6 replies to this topic

[iceracer]

Hi there:

 

Hoping I can get an answer here. I'm in the midst of laying out a track.  It will be MDF.  There are 2 tracks I frequent in my area both have different surface finishes.

 

One has a matte latex painted surface, and no traction additives are allowed, well rather, your tires cannot leave any marks on a glass surface before they go on the track.  The other is a traditional shiny urethane finish where we use lighter fluid and castor oil treatment for the tires, this track is very sticky from years of castor oil on it.  I run foam tires on both tracks, having separate tires for each track.

 

While I like the grip the urethane offers, I want the "scale appearance" the latex track offers.

 

If I finish the surface in a matte urethane, will it offer similar grip levels that our traditional glossy surface does?

Is it the surface sheen or the material that gives the grip?

 

My plan is to allow tire treatments, but the tires must not leave any residue on a glass surface before they go on the track.

I don't want to be spending all my time cleaning the track and braid.

 

Thanks.

[Ramcatlarry]

Sounds like you have been out of touch with most of the model racing world for a while......

 

Homeset:  Many wood tracks in 1/32 scale use the solid silicone or rubber tires common with Scalextric/Fly/Slot-it/SCX/Carrera.  Our club favor the 'super tire' brand for consistency.  Our club tracks are painted with a flat to semi-gloss chalkboard paint and cleaned with a painters tack rag. The silicones are then cleaned with naptha and lightly dressed with 'carmex'.... Foam tires can be used, but they dry out and usually need some track 'glue' as sold by camen or koford and is a bit thicker than castor oil.  As an option, I used STP on occasion on the commercial glossy surface.

 

Commercial tracks: Painted with Acrylic latex epoxy or similar glossy floor enamels.  Very impervious to chipping and chemical wear from cleaning with solvents.  Usual traction glue is applied by spraying a mix of one small bottle of camen medium in a quart of naptha (well mixed ) and left to evaporate the solvent.  Good for up to a month of weekly racing if the room is dust-free.

 

Bone dry tracks went out in the 1960's.  Old style latex paints are porous enough to absorb the oils and chemically separate from the wood.  ALWAYS prime the mdf with stainblocker that will soak into the wood (surface and slots) and then the glue for the braid will stick to the paint and not pull-up the wood when the braid moves around.

[iceracer]

Thanks for the info. Actually am quite in touch with the scale world as I currently race hardbody 1/24 cars with foam tires and metal chassis.  We run foam tires on the latex track dry and the cars run really well, although they do give up a little over the course of the longer events.

 

Most of us that will be using it favour the sponge tires over the silicones and urethanes. I'd like to host 1/32 cars from time to time and if the track is all gummed up, it tends not to suit those plastic cars well it seems. For the latex track, we hve been using the Scale Auto brand tire cleaner with great success, it really softens the tire and does not leave a film on the track.

[Tony A.]

On my home track which is routed mdf i have used Suede effect paint and that provides good grip for all types of tyres

[airhead]

 Two to three coats of rustolem  enamel ,dry well between coats,  spray glue the corners.  After 8 years of hard use  and cleaning the paint has held up well,  

 

I am now have to replace sections of worn out braide  but the paint is holding up fine.

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[Mbloes]

 

Bone dry tracks went out in the 1960's.

 

I dunno Larry, bone dry tracks are very in at my house.

 

I think you will get a million different answers to this question so you just have to figure out what your goals are as far as tire selection, traction and track maintenance.

 

I know I didn't want to deal with glue in any way, shape or form.  After reading a million different posts, I decided on a marine polyurethane finish made by a company called Interlux.  My finish came out very bitchen and bulletproof, but it is very high gloss and sponge tires will not work on it.  

 

After a little experimentation, I now use urethane tires made by Paul Gage (from Canada!) on all my cars.  My track is 1/32 only and 45' (15 meters) long and these tires work well for my situation.  And they are (gradually) laying down a rubber line so I've got to think that traction will only get better.

 

I also don't take my cars to other tracks to run so they are really set up for my track.

 

In retrospect, I probably would have made my finish "flatter" (you can buy deglossing additive) as I think this would have given me better traction.  But, otherwise, my tire / finish combo definitely works as-is.

[Tim Neja]

Well on the track in my avatar--Bob Scott used a "Varathane" finish as the final coat.  It is glass smooth--but it does "rubber up" quite well and maintained very good bite for many years without ever using any kind of glue.  We ran all kinds of tires--urethane for the most part on the hard body 1/32 cars with some silicon's also--and foam tires on the retro and flexi cars!  All worked well and the line could be seen very well once we had a few hundred laps down.  To each his own--I'd NEVER use any glue--just not necessary to have great racing!!