General Information
Author:
Lutz Pietschker
Version: 2010-12-31
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General Information
This is a model that looks more complicated than it is to build. It is a nice roller-coaster for marbles (depending on their weight they take 7 to 10 seconds to complete the "ride"). It looks particularly good if you run more than one marble at the same time.
The roller-coaster is designed neatly and precisely (with some small exceptions, see building hints). The track fits very well and can be built much easier than I feared.
(Click image to show it in large size in a new window.)
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Two top views from both long sides of the roller-coaster. |
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The track seen from the side. Note the extra railing in the left picture. |
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Some more impressions. Note that, contrary to the publisher's photo, the insides of the track are not coloured blue. |
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On the left picture, a glass marble has just started the ride. |
Add a firm base cardboard or KAPA board. Cut holes into the base inside the towers, you may need them to extract lost marbles from the tower. It never happened to me, but you never know.
The hexagonal center tower is easier to build if you add gluing tabs to the bottom of the tower and to both inner hexagon parts. An alternative for the latter is to strengthen them with stiff cardboard or KAPA board.
I needed to add a "railing" to one of the curves, otherwise the marbles would leave the track there or hit the supporting wall and stop. This was probably a building error, at this place my curve leans a bit outward- take care that all curves lean inward to work against centrifugal power.
Take care that you do not distort tower 5; it happens easily, and makes fitting the start funnel a bit difficult.
Keep the roofs as the last parts, you may need access from the top to fit the track into the towers. And the roofs are much easier to assemble if you form a closed or nearly-closed pyramid from the lower roof parts and then glue the top parts bluntly onto that pyramid.
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, last change 2011-03-12