28 replies to this topic

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Hey friends! I know I've never really been that active, and my projects were few and far between, but I've finally decided to give up the hobby, at least for a little while. I've had fun building with both k'nex and coasterdynamix but I have other pursuits in life and I'm running out of time to do projects like this. However, I would miss having a coaster in my room to watch and look at, so I decided to take on the project of a final coaster that I could leave up in my room for a while. I decided on k'nex since I wanted a larger scale project and coasterdynamix, while awesome for clean, quick projects, seems too fast and makes it through the layout pretty quickly.

This coaster will be taller than anything I have built before (I have attempted taller but ran out of pieces very quickly). Because of this I will need to do whatever I can to save pieces. So far you will see I have a triangular spine on the lift with minimal supports that cover laterals about halfway up the lift. There will be no tower to the top of the lift, and even though this has been done before, it is a new concept to me. Tips will be greatly appreciated for this coaster. Since it will be up for a while I want it to be really good, but I don't have much patience, so bear with me as this might take a while to complete. The layout will be similar to that of Goliath. The name will be revealed as soon as I come up with one.

This is what I have so far.

Edited by pǝʇɹǝʌuı, 15 July 2013 - 06:30 PM.

[KBP2000]

Looks good! Is it a hyper coaster? or a looper?

[SCM]

I like that lift structure. The only thing wrong I see with the structure is that it is bending at the top, but I'm sure that will be fixed as more structure is added.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

^^It's a hyper. I meant to specify SFMM Goliath, but that is not even true anymore. Since I don't have very much room or very many pieces, there will be a turn immediately after the drop leading into a hill under the lift. I would compare it to I305 but I don't intend to continue to keep the Intamin layout theme after the first hill.

^I don't see it but hopefully it is fixed.

I have the chain lift fully hooked up and track going all the way up the lift. You might also be able to see my drop supports. Hope you like it!








It is kind of bumpy. I hope to fix that up. The chain works fine even though it looks like it might not be completely effective.

[SCM]

Everything looks pretty good from what I can tell. Do you have a few extra half moons? You could use those on some spots, would help with saving 3D connectors and granite rods.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

^I have plenty of half moons, but I don't know where I could put them. I am already running low on granite rods, so that would be helpful. I might cave at some point and buy another SS.

Well I've been building too much. I have the first curve almost completed after the drop. I think it looks pretty good, better than anything I've built before. I hope you like it.








I'll see y'all later. I have to go study for an AP Chem test now.

[Jumpge]

I like the triangular style of the lift! Shaping on both the drop and turn is very nice as well!
The only thing I can point out is shown in the second picture, but I can't put my finger what it is.

[crazyracer]

nice job on this lift , drop can use a lot more support bottom turn is really good just do what jumpge said and you will be great

[poizone]

Pull the mid point of the drop back, it's making a slight sharp spot. Smooth boolean curves are what's up.

EDIT: The point is specifically three and a half grays up.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Thanks a ton for the comments guys! I really do appreciate your feedback. I'm glad at least a few people are following as I build this coaster, it makes me feel loved

I'm super duper sorry I can't update faster. I'm wayyy busy with schoolwork with exams coming up. I have actually built the second hill about three different times, so I have been building, but after about a month I only have one element to show for it. I tried some fancy diagonal stuff and also tried to re-incorporate the triangle base, but the diagonals seemed to use up a lot of pieces and the triangles, well, are hard to work with. Like, really hard. Basically, k'nex aren't meant to work with those angles. That means that while the triangle itself is sturdy, it's nearly impossible to connect it effectively to supports. The first picture in post #4 shows you how I pretty much have to do all the connections. If you tried to work with it yourself you would find it nearly impossible to get any good lateral supports. It rocks side to side VERY easily.

All that being said I reverted back to generic boxes. Good, easy to work with, reliable, boxes. Naturally I was pretty mad when it didn't work on those either. Luckily I found some silicone spray in the garage







Hope you like it! Keep on commenting, I want this to be really great so I will be happy to keep it up for a while. I'll have a name hopefully by Wednesday since I hope to base it off next year's marching band show!

[SCM]

Looking great! I actually don't see anything wrong.

[Cardsandcoasters]

Looks good! It sucks you lost so much height, but that happens :/. You could look at Timbuktu's turn right after the first drop to get some ideas for better supports, because that is one thing that will greatly increase your speed. But if you're already running low on pieces then maybe the height of that hill is perfect for you.

[crazyracer]

This roller coaster is looking really good so far, nothing seems to be wrong. My only complaint is the sharp turn right after the drop , if you have more pieces I would definitely try to fix that and give the whole thing more support on it. Other than that minor thing , you seem to be going in the right track. For that great job so far , shaping is looking really good.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Not much to update about, but I did select a name for the coaster. Without further ado I present...



Tell me what you think. Do you like my beautiful powerpoint art? Like the name? Think I could do more with it?

Also if you have a decal sheet you can scan and upload so I can design custom decals that would be nice.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Huge Update. I apologize because I have not had much time to work on this roller coaster. I've been out of town for the last three weeks plus I had a ton of schoolwork before that. That being said this section of track has actually been done for a little while, but I'll get to that in a second. First, I would like to show off these custom decals I created myself. Granted, the face looks like the old SS train, but the rest is pretty fancy, if I do not say so myself.







Now on to the real meat of the post. I really need help here. My train doesn't even come close to making the third hill. You can see I have added a curve around into another bunny hop. I have no idea what to do. I don't have any more cars and I don't have very many pieces left. My plan was just to do a 90 degree curve left out of this hill into a small hill and a brake run, but obviously what I have to work with is a problem. I just need a little more speed. The only things I can think of doing are changing the layout entirely (which may require more pieces and I don't have a ton of money right now), making the third hill smaller, or strengthen the track a little (also requiring more pieces). I have already added a ton of track connections at all the pullouts and pull-ins of the hills. I have done a few things to strengthen the second curve too, but nothing seems to be doing anything to help. What should I do?

Here are some pictures and a video






Any and all comments/ideas are very much appreciated. Feel free to suggest possible layouts, alternate elements, support modifications, or anything else.

[Rollerfreak987]

1. Add more weights to the underside of your trains
2. Beef up your supports, they're minimal right now a few more couldn't help.
3. Lube your trains again.
4. Make sure your tubing joints are as small as possible, with no gaps in between them.

Also, on Kumba I realized the pullout between the drop and the loop was 'wavy' meaning the train would do this:
/
\
/
\

And it wouldn't go in a straight line. This murdered my speed, and when I fixed it and made it straight it sailed through the loop. Doing this on the top of the first hill and even your 2 turns may help.

And your trains sound very quiet. The louder your trains are, the worse they are and they tend to go a lot slower on the track. So your trains are fine. Just some track adjustments and you should have it even closer to the top of the 2nd hill.

[Jumpge]

Weight your cars if you haven't already. I'm amazed that the train doesn't soar through that hill...

[RNB]

Too bad for that speed loss; try cleaning your wheels and the track. Layout looks good so far. In the last turn there are some bumps caused by the use of grey rods. Fur turns this tight I'd recommend using flexis.

[CW5X]

Damn... That is a huge amount of speed loss. But of course you don't need me to tell you that. I first looked at it and thought 'the supports must be weak' but it doesn't shake that much. Perhaps it's the track to support connections. That's the main place where I see movement.

[Turtle Man 24]

If you haven't added weights to the bottom of the car, do so(batteries, pennies, etc.). If it still doesn't make it, or you already do, I'd suggest you add AA batteries to the cars, in the seats where you can put k'nex people(try only one battery in each car first, if that don't work, add a second battery to each car).