroyed in a storm. 
so one less thing to worry about

i placed an order in July for trees and other items to decorate track but still waiting on them, if they ever make it.

started to foucus on bottom half of circuit. Need to make buildings, parking lots and various other city stuff. The black surface of bottom is upside down carpet squares, not perfect but easy and cheap (left overs)

I started work on junk yard and need to add fence, weather ground etc

the other thing I'm focusing on is adjustment and tweaking of corners and transitions, the track held a trackday to help pinpoint these areas of concern.

this whole race day video was also a 1st for me and it was a great learning tool. It was only a short while ago I never made any videos...LOL 

so while video is lacking polish consider it a step much like in building the track. It gets prettier the more you work on it.

I also bought a 3D printer so looking forward to making cool stuff to add to track as well.

I'll keep you all updated as we make further progress. Thanks for your interest and any help, suggestions etc are welcome!

youtu.be/wZz0YXVax5Y


  • It's looking great man. I have one of those Kmart version tracks and I do like how wide the corners are. Going to see if I can integrate it into my next track build some time — Chaos_Canyon
  • Thanks mate, the Kmart set is ok for price and availability but after scoring the proper stuff its a bit ho hum..still mighty useful and fully usable don’t get me wrong. After seeing your many creations I am sure you can put it to very good use!!! — Playz

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