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Surrey & Hants 2.0
Firstly, admins I hope you can leave this post here as it would be great to reach as wide an audience as possible.
Recently the club has been reviewing what state it is in and how it can be taken forward. We've approached people from other clubs within the Mid South Region for their open and honest feedback. What's good and most importantly not so good. From this collation of thoughts, ideas and "for the love of all that's holy in the world do...." an action plan has been put in place and this is the start of it. So we thought it might be useful for other clubs (hence why its in this forum rather than the clubs) in case knowledge sharing helps them and if they have any ideas for us So what's good? Location Facilities - on site electric power, toilets, parking hard standing Tarmac for pitting with additional space on a grass field if needed for bigger events, food nearby Most importantly - what's not so The fixed features - double doubles and table top are far too inconsistent The astro itself - large ruts and ridges that make driving on it inconsistent The rostrum could be a little higher I'm writing this on my iPhone so the next post is the "and here's what we are doing about it" |
The track is a new layer of astro put down over the original astro. The original astro was always heavily laden with sand and this killed pinion gears and was always a source of complaint. Placing the second layer down gave a more consistent track surface and put the sand issue to bed.
The track looked like this... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psqixddyvv.jpg |
Yesterday saw the start of the club addressing the issues as they were laid out to us. Firstly the dirt double doubles. The astro has been peeled back and then attacked with spades....
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps0pk08muw.jpg Once clear it was time to take on the dirt / rubble based table top. This was an epic effort given the size of it and the weight of the material involved. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psa31yq4tu.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps5whra4rw.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps0ym4yse4.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9qoagekl.jpg The table top has gone we are pleased to say. A lot of hard work but it's gone. A great effort from Stuart McCabe, Carl Howard, Christopher Ellis, Gareth Whittacker, Paul 'stumpy' Taylor, Terry Dickinson, Keith Merridith, Duncan Hedger and I am sure I've missed some people |
Mote pics to follow
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So we have got work to do still Nd will be deeply reliant on club members but the aim is to bring S&H to a level where people think of us first as a track they want to go to
More updates to follow in due course |
Ace, does this mean you will be using just one type of astro all over as thats whats kept me from coming down as its original state had several types and wasnt constant with yellow mini spikes, and hate the idea of buying several sets of different manufacturers tyres to race there.
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Keep looking on here and we'll post when we are reopening. We are also planning on some decent jumps 👍 |
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"You know what, I wanna see what surrey and hants have been up to" grab their race kit & buggy and jump in the car. We are working our way through it, we have action plane in place and the best bit is the entire club is pitching in |
Hi all,
This is the first update on Surrey & Hants Radio Control Car Club's progrress. The old astro is completely gone. After having peeled up the new top layer, the old under layer has been completely removed and the top layer but back down. Giving us this... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psrcsc7vp6.jpg Which basically leads to a 5 or 6 very large (and ridiculously heavy) sections http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psuws1nuef.jpg Which has all been very neatly laid down and the edges of each of the c. 10 - 20m strips cleanly cut to give a smooth edge to line up against the next.. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pshrqstahv.jpg These edges were then peeled back to slide under some very professional (and heavily researched) fibre glass "tape" which runs the entire length of each strip and under the joins where 2 ends meet http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psu03l77l5.jpg Each strip has been covered with high quality adhesive and left to set http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pst7lbxqg8.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psjqehqbew.jpg Then to ensure the astro sealed well to itself and to the fibre glass tape all the filled hoses have been neatly placed to weigh down the bonding. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psvcemesek.jpg This has given us a very, very consistent surface and a base layer from which we are free to build upon |
Next stage - JUMPS
The jumps have either been loved or loathed at the club and remember the original ones have been dug out. We've gone to someone who has templated the designs, worked out the trajectories and computer modeled everything... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps59303bca.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps93d90022.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps91d96beb.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psa29a382d.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps8df1cd21.jpg Not happy to settle there we have had 2 foot wide prototypes made with thinner top surface material than we will be using for the 'real' versions. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psjchqisqw.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pswcbmidxj.jpg As you can see the prototype closest proved our thoughts correct about the top surface needing to be thicker as an Xray XB4 nose-dived into the surface from a preceding jump http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps16gb3bbo.jpg |
At the IconicRC day at SHRCCC on Sunday 1st Feb, the new surface and glue was put to the test. 6 solid hours of all manner of cars going round ranging from Tamiya Holiday Buggies, Clodbusters, Optima Mids, Lunch Boxes all the way through to Schumacher KFs went round at various paces.
