3 replies to this topic

[Coastercam123]

Hello everybody! This is Coastercam123. I am new to SSC coasters and am looking for some advice in my builds. I just finished my first X tie and tubing rollercoaster called "Centrifuge." You can check that and many other k'nex coasters and/or projects out here: 

 

https://www.youtube....PIXr4y81wOOj9o_

 

Being here and in the forums, I would like to get some advice and tips on some things I'm having trouble with.

 

I an currently working on a S&S 4D Free Spin rollercoaster, and I am having a little trouble with the support system. There is a lot of stress and I am having trouble connecting them to my base. It is the first project i am going full supports with so bear with me.

 

How does lubrication/weighting work? Does anyone know how to do it? I hear it increases the speed of your coaster.

 

Any general tips would be greatly appreiciated. You can check out my youtube channel here:

 

https://www.youtube....-DD57d42V1k-OQA

 

 

Thanks

[rgarner42]

Welcome to SSCoasters!

 

This should help with your trains - http://www.sscoaster...ng-your-trains/ - I've always found silicone spray to work well. 

And you can also add weights; pennies, batteries, etc. 

 

For the supports on S&S,  if you have any hinge joint or ball and socket pieces ( https://www.google.c...Qe-OlHg#imgrc=_)  they can be useful as they'll allow you to angle your supports pretty much whichever way you want. But if you don't have any of them you can simply use the one way connectors to angle your supports.   

This picture shows both methods on the pretzel loop - P1000510 by Richard Garner, on Flickr 

 

 

General Tips.

Take your time and be patient it takes a while to get the hang of.

 Look how other people do the supports and connections to the track. There are loads of great coasters on this site from which you can take inspiration and learn from them as well. The aim is for a smooth, well supported coaster, and half the battle is always preserving speed.  

[KirbyCoast]

I don't use SS so I don't know but I just recently finished a VV zacspin so I might be able to help a bit with the support structure. For me I didn't have any trouble with speed loss, but if you are I would say just lubricating the wheels would work best, weights will only add more stress to the supports. This is what the supports ended up looking like for mine:

 

 Screen Shot 2017-08-02 at 10.37.50 PM.png   1.62MB   0 downloads

 

The supports did kind of bend the base for me but I fiddled with it a bit and it became less noticable. However VV is much lighter and more flexible so I don't really know how I would fix that issue.

 

Teddster also resently finished a VV freefly, but it uses SS supports so it might be helpful: https://www.instagra...dsterscreations

[Coastercam123]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have been working on the rollercoaster lately and I have decided to put out some pictures as to the construction progress so here they are:

 IMG_5396.JPG   160.63KB   0 downloads  IMG_5397.JPG   123.48KB   0 downloads  IMG_5398.JPG   140.09KB   0 downloads  IMG_5399.JPG   174.7KB   0 downloads  IMG_5400.JPG   157.65KB   0 downloads

The supports are doing well and are holding up better. I used the hinge pieces to attach the supports to the base. I realized I will need a extremely strong spine for the SS track so the coaster doesn't collapse on itself, so I could use some help on that topic. I still have yet to lubricate the cars and finish the supports. Overall, construction is going very well. Thanks for the help.