Update

I completely forgot I even had a blog for this, hahahaha. Anyway, the virtual model is done for the ride, which I've renamed "Nitrogen" to keep it sort of generic and useless.

I'm having difficulty with the scale I want to use as I was originally thinking a 1":5' scale (That's one inch on the model equals five feet in real life) but as the ride's footprint is about 1350 feet long, it would make the model about 22 and a half feet long; which is ridiculous. So I thought a 1:8' scale would be ok, but then the numbers seem all weird and it's still quite long. Then I thought a 1:10' scale would work, as that'd make the model 11 feet long, but the ride is only 120' tall, so that means the model would only be one foot tall and 11 feet long; which makes it look odd.

Not to mention that if I decide to use wood to create the model then that means I'd have to find appropriately scaled wood for supports and track and very tiny coaster cars.

So there's one dilemma. Another is what I'm making the model out of. I'm leaning towards wood just because it'd be cool to see it fully realized, but it would be incredibly time-consuming, expensive, and would create a big hassle to try and figure out how the trains should stay on the track. (Though I was thinking of notching out and laminating/plastic coating the track and have slots that ball bearings attached to the cars are inserted into? Like this: |_| only sideways with a fin and ball bearing in there. But that'd have to be a lot of notching.)

Another option I've been thinking about is K'nex? However tacky and ridiculous that may sound, it makes the physics physically visible (rather than simulated on a computer screen) simply and fairly cheap. Though, looks and an accurate scale are the downfalls to this choice of model building.

Similarly, something called "spacerails" would not be accurate or visually pleasing but would get the point across.

I think I need to just contact my professor and see what he says about the material. Once I get more time I'll look into model-train scales (something called H0 or HO scale) and see what that's about. I think if worse comes to worst, I'll have to do with creating a non-working model, but if at all possible, I'd really like to get a working one just to say I did it. This is literally the biggest commitment and project I've ever done.

Looking forward to seeing this thing take shape!