And it was all successful :thumbsup: and most importantly everyone had a great day. As for the prototype jumps, these were tested in differing locations and differing styles of jump with all sorts of modern race buggies and again we've learnt what we need to and revisions to the designs have been made. So what's next? The new jumps have been commissioned for build today and are going to take a few weeks to be constructed. All CNC cut and the build quality, as per the prototypes (except for the top surface) is exceptional. We will then seal them from this lovely British weather and place different coloured outdoor carpet to make them truly stand out from the astro base.In the meantime we are having the old astro removed from the compound completely and the rubble and earth from the old jumps taken away. Then its all new hoses, changes to the rostrum, new banners to be hung around the walls of the compound, additional speakers etc etc So why are we publicising this? To entice new people and re-inspire old members to come and try the track as we make the improvements. You are all welcome by the way :) Share what we have done so other clubs may learn from our efforts if it helps them at all. And most importantly to thank those club members who have worked so hard at doing all this so far in no particular order - James Lucas, Chris Ellis, Neil Richardson, Terry Dickinson, Stuart McCabe, Carl Howard, Keith Meredith, Alex Tudor-Hart, Duncan Hedger, Richard Hamme, and many others Next update in a few weeks time. I hope you enjoy reading this thread and in case you weren't aware we race on alternate Sundays (next one is the 15th Feb for the Winter Series) from 8:30am and every Thursday evening from 6:30pm. Thank for reading so far |
the only fault I did find was with the table top in front of the rostrum .either side was a flat ended brick wall.this was could have beed taken down one brick layer and that would have got rid of the solid flat end that breaks cars.so just maybe a point when rebuilding the track.keep up the good work n see u soon
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As a minor point I did see one car, a fireboolt I think but I could be wrong, hit it flat out and take a chunk out of the blocks and the car was fine as an exception to the rule And you are welcome anytime |
the only fault I did find was with the table top in front of the rostrum .either side was a flat ended brick wall.this was could have beed taken down one brick layer and that would have got rid of the solid flat end that breaks cars.so just maybe a point when rebuilding the track.keep up the good work n see u soon
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The walls long gone
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Nice work guys, we'll have to organise a trip up at some point : )
We've experimented a bit with jumps based on BMX/Skateboard ramp angles, fair bit of trial and error compared to your CAD (mega!) but have some decent stuff now for indoors, biggest problem is all has to be put away each night so a bit limited on what we can store/easily move. After some advice on outdoor track stuff if you don't mind? Astro; where did you get unsanded stuff from? Does it have a specific name/type? We were offered a whole massive pitch of sanded but couldn't take it at the time, probably a blessing in hindsight. And hoses, we've had problems getting hold of decent diameter stuff in one colour as you have, where do you suggest sourcing that from? Fire stations don't have it any more, apparently even hoses are leased now...who knew?! Any advice appreciated. |
Astro we did lots of research and one of the guys found a guy that deals with second hand stuff we went looked round his yard and found what we wanted I haven't got any details for him however if I can find it will pass it on to you.
As for hosing no idea we have collected what we have over the last 2 years Hth James |
Thanks James
Very keen on the Astro info; being able to view before acquiring sounds ace. If you find the contact please do drop us a PM or a reply. Thanks! And keep posting the club updates, always interesting to see what other clubs are up to. |
Things are moving on nicely with the jumps. After having been designed so well by Alex, and then tested by the club, the first stage of fabrication has started with the delivery of some Diabond....
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pszmvfky0a.jpg and the first one is being put together http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps12yh4psb.jpg These will be sealed and then covered with blue astro |
And if you wondered about the consistency and quality of the jumps structure, then take a look at the framework ...
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pshureumws.jpg |
Not 2 days after a very hotly competed winter series round and Team SHRCCC are back at it again. Even though there were plenty of compliments about the track as it was, the work continued tonight in earnest.
This time the rebuild of the corner table top. Not only improving the infrastructure but also making the obstacle more of a challenge to drivers with the option of several lines through it each with their own particular pros and cons.... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps8095002a.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psb5983b2d.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps77958cdd.jpg Our thanks once again to the guys who turned up and to those who will be there tomorrow night to finish it off in preparation for racing on Thursday evening from 18:30 ( booking in starts) and racing itself from about 19:30 If you like what you've seen so far, why not come down and see for yourself and put some laps in? You will be made to feel more than welcome |
After 2 nights good work from the guys, we have a new corner tabletop. Various lines through it available and allows us to challenge all levels of driving with it.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psebmmx6ff.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psa5eytjkr.jpg |
There is no stopping these guys I swear. Not only was the new table top a success with the racing guys last night but then Alex, our resident designer of track furniture, came in with ANOTHER prototype for us to test. This time a 45cm high table top.
Can I ask you all to ignore the cheap chipboard in between the up and down slopes. This is a prototype and that is just there to separate the ramps at the calculated distance. The more it got rained on last night the more it sagged. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psqihspnty.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psiowxe8sg.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pslgmxjmpb.jpg The funny bit was watching a few of our esteemed drivers enjoying and laughing at a new toy to play with that was only 2 car widths or so wide. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psinggu01r.jpg Just look at the quality of the underside and this is ONLY a prototype! |
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Do you have the drawings for these? Could you send them ? |
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well done guys wish we had the committment here at swindon 10th off road to get upto the same sort of standard u have come up too the design and testing of the new jumps have blown me away could i nick the person who hhas helped you to come and do sum design work for us at swindon :thumbsup: i must come and visit when u have a sunday meet on
rich |
Another cheeky update. The framework for the new tabletop in all it's grandeur has been built....
