My work started with finding some vector images of a circuit I'd like to replicate. At first I was thinking about using the Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit, the original F1 night race. With this vector image, I could create the outlines that I wanted to lasercut. I also had some ideas to engrave some extra, track-specific info on the display. This was something I added way in the end of the process.

I lasercut a small sample of a part of the circuit, to see if I liked the thickness of the outlines, but most importantly, to see if the 'inside' of the shape would hold with only one supporting piece (placed as the start/finish-line). The structure was okay, but I wasn't happy with the thickness of the track. So in my next interation, I'd of course make this a bit bigger.

Next up, I had to devise a way to make the stand work, how it would be structured and its size. After some trying with pieces of carboard and lasercutting a prototype, I decided to make a simple wooden baseplate with two perpendicular triangles on it as a basic support structure.

On it, I would then place a 3D-printed frame in which I could place the (eventually replaceable) display plate. At first this frame had a full grid because I envisioned to place a couple of single LEDs around the track, so they ought to be mounted a bit more freely.

Later on, I discovered we could also use an LED-strip. This of course would save me a lot of soldering and programming work. This strip however needed a bit more space to be glued on to. Therefore, I made the backside of my frame deeper, and removed the grid and opted for a single 'X' structure to have a basic form of support.

The soldering of my lightsystem was pretty straightforward since I only needed one button and one LED-strip. The programming of the strip was made a lot easier by using a library 'FastLED' from a guide I found. I tinkered a bit with the color modes, but I really only added some basic functionality to cycle through some different modes at the click of a button.

I then went on to the manufacturing itself; 3D-printing and lasercutting the stand. By this stage, I changed my chosen circuit to Spa-Francorchamps and added some extra info. I also styled the baseplate as a starting grid, with gridboxes and a start/finish-line. In one of the triangles, I left a hole for a button to be placed in it.

Piecing everything together was quick work: I used some wood glue for the baseplate and its triangles, a glue gun to glue the button in place, and some all-in-one glue to glue the frame to the wooden supports.

I am very satisfied with the final result, and even more for it to be the product of only my first steps in this field of manufacturing. The display already has a nice spot in my studentroom, and I am already thinking about cutting some different circuits, like Monza!