22 replies to this topic

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

So like the title says, this ride, contrary to what it looks like, is not a eurofighter. It is inspired by Cannibal at Lagoon. In the interest of simplicity, I substituted the elevator lift for a vertical lift, although I plan on covering the tower with paper or cardboard so that you won't be able to tell. I have two months to finish this thing before I embark on a two year mission for my church. Hopefully all will go well.

A couple of things I need a bit of help on:
1. The shaping of the twist out of the immelmann. It is a bit tight. The wheel housing hits the crossties on the sides when I pull the train through, but generally not when it's running at full speed.
2.The lift entrance. I plan to have a barrel roll/drop pre-lift to get the train up to where it engages the chain. Using just my hand I'm able to get the train to engage about half the time without modifying the chaindog at all. What is the best way to get the chaindog to work with a vertical lift? If I stick a rubber band on it, the chaindog hits the middle tube at the top of the lift and the train just stops. Perhaps I should post more pictures of this part; the lift chain starts a granite up from the ground where the track is already mostly vertical. For those who have built eurofighters, have you gotten your chain to work where it starts horizontal then shifts vertical?


I wanted to make sure significant progress had been made before posting anything about this. I highly doubt I'll cancel, although I will be in a time crunch for sure considering my building speed.


I might need a bit of help on the shaping here. The twist out of the immelmann seems a bit tight to me, but it's hard for me to adjust at this scale. Do you guys have any suggestions? The upstops hit the x-ties when I pull the train through, but I don't hear them hitting when it's running at full speed from the drop.


For those who have never seen cannibal and are weirded out by my shaping

A couple different views of the twist:





Oh yeah, I plan on giving this coaster an asian theme. I'm not sure what to name it yet. Right now I've kinda settled on "Dynasty," but I'm not sure that name captures the essence of what I'm trying to create. Plus, dynasties are more associated with China, and I have Japanese ancestry. (No, I will not name it "Samurai" or "Ninja." Those seem way too generic).

Edited by pǝʇɹǝʌuı, 13 May 2015 - 04:06 PM.

[CartRacer56]

I think if you start the twist farther up on the immelman, right before it is 100% upside-down, that should solve all of your problems with the immelman. On the lift hill, your best bet would probably be to have the chain start earlier so the chain dog engages itself while it still can. The shaping looks great! Continue!

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Thanks for the comment! I'll definitely play around with the lift some more. I tried adjusting the twist a little on the immelmann. It probably needs to be supported a bit more at the top, but I'm not sure. I definitely need some help getting through this next element, though, so I hope that some more people can take a look and give suggestions.

To start, here's what I did with the immelmann. It's not much but it makes a difference. Do you guys think I'll need to finish supporting the top? Also, should I add flexis on the twist? I've seen many twists that don't use them because of the difficulties they cause with shaping.


The next element is a vertical loop, conveniently placed next to the lift tower to save pieces on supports. The problem is that the car doesn't make it through (test video at the end of this post). It seems to do a bit better when I run the coaster with 2 cars instead of 1, although I'm not sure I'll want to do this in the end. Is there any hope for this loop? Should I make it shorter? Should I adjust the supports on the immelmann and/or the loop?



The pullout from the immelmann into the loop:



Entire coaster view:


Test video:
http://i740.photobuc...zpsqmndb768.mp4

Edited by pǝʇɹǝʌuı, 12 May 2015 - 11:18 AM.

[-i!Koozie!i-]

How about Orient. The immelmann does need a little shaping but it is good. I am guessing you have not oiled and weighed your cars and that will help with speed because you seem to be losing a lot of speed.

[frank]

i think you need to lube your cars , add waight and add more cars about 1 to 2.

[Jplaz]

Needs more heartlining IMO

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Update: I added as many pennies as I could fit under the body, and miraculously the thing works now, even with a car that hasn't been lubed in a while. Now the question is how to not make the car look super redneck covered in duct tape. Thank you guys for the help!

[Connector1o1]

Haha that's perfect.
What I would suggest is probably not the best idea, but maybe hot glue will work...
As for the coaster I really like it! The supports seem pretty solid and the shaping isn't bad whatsoever. I did notice the top of the Immelmann seems a little wonky, but it seems to work just fine. If you added supports on the top of it that didn't bend, think it would look better. I like it a lot!

