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The Airplane Model project


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A side view of the base of the lift hill before I start adding the gears and wheels that loop the chain. Since this is a dirty area, and usually neglected cosmetically because of such, I'm showing a little extra dirt and weathering. I'll add some more grease stains after the assembly is completed - you WON'T believe what I'll be using! This small section will get tucked through the spiral I've been building. But to do that I'll have to carve a path...

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More often than not, whenever I’m about to enter a stage of construction…I’ll start…and then I realize that…wait, before I build that, I have to build this first, and before I can put this there, I’ll need to make that part too. And to make that part, I’ll need…

 

You get the idea. That’s what happened to the little lift hill section I built. Before I could permanently thread it though the main spiral structure, I realized I’m going to have to first add everything related to the lower chain drive…or else I won’t be able to reach in there later. And before I do that, I had to make the motor house (see page 14 - the black and white photo). And before that I had to add the extra row of bents that make up the climb to the second hill. This is now that’s coming along so far. I have NO idea why these photos keep flipping to reverse order.

 

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The motor house, with board and batten exterior about to be painted and assembled.

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Test fitting before trimming and painting.

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This is probably what the motor house looked like new.

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But this is probably how it looked 25 years later.

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This recreation is very awesome It doesn't deserve the lack of comments it's getting.

 

That's probably because I'm creating an actual scale model and not some computer generated creation seen only on a screen. Most younger viewers can't comprehend that. It's kind of like, why waste your artistic talent to draw thousands of cells to make an animated film when you can just shortcut on a computer?

Edited by hillflyer
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I can't believe I haven't commented on this before, but this is totally amazing! The amount of time and detail that you're putting into it is incredible. It's definitely quite a few steps up from the models I make.

 

Do you have any photos posted on TPR? I'd sure like to look at them, I love photos of other coaster models! Tim

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This is my first attempt to include a link to you tube. These are clips from the San Diego Giant Dipper restoration set to a music video I made in 1992. Being this close to Fred Church's work has been of immeasurable help with the Airplane.

 

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I'm about to marry the spiral section with the base of the lift hill. The long white stick is where the track for the lift will be. The others are just fun shots of the crank house and the sprocket/roller assembly for the chain.

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One of the classic features of the Airplane Coaster were the gooseneck lamps that stood high with that big wide curl. I had NO idea how I was going to make 100+ exact shaped wires. The answer to my question fell in to my lap! Almost literally. I was even more thrilled that is TO SCALE! Fred Church must be really watching over me. I just put these on a sort of a test fit.

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Here is a photo looking down the lift hill with clear view of the goosenecks. Comparing this photo with the one above, it seems I need to find thinner base poles, that would look better. But the gooseneck lamps are perfect. Has anyone seen, or have an idea for what I can use for light bulbs? I bought thin beading wire and some clear beads. I'm scared to research making it actually light up, (that's possible) so maybe if someone can point me in the right direction? Thanks~

2119256641_Aeroplanegooseneckbulbs.jpg.20e03ba34a239d72cca24e2b41245095.jpg

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Making it actually light up shouldn't be too hard. The most difficult thing is making it look nice. I'm not sure if you can find LEDs small enough to fit onto the ends of those wires. Another thing is getting the power to the LEDs. Unless you want there to be a chance of getting a small shock you might want to look for some thin insulated wire to make the goosenecks out of. After you get that sorted out the rest is fairly simple. You should be able to just wire them up to a battery with a switch and you should be good to go. Most of the parts can be found at your local electronics or hobby stores but I'm not sure if you will be able to get that small of LEDs. If they are available, you most likely will have to order them online. I'll have time to look for some when I get home today so I can hopefully find something that would work. Also, do you plan to have any other electronics incorperated into this model? I'd love to see if you could pull off a moving chain on the lift hill or something like that.

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What did you do t break your arm?

 

Saturday I visited my partner in the hospital being treated for pancreatitis. I got to spend about 5 hours with him and

i got a really good start on the structure for the remainder of the spiral. I took a dinner break.

 

When I returned an hour later, My partner was flipping out after he heard a nurse call him 'fag'. A huge melee involving several security and Police. While trying to get him to calm down I fell and broke my wrist.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I go in for surgery on my right wrist tomorrow.

 

Since I'll be out of commission for a few weeks, at least as far as the model goes, I thought I'd post a photo of where I left off matched against the real thing.

 

Wish me luck! It'd be awful if they slipped and cut off my hand.

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My hand is swollen and bruised ow ow ow

Edited by hillflyer
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