25 replies to this topic

[maarten12]

How did I not see this? It's beastly! I still think it's quite amazing how realistic VV track can look like with a proper backbone, good job !

Edited by maarten12, 23 May 2016 - 03:55 AM.

[Batwing]

How did I not see this? It's beastly! I still think it's quite amazing how realistic VV track can look like with a proper backbone, good job !

 

Thanks a lot! Micro builders don't seem to have much popularity nowadays!

 

Sun!?!?!?!?! Not in the UK surely!?!?! The roll thing and the Immelmann together kinda remind me of Timbuktu, which is obviously no bad thing. I am really impressed with the shaping and how it's so smooth. I think you've done a great job there. Hopefully you'll have some space to study .

 

Yes! Real life sun! And it's 32 degrees today! Thanks anyway - to have part of the ride compared to Timbuktu is a very big compliment!

 

^ DEAD MEME ALERT

 

Living in the cloudy vortex known as Oregon, I understand what you mean by "Miracle" when the sun comes out. Anyway, I love it! Shaping is spot on, and I love the tunnel! One of my dream coasters to make is an invert with a Zero-G-Roll over the plaza...

 

It's an inline twist so you can still be the first Thanks!

 

That is cool! I thought you were gonna go for a pretzel knot, but, hey speed is one giant b!tch isn't it?

Me gusta! Move along!

 

Damn right about speed. Well meme'd though, even if it was long dead

 

Wow! This is looking fantastic! I'm surprised there's not many comments cause this is fantastic looking, keep up the good work! Love the shaping on everything!

 

Thanks! Hope you like what I've done since.

 

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Anyway, so I finally managed to finish this thing, including the finishing touches such as my mandatory signs, queue lines and a station! However, it was pretty tight at the end with pieces, so I had to make a few compromises, but in the end I achieved everything I wanted to!

 

I'll narrate the pictures to show y'all:

(I apologise for the brightness of the photos...it was sunny after all)

 

 

My brand new entry sign forming part of the complete ride plaza!

 

 

Tunnel all finished too! (It's not perfect, but I'm quite happy with it considering the amount of pieces I had)

 

 

Said bridge doubles as a walkway too, complete with exit and entry signs.

 

 

Overview of the entrance plaza

 

 

A little peek through!

 

 

Everything I've done since the last update...

 

 

Ideally I would've extended both queue lines, making them snake round a little  more, but then the reality of a finite number of pieces slapped me in the face.

 

 

Interior of the station - certainly not my best, but I still quite like it.  Unfortunately it wasn't quite tall enough for opening gates and a dropping floor. Sorry peeps :/

 

 

Side profile - one of my aims for this coaster was to ensure it had a proper brake run taken at speed, meaning no anticlimatic small lift hill at the end.  To do that, I'm afraid I needed to include a sneaky elevation change at the start to make the pre-lift work!

 

 

The pre-lift doesn't look fantastic - but it looks good enough and most importantly, it works

 

 

Brake run with a cheeky catwalk. I think I do need to sort out that little sharp spot at the entrance though :/

 

Anyway, about the train...you'll notice it's not the DD train I promised.  Do you think it would be better to use one?

I managed to get about 50 cycles out of a 4 car train with 2 DD cars, but with the shock horror of the recent good weather, they stopped working completely (hell, the DD cars themselves only make it about halfway up the loop).  I do however, have a friend with about 10 DD cars...but they're locked away in the depths of his shed, and I'm not convinced we'll be able to get to them, or even make them work on the layout.  Do you guys think it would significantly improve the coaster? And what do you think of having a train which uses a combination of both?

 

Either way, this is my first 4 car train (before this, the structures could only take three), which shows my building is improving

 

 

What a lovely mess

 

 

This one really was a b!tch to shape!

 

 

Another (bright) overview

 

 

Now this was tricky. I've never really done a proper gear system before - especially not with an invert, so I had to completely rebuild it.  Thankfully I (think I) did a pretty decent job of it - it's reasonably smooth and only starts locking up at the crest of the lift. One thing I love about using two-speed motors for lifts is the ability to control the speed,  meaning this thing has an 'idle' mode where the lift is only moving very slowly to save power, without having to turn it off. Obviously it has to be done manually - I'm not SteelSpectrum . Either way, this is actually employed on real coasters.

 

 

A few of the cogs move about, but I assure you, it does work!

 

 

Part of a little surprise I'll show you guys in the final video

 

 

Honestly, I'm not wearing those slippers right now!

 

 

It's almost a Batwing. But it's kinda funky anyhow.

 

 

 

A few more surprises...I may have some for the lift too

 

 

Plenty of queuing for my imaginary guests to do.

 

 

Another strange angle for an overview

 

 

And there we have it. I'm going away for 3 weeks on Saturday, so it may be difficult for me to wrap this all up and get the final video out before then.  However, trust me that it is in the works!

It's not too late to change anything if you have any suggestions.

 

Anyway I'll leave you with a sign my sister made for the ride...

 

 

Modelled after the ones we saw in Florida, just a touch less politically correct.  Oh the synonyms we use for fat these days.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Mister Piglette]

This difinitely is an amazing ride and I'm really surprised how this turned out. Also, that is one beautiful sign you got there (;

[CW5X]

Wow! I'm glad you spent the time putting all those little details in. It certainly helps the coaster feel complete. Great work.

Also it's just about as hot there as it is in Germany and I'm roasted so I know how you feel

[IOAgeek]

Looks like a great ride! I love the station, brake run and corkscrew you added and the queue line is very realistic too!     

[Batwing]

Thanks for all your wonderful comments everyone  , although it's been such a long time since I updated this thread that you probably can't even remember commenting!
Anyway, I very almost managed to get filming wrapped up before the end of the summer, but then my first 13 weeks of University happened, along with a fairly busy Christmas swiftly finished by January Exams, which I only finished yesterday!
 
As a result, I had to pretty heavily postpone the final video, but I hope it was worth the wait! As usual, none of this would've been possible without your feedback, advice and encouragement!
 

 

 
Fancy some more pictures? Before I do that, here's the link to the Models Database: 

http://www.sscoaster...rs/mirage-r1621

 

(Note all these pictures are video screenshots)
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And here's a little spoiler for the end of the video 
I love these lights!
 

 
 
 
I'm afraid that pretty much wraps up this thread then, just over a year after I started it. Whilst I'll away from my pieces for extended periods of time now, I can assure all of you my motivation to get back to building has never been greater! I've got big, BIG plans for the summer that I can't wait to reveal.
 
Over and out 

Edited by Batwing, 02 February 2017 - 01:26 PM.