189 replies to this topic

[LaMbChOpZ]

Well, not an update, but I at least want to show that I'm making some progress:

As of right now, the station floor is about 90% finished, and thanks to these parts, I will be able to finish this coaster! Over 780 parts with 50 free parts all bought on Ebay for $75 with free shipping.





Before getting those parts however, I decided to test out station designs, and this was the final design for the supports. The floor plan of the station has changed ( the size has doubled to include a bigger loading and unloading area) and when it's finished, it shall be posted along with start to the lift hill.




Just trying to keep this thread alive.

[finrollercoaste09]

looks good

[Knexrule11]

That looks awesome! It makes me want to build a Zacspin.... The structure is really unique. Good job!

KR11

[RollerManiac]

OH. MY. GOB.

It's absolutly amazing. You've really gotten better. It's one of the best stations I've ever seen. I hope that you can finish it.

[LaMbChOpZ]

^ Now I feel like this coaster will be something that most people will miss out on when it comes to seeing and having an imput for it!

^^Well you should wait until I get the tube part of the ride up, that will be the nightmare for me. The station (described in the big paragraph below) is also a major challenge.

^^^Thank You!

Well that old station size is nothing compared to this new station because the size has actually doubled. I'm just having problems with the chain and the system that I'm attempting to use, but I'll post a pic of the station since some of you seem very interested in it. You wouldn't believe how long it took to expand that station... (Sorry about the varying size, my phones does it automatically when the pics are taken and I have no other camera)


Overview


Looking in from the Left Que line (yes, there are 2 que lines and exits with plans for automatic station gates.) The 2 gears on the right are for the exit lines and to bring the car into the loading area, the only other gear, for the lift hill gear.


Looking in from the entrance to the station.


And finally, the awesome tubes I'll be using... Oh yeah, Orange tubes.



If you do comment, I need your opinion on a very important topic that I can't ignore any longer. I am still having problems with my station and the way the lift and transport from the exit is working out, and as you can see the gears are still in place from the last design which turned out to be my best so far. What I want to know is that should I make the lift hill go all the way back to where the passengers exit the station, meaning that if there's a car loading and on the lift, the spacing won't work out properly, OR should I keep the same design that I have set up now, although there are some problems with the crosstie spacing and the car latching on to the lift hill section.

Also, there have been some plans and calculation on how I will afford a NXT for the station gates timed with the dispatch, but I won't have enough $$ until the middle of August, a great amount of time for learning and programming!

[~stεεlspectrum~]

I don't understand what you're going to use all those gears for, or how the chain will run through them.

I thought this might help give you some ideas. It's a dual station that DDRman came up with a while ago.




It may have nothing to do with your design, but it seems like an easy way to have 1 or 2 trains in the station until another one pushes it out.

[LaMbChOpZ]

I do see how I could take his design and use it to my advantage, but do you think that tire drives could also work for the exit part of the station?


Here's a better representation of the big mess of gears:

Blue-Chain

[~stεεlspectrum~]

^Ah, I had it all backwards, I thought the lift was on the right. It makes more sense now I think that should work though! You can have 3 cars running that way - one on the lift, one on the track, and one in the station, at all times.

[LaMbChOpZ]

^Now I just have to make a chaindog that doesn't scrape against the middle tubing, yet can catch onto the cars. I could also make the chain have something connected to it, that way the chain can be continuous like the video you showed me but my cars won't hit eachother if I have the spacing right.



Next update will be the first half of the lift since the shape of the curve is a bit awkward and at an varying curve.

[finrollercoaste09]

^Ah, I had it all backwards, I thought the lift was on the right. It makes more sense now I think that should work though! You can have 3 cars running that way - one on the lift, one on the track, and one in the station, at all times.

In real ride is 2 cars on station, 1 running on track. I live in finland so there is kirnu

[RollerManiac]

From my experience, orange rods seem to be weaker than other rods of the length. Black ones are the stongest, but won't stand out in the ride. Blue rods are fine, but will bend in with the base. Grey rods come in two shades: light and dark, and are about neutral when it comes to strength.

You could try using some kind of separating and automatic device, hiding the NXT under the base, and the motor on top of the gears. When it turns a gear, it'll pull rod, releaseing the holding device.

[Jumpge]

With the setup that you have right now, it will easily work with three trains running on the tracks. Two cars will be in the station while one is running, and when the one running enters the station and pushes the next car forwards, that will move the car closest to the lift onto the lift and running on the tracks.

[LaMbChOpZ]

In real ride is 2 cars on station, 1 running on track. I live in finland so there is kirnu

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm planning on doing for the ride, but the real challenge will be setting up the automation (and building this with limited supports of course).

From my experience, orange rods seem to be weaker than other rods of the length. Black ones are the stongest, but won't stand out in the ride. Blue rods are fine, but will bend in with the base. Grey rods come in two shades: light and dark, and are about neutral when it comes to strength.

You could try using some kind of separating and automatic device, hiding the NXT under the base, and the motor on top of the gears. When it turns a gear, it'll pull rod, releaseing the holding device.

