9 replies to this topic

[Koibones]

Hi, I'm new here, but I thought I'd start things off with a bang.

My current project (of the last year or so) is a swinging ship that is powered by spinning tires against the hull of the ship, just like the real rides.
I don't think anyone else has done this.

The hull/vehicle is currently under-finished, but functional.
The manual flywheel mechanism works, but destroys a crucial part (hint: red rod) with overuse.
I hope to fix this before posting any final pics or instructions.
I will post pictures of my prototype stages first, so you can see my thought process.

I think my main problem is my flywheel mechanism hasn't changed much since version 1 (the current version is technically version 3, but any changes I make will make it version 4), and the total weight of the ride has gone up exponentially.

If there's enough interest, I will consider making instructions.

Edited by Koibones, 22 January 2014 - 04:35 PM.

[Sorunome]

Maybe you can use a tan rod as those are harder to break than the red rods?

[Koibones]

Did it work?

Edited by Koibones, 22 January 2014 - 04:31 PM.

[IonZer0]

Use photobucket, and copy the img codes to the right of the picture in your library one they have been uploaded.

[Koibones]

Version 2 was the first version that didn't look like it was thrown together in 2 minutes. I was actually able to play with it a little.

This is the "improved-but-not-really" gear box. The gears tended to slip so it wasn't able to get very high.

On the other side of the gears was this... which also tended to slip.

The ship was so wide it tended to rub against the sides of the supports. This helped, but didn't completely fix the problem.

This hasn't changed once since this version. It's still ugly, but it works. I want to do a complete overhaul of the ship, but I'm afraid it won't work as well as this.

This is a top-down view to give you a small sense of size.

Old school, Hyperspace Training Tower guys get to ride this thing, not the Minifigure knock-offs...

If you can figure out how to build this from the pictures so far, I can tell you it will work, just not very well.

[Killerbunny]

Do you plan on adding a motor?

[timtimlaz]

If it's not working it's because the gears are making the 2 sets of tires turn the other way.

[IonZer0]

try just one tire, or add another gear in the setup.

[Koibones]

@Sorunome: I tried the tan rod... it didn't make any noticeable difference.

@Coaster703: A motor won't work because the gears are too tightly grooved, but they needed to be tightly grooved to keep them from slipping. Also, the boat as it is weighs several pounds and is too heavy for K'nex motors.

@Timonator: That's definitely not the problem. Thanks for the input, though.

@IonZer0: I thought about the one tire setup, but it's not as grounded in reality, even though it would probably work better... I'm not sure what an extra gear would do. The ship uses both tires to move in each direction.

Edited by Koibones, 16 February 2014 - 08:45 AM.

[Koibones]

Currently working on a major overhaul of the ship and the drive mechanism. It may take a while.

*Edit*
Also, having visited Kentucky Kingdom and ridden their swinging ship, I noticed it only has one wheel (and gives that ship quite the workout), so IonZer0... I was wrong. I'm switching to the 1 wheel method.

Edited by Koibones, 05 July 2014 - 11:20 AM.