Up-Shut Have a look at Starman, a 3D-Printed, Single-Rail Curler Coaster Constructed One Layer at a Time

KohlerCoaster spent a complete 12 months painstakingly bringing Starman to life from scratch. Prototype after prototype was made and disassembled whereas he perfected each characteristic of the prepare, observe, and whole assist system over months. With every take a look at, it grew to become evident that even minor changes have been required to make the 3D-printed curler coaster to work correctly.

Single-rail designs are a factor within the theme park world, as evidenced by RMC’s Raptor coasters, Intamin’s Sizzling Racers, and Skyline Points of interest’ Skywarp IIs, and to be trustworthy, these full-scale coasters have nailed it by way of mixing thrills with extraordinarily small layouts. Starman strives for a similar vibe, however in tiny, with just one central rail to maintain the prepare on observe by way of all of the bends and drops.

It stands 3.625 toes tall, which is cheap, however what’s actually spectacular is that it spans 40.5 toes of observe. The prepare itself reaches a prime pace of 9.47 mph, which is quick sufficient for its scale to supply the true deal by way of forces. You get six correct airtime moments the place the prepare leaves the observe and you’re feeling weightless, in addition to two full inversions, with a double zero-G roll being one of many highlights, the place the prepare flips sideways twice in fast succession.

Then there are the security parts, which embrace a big purple cease button on the bottom and computerized mechanisms to help hold all the pieces working easily. Lastly, the demo video options David Bowie’s “Starman” within the background. Starman is a recreation changer for 3D-printed coasters. Getting a single-rail mannequin to run correctly has all the time been troublesome as a result of stability points, however this one merely cruises across the circuit with no issues.