hillflyer Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Your dedication to this project is admirable, and your attention to detail is nothing short of astounding. I cannot wait to see the completed project. One question I have for the coloring: Will you be planting the pieces of track that have already been placed or are those the actual ride colors? Great question! I'm not sure if the track on the Airplane was ever painted. One thing is certain, during the final years it was not painted. Since I'm going for that older look, I tried Model Master's "Green Drab". I selected it after I tried various color matches - and the one that makes that track stand out (so that one will be able to stand back and actually follow the whole circuit) is what is pictured. If the track was colored green, it would have blended in too well - and if the tracks and the catwalk were both the same color, it would have been too much and I like that subtle difference between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Great work, Tim! I have a special folder to download your great pictures; you're inspiring me to pick up coaster modeling again! Always started models, but never finished one completely. I still have small parts of coasters in storage and at relatives' homes. I always liked model building. I used try to complete whole model kits in one day back when I was a teen - had no patience then. Fast forward through some other details to today - I have about four unfinished models that I can't seem to ever want to finish - A large Jupiter 2 (three years I've had) and its Space Pod, (three years) and the Spindrift from Land of the Giants that I've had since 1990!! Going online and seeing people's fantastic version of them is a bit disconcerting for me so I guess all I really like to build are model roller coasters. Is there a certain point where you stop working on a particular one or does the interest just sort of fade out when something new comes along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Is there a certain point where you stop working on a particular one or does the interest just sort of fade out when something new comes along? Some of my models were too ambitious to complete as a first model... Sometimes I got lazy. When I was a kid, I started a big one on a large piece of heavy duty 3/4" thick plywood - that wouldn't have worked as the thing bent so much if u tried to move it. Life happened in places, and projects were dropped. When I get a situated in a new place with more room, I intend to pick up the hobby again and actually finish it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have a few places where I like to work on this. Cutting pieces I do at one place, painting parts at another, at the coffee house I assemble the sections and at home is where I'll put it all together. I don't like being cooped up at home, I like to be out amongst people - this is the perfect place, it's also the same place where I built the Traver Cyclone 12 years ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 UNACCEPTABLE! I was so excited to be adding on the second deck that I didn't pay much attention alignment. In this BE view, the black lines indicate where properly straightened bents would be, but as you can see, the top half is sort of leaning towards the right. NO!!! Once I had them straightened (as much as I could) I immediately installed two full length end to end ribbons, and then the diagonals (left to right down) to hold the newly straightened bents in place. Just because I thought it was a nice photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Here are some photo matches of Harry Traver's famous Crystal Beach Cyclone (1927 - 1946), between the real deal and the model I built during 2000-2002 - it now sits in the National Roller Coaster Museum at Dollywood (I think it's still there). My model of the Airplane will be more visibly accurate than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Great work, Tim. I'm still baffled how you are getting those tiny pieces together in the track - incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 One of the classic cosmetic features of the Airplane, were the cartouches that were placed almost around the whole perimeter of the coaster between the handrails and the tracks. They were African Art Deco plaques, installed to fit in with the rest of the theme of the park at that time. I'm trying to recreate those, but they're hard to see! Here is my first one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) My favorite short cut is threading a string of ribbon boards (scored and bent and painted on the backside) through the diagonals. It's so quick and easy. Very close to putting on the track, catwalk, handrails and I'll be done with this section! Edited March 20, 2014 by hillflyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 GEEEZ, this section is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated! BUT! In the meantime, I have near perfected my procedure of recreating Fred Church's patented sub-track design. I want to point out that until I glued the ties on, no glue was used to hold together the sub-track. It's not even glued to the structure. I hope to removed the completed track and paint it, then glue it back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenbowl Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 This looks awesome! Keep up the amazing work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 When not able to work on the main part of the model, I work on smaller pieces. I've attempted to recreate the cartouches, a cosmetic feature on the Airplane. There were 6 African Art-Deco designs that alternated around just about the entire upper perimeter of the ride. In between were art-deco spears. I can only see clearly two of the cartouces, one sort of, and the other three I'm going to have to design. The bottom right one is such a design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamez Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Just wanted to chime in and say how cool this is. I don't have the patience for these kinds of projects, but they're always awesome to look at. It looks great so far, can't wait till you're finished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 One of the things I love most about this project, is starting to build a section with some missing pieces of information. Like this exit-from-the-fan-curve piece. I had to start to put it together before the pieces of the mystery were solved. I got the black and white off You Tube. Not a bad recreation.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Just a couple black and white closeups. I LOVE that rounded first drop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StlSS Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Thats amazing craftsmanship, great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 This is the view topping the lift hill down the first let swoop curve before plunging down the first drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Just documentation of how I plan to make the spear cartouches. The finished product is really tiny and looks good to the naked eye, but the enlarged version looks a bit rough. These are among the first to be produced to I hope that with practice, they will look better. Pieces used to make the cartouche. Look really hard and you'll see the clear styrene. The strips glue on to this very fast and strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 Just the most updated shot. Here is a SECRET for those whom have been following the progress - For the flat and/or low-lying areas where you really can't see under the track, I'm foregoing all that horizontal laminating and just using straight-forwarded strips like in this photo. All that needs to be done is finish this stretch of track, add some handrail, that'll be about it for this section. A photo of the completed section should be up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 This is so amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorkscrewFoley Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Ridiculous. Exactly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 Ridiculous. Exactly... Yes. I have developed an OCD with the project. But I'm having a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillflyer Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 On Monday April 22, 2013 at 1:00pm PST, watch for the unveiling of the completed bottleneck and first drop section of the Airplane model coaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XYZ Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 ^I can't wait! Also, happy 1st birthday for this amazing thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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