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psyrr0fepi.jpg Over the next few weeks we start pulling all the jigsaw pieces together and turn out the finished the items. I'm excited, the club's excited and we can't wait to race on them. Oh and by the way - there is an open invite to come and try them out if you like. Be good to see some non-regulars come down and race, try our toys ;) and also get some feedback |
Bit of an aside from the usual "..here's what we are building and adding..." type posts this time. Thought I'd share how last night went. In a word...
FANTASTIC ! 26 drivers - our highest turn out on a Thursday in quite some time. Yes there were contributing factors - warm night for the time of year and had been dry for a few days but nonetheless, it was lovely to see some faces returning to the club and in some cases returning to racing full stop. Won't say much more other than it was a night like last night with a real buzz in the pits that makes the efforts worthwhile. Here's a few pics... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pswcjfxbhk.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psjbjzxyzn.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps2ziyzo3w.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psppx6tjdk.jpg And my personal fave pic of the night from the start of one of the heats... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps4ump6hth.jpg The nice thing is to see all the hard work starting to pay off in numbers, the level of competition and the atmosphere coming together |
WARNING - PHOTO HEAVY!!!
In a good way I hasten to add. A lot of the activities so far have been leading to tonight - build night. 4 members and one honourary member of the club spent the evening screwing, cutting, trimming and sealing a lot of wood work for the new track features tonight. These are all having dibond placed on top then with blue outdoor carpet over the top of that.... The rubble and earth that made up a lot of the features that were originally there has finally been moved. All 11 tons of it. This needs a little clean up but the good news is we can expand the track further now it has gone. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psctyehfdg.jpg That was yesterday's accomplishment, onto tonight's build. Just look at the quality of these jumps. Red sealed end pieces as red is one of the club's colours. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psimrctpnj.jpg As is black.. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psyqf4tmqc.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psiieybjtz.jpg The landing side of the new table top pre-carpet attaching http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psynt5zd63.jpg The table top centre section http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psmgf25emt.jpg An excellent shot of how well this has been built http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psis9l6hfw.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pshv5tguro.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psqrrijimz.jpg The plans of what we have been building http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps3otwfakj.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pshv5tguro.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psx1swamh8.jpg Every single piece front and back, up and down have been water sealed http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps6raubois.jpg Some of the bods involved in the sealing http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psc17jyw86.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psfzmemhde.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...pswjajqu81.jpg The astro / carpet surface for all the new furniture http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psyxlyahli.jpg The scale of what we have been working on http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psznsz4lhj.jpg The collection of our jumps and table top for delivery to the track this week http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psmxz5nzvr.jpg And there is more to come too ! |
The End of Phase 1
Phew! The end of phase 1 - this was to get the astro relaid, old track furniture off the track and commission and deploy new items to be raced upon. Well, I'm glad to say we did it. Almost the entire club pitched in to help and here are the visual results... |
So phase 2 will start now.
However in the meantime - why not come and see our newly laid astro for yourselves? Next race day is Sunday 15th starting at 08:30 |
Another new feature at Surrey & Hants and the first part of phase 2. As from tomorrow - Sunday 12th April, we will have a supply of tyres and inserts on sale
The club isn't making any money out of this, just facilitating the needs of the drivers to give them the club they want. Tomorrow is the Surrey Championship - anyone not going to the Nationals is welcome to race and see what the club is like after phase 1. |
Yet another big weekend of work from the SHRCCC collective. 2 full days of work parties - giving the club the fresh clean feel it should have and more track furntiure for us to drop in or out of the track as the layout determines.
This is getting so close to completion I can almost taste it. However, none of this would be possible if it wasn't for the club members so once again we find ourselves in their debt. So what was achieved.... New track furniture A new style kicker which has been tested both by itself and as a pre-launch ramp to the table top. Which can now be cleared smoothly if one were to want to with the appropriate layout. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9rodl4qr.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psbxw8vvvm.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps5uqfkvuz.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps6mk72cas.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psrwtxitnv.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps1hkfv4es.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psuy7zho4b.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psqwwus4dn.jpg And then the clean up started - we've amassed a lot of debris over the years and most recently the last few months and that needed clearing away. In fact it required an 8ft skip we filled to the brim and then some. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psxzymb8jq.jpg The whole track has been hoovered with the club Henry and Richard Hamme put in a new personal best lap time http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9p5wkiqq.jpg Underneath the rostrum is looking amazing http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psfpoiyinh.jpg We are even rolling out the red carpet for the regional.. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps6khy3h4u.jpg Clean up... http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psol8oogcf.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psckwkndxx.jpg Hopefully clicking the thumbnail below will show young Mr Richard Hamme doing the business with the Henry http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...psvglk5imc.mp4 All that leaves us : A new corner table top (for the red carpet) A new fence around the track perimeter A few minor additions and we are done A few minor additions |
Wow, looking very cool. Looking forward to the 2WD regional later this year to try the track for myself.
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