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New VV Coaster

knex micro vv

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#1 wyomingman

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Posted 15 January 2018 - 08:08 PM

What's up guys!

Been a while since I've been on this site or even touched knex, which is such a shame. My 2017 was insanely busy and stressful with testing, college apps, and sports. But, I'm in my second semester of my senior year now, and I was lucky enough to tear three ligaments in my knee in a high speed skiing accident, so now that I can't play water polo every day, I have a ton of time to build! Perhaps a blessing in disguise? 

 

Anyways, I've started on a new coaster, B&M style, and my plans are very ambitious and somewhat unrealistic given my space and piece constraints. I actually plan on entering it into a local maker faire and hopefully showcasing it there if all goes well. We'll see what happens.

 

As of now, I have a fully automated station that is very flaky as I followed a guide for SS and had to convert it to vv (special thanks to Frank's guide in the tutorials, great guide if you have SS), and a lift hill that also doesn't work, maybe because it is too steep, but I'll figure something out.

 

 

 

 

 

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Planning on building a loop into an over banked turn, and then into a sidewinder (or immelman?? IDK I can never keep the names straight), and then finish it out with two corkscrews and a few hills. 

I have limited space given the size of my attic, and because it is vv speed loss will be significant, so I'm doubtful I'll end up getting it all in there, but who knows.

 

Let me know what you think, and thanks a bunch!

 

- Noah (wyomingman)



My Youtube Channel (Noah Smith) : http://www.youtube.c...GBYi6NL0c0pRnlA

Follow me on Instagram @smittyknex


#2 Spaghetti

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 12:06 PM

Glad you're back! I like the lift hill. Are you going to make the layout very twisty and compact or are you going to have a long smooth layout with good transitions?



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#3 SCM

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 01:09 PM

Already seeing some great details. Anything with a 3d flooring is automatically sexy. ;) You have a lot of black rods. 


Edited by SCM, 17 January 2018 - 01:09 PM.


I'm not done building yet. 

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#4 IOAgeek

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Posted 18 January 2018 - 11:02 PM

Kind of wanna say the crest is to long but you can fix that if you want to. You should do a cool chain return as well! Think an immelmann would look good on this ride.


Edited by IOAgeek, 20 January 2018 - 08:26 AM.



#5 wyomingman

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Posted 19 January 2018 - 02:01 AM

Glad you're back! I like the lift hill. Are you going to make the layout very twisty and compact or are you going to have a long smooth layout with good transitions?

Thanks! I'm planning on a smoother layout, but due to space constraints it will naturally be relatively compact.

Already seeing some great details. Anything with a 3d flooring is automatically sexy. ;) You have a lot of black rods. 

Thanks! Yeah I find that the base helps out the overall quality of my coasters, probably because my footers suck lol.

 

kind of wanna say the crest is to long but you can fix that id you want to. You should do a cool chain return as well! Thing an immelmann would look good on this ride.

Yeah I'm not sure what to think of the top portion, but we'll see how it goes. With my chain I actually totally botched, I built my lifthill with vertical tubes and forgot to account for the chain, so I'm just threading it through the base right now. Right now I have a sidewinder planned and maybe an immelman if I have enough speed but we'll see.

 

 

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Now I got the loop. It's not perfect but I think it's pretty close. The drop into it is a little ugly but can be fixed as well. 

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The only issue is that I have speed problems already; the cars made the loop once or twice but didn't make it many times. I'm planning on adding more supports but unfortunately I think I may have to make the loop smaller, which I can't afford if I'm going to keep up the layout that I have planned. Any suggestions?

 

 

We'll see what happens.

 

Thanks,

- Noah



My Youtube Channel (Noah Smith) : http://www.youtube.c...GBYi6NL0c0pRnlA

Follow me on Instagram @smittyknex


#6 msoccerkidm

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Posted 19 January 2018 - 05:29 PM

Your track looked pretty solid to me. Is there any way you can utilize the drop from the crest for extra speed? it looks like the chain dog stops the train from accelerating until the very last car leaves the lift. As you mentioned, I think the pull out of the drop could be slightly longer before the loop. This coaster aesthetically looks very nice so far, good job!



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#7 IOAgeek

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Posted 20 January 2018 - 08:28 AM

Take out the back chain dogs on the train, so it doesn't get stuck on the end of the lift. I would say to weigh your train as well, and lube them too. You'll get more height for the loop then.




#8 Batwing

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Posted 25 January 2018 - 07:07 PM

One more thing from me:

 

I'd actually say your biggest problem is the strength of your track here! Your supports look lovely and strong, but your track is only as strong as your track-support connections. I'd try and consolidate your existing supports and try and make more track support connections, particularly on the long segment of track in the pull-in (start) of the loop that's currently unsupported. Maybe try a diagonal tube between your base (which looks pretty solid) and the first perpendicular loop support, with multiple track connections along its length. Hope that helps!


Edited by Batwing, 25 January 2018 - 07:07 PM.


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#9 wyomingman

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Posted 18 March 2018 - 08:07 PM



Your track looked pretty solid to me. Is there any way you can utilize the drop from the crest for extra speed? it looks like the chain dog stops the train from accelerating until the very last car leaves the lift. As you mentioned, I think the pull out of the drop could be slightly longer before the loop. This coaster aesthetically looks very nice so far, good job!

Thanks! Yeah I moved the end of the chain back a little bit, but now the shaping is weird.

 



Take out the back chain dogs on the train, so it doesn't get stuck on the end of the lift. I would say to weigh your train as well, and lube them too. You'll get more height for the loop then.

- I put weights in my cars and it works great, but I'm hesitant with oil because I have a carpet that sheds, and the last time I tried oiling my cars the axles got all clogged up with dust particles and carpet hair. I'm tempted to move the coaster outside and film it there, so I may oil them then. 

 



One more thing from me:

 

I'd actually say your biggest problem is the strength of your track here! Your supports look lovely and strong, but your track is only as strong as your track-support connections. I'd try and consolidate your existing supports and try and make more track support connections, particularly on the long segment of track in the pull-in (start) of the loop that's currently unsupported. Maybe try a diagonal tube between your base (which looks pretty solid) and the first perpendicular loop support, with multiple track connections along its length. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks! Yeah I added a ton of supports, and still might add another two tubes on each side of the loop. Thanks for the help.

 

 

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Well, it's been a while since my last post, but I've built a bit more. I now have an over banked turn into a kind of figure-8 thingy that I thought seemed cool. I didn't have enough speed for a sidewinder, and speed loss has been even worse than I anticipated. I've weighted my cars but I'm very hesitant to oil them because of my shedding carpet, and in the past I've had issues with dust/dirt particles getting stuck in the axles and slowing down the cars. Perhaps I should weight them even more, as I currently only have three dimes in each car (I couldn't figure out how to fit pennies).

 

 

Currently I barely have enough speed for the figure-8 turn thing, and I'm now forced to make a chain lift so that it will have a shot of making it into the station (also I have yet to get a motor with a longer cord so that I can actually have a functioning automatic station). 

After the chain lift I'm planning on a corkscrew into the station. 

 

Here are the pics:

 

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Here's a test video:

 

 

 

I'd love to hear any suggestions!

 

Thanks

Noah



My Youtube Channel (Noah Smith) : http://www.youtube.c...GBYi6NL0c0pRnlA

Follow me on Instagram @smittyknex