DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

After I ran out of my first batch of used zip ties, I opened some new ones but found they were shorter, slightly thinner and lower quality (not knowing I still had more of the other type hidden away). Naturally, this meant the curve radius had to be much tighter. Like the first curve, the new ones were bent using Abhilash's quarter circle technique. Likely because I didn't make a smaller jig, it led to the pieces turning out inconsistent with each other; mainly the sleeper spaces being off by one and the angled ends not being at the same angle. Not sure why it happened seeing as they were all spaced equally before bending. Another reason might be the zip tie rails are "too" flexible with only one layer, and as such don't keep their shape as easily as cardboard strips.



In an attempt to fix the inconsistencies, I tried making an entirely different jig using the zip ties' pawl ends to hold the track upside down while gluing the sleepers. Due to the offsets of the grooves the zip ties normally go through, I made sure to glue the "heads" in a way that the grooves are facing inwards on both sides. Also had to ensure the rails wouldn't get stuck in the ratchets so I could free the pieces when done. While (still) not perfect, it did give more helpful results with the new radius in mind. The difference in thickness meant I had to cut new heads from a heat shrink tube and glue them on top (not pictured); the old ties don't fit in the heads from the new ones. Would've made more sense if I replaced the tie heads with them instead due to lack of support underneath, which made the new curves uneven. It would've accepted both thicknesses and still kept them in place.



For the (inevitable) connectors, I initially decided to try a sleeve type that fits over the rails like the track in Inventus' version of BigWR's train set. Not highly recommended since they can be slightly thicker than the rails and stop/derail a train, but my later designs would have sleeper or through-rail connectors. After seeing they worked, I found a flat tube and made new connectors from it. Removing the wire remnants without cutting the tube proved surprisingly difficult, but it was worth it and they were naturally more effective than the cardboard sleeves. Perhaps even a bit too effective...