chaos

The trains are (mostly) done! And so is the launch!

The launch construction continues. It can get very frustrating at times, but at least it's progressing. Getting a lot better at working with the Lego EV3.

Somehow I didn't realize how cool those trains were until that first real picture was released. Now I'm feeling the hype as well.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but does the trim on I305 ever get switched off (like Holiday World does for the Voyage)? How long has it been in place? Cause I could have sworn that two years ago when I rode it for the first time, I felt no trim and it was one of the most incredible rides ever.

Steelworks is gone now, and I'm building my most daunting project yet. It will be heavily themed (even for my standards) and highly technical. The plan is to have a story line, multiple trains, and a fully functioning block brake system, as well as scenes where the train stops and the story develops in a more visual manner. I have begun work on the launch, which is the first of many different methods of propulsion.

Here's the final video! This is the most ambitious (risky) coaster I've done, going beyond theming and into the realm of storytelling. So please let me know what you think!

Here are the pictures of the completed model. This is by far the most effort I've ever put into theming, and I really like the way it turned out. I hope to do something even more ambitious next time. Video should be up by tomorrow.

Never really thought about my top ten until this made me really consider it, but here it is: 1) Ravine Flyer II 2) Voyage 3) El Toro 4) Maverick 5) X2 6) Twisted Timbers (it's tied with Lighting Rod for me, and also it's not on the list) 6) Lightning Rod 7) Boulder Dash 8) Giant Dipper (SCBB) 9) DC Rivals Hypercoaster 10) Skyrush

The coaster is finally done! But before I make the official video, please watch this final update showing off all the features you might not notice otherwise.

The final section of the ride is getting themed.

Lots more bits and pieces are coming together for the theming.

Thanks to the blizzard, I was able to stay home for a few days and work on the theming and the station.

The lifthill and drop theming is almost complete!

^Haha, but in all seriousness . . . if a log flume has a drop and then a hill (like Splash Mountain and Dudley Do-Right's), I don't see why it shouldn't be counted as a coaster.

Short update today . . . my family has been helping me with part of the theming. The pool table portion of the ride is going to be a sort of candy wonderland.

Wonder Woman looks more like a strange work of modern art than it does a roller coaster. I love it! Also, Iron Rattler look really ominous with the cliff and the mist.

The track is complete, as are my first round of test runs!

^Thanks! I'd like to see that. Track is almost complete. But the theming still has a ways to go.

The first part of the track is done now, with the section over the pool table to be finished soon.

I am building a new, quirky Christmas coaster, called Steelworks Express. I hope to add a lot of theming, mostly inspired by Charles Dickens and Christmas. I have build the base of the station, the lifthill supports, and an outside banked turn as the train leaves the station.

Last night I'm pretty sure people were still coming in 45-60 minutes before closing to see the Harry Potter Christmas show. And speaking of the show, if you go to IOA at night . . . get ready. You should be fine riding Hulk, but you are going to make a loop around the park, you can only go counter-clockwise (through Suess, Harry Potter, then Jurassic, etc.) You will get stopped somewhere in Hogsmeade or Lost Continent if the crowds get too bad. Then they will let people through in 20 minute intervals.

As the newly appointed STEM coordinator at work, I was tasked to put together a presentation involving water for the Navy's Fleet Fest STEM event. I decided, naturally, to build a K'nex flume ride. To my knowledge, this is the first fully functional K'nex flume, so there were a lot of unforeseen issues I had to overcome. So, to help others who might also want to build their own flume ride, please find my tutorial below the video. (Summarized as: Use TONS of duct tape!) The Boat: -It has to be as light as humanly possible. Minimize weight and maximize the bottom surface area. This means little to no K'nex pieces. I made mine with pieces of tagboard wrapped in duct tape. -There must be wheels in the bottom, but they must be small and turn easily. Lego wheels worked best for me. I hot glued them to the bottom of the boats. -Finally, place pennies or some small weight near the back of the boat. This allows for the current to push the boat easier. The Trough: -Width: I used yellow/granite rods for the trough. This size should be most consistent with the Screamin' Serpent coaster size. -Height: I overestimated how high this needed to be. Anything over a blue rod in height (2.25") is probably too much. -Waterproofing: Sorry, but nothing is going to be absolutely waterproof unless you get custom designed plastic or cut pipes from Home Depot in half. I personally got tag board, wrapped it in duct tape, and then added another layer of duct tape when piecing it together in the K'nex trough structure. *Side note: FlexSeal does not work. At all. It smells bad,t akes forever to dry, and does not waterproof as good as duct tape. Water Depth: -This is a tricky one. Water must be AT LEAST deep enough for the boat to float. But not TOO DEEP that the water velocity drops and the boat gets stuck. -Before a drop: Just before any drop, the bottom of the trough must gradually rise just enough for the wheels to roll on the bottom. This allows the boat to fully float before the trough, and gives it just enough propulsion to push it onto the drop portion. Lifthill: -There's a million viable options here, but the easiest is to use coaster track with pieces attached to the chain to pull it up. -Make sure the beginning of the chain is much lower (and begins much earlier) than the end of the trough. Also, make sure the end of the trough has a lip to maintain water depth - sort of like before a drop. Other tips: -Smoothing the sides of turns is very important. This is where the boats like to get stuck. This is actually what forced me to make them boats - not logs. I ended up lubricating the sides of the boats and trough with beeswax from Lowes to make sure I didn't have to deal with the problem anymore. -Make sure you build this over some sort of a pool, or catch tray, or something. I don't recommend you make a flume ride indoors until the design gets more perfected. -A 500 gallon per hour pump should give you the flow rate necessary to propel the boats. It costs ~$50. But if you can functionally lower the water level in the trough, you should be able to get away with a cheaper pump with a lower flow rate.

My big question here is, how unruly can the guests become? Will there be kids throwing tantrums cause their too short to ride? Too large to ride? Those have been the umm . . . most interesting real life ride op challenges for me to observe. Also, once everything goes wrong and you get fed up can you pick them up and throw them int he water like RCT?

^Do what I did: open your incognito window, and then hope it's not that bad. Also, getting your wisdom teeth out sucks. Everyone's like, "oh, now you get to eat ice cream!" But they don't tell you that you can't eat anything else so you get all hungry and stir crazy.

Being a HUGE fan of Arrow and model coaster building, the fact that this project was canceled makes me sad. However, I was thinking - if there was some (feasible and legal) way to make the track compatible with both K'nex and LEGO supports, this thing would really become worth it. And probably gain a lot of traction.