Rolling Pits

Greetings!
As it is mid-winter I thought I would do a post on rolling pits and perhaps give you some inspiration to make one.

I have two-one I made and one I purchased (or, to be clear, in the process of purchasing).  I made the cigar-box rolling pit.

Cigar-box Roller

Packed away for travel to a tournament: 

Georges's Minimalist Park.  The immensely skilled and gracious George Adams lent me this beauty at a TCBAT tournament and I now want to make it my own.

Rolling pits are a great addition to your APBA experience and you can customize them to fit your home, your favorite team, era, field, or even make a travel pit.

I made my first one last winter and it was a blast, and cheap.  It is now the pit I use at tournaments or if I am playing on the road.

Materials List for the Cigar-box rolling pit:

Cigar Box (JoAnnes Fabrics)
Balsa Wood Sheets (Model RR store)
Dowels
Drywall screw anchor
Green Felt (JoAnnes)
Cork (Model RR store)
Simulated Brick Wall (Model RR store)
Simulated Corn (Model RR store)
Cardstock
Glue
Black Wood Stain

I won't walk you through the whole process, but here are some steps.  Cigar box comes assembled and I stained it with black stain, brown may be nice also.  I measured and cut the cork to resemble an outfield warning track, and glued it down with standard Elmers glue.  I also took the time to lay the cork flat under some heavy books as it came in a rolled sheet and I didn't want it to curl up later. Then, I measured and cut the green felt and glued that down the same way.

The side and back walls are covered with a nice product model railroaders use for buildings.  It has adhesive on the back and is a rubberized plastic product that is easy to cut and the adhesive stays well.  I used this product as it resemble a great stadium in Hannibal, Missouri I have watched Minor League ball in and even played a Vintage doubleheader in last summer.

I used a short dowel and a screw anchor to support the outfield wall.  I placed the blue screw anchor on the right side to model right field. Obviously you can do either, or not use it and model center field. I painted the stubby dowel to match the drywall anchor and glued them into place with Gorilla Glue.  Just use a dab of that glue, it goes a long way and foams, but is very strong.

The large wall back is great for throwing the die, the felt and the cork are both smooth and true landing surfaces.  The only place they die have ever not settled true is in the corners-then apply the house rules for re-rolling.

I then cut the balsa wood sheet to length and the height I desired.  Here is where the creativity comes in!  I realized I can make many walls and change ballparks as I desire.  I wanted the outfield wall and fair pole to be removable so it could all pack away in the same box and be self-contained.  It then dawned on me to make several walls.  Three (all three Minnesota Twins stadiums: Met, Metrodome, Target) grew into 10.  I did all three Minnesota Fields, Wrigley, Old Comisky for the 1919 Wt Sox team I love to play (I like how the Bull Durham banner looks like it is hanging), Robin Roberts Field here in Springfield, and Minnesota American Legion Post #53 in Breckenridge, Minnesota (where I grew up) the field I play my team of favorites, the Wilkin County Linemen.  To see some info on the Linemen, see this link.

For the art and swag on the walls I simply surfed the 'net and printed images on heavy card-stock, cut them out, and glued them to the wall.  For Wrigley I returned to the model railroad store and found the brick and the ivy.  The ivy was easy to work with an manipulate around the distance numbers and holds well with Elemers glue.  The Field of Dreams was made with corn from the same model railroad store, and very small holes punched in a balsa-wood base dyed black.  I usually roll off a side wall when playing Field of Dreams.

Here are some shots of the various walls I made.

Field of Dreams:

Minneapolis Metrodome:

American Legion Post #53 Minnesota:

Old Comisky:

Wrigley: