Fairground Ride Build thread
Discussion
Come on Eric and Dr GN (and others)...... put me off the idea please 
So one day whilst the weather was being kind to us I took the Mrs to Southport, hadn't been for years but remember spending many happy childhood days there with mum and dad and still love the place.
We were in and out of the arcades and I just knew I was playing on machines I actually used as a kid decades ago.
We then went to the new Pleasureland funfair............not a patch on the old one that I knew and loved but they're doing their best.
Couldn't resist a go on the Waltzer......sadly not the same one I used as a kid but a model shipped in from Blackpool funfair.
Got speaking to a very interesting bloke who worked there and he told me it was Waltzer W231 made by Jacksons.
So naturally I went home and googled it up............but oh feck, much to the other halfs bemusement I came across this and others and... as she feared I now want........no, I "NEED" one.
I've spoken to a couple of blokes now who do plans and bits for them and they are a lot of work I'm told.
I think I could handle the build but the art work could be my Nemesis.
As I say I'm not a good modeller, I've done a few big Tamiya Caterhams and took part recently in the Lotus 7 clubs "group build" of a 1/24th Spitfire........with ok-ish/sh@tty-ish results.
Please put my Mrs's mind at rest and tell me I'm a twunt of the highest order for even considering one of these.
Thank you, appreciated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZJOroa4z-E
So one day whilst the weather was being kind to us I took the Mrs to Southport, hadn't been for years but remember spending many happy childhood days there with mum and dad and still love the place.
We were in and out of the arcades and I just knew I was playing on machines I actually used as a kid decades ago.
We then went to the new Pleasureland funfair............not a patch on the old one that I knew and loved but they're doing their best.
Couldn't resist a go on the Waltzer......sadly not the same one I used as a kid but a model shipped in from Blackpool funfair.
Got speaking to a very interesting bloke who worked there and he told me it was Waltzer W231 made by Jacksons.
So naturally I went home and googled it up............but oh feck, much to the other halfs bemusement I came across this and others and... as she feared I now want........no, I "NEED" one.
I've spoken to a couple of blokes now who do plans and bits for them and they are a lot of work I'm told.
I think I could handle the build but the art work could be my Nemesis.
As I say I'm not a good modeller, I've done a few big Tamiya Caterhams and took part recently in the Lotus 7 clubs "group build" of a 1/24th Spitfire........with ok-ish/sh@tty-ish results.
Please put my Mrs's mind at rest and tell me I'm a twunt of the highest order for even considering one of these.
Thank you, appreciated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZJOroa4z-E
Edited by kenny.R400 on Thursday 25th July 18:06
I reckon the fundamental thing here is...does this subject interest you enough to give you the motivation to complete the project?
If the answer is "yes", then go for it.
I'd do plenty of research and planning / costing before handing over any cash though. It would be bad if turned out to be a "seemed like a good idea at the time" project.
If the answer is "yes", then go for it.
I'd do plenty of research and planning / costing before handing over any cash though. It would be bad if turned out to be a "seemed like a good idea at the time" project.
Many thanks lads for the comments and thoughts/advice.
In essence yes, the subject and the nostalgia of the build is what's firing me up.
I'd always loved the waltzer ride for what it was, but speaking to the operator of the Southport machine got me hooked. I'd no idea there were so many, built by so many firms and in all sorts of configurations. Cleverer people than I have thankfully catalogued all the known rides and their histories and it just fascinates me reading about them and where they've been.
Maybe I've had my fill of petrol and avo gas for a while and this idea fits the bill for the winter indoor project.
With the dreadful winters recently I have been pleased I had a model plane or something to turn to in the evening when SWMBO was watching Corrie. I thoroughly enjoyed the Spitty build, and learned a lot from the guys re weathering techniques et al......time well spent.
However, with the next "Trumpeter" build which was a Hurricane I realised I was not up to a lot of you guys skills. The fit was awful on this plane and trying to get it right resulted in loss of rivet detail etc.,something I simply could not repair.........so it got riddled with .22 airgun fire in frustration
The waltzer however, being a semi-scratch build seems more of a job I'd have done in my previous life as a Toolmaker.......ie if I drop a b0llock I can fix it, I cannot reinstate rivits and shut lines on a plastic kit though when all goes AWOL, if you know what I mean.
As for price.............I conservatively guess at circa 500 quid for all the bits.........which over a couple of years period works out cheaper than the Spit and Hurrie builds.
THE ONE THING that is worrying me deeply and which may put the blocks on this project is the art work.....how the hell can I do that cheaply?.....I personally have no chance of doing it. I'm actively trying to find out now if transfers/decals/stencils are available.
I will report back, and thanks once more chaps.
Here is another photographic build that is a league above and on another level again.
Cheers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxbUE_VzIyU
In essence yes, the subject and the nostalgia of the build is what's firing me up.
I'd always loved the waltzer ride for what it was, but speaking to the operator of the Southport machine got me hooked. I'd no idea there were so many, built by so many firms and in all sorts of configurations. Cleverer people than I have thankfully catalogued all the known rides and their histories and it just fascinates me reading about them and where they've been.
Maybe I've had my fill of petrol and avo gas for a while and this idea fits the bill for the winter indoor project.
With the dreadful winters recently I have been pleased I had a model plane or something to turn to in the evening when SWMBO was watching Corrie. I thoroughly enjoyed the Spitty build, and learned a lot from the guys re weathering techniques et al......time well spent.
However, with the next "Trumpeter" build which was a Hurricane I realised I was not up to a lot of you guys skills. The fit was awful on this plane and trying to get it right resulted in loss of rivet detail etc.,something I simply could not repair.........so it got riddled with .22 airgun fire in frustration
The waltzer however, being a semi-scratch build seems more of a job I'd have done in my previous life as a Toolmaker.......ie if I drop a b0llock I can fix it, I cannot reinstate rivits and shut lines on a plastic kit though when all goes AWOL, if you know what I mean.
As for price.............I conservatively guess at circa 500 quid for all the bits.........which over a couple of years period works out cheaper than the Spit and Hurrie builds.
THE ONE THING that is worrying me deeply and which may put the blocks on this project is the art work.....how the hell can I do that cheaply?.....I personally have no chance of doing it. I'm actively trying to find out now if transfers/decals/stencils are available.
I will report back, and thanks once more chaps.
Here is another photographic build that is a league above and on another level again.
Cheers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxbUE_VzIyU
The art work
Well in less technogical times I would have suggested using photographs stuck to the largest bits, but nowadays there are so many unbelievably brilliant art packages around that you can modify, resize, reshape and recolour any pictures you fancy. Then make your own decals to fit
Inkscape is brilliant but very demanding but even MS Paint which any Windoze machine bears inside as a free gift can do lots of altering pictures
Or if you get stuck in four or five years* bring what you have here and I bet someone can help you out
but do go for it, I'm all for change
Well in less technogical times I would have suggested using photographs stuck to the largest bits, but nowadays there are so many unbelievably brilliant art packages around that you can modify, resize, reshape and recolour any pictures you fancy. Then make your own decals to fit
Inkscape is brilliant but very demanding but even MS Paint which any Windoze machine bears inside as a free gift can do lots of altering pictures
Or if you get stuck in four or five years* bring what you have here and I bet someone can help you out
- notice I am expecting a long lead time before we get the paintbrushes wet
but do go for it, I'm all for change
I know what you are saying Eric but the big Trumpeter Hurricane depressed me from the off.
For an expensive (in the scale of things) kit it was a disgrace. As soon as I unboxed it I noticed big "sinks" in the wings which Dr gn or yourself would have struggled with..........fill them and all the detail has then gone.
Final straw was the fuselage to wing fit......a total joke and basically unfixable for me.
With this waltzer ride at least you can make things fit and work without damaging any unfixable detail.
I've now got the build plans and sure, there are some operations that look really difficult..............the hidden track for instance that carries the cars around the ride........looks a nightmare to get right but at least you're in no danger of causing irrepairable damage to anything.
I've committed myself to buying the basic bits with a view to scratch building the rest......sorry I know, I'm like a dog with 2 d1cks when I want something
I'm told it'll be September before my order will be produced.............I will open a build thread on it if anyones interested
Cheers guys.
For an expensive (in the scale of things) kit it was a disgrace. As soon as I unboxed it I noticed big "sinks" in the wings which Dr gn or yourself would have struggled with..........fill them and all the detail has then gone.
Final straw was the fuselage to wing fit......a total joke and basically unfixable for me.
With this waltzer ride at least you can make things fit and work without damaging any unfixable detail.
I've now got the build plans and sure, there are some operations that look really difficult..............the hidden track for instance that carries the cars around the ride........looks a nightmare to get right but at least you're in no danger of causing irrepairable damage to anything.
I've committed myself to buying the basic bits with a view to scratch building the rest......sorry I know, I'm like a dog with 2 d1cks when I want something
I'm told it'll be September before my order will be produced.............I will open a build thread on it if anyones interested
Cheers guys.
It's pretty obvious that this is a completely different propositon from a plastic kit. If you've got toolmaking experience and motivation there's no reason you couldn't make a good job of it. After all, to an extent you build it as you want it to look; it's not like a model Hurricane which has to look like a Hurricane at the end of the day.
dr_gn said:
to an extent you build it as you want it to look; it's not like a model Hurricane which has to look like a Hurricane at the end of the day.
That's the purist in you talking 
There's nothing stopping anyone building a kit to look however they want it to look but I get the point of your post.
Thanks guys good points. There will be a bit if not a lot of "artistic" license with the build I guess and anything that does not come out right first go can be rectified.....as you would on your car or something.
With a plastic kit, if you make a mistake it's game over.........unless you have a Dr gn type skill and the patience of a saint.......being an ex toolmaker is not enough in those circumstances.
Fatty, you are right too..............one of the lads in the Spitfire group build turned his out in Team Lotus colours didn't he Eric.............bloody British racing green with a yellow sripe down the middle, looked great too strangely enough.
With a plastic kit, if you make a mistake it's game over.........unless you have a Dr gn type skill and the patience of a saint.......being an ex toolmaker is not enough in those circumstances.
Fatty, you are right too..............one of the lads in the Spitfire group build turned his out in Team Lotus colours didn't he Eric
.............bloody British racing green with a yellow sripe down the middle, looked great too strangely enough.Big Fat Fatty said:
dr_gn said:
to an extent you build it as you want it to look; it's not like a model Hurricane which has to look like a Hurricane at the end of the day.
That's the purist in you talking There's nothing stopping anyone building a kit to look however they want it to look but I get the point of your post.
If on the other hand he's building something that has considerable margin for his own interpretation of how it should look and will still look reasonable, plus it requires skills in working with engineering materials and tools he already has, then it's a completely different kettle of ballgames from a plastic kit.
Wow, Dr., that summed it up 100%.........many thanks.
I'm no model maker by any standards but love having a go. I always come to grief with the rogue drop of glue knackering up some detail which can't be rectified or breaking something which I should have only fitted at the end....but due to my impatience fitted too soon.
However it's worse when you buy a kit with obvious flaws that I know a numpty like me could not make good in a month of Sundays..........I simply lose interest as I did with the Hurricane.
Now the Spitfire went better than I imagined thanks to help from Eric and others. I learned my first pathetic steps on weathering and also really tried my best with the painting...it was ok from 4 feet. With the Waltzer build as you say you can get away with a lot of things. The Waltzer I'm basing mine on looks different in every pic of it during its lifetime........I will hopefully get the all important mechanics working first, then strip and paint it, or delegate the job.......if something is not right it is fixable for me..........unlike the Hurricane.
Here's a pic of the spitty I built (for you to judge my level) and the one thing that hurt on that build!! The registration numbers on the fuselage would simply not come off the bloody decal sheet, all the others were fine.......when they finally did the buggers fell to bits........I was gutted.
I scoured ebay trying to find a substitute and settled on letraset......a flippin dogs dinner but I decided not to scrap it.
I've a lot to learn but I am keen
I'm no model maker by any standards but love having a go. I always come to grief with the rogue drop of glue knackering up some detail which can't be rectified or breaking something which I should have only fitted at the end....but due to my impatience fitted too soon.
However it's worse when you buy a kit with obvious flaws that I know a numpty like me could not make good in a month of Sundays..........I simply lose interest as I did with the Hurricane.
Now the Spitfire went better than I imagined thanks to help from Eric and others. I learned my first pathetic steps on weathering and also really tried my best with the painting...it was ok from 4 feet. With the Waltzer build as you say you can get away with a lot of things. The Waltzer I'm basing mine on looks different in every pic of it during its lifetime........I will hopefully get the all important mechanics working first, then strip and paint it, or delegate the job.......if something is not right it is fixable for me..........unlike the Hurricane.
Here's a pic of the spitty I built (for you to judge my level
) and the one thing that hurt on that build!! The registration numbers on the fuselage would simply not come off the bloody decal sheet, all the others were fine.......when they finally did the buggers fell to bits........I was gutted.I scoured ebay trying to find a substitute and settled on letraset......a flippin dogs dinner but I decided not to scrap it.
I've a lot to learn but I am keen
dr_gn said:
Not really: If the O/P was happy to build his Hurricance into something that looked like a dogs breakfast (for example, someone sanding the wings into banana shapes or whatever), he wouldn't have scrapped it. This implies that he has his own standards, and that he'll be disappointed with anything that falls short of these.
If on the other hand he's building something that has considerable margin for his own interpretation of how it should look and will still look reasonable, plus it requires skills in working with engineering materials and tools he already has, then it's a completely different kettle of ballgames from a plastic kit.
Perhaps I didn't quite get your previous post If on the other hand he's building something that has considerable margin for his own interpretation of how it should look and will still look reasonable, plus it requires skills in working with engineering materials and tools he already has, then it's a completely different kettle of ballgames from a plastic kit.
