Cylindricurse Fairground Ride

After having made over 50 models based on fairground rides, it is always difficult to think of a new shape different to the previous ones. Besides roller coasters, bumper cars or swinging rides, most of the others are mainly rotating structures, slow or fast machines.

So trying to be different I tried to think about how to create a new model with many different fixtures to the previous ones so even with similar functions the model will be totally a new concept.

This new model consists of a tower supporting a rotating canopy with eight vertical struts supporting another eight long arms with carriages.

The tower is different to the ones in my other models and so are the arms. I built eight cars with three rows of seats which later I reduced to only two rows of seats due to the proximity to each other.

The building of the canopy resulted in problems in fitting in the vertical position the eight short arms to support the long struts holding the hanging cars. I had to change it or modify it several times until finally the right angle was achieved by adding small flat plates so that the angle is maintained without giving way for its weigh. A very large sprocket gear was fitted on top of a large ball-bearing unit.

A chain engaging the motor was tricky for the ride’s rotation and did not work as well as I should have liked. So I spent quite a long time in dismantling a lot, so I could fit a large pulley to replace the large sprocket gear and use a heavy-duty elastic band connected to the motor. Finally the ride was tested and functioned beautifully.

The tower was anchored in a square base with a round platform made from 24 angle sectors already assembled from a previous model.

I realised that the model was heavy and so was its dimensions, so I opted to build a separate unit as a loading area to be placed next to the main deck, which is easier for transportation.

Finally constructed and tested I realised that when reaching full speed the cars will swing outwards to a very large diameter requiring a large amount of table space, so I thought to restrict each of the arms by adding some strings attached to the main canopy and to the arms so we would not run the risk of hitting the from arch of the loading platform or injuring any of the onlookers.

‘Cylindricurse’ — Taking a spin with damnation.