55 replies to this topic

[Chaos]

The coaster is obviously beautiful so far, but what gets me is that hand. I keep thinking about how ominous that would look if the coaster was full size. Makes me really want the rest of the coaster to be heavily themed . . . and then have an awesome POV video when its done.

[FrIeDeGgS]

It looks awesome, and the high speed turn is something you don't see much! You could theme it like that one part in Zelda oot with the hands coming out of the ground.

[JayketheKid]

It looks amazing! The only thing I'd do is add some more lateral support, and bring the start of the banking closer to the drop. You know what I mean right?

[KirbyCoast]

Where is the picture?

Edited by KirbyCoast, 17 October 2015 - 07:05 PM.

[CW5X]

I'M BACK!

 

Me gusta. I'm interested to see what comes next

 

Thanks. I am too.

 

It looks good, but it looks like it will take away some height. I like the hand-chair though. Fits my style.

 

It did take away a bit of height but nothing unforgivable. Thanks.

 

Sorry, I was distracted by the giant hand. Is there a coaster in there?

 

Amazingly, there is. 'Is there a bedroom in there?' is a more pressing question.

 

Oh wow, the wooden hand and coaster look great!

 

Wooden hand, wooden coaster. I'd never really thought of incorporating it before but it certainly seems like a good idea now. Thanks.

 

You have a big helping hand  .

Looks fantastic so far .

 

It is a big helping hand. Gets in the way sometimes though. Thanks.

 

This really reminds me of the Hurler clones at KD and Carowinds so far, except this is way smoother than either of them   Good work!

 

I think it's even smoother than it was now. Thank you.

 

The turnaround reminds me of The Hurler at Kings Dominion, it is unique to see it being used on a K'NEX coaster. The pull-in of the turnaround could use some tweaking, but everything else looks well-shaped and well-supported. I look forward to seeing the next element! 

 

I had a look at the pull-in and it was a little funny but I think what I've done has improved it a bit. Thank you.

 

Interesting design, high speed turns and all, lovely! Personally I think that low turn could have a bit more height variation just for looks, but that's just me. The pre-drop turn is flawless!

 

I apparently agreed a couple of months ago when I re-did the corner and yes, it definitely looks better to me now. Thanks.

 

Nice work! I love compact wooden coasters, and for some reason, blue rods suddenly make everything better!

Will you be going out and back through the drop's structure? That is the question....

 

That is the question. The question will be answered... Immediately. Yes. Thank you.

 

The coaster is obviously beautiful so far, but what gets me is that hand. I keep thinking about how ominous that would look if the coaster was full size. Makes me really want the rest of the coaster to be heavily themed . . . and then have an awesome POV video when its done.

 

You know me. Of course there will be a POV The hand would be really imposing full size and kinda awesome. Thank you.

 

 

Can't post any more quotes :/

 

Friedeggs: Thank you. I'm planning on having green rods all around the hand so it looks like turf being pushed up. I hope that's what you mean. I've never played much Zelda (blasphemy, I know).

 

Jayke: I may do that if it needs it after I build the track next to it. Certainly right now it flexes quite a bit so it's likely I will. Thank you.

 

Kirby: The pictures were on the previous page but now the new ones are here.

 

So many comments again. Sorry if I accidentally missed anyone out there but thank you for so many. Back to business though. Now that the semester is finished, I can finally knuckle down and get this thing together properly. I've done quite a bit of work over the past couple of days plus a little bit before I got really busy around the middle of October. Here's the rundown:

 

- The lift-hill is sorted as well as the pre-lift. I'll add more details to them later.

- I replaced the flexi rods on the turnaround with greys and smoothed it all out a bit. The speed looks to be improved as well.

- I've added an air-hill which actually isn't as low as I thought it was going to be. The train I'm using right now is pretty gunky but it might just about do anyway with the weighting it has.

- I've planned out where the track will go through the pre-drop structure as well as what will happen afterwards. Some of the current supports might be further removed for the addition of a helix at the end. We'll see where we are for speed later though.

