BIG IDEA: 3D-Printing Hot Wheels Orange Track Based On Real Corners of Real Tracks

"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy) 05/24/2016 at 11:15 • Filed to: BIG IDEA, Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels Track Builder, 3D Printing, 3D

10

11

Ever had Hot Wheels’ orange track and thought: “This is neat, but I can’t seem to come up with more corners”? Me too. Then an idea struck me: with current 3D printing methods and videogame assets, it is possible to come up with track that is shaped exactly like the Eau Rouge complex, the Corkscrew, and 130R.

I got the idea a few months ago while me and my friends got some old track out to play with for one last time, as they were getting sold off. It was immense fun, but soon we ran out of configurations. That was the point in which I posited the idea to my friends, an idea which I shall also present here.

Thanks to the (now heightened) power of 3D printing and third-party mods for racing games, it is possible to come up with compatible orange track that is shaped like real-life corners found in race tracks around the world.

With this, new play opportunities open up, and those who are curious about which combination of corners would make for a challenge will get satisfied.

The job is relatively easy, in part due to the current power of 3D printing, and in part because it is easy to get track assets from mods for, say, F1 2013 ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), Stock Car Extreme ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), rFactor 2 ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), or Assetto Corsa ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), and there’s appropriate filament that matches the plastic Hot Wheels uses.

Of course, there will be challenges. For one, the pieces have to be extra-rigid, to make sure they don’t flex out of position, and the barriers have to be a little higher than standard to keep the cars from falling out. Individual adjustable pylons will be needed to keep the new bends in line with actual playsets, and with corner entry and exit heights angles being entirely different with standard track, tabs will have to be integrated to eliminate the need to use connectors. Plus, the pieces themselves have to be labeled.

Still, wouldn’t it be cool to see a combination of these corners in one playset? Fact is, one can fully print out a single layout (say, TT Circuit Assen) in the same dimensions as regular orange track, connect a few boosters along the way, and go racing.

And that, fellows, is my big idea. 3D-printing a 1:64 car !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! before, so it would be fitting to see compatible track that plays like the real thing.

You know something? This can be made for a good Kickstarter project, or can be petitioned to Mattel as a sort of collectors’ set.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 11:24

0

Mainly because of the difficulties of keeping them on the track, I guess. If it’s hard for a human to get a car through the corkscrew, imagine what’s going to happen to an unguided piece of metal with no brakes.

getFuckedHerb > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 11:31

0

I think corner selection would be limited due to elevation change being very hard for a hotwheels car, but there is zero reason why you couldn’t print some awesome corners and try wild stuff out. Printers now days can create very smooth pieces strait off the deck.

Important part is getting the connectors for stock track programmed and perfect so you can start playing with the part in between.

Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 11:39

0

The idea is awesome. The actual enjoy-ability of the end result will be limited by the physics of the cars unfortunately.

cazzyodo > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 11:44

2

My eyes literally widened in excited interest just by reading the title of your post.

Fuckin’ love it.

Plans were already in motion for a 3D printer in my life within the next year. This just justifies it further.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 12:13

0

You would probably need some kind of setup to keep the installation from shifting due to cars being launched/passing through it. And that’s going to be somewhat more difficult than the regular banked corners and those tabs you can tape to the floor.

And then there’s the issue of sanding the track surface so it doesn’t kill car speeds or the paint finish while not compromising the accuracy of the replica or its structural integrity.

Interesting idea overall, and the engineering needed is part of it...

budget_crx > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 12:20

1

Since Hot Wheels tracks are only the width of a single vehicle would you print out just the proper line of the track as opposed to the whole width?

CyborgAdaLovelace > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 13:05

0

I find your ideas intriguing...

A couple thoughts:

I suspect that to be HW compatible, you would have to do a fair amount of tweaking to the layout, such that the corners would be “inspired by” famous racetrack corners and built from scratch rather than straight imports from video game assets. In some ways, that might make the job easier (since the final product would be simplified significantly).

There’s some club or something that has some videos on YouTube (unfortunately I can’t find any right now) with a lengthy downhill track with lots of corners and such. It’s not made from orange track but is approximately 2 or 3 times the width of orange track (maybe less on the straights, more on the corners, can’t remember for sure). IIRC, a good chunk of it is constructed from slot car track. Anyway, it works surprisingly well, although sometimes the cars end up going backwards. THey use it for one-on-one races. I suspect that something like that would work better for corners than staying strictly to orange track width.

Get some of the Driftpad material in there too?

RoboRed "The road to hell is paved with overturned Vanduras" > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 13:14

0

This is brilliant.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Wheelerguy 05/24/2016 at 15:07

0

Yea for a Hot-Wheels track the elevation changes may be difficult, though you could certainly add the rubber wheel speed boosters to make it work.

I wonder if this has been done for Slot cars though? On a brief search for Laguna Seca, I couldn’t find an accurate one, but I imagine with the cars being self-powered, this would be much more feasible.

blu240 > Wheelerguy 05/25/2016 at 01:08

1

A double feature!

I’m honored... And will be looking into this in the coming months. I have created silhouettes from maps and used then just as small desk art, but never took a go at the 3D elevation aspect. I will admit that 3D printing an entire racetrack in 1:64 is a little impractical but somebody’s gotta try it

Wheelerguy > blu240 05/25/2016 at 01:15

1

Eh, just individual corners are enough.