Cheetah Hunt Statix Model Modification

[2012jarrett]

Like other enthusiasts, I keep a top 10 list of my favorite roller coasters, and at the moment, Maverick sits as my third favorite coaster, Millennium Force as my second, and Cheetah Hunt as my first. I bought at Millennium Force Statix model online last fall because they were on sale, and my parents got me a Maverick Statix for Christmas this past year. However, I would like to have Cheetah Hunt so I could build a display case/shelf to mount on my wall with my top 3 on it. But they don't make one, so I've been thinking about how I could make one.

 

PROJECT RUNDOWN:

1. Obtain a Maverick Statix from the online Cedar Point store.

2. Remove train from track, remove track from base, paint track green, use Microsoft Word and sticker paper to make a new Cheetah Hunt logo to stick on the little name plate.

3. Use a heat gun/blow dryer to remove the stickers from the trains, use Goo Gone to get the adhesive off.

4. Take the train apart and paint the seats and restraints black.

5. Remove the train walls and paint them yellow.

6. With the front car off, obtain measurements for the train wall piece with a set of calipers, recreate it in Sketchup or Inventor, modify zero car to look like Cheetah Hunt's abstract cheetah faces, 3D print this piece at school.

7. With a very thin dowel rod cut into pieces on different biases, stamp black ink onto the train bodies in a pattern that looks similar to the pattern on the actual train.

8. Find a can of spray paint that can paint detailed mists and spray a white spot onto the zero car to create the gradient that exists on the real thing, detail brush the black onto the eye and nose ornaments.

9. Put the trains back together, put them on the track, put it back in the box, and enjoy!

 

APPROX. TIME: 3-5 weeks

APPROX. INVESTMENT: $30-$40

 

Does this sound like a feasible project? If it does, I'll order the train and this thread will become the update thread for this model.

Edited April 2, 2014 by 2012jarrett

[glouthan]

I'd say it's possible. A few months back I did a Full Throttle train recreation and it didn't take up as much time as I thought it would. Here are the pictures of the final product:

Full Throttle train front view. On the left what it was before, on the right is the final product.

Side view of the train.

[2012jarrett]

^Haha, I love it! Nice work on that one! Though I have to ask, how'd you get the Full Throttle logo on the front? Did you just print it and glue it or something?

 

I just ordered the Statix and it should be in in a few weeks! Can't wait to get started on it!

[glouthan]

^ Yep. The logo is just printed and glued on. Can't wait to see your final product!

[2012jarrett]

^ Yep. The logo is just printed and glued on. Can't wait to see your final product!

Thanks! I'll probably opt for sticker paper when it comes time to make the name plate but I might put the train logo on the same way.

 

UPDATE 1:

 

 

Package arrived, melted necessary stickers off (middle and back car, name plate), removed track from base.

 

First priority right now is getting the train off of the track. Once that's done, I'm fixing the track (I've already cracked five-ish crossties and you can see that the blow dryer heat warped it a bit towards the back car), painting the track Cheetah Hunt green, screwing it back to the base, making a Cheetah Hunt sticker for the name plate, and concentrating on disassembling and painting/3D printing the train pieces.

 

Close-up shot of the trains without their stickers. I left them on the front car because I plan to remove that piece entirely and use it to measure the dimensions for the 3D printed zero car.

 

Thought it'd be cool to show the stickers without their model.

QUESTION: I've noticed that you need to get the little orange restraint pieces off to get to the central screw holding the train together. How do you do that? I pulled and felt around for a snap piece but I didn't find anything. Does anybody here know how to do that without breaking it?

 

By the time I release the next one I should have the track painted and the train off and partially disassembled!

[glouthan]

^ I haven't worked with those type of trains before, so I don't know how to get the restaints off. I do know that there is a site that might be helpful, as it shows disassembled coaster dynamix trains. Here is the site: http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/cd.html

[B&MBoy1982]

You will not be able to paint the grey bottom side of the trains. Paint does not stick to that plastic.

 

Go to a hobby store and get Testors Acrylic paints for the chassis. The paint comes in little tiny bottles. It works well for the track and chassis.