Where to find a finish line?
Looking to build a track. Have everything to start the build except a finish line. Track will only be 2 lanes. Can anyone tell me were I could find a 2 lane finish line. I have looked on ebay and Amazon with no luck.
Discussion
Diecast64 has a great how-to for an electronic one too, gives you all the stuff you need.
- Thank you very useful — AGI_RACING
- Brian, any way you can post a link to the 3dbotmaker article Matt is talking about? I did a search, but my searchfu is weak. — Go_Time
I believe this is the post Matt was referencing, or best I could find...and I had forgotten this post too. It might have what I need to rejigger my 4-lane finish to support data out and a timer.
www.redlinederby.com/topic/4-lane-electronic-arduino-finish-line-w-components-code/2081
And while I admit that the site search is something to be desired around here, you can also look through the Tag Collections in the archive. I've tried to keep up with categorizing posts as they come in so in this case, scan through the Finish Lines collection and you'll get all the related posts.
3DBotMaker made the best ones by far. I'm super sad he no longer does as I would have loved to have gotten a 4 lane version. If he wanted to make bank on this hobby all he needs to do is start selling them again for inflated prices cause there really isn't anything else like it. Think I would have paid double what I paid for mine at the time, it would have been well worth it.
- Yeah I love my simple DIY version but would pay good money to have the part HE built to complete it. It looks and performs so amazingly well. — Mattman213
I am looking to buy a electronic starting gate and finish line. I don't want to build one.... I want to just buy it. Preferably a finish line with time on it. Can someone direct me to a link or a person who can build me one???
Thank you!
Check out the Finish Lines collection of topics in the Archive. Lots of great discussion and short list of retail options for finish lines (and some starting gates). Sadly, the options are slim and the ones that exist are rather pricey.
I was experimenting with a different sort of finish line at the weekend - a bottleneck or merge finish - using a standard catch ramp from an old jump set (with the support leg removed). It actually worked really well. It's the correct width for 2 lanes (I was using it with a final straight of "open" adventure force crash racers track, which is two lanes wide) but you can't connect track to it as such as the grooves underneath are only for a single lane in the middle of the piece. I just overlapped the track slightly but there may be a better solution.
I feared it would just be a crashfest but it was really pretty accurate at revealing the winner as the car with the nose ahead ALWAYS seemed to come through first (albeit often on its roof). A different option to think about. Maybe not one for the serious racers but it was a lot of fun!
- I think the funnel is about the only way to wrangle an open track. Not the most elegant but slamming at the end can add some drama. — redlinederby
You could also drop it into a wide half pipe, that would bring all the cars back to centre, with less immediat crashes as there's still room for them to go side by side for a bit
Some how I don't think I am going to buy a 12 lane finish gate, and I probably won't make one either.
Sometimes the best finishline is a good checker pattern on the track and a highspeed camera to take the shot. There isn't a gate or timer that doesn't error, because all cars approach them in a different manner. No system is perfect. The best system is consistency. I have watch some races were the person clearly knows his timer and says.. Car A won when Car B shows as the winner. I was not able to see it with my eyes, but sure enough, when he slows down the footage... wow.
I do have many the vintage style finish gates. Sometimes they just don't last very long, before they break (like they did when we were kids) or just go wonky.
The hot wheels gates of anykind , including the electronic 6 lane gate has errors and lags on some levers.
Its just the nature of the beast. I have seen some awesome timer set ups and I want one, Probably a 2 or 4 lane set up is reasonable. I like the ones I have seen. One maker no longer does the 4 lane timers.
Thats a shame.
I have enjoyed this thread in its entirety.
- Hear, hear...consistency is the best system. Ultimately it is up to how you want as long as you're willing to stand by it when anyone makes a dispute, which would kind of be silly anyway with this stuff. My first finish line was a HW V-Drop and it worked great for years. — redlinederby
Has anyone tried this one yet?
Saw it on another forum and it looks really interesting. Pricey though but the fact it could handle multiple cars on a fat track is appealing
- Very pricey, especially for something that would require a lot of support to work with a track (so it looks). Interesting though...never thought about science equipment as a source. — redlinederby
Have refined my catch ramp solution slightly. Just a bit of tape and some chequered sticky vinyl but it gives a nice smooth join and no need to worry about the two pieces coming apart.
I am working on one this week (hopefully if the parts all arrive) that is designed to be super simple to setup and use. Best of all the timer display should work on your phone, tablet or computer instead of needing a display - which should also keep the price right down.
Presuming it all works out as I have planned it in my head, I'll let you all know the details when it's ready
There are numerous 2 lane options that drop a flag for the winner, ebay usually has plenty. They are from vintage track sets but can be had wasted enough. Electronic I harder to source and eventually I just but the bullet and built one. I used 3DBotmakers writeup that can be found in the archives.
Matt