You're right, even with a different livery or markings a Hurricane would still be easily recognisable as a Hurricane.
Apologies.
In fact that's mostly the reason I stick to cars and haven't touched aircraft yet, I don't consider myself good enough to get the basic shape right. Cars in comparison are easy, you can change what you like and call it modified.
Edited by Big Fat Fatty on Friday 26th July 19:05
Big Fat Fatty said:
dr_gn said:
Not really: If the O/P was happy to build his Hurricance into something that looked like a dogs breakfast (for example, someone sanding the wings into banana shapes or whatever), he wouldn't have scrapped it. This implies that he has his own standards, and that he'll be disappointed with anything that falls short of these.
If on the other hand he's building something that has considerable margin for his own interpretation of how it should look and will still look reasonable, plus it requires skills in working with engineering materials and tools he already has, then it's a completely different kettle of ballgames from a plastic kit.
Perhaps I didn't quite get your previous post If on the other hand he's building something that has considerable margin for his own interpretation of how it should look and will still look reasonable, plus it requires skills in working with engineering materials and tools he already has, then it's a completely different kettle of ballgames from a plastic kit.
You're right, even with a different livery or markings a Hurricane would still be easily recognisable as a Hurricane.
Apologies.
kenny.R400 said:
Wow, Dr., that summed it up 100%.........many thanks.
I'm no model maker by any standards but love having a go. I always come to grief with the rogue drop of glue knackering up some detail which can't be rectified or breaking something which I should have only fitted at the end....but due to my impatience fitted too soon.
However it's worse when you buy a kit with obvious flaws that I know a numpty like me could not make good in a month of Sundays..........I simply lose interest as I did with the Hurricane.
Now the Spitfire went better than I imagined thanks to help from Eric and others. I learned my first pathetic steps on weathering and also really tried my best with the painting...it was ok from 4 feet. With the Waltzer build as you say you can get away with a lot of things. The Waltzer I'm basing mine on looks different in every pic of it during its lifetime........I will hopefully get the all important mechanics working first, then strip and paint it, or delegate the job.......if something is not right it is fixable for me..........unlike the Hurricane.
Here's a pic of the spitty I built (for you to judge my level) and the one thing that hurt on that build!! The registration numbers on the fuselage would simply not come off the bloody decal sheet, all the others were fine.......when they finally did the buggers fell to bits........I was gutted.
I scoured ebay trying to find a substitute and settled on letraset......a flippin dogs dinner but I decided not to scrap it.
I've a lot to learn but I am keen
Honestly - from what I can see of your Spitfire, you clearly have enough modelling skill to build a plastic kit that anyone would be proud of. I'm no model maker by any standards but love having a go. I always come to grief with the rogue drop of glue knackering up some detail which can't be rectified or breaking something which I should have only fitted at the end....but due to my impatience fitted too soon.
However it's worse when you buy a kit with obvious flaws that I know a numpty like me could not make good in a month of Sundays..........I simply lose interest as I did with the Hurricane.
Now the Spitfire went better than I imagined thanks to help from Eric and others. I learned my first pathetic steps on weathering and also really tried my best with the painting...it was ok from 4 feet. With the Waltzer build as you say you can get away with a lot of things. The Waltzer I'm basing mine on looks different in every pic of it during its lifetime........I will hopefully get the all important mechanics working first, then strip and paint it, or delegate the job.......if something is not right it is fixable for me..........unlike the Hurricane.
Here's a pic of the spitty I built (for you to judge my level
) and the one thing that hurt on that build!! The registration numbers on the fuselage would simply not come off the bloody decal sheet, all the others were fine.......when they finally did the buggers fell to bits........I was gutted.I scoured ebay trying to find a substitute and settled on letraset......a flippin dogs dinner but I decided not to scrap it.
I've a lot to learn but I am keen
Again, being totally honest, in my opinion the weathering spoils it. I've ended up with my own method of very subtle weathering that I'm happy with. Some things such as paint chips and oil streaks I just can't get right, so I leave them off mostly. It's ironic that some things such as weathering can take a very long time to do and actually detract from the overall quality of the model. Then again a completely flat model with no surface contrast looks like a toy - and that's if done well. If it's done poorly it just looks naff. It's a fine balance.
I also invariably make stupid mistakes, usually near the end of the build. I make things difficult for myself...but I always try to save it in the end even if it means obtaining spare parts or decals.
With your Hurricane - a flawed kit, exactly the same with my new tool Airfix Spitfire - it went in the bin, luckily before I'd wasted much time on it.
In the end if you enjoy it, whatever genre of modelling it may be, just go for it.
Edited by dr_gn on Friday 26th July 19:19
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