 

Pictures now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as you can see, a reasonable amount has been done. Probably not 2 months worth for most people but I'm in the groove now.

 

Nearly forgot to add these tests as well. I felt that I should probably do this since it's been a while and you deserve it for waiting.

 

 

 

If you can read the titles of the videos on whatever device you're using then you'll see that I'm planning on naming this coaster 'Awakening', not because of the new Star Wars movie but because of the implications of a hand tearing its way through the ground. I felt it was probably appropriate for this. It may have been more appropriate for Halloween than Christmas but still.

 

Anyway, thank you for reading and, hopefully, the next update won't be so far away.

[Muzz135]

Looking good Chris! And I like the idea of the hand coming out of the ground along with the name, etc.
One thing - you mentioned the train was a bit gunky, you could use the 4 cars I cleaned up for you cause they should work well once weighted.

[frank]

Love the layout so far.

 

[WSWAoasters]

This looks awesome! One thing that I don't know why, but I found it so cool, was that it almost sounds like a real lift. There is some sound that the lift makes when it is pulling the trains up that to me, sounds like a realistic lift. Idk, if it sounds different irl. Anyways, this is a great build so far! Fantastic job!

[Mister Piglette]

Building compact layouts is one thing that I need to learn, fantastic job that you have done. The ride looks clean and spacing looks perfect in terms of cross ties. I like the look without any granites as diagonals. Good job.

[GravitySnake]

Oh, you mean armchair.

 

I want a GCI overbank.

 

Spoiler

[CW5X]

Looking good Chris! And I like the idea of the hand coming out of the ground along with the name, etc.
One thing - you mentioned the train was a bit gunky, you could use the 4 cars I cleaned up for you cause they should work well once weighted.

 

I was thinking of using this train to build the coaster and then filming the video with the clean train to get some solid consistency. It always makes the course right now but a little extra speed is never bad. Plus, I might not need to weight them so much in the end. Thanks.

 

Love the layout so far.

 

 

Thank you.

 

This looks awesome! One thing that I don't know why, but I found it so cool, was that it almost sounds like a real lift. There is some sound that the lift makes when it is pulling the trains up that to me, sounds like a realistic lift. Idk, if it sounds different irl. Anyways, this is a great build so far! Fantastic job!

 

Yeah. I noticed that in the video as well that it kinda sounds realistic. The chain clicks a bit off the middle track at the bottom and that creates a cool, clunky sound when it goes up. Not intended or anything. I just suck at creating smooth lift hills. It's always been an issue for me and also it's not quite as metallic in real life but the video is really all that matters here. Thank you.

 

Building compact layouts is one thing that I need to learn, fantastic job that you have done. The ride looks clean and spacing looks perfect in terms of cross ties. I like the look without any granites as diagonals. Good job.

 

Thank you. I love a good old compact layout in my room space. It forces you into some tight, twisty elements.

 

Oh, you mean armchair.

 

I want a GCI overbank.

 

Spoiler

 

Armchair lol. I have a highly banked corner if that's Ok. Thank you.

 

 

To break the duck of nothing really happening in the past couple of days, here's another update.

 

The second high speed turn is well underway. There are bumps and other imperfections right now because it's being a bit of a pain to shape. Plus, the supports are too low for the track so I'll have to build them up a bit but aside from that, all is well. The ride works very nicely every time and I have the final part planned out so I can get on with finishing this thing. Wide supports and various other details are still to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry. The lift isn't ^that bendy in real life. Just the panorama distorting it.

 

Le test.

 

 

 

Hopefully not too long left now although I'm awful at estimating how long finishing touches will take.

 

[Spaghetti]

It looks very nice. Is there a reason that it is only 3 cars? (Insert a suggestion of extra cars here) Also, how did you get the nice chain noise?