Now when you say orange rods, you mean the rods in the station? If so, look very closely and you'll see that every blue rod length or even every small green rod length, I have support-to-track connections. I could have whatever rod I want in the station for it to work, but orange seemed like the best fit because it causes less "awkward" spacing of the crossties due to the ends of the rods. About the NXT and the hold device, I'll have to look into that but with the recent changes to the position of the gears, it will be a bit tough.

With the setup that you have right now, it will easily work with three trains running on the tracks. Two cars will be in the station while one is running, and when the one running enters the station and pushes the next car forwards, that will move the car closest to the lift onto the lift and running on the tracks.

That's most likely what I'll do, but I can't keep the actual lift hill chain continuously running or else the cars will just fly past the gates. I have a solution to this when I get the NXT, but that won't be for another 2 weeks or so.


While my pics are sending to my email, I guess I should give you a verbal update on my progress. All yesterday I was able to build my lift hill with very accurate shaping to that of Kirnu since that's the design that I have decided to choose (sorry all of you who wanted a custom design, maybe next Zac Spin...). Unfortunately, the size of my supports was too short so now I have to extend my rods 1 yellow rod and I should have the lift hill supports and quite possibly the lift hill finished by tonight, but that will be as far as I can go.

Did I also mention I'm out of small white rods and long orange rods? (I'll be buying more off the same guy from ebay hopefully tonight.)

Pics will be here in about 10 minutes...

[LaMbChOpZ]

Well it hasn't been 10 minutes, but here they are finally.

Supports for the lift and the lift itself is still being worked on right now, but I'll post more pics of the lift whenever I get most of it finished.

Overview of the new gear setup in the station. If your confused why I moved them, wait until the lift hill and drop is finished.


Close-up of how the gears are held in place. (Changed a bit of the spacers and such, but it's stil the exact same set-up)


Again, next update will be when main lift curve is finished.

[-Saam-]

Wow, I can't believe you're attempting this. You might be one of the first people on the planet to try a ZacSpin! Good luck, and I'll be waiting for more.

[LaMbChOpZ]

^There are a few people who've attempted to make Zac Spins, but none on the scale that I'm making it on.

So to keep this post limited in text, after 4 attempts at a lift, I've come up with my best design yet except I don't like how the top part of the crest is turning out due to the space needed for the chain lift to get through. There aren't any straight spots that I see in pics or in real, but the slight curve may make it seem like it's straight.

Overview of my progress


Close up of my backbone holding up and supporting the entire lift hill. May seem like an overkill, but you have to consider that it's entirely free floating and has to hold the weight of the cars and the possible force created by the lift.



And where I've been having the most problems, my crest. I need to make a space for the chain to get under the track, but I feel like I could create better supports to do this than what I have. Any suggestions?



Probably won't have another update for a few days due to me now being out of many important parts (long orange rods, white rods, green rods, white connectors, etc) so I'll be ordering them within the next few days.

[mightbeawannabe]

I don't think it's straight enough... It seems like that's never said! Haha

I think that right out of the station, that radii needs to be tighter, and the midsection needs a much larger radii. The top of the lift needs to be slightly larger than the bottom.

Compare to real pics to illustrate what I mean...

[Eggo]

I thot u wanted 2 savee ur ppeses?!!?!? Really, what up with the max xties? Anyways it looks fine. As for the crest, change to gray rods and only support it on the top of the cres, add strengtheners to the unsupported foot or so, then you should be just fine.

[RollerManiac]

Wow, I can't believe you're attempting this. You might be one of the first people on the planet to try a ZacSpin! Good luck, and I'll be waiting for more.

*facepalm*

Try pulling the crest closer to the supports.

[LaMbChOpZ]

I don't think it's straight enough... It seems like that's never said! Haha

I think that right out of the station, that radii needs to be tighter, and the midsection needs a much larger radii. The top of the lift needs to be slightly larger than the bottom.

Compare to real pics to illustrate what I mean...

If I make it any straighter, then there's a possibility that the lift will either be choppy or it might look bad. I acutally do use Images of Kirnu for the lift hill, but I'm not trying to make my lift look exactly like Kirnu's. I'll see what I can do.

I thot u wanted 2 savee ur ppeses?!!?!? Really, what up with the max xties? Anyways it looks fine. As for the crest, change to gray rods and only support it on the top of the cres, add strengtheners to the unsupported foot or so, then you should be just fine.

(If I'm understanding you correctly) I'm using mass X-ties because I have more than enough to build this Zac Spin with mass X-ties and still have a lot left over. Now when you say "change to grey rods" you mean what Ickus does for his coaster by not using flexis but instead stiff rods? I might try that, but as for the strengtheners I'm not quite sure how much more I can add, but don't forget, I still have the whole drop and all to make that will be connected to the lift hill, so I think I might be fine for now but I can always add more in the future.

*facepalm*

Try pulling the crest closer to the supports.

I will try to pull the crest closer to the supports, but don't forget where the chain's going to go...?


As I try to get my parents to let me buy more parts off ebay, I'll also try to fix some of the issues that I have with my lift hill such as the shape and I'll also focus on the crest (all parts of it). I won't get much building done until the weekend however because the funeral is tomorrow.

More suggestions from other people would be greately appreciated.