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

I have a helper today


Anyway, this is a mini-update as far as trackwork is concerned. The train doesn't make the curve but I plan on lowering it and re-lubing the train. The train makes the loop just fine now that it's weighted. I'm also quite proud of what I did with the train

The Loop and curve:



Tried my best to fix the shaping on the top of the immelmann; what do you guys think now?



An overview


AAAAAAAAAAAAND a test video. For kicks and giggles. Because why not.

http://i740.photobuc...zpse3wllby9.mp4

But anyway; here's what I did with the train. Sometimes it's better to stop trying to fix a problem and just own it. I think it looks pretty sweet. I plan on running three cars on this coaster; maybe they'll all be different colors. Tutorial will come if you want. I'm very pleased with the way the car runs.



And the last item of business. I got another screamin serpent to finish this and I don't think I'll need any more sets after that. I'm not completely out of pieces yet, but I know I'll need a few extra to finish up. This was a great deal! It was $25 off craigslist and nearby so I didn't pay anything for shipping (I picked it up). I tell you this because the guy has a ball machine and an arcade pinball set that he's selling, also for $25 each. I would have loved to buy them but I don't have a ton of money and I don't really need them for this project. If any of you are in or near the Columbus, OH area, this is a great opportunity for you.


Also, congrats to whoever bought a $10 SS off ebay. You outbid me at the last second.

Edited by pǝʇɹǝʌuı, 18 May 2015 - 04:48 PM.

[SCM]

Wow... I've never seen an immelmann like that before. It reminds me of something I would've done on RCT2. Anyway, your overall shaping is pretty good. I hope you can get it to go through that curve.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Mini update (no photos, sorry)

So I lowered the curve by 1 granite and the car makes it just fine now. I'll be moving on to the next element. I spent about 2 hours today for an entire foot of track work and it still doesn't look how I want it to. It's an interesting element. First of its kind on Ssc type thing. I'll keep chugging away and hope I create something good. Any guesses where I might be going with this? Rember it's not a eurofighter...

[CartRacer56]

Im still not happy with that immelman. You have a tight radius then a large one, then tight again. its kind of hard to explain (for me, at least) So I drew a pic of where it should be (in black)

[RollerManiac]

Your Immelmann is fine. It just needs smoothed out some more. Try minimizing the sharp spot between the transition from the large pullin to the top of the loop.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

I see what you mean with that sharp spot and I'll try to fix it for the next update. Cartracer: see my first post for reference of the shaping of the immelmann. It's not exactly what you might expect. I didn't pull it off perfectly but this is kinda what I was going for:



EDIT: Huh. I just looked at this picture that I posted before and now I have some new ideas for shaping. I'm nervous about what it might do to the performance of the coaster, though.

Edited by pǝʇɹǝʌuı, 29 May 2015 - 01:21 PM.

[RollerManiac]

Make the top of the Immelmann a little more even then, for as you can see in the picture, it's almost like an inverted top hat. It's even the same size as one. Start the twisting lower so that it does not elongate it and make it appear uneven as it is now. Pulling that lower will make the top hat more prominent.

Edited by RollerManiac, 29 May 2015 - 02:00 PM.

[IonZer0]

If you track the whole thing with flexis and play around with the x-ties, you may be able to get the result you're looking for.

[Mister Piglette]

I think it looks pretty good, but comparing yours to the picture, I think you could start the twisting at the top of the immelman a little earlier. But I guess its alright if you don't change it, I'm being picky.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Make the top of the Immelmann a little more even then, for as you can see in the picture, it's almost like an inverted top hat. It's even the same size as one. Start the twisting lower so that it does not elongate it and make it appear uneven as it is now. Pulling that lower will make the top hat more prominent.

I think it looks pretty good, but comparing yours to the picture, I think you could start the twisting at the top of the immelman a little earlier. But I guess its alright if you don't change it, I'm being picky.

Aaaaahhhhh but which one? I seem to have gotten conflicting advice here. Given that on my model this is a relatively small element, I don't think twisting any lower will do me any good. Personally I think it's fine twisting where it is, but the shape of the top of the loop is a bit off. What I've done so far is pull up the top right when it starts to curve downward. This gives the top a bit more circular shape; in all my pictures it peaks early.

If you track the whole thing with flexis and play around with the x-ties, you may be able to get the result you're looking for.

I'll try that too.

[RollerManiac]

Actually, the the twisting where it is, but push it in. It making sort of like a sharp spot. I can draw if you don't understand.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Better? (Please ignore the mess of track behind the loop)