# Guardrail Material?



## Ligier Runner (Nov 29, 2004)

I've tried my best to find a suitable material for guardrails (alternative to what you get in race sets) but evidently my imagination isn't imaginative enough.

I'm looking for something that is flexible for turns and I can attach to the tabletop that looks reasonable for being a guardrail. It doesn't have to be dead-on accurate in scale or looks, just something that decently represents a crash barrier between the track and "spectators".

What have you or someone you know used? Any and all ideas/suggestions are welcome.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Someone had posted a pic of how they took the ones from their set and modified them to look more realistic and mounted them to the tabletop. They had repainted them aluminum/silver and drilled (i believe) holes so the feet could be glued into the base. Once they had been mounted, they were detailed with various types of ground cover (grass, dirt and gravel depending on location) around the posts to give them a finished look. Actually looked very realistic. Heck of alot better that the typical installation of the orange or yellow rails clipped to the track itself.  rr


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## Ligier Runner (Nov 29, 2004)

I used to race on a layout years ago where that was done and I've thought about doing just such a thing. I still might if I don't come across anything else that wows me. Just hate to miss out on another idea (if something else is out there).

Thanks much rr!


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## martybauer31 (Jan 27, 2004)

Hey LR, you could also go check out your local Home Depot/Lowes/whatever for the molding you use against your walls on the floor. They sell it by the foot, it's flexible and makes a nice guard rail as well.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Ligier --

I use some stuff I buy at Menards -- It is some type of white molding that is about a half-inch tall with a slot that is just wide enough to place a good size mounting nail. I used them all over my track. It comes in 8' strips and you can bend them around corners in a couple different ways -- they are plenty flexible.

Here is a the sku #









And here is how it looks mounted -- makes a nice concrete-looking wall.









'doba


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Try your local home center....*

Troll the aisles for ideas. I ended up in Home Depot one day. I found weather strips that are vinyl (white) and there is a peel off sticky strip on them. They peel and stick to outside and inside curves and start out about an inch or so high. They can be trimmed to fit. My landscaping is built up next to it, which pretty much locks it in place. You can paste logos and sponsor ads to them pretty easily. I also like the guardrails by Tomy, but I hate the orange color, yellow too. So, I used "Hammered Finish" silver spraypaint (again from H.D.). Just be sure to de-grease whatever you paint. Lots of stuff at those places and much cheaper than the hobby shops for things like this. I found a nice mix of guardrail styles worked for me. nd

BTW: Doba's track is looking capital "I" nIIIIIIce. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## Ligier Runner (Nov 29, 2004)

Thanks for the great info gang!!!


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

I used the factory ones, cut off the clips, drilled holes in the 1/4" plywood inlays and mounted them along the track. If you leave the upper lip of the clip it fits nice and flush at the top when installed. This piece shows how to offset them from the track in corner areas for more realism. I also offset the guard rails away from the straights @ .50" so that the track appears wider. They plywood inlay between the tracks is painted flat black at the track edge and the grass doesn't appear until the guard rail.

The factory guard rails make for an old fashioned track look though and together they are pretty wavey in appearance. The problem with doing this is that Tyco guard rails aren't consistent and the spacing between the posts are different in different year pieces so you can't make a jig for drilling or they will appear bent as you can see in the pictures. I'm guessing this is due to different shrink rates of materials used in production. 

I plan to change to walls that look like Armco barriers for a modern look. There is an old thread around here showing these and the materials they were made from.



















-Scott V.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Here is the old Hobby Talk topic about Crash Barriers: On the last page you can see the Armco looking barriers and the Evergreen Plastics products to make them. :thumbsup: 

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=104222

-Scott


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## toyparknyc (Feb 22, 2006)

i know this is off topic i apoglize but i saw it int he picture so i had to ask were did you did you or were can i find grandstands? ho scale size any one know a site,store i been looking for that and gairdrails for years kind of gave up on it. but if any one knows pass it along

thank you


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## Ligier Runner (Nov 29, 2004)

I believe you're referring to the butterscotch colored grandstands in Cordoba's pictures. Those are the old Aurora/AFX Revamatic grandstands. The only place I know to get those are epay when they come up for auction.

Mountaineer Precision Products makes a nice looking set of bleachers (I wouldn't call them grandstands) typical of what you would see at your local track or a high school football/baseball game. I forget the dimensions of the finished product but they're supposedly big enough to "seat" 50 HO scale spectators. You can also find these listed on epay.


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## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

I remember seeing pic's of a track that used electric cord for it's guard rails. It had stumps cut from round dowels and had the cord attached to it. The low voltage outdoor wire would be perfect for this.
I suppose you could use any kind of copper wire with the many colors available that is used for insulation. 

I also thought about using cheap vinyl garden hose, just cut sections and make your slices to the thickness you desire. It would definatly be gentle to the cars. 

I'm currently using the square stump comcept on my overpass, I'm using square wood dowel I cut to size and some pvc tubing that I ripped and painted for the rails.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

No matter what material you use, you need to make a choice as to whether the car will actually come in contact with the barrier or not. If the car will touch the barrier, you will, over time, start to wear the paint and decals from your car, especially in the rear panel. This will be important to those who want to keep their cars looking good, and less so to those who don't care.
If I use some type of fencing/guardrail, it will be outside the aprons and maybe close to the track on straights. Just something to keep in mind.

Joe


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

toyparknyc said:


> i know this is off topic i apoglize but i saw it int he picture so i had to ask were did you did you or were can i find grandstands? ho scale size any one know a site,store i been looking for that and gairdrails for years kind of gave up on it. but if any one knows pass it along
> 
> thank you


If you can't find the AFX grandstands or want to build your own, I built replica AFX grandstands out of sheet styrene and they came out great. You can find the plans in the links below:










Actually, you started this Hobby Talk topic looking for grandstands back in 2005 Toyparknyc! You mean you're still looking>?  

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=127761&highlight=grandstands

-Scott V


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