Custom models of Sheikra, TTD, Insane and now Manta!

[derek_lentz]

I am just going to say WOW!

[Goliath513]

You know my thoughts on this.

[_Brandon_]

Wow this is amazing! Best model I have ever seen. I'm amazed at your patience. Great job, keep it up!

[themeparkman25]

Mightbeawannabe-The dimes are used to space the rails from the spine. On real B&M track, the rails are raised slightly based on the height of the ties, therefore I am mimicing that space. I just get lazy and put dimes in to do the work for me, since the glue takes roughly 15 minutes to initially dry. And I have absolutely no idea why my dates were messed up on everything. In fact, see my signature below, just realized today that that is messed up too!

 

Office and Bob-Since you guys commented on the size of the track, I will give you a little story. The initial plans for my 4th coaster were supposed to be something fairly large in size using much bigger supplies for the spine. However, a problem arises as soon as the track size gets any bigger than this. Of the two companies, evergreen scale was the only one I was willing to work with since the other had horrible customer service. With that in mind, above 1/4" the square spine switches over from one solid piece of plastic into a hollow square. The problem with using bigger track arises when the melting and bending process occurs. Take, for example, a 1/2" hollow tube that I will be bending to the left. The left side of the square will then be compressed into a smaller space and the right side will be stretched. This compressing and stretching of the spine would ultimately mean that sections would buckle, fold and crease, hence creating an unsmooth track. I hope that description makes sense! I would have loved to have made the model bigger, but my supplier dictated the size of this one. And yes, Bob, I will post pictures with a ruler next update.

 

Daniel-Thanks for the kind words! Stick with me through the project and I promise the end product will be awesome!

 

Tiger-Thank you! I pride myself on the accuracy of my models. With this model, I also pride myself on the smoothness of the track. It is certainly a time consuming process but I believe it will definitely be worth it in the end. Stay tuned!

 

Derek-Thank you! Keep up with this thread and I can promise the updates will only be getting better.

 

Sam-Shouldn't you be running Ghostblasters?! haha just kidding! You'll have to see Manta one of these days.

 

Brandon-Thank you for the kind words. What other models have you seen?

 

 

As a quick update, I purchased a new heat gun today since I have the following two days off. This means that I should get some work done on the twist and turnaround! Look for an update soon!

[rcg19]

Deleted by user

Edited December 29, 2010 by rcg19

[Jmac]

So far the whole thing just looks crazy professional! Im excited to see how the scenery plays out. Manta itself is pretty cool, but it's queue and surroundings is what sets it apart to me. I couldn't imagine the final product not looking like something you'd buy out of a catalog if it continues to look this great

[themeparkman25]

Rcg19-I don't have a set plan on making the trains at this point, but I am leaning towards a soap bar approach. I will get a chunk of clay or whatever, then sculpt/cut it into the mantas. I don't know, if someone has a better idea please let me know!

 

Jmac-I am going all out with this model, so expect the details to be there. Obviously I won't do the stuff inside the queue, since no one will see it, but you can bet a buck that the outside will be perfect. Keep following and thank you for the kind words.

 

 

UPDATE JUNE 10, 2010

 

In this update, you will find a how to guide on making a piece of model B&M track as well as the inline twist and helix! I am getting very excited about this model and I am getting more and more confident working with the heat gun and styrene. My goal is to punch out all the way to the mid course before my Europe trip, which is in exactly two weeks. However, at the rate I am going right now, I should be able to get slightly past that.

 

I do want to point out that the helix looks different than that of the real Manta. The reason being the model itself is to scale, but the supports and track are not to scale. I would scale the track, but I do not have any actual numbers as to the size of the track. For this, I apologize and hope you understand. Outside of this err, everything else is perfect!

 

Enjoy the guide and the update!

 

Step 1: Get your supplies! This is what I used to make everything on the model. So don't think that all this comes pre fab'ed and I just put it in to place. Everything is flat and boring, and it is up to me to bend and work the material into place.

 

Step 2: Melt the spine! This is the pain staking process and it hurts! I use the heat gun to melt the spine to the point where it is completely bendable. I then grab the hot plastic and twist and hold it in to place until it dries, which is usually in a couple seconds. Also, the bending takes place on a very small section since it is not possible to heat up the entire stick.

 

Step 3: Cut rectangles! These little rectangles are a centimeter long and will be cut in to the shape of a tie.

Step 4: Cut the corners! By cutting the corners, the bottom becomes the width of the spine and the top is the right distance apart. It is important to not cut all the way to the top and leave a little bit of a "straight" section so that you can mount the rail to it.

 

Step 5: Glue the rectangles to the spine! These will be places sporadically on the spine in order to support the rails of the coaster. In this case, the pieces are 2cm apart.