[WSWAoasters]

I really can't imagine having the ability to build something like this. It is so amazing to look at the difference in something like this and something like screaming serpent. This looks so wonderful so far!

[Helmut]

The lay-out has a great flow, thanks to the consistent use of airhills, drops and high-speed turns. Shaping and supporting are flawless, as usual. Thank you for providing the overview picture, the coaster looks fantastic from that angle. 

[KirbyCoast]

It looks amazing and the shaping is almost perfect! My only complaint is that so far it's only left turns, which always annoys me for some reason... I'm guessing it's because you need to keep it compact which is fine.

[Zorn]

Nothing like a good ole blue rod woodie!  

[~stεεlspectrum~]

^ Agreed! Blue rod woodies are about as classic as it gets. As has been said, this coaster's flow is fantastic.

[CW5X]

It looks very nice. Is there a reason that it is only 3 cars? (Insert a suggestion of extra cars here) Also, how did you get the nice chain noise?

 

It was just the chain hitting off the middle track at the bottom of the lift. Nice effect though but it gets drowned out by the other motor. I only have 3 cars per train so I have room for 2 trains this time round. The station has to fit in a pretty small space. Plus the pacing is nice with these trains. Thanks.

 

I really can't imagine having the ability to build something like this. It is so amazing to look at the difference in something like this and something like screaming serpent. This looks so wonderful so far!

 

Time and practice. Thank you.

 

The lay-out has a great flow, thanks to the consistent use of airhills, drops and high-speed turns. Shaping and supporting are flawless, as usual. Thank you for providing the overview picture, the coaster looks fantastic from that angle. 

 

Thank you. More of the same for the rest of the layout.

 

It looks amazing and the shaping is almost perfect! My only complaint is that so far it's only left turns, which always annoys me for some reason... I'm guessing it's because you need to keep it compact which is fine.

 

Have a nice long right turning helix then to balance things out. I agreed with you on that point. Thank you.

 

I agree some what with what KirbyCoast is saying. This coaster is pretty awesome and really has a nostalgic feel to it. Keep it up!

 

Thank you.

 

Nothing like a good ole blue rod woodie!  

 

Well, after seeing how well all of yours turned out, I had to have a go. I've always liked how they looked and they're really nice for instant strength as well. Thank you.

 

^ Agreed! Blue rod woodies are about as classic as it gets. As has been said, this coaster's flow is fantastic.

 

Thank you.

 

 

My my my... I forgot how long it was since I last updated and now it's basically finished. It all works consistently and smoothly (save for a couple of hard hits between trains in the station) and I'm pretty happy with it. The wide supports were interesting to do. I wanted to do them with granites but I knew I wouldn't have enough so I went with the yellows. The contrast isn't so bad anyway. I also wanted them to have a purpose and be functional, not so much in the strength department but to add to the excitement of the ride (and the POV when it comes) with lots of headchoppers and close shaves, and that "busy" impression you get with wooden coasters where you can barely see the track at some points. It'll be interesting to film it in a way that isn't dull that's for sure. The station was also quite 'fun' to do in a cramped space. I've not worried myself too much about entrance/exit paths because there's not enough time in the world to work them out just now but the rest is fairly tidy, unlike my room dammit. Other details include the catwalks, very, very, very simple side-friction brakes which I'll possibly show in the next update with the final video and another clean train (thanks Murray).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the final test runs (might tweak those brakes a bit)

 

 

 

So that's just about it. I'll move the hand in and out when filming so the track can be seen/obscured when needed. It's quite heavy so hopefully I won't be an idiot and drop it on those turns. No guarantees though. Onto the tidying and filming

 

Thank you as always.

 

Edit: Don't know if I should do all that stuff I said I might do around the hand. I kinda want to see the thing at some point. I might keep any stuff I make around it small.

Edited by CW5X, 08 January 2016 - 05:53 PM.

[WSWAoasters]

This is one of my new favorite woodies for sure! It looks so smooth, professional, and just all around spectacular! Fantastic job, sir!