Step 6: Hang the piece! Once the ties are dry, you are ready to hang the piece in place. Usually, I glue the first part of the spine to the last part of the last piece. I also make one support towards the end of the piece, to hold up the weight. That way I have both ends of the piece supported and ready to go. If you noticed, this also means only about 1 in 4 supports is load bearing.

Step 7: Hang the rails! Using the last part of the supplies, twist the rails into their place and glue them to the track! Viola!

 

There you have it! How to make a B&M model! Hope you have enjoyed that! Now on to the update! Enjoy that too!

This shot, and the next one, are pure MONEY!

The WIN of the update! Another update in about a week!

[gisco]

[CorkscrewFoley]

Colour me impressed...

[hobbit]

Great pictures !! this looks amazing !!!

if you finish this, make a picture and send it to the themepark, they will love it !

 

are you also going to make trees? and grass and stuff ?

[tiger01]

this is impressive! you should add the train to were the splash down is and create a blue splash. that would be a cool feature!

[Mastersax68]

That pretzel and zero-g look amazing.

[mightbeawannabe]

This is still grabbing my attention! It is great, and I hope Sea World has seen this thread. Don't they read these forums? I have but two little visual nitpicks- 1-a rail has seperated from the ties on the drop; 2-the inline twist is more corkscrewy. Inline twists are where the track stays in the same pitch and direction for the part that inverts you (130ish degrees). Is what you've done on Manta(full size)?

 

Don't get me wrong, It looks great, but maybe there was a mistake in terminology.

[themeparkman25]

Hobbit-I actually would love to send the real model to the park in hopes they would put it on display. I am not sure if they read this thread, but if they do, please contact me! It's yours for free! I will complete this model down to the last blade of grass and wave of water. It will be 100% accurate, at least to the best of my ability.

 

Tiger01-You can bet your bucks that I will add the train to the splashdown! A couple problems do arise though from that placement. 1) I still don't really know how I am going to make the trains and 2) I don't know how to make fake waves that look real. That, however, will be a bridge I will cross when that time comes. For now, my concentration is completing the track work.

 

Wannabe-You caught me, haha. The first thing you mentioned is that a rail popped on the first drop. I didn't realize it until that specific picture, but I will reglue the piece back in place and it will be as good as new! In terms of the second thing you mentioned...I actually don't have a reason or an excuse. That particular piece was especially difficult to bend in to place, and due to the fact I melt it inch by inch, it is hard to complete a true inline twist from the start. Excuses aside, I knew that would be the complaint of the ride but I really don't have a solution for it. I apologize and hope you understand!

[zilliboy]

WOW, Verry nice.

[mightbeawannabe]

Ahh...One inch at a time? That must be painfully slow and frustrating.

[triggernel]

^Not to mention rewarding!

[themeparkman25]

Does anyone know the exact height of MCBR?

Edited January 6, 2011 by themeparkman25

[_Brandon_]

Does anyone know the exact height of MCBR?

 

Ummm... no.

[gisco]

Have any updates for us Jordan?

[Golfie]

These are really neat. Makes me want to go to the hobby store and get my hands on some plastruct!

[mcjaco]

Does anyone know the exact height of MCBR?

 

Time to use some modeler's license.

[themeparkman25]

January 6th, 2011 UPDATE

 

Well hello there! Seems like quite awhile its been since my last post in this thread. Unfortunately, that last semester was the toughest yet, and it truly required every bit of my attention. However, working hard will pay off in the end! With my last few days of break, I have been or plan on punching out this model. It's been sitting around for so long, and believe it or not, I have people interested in it. So, that means it has to be done!

 

The purpose of this post is to resurrect a severely dead thread! I took a shotty picture on my iphone of the progress made so far, so enjoy! I plan on posting a much bigger update maybe tomorrow or friday.

 

In terms of work done since the last update, I have actually done a lot! Namely, the corkscrew through the pretzel loop and the first part of the midcourse. At this time, it is just the spine and ties, no rails. I plan on putting the rails on tomorrow! You will also notice a few supports missing. I actually ran out of one size of tubes, so I will order more tomorrow and carry on! School starts in just a few days, so look for a lot of work over the next week to punch it out and get some paint on!

 

Enjoy! And let me know if you guys are ready for a full update!

More higher quality pictures coming! That is, if you guys are ready for them!

[tiger01]

It's funny...on Monday I was wondering were this Manta model had gone. Thank goodness it's back! I have a soft spot for B&Ms.

[derek_lentz]

I have actually been really looking foward to see how this turns out. I was hoping it had not been abandoned. I am definitely interested in the full report.