Sad News Alert

I printed the new posts and crossbeams, The entire waltzer is way more stable now.
I can shake the posts and the thing that moves the most is paybox, which is understandable as its on a pretty small column connecting to the motor mount.

I forgot to print the front 2 posts for the truss so im gonna print those today at some point along with a new truss, as i moved some of the mounting pins.

The only thing im unsure of in general regarding the waltzer is how to do the front canopy. The main videos im working from, the blackpool central pier youtube videos, they dont cover anything beyond the rafters being installed, So all the roundings and the canopy construction isn't covered. Ive looked around on youtube, but there doesnt appear to be any for videos that show that part of the build up process, not for a maxwell waltzer anyway. So im basically just going off of pictures from the NFCA.

Oh, i forgot to mention, I increased the width of the handrails by half a mm on each side, so 1mm total, Not much, but it made me feel better 😂

Also, ive decided to leave the posts as they currently are instead of using the eyescrews for the upper crossbeam, The upper crossbeam will be hidden most of the time, and i dont feel like screwing 100 of those little bastards in, And i feel like the eyescrews would allow a little too much movement, which i dont want.

The more i type eyescrews, the more i realize that its probably not the correct name for them 😂

I just started printing the posts again with some updated holes and such and i was thinking... the modification i made to it the other day, the one with the top crossbeam, im starting to wonder if i should have used eyescrews for the top crossbeams.
It would mean more hardware, but it might look better? hmmm

Im starting to wonder if i have the size of the handrails correct.
The more i look at pictures of waltzers, the more i think the "tube" of the railing is to wide, as well as the width and height. I feel like the height needs to be increased, and maybe a little of the width... hmmm...

This is my model

This is a real waltzer

The more i look at it, i think my shutters are a little taller, which would make the handrails a look a little smaller i think...

Im still a little worried about the durability of the chrome. But when looking around, ive found this thread on modelcarsmag.com, the result looks pretty good, so ive ordered some from ebay, Probably wont arrive for 6 weeks, but thats fine, i have plenty to work on.

https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/144033-good-clear-coat-for-molotow-chrome-found/

I couldn't resist 😭

I was just poking at the chrome despite it only drying for like 2 n half hours.

Honestly... Its kinda OK, It didn't rub off, however it was visibly dull when compared to the untouched part.

Fairground rides wont be pristine, and looking at some photos of waltzers, most of the handrails look more like brushed steel than chrome, So im OK with the finish being dull.

I will say tho, it comes off fairly easy when using a nail to scrape it, but to be fair, some of it was still a little tacky / sticky 🤷‍♂️

Over the last couple of days ive been working on the handrails for the waltzer.

When i first started the waltzer i did actually make some of the old wooden handrails (but 3d printed obviously), i printed one out to test and it looks nice. But the modern waltzers are usually upgraded to metal handrails, presumably for safety and being less fragile 🤷‍♂️

These are the old handrails

These are they "new" handrails most waltzers use.

Anyway, the biggest hurdle i have come across when working on these newer handrails is the fact they are metal. I had some 1.5mm metal rods left over from hinge joints on the moving platforms, So i thought i would bend them into the shape i need, I even brought a little jig thing that is designed for it, but its WAY harder than i originally imagined.

The spring back from the metal is pretty substantial, and although the handrails are a fairly basic shape, it was really difficult. I would also need to use the same method for the safety bars in the waltzer cars, and those bars have some pretty tight turns, so i dread to think how hard that would be to do accurately.

I looked around for some "metal" 3D printing filament, but what was out there was expensive, and it wasn't particularly metal looking to be honest. Then i watched a video by Peter Brown, he did a few "stained glass window" projects that used electroplating to cover some lasercut plywood with copper, But that was way overkill for what i need it for.

I had a look around and found people talking about using chrome paint or markers, which i wasnt aware was a thing, So found a Molotow Chrome Marker on amazon.

Honestly i wasn't expecting much, but holy cow, the results i got look incredible.
The picture below was a test print of a partial "metal" handrail i made the other day, i used the marker on it...

Tell me that dont look good...

Ive looked around and im not sure how durable it is, nor how long it takes to dry (the pen came with no instructions) but other people have used the spray cans and air brushed it and say it can take 2-3 days to fully dry.

A few people have mentioned that its pretty delicate and to use a clear coat on it, but then some other people say that clear coat will dull it and basically just make it silver colored without the shininess.

Im really impatient, so i will probably start poking it pretty soon to see how long it takes.
Its fine, its just a test piece😂

ok, so im a dumbass.
I wondered why the last time i printed the posts the holes for the handrails were so fucking small, its because i did actually find some eyescrews that would work. I just completely forgot about them. Now the posts i printed today all have the larger holes 😭

I worked on the waltzer a little bit today.
I changed how the upper crossbeam connect to the post.

I had previously changed it from its current version, but i decided that its just to complicated.

I've modified the posts so they have 3 protrusions at the top of the post, one for the rafter, and 2 for the crossbeams.
Then the crossbeam itself has a hole on each end for a 2mm pin, which allows it the sit nicely in the post mounts.

The crossbeam with its holes.

The post and crossbeam in place

I was originally trying to avoid having the 3 mounts on the post, but in the end, its a pretty damn close model to an original machine, so a few differences that wont be visible when fully built is acceptable i think.

Not sure what im gonna do about the handrails yet. Im hoping i can get away with some eye screws. Im just not sure if i can get them small enough.

Website updated to fix the pagination stuff, thoroughly untested😂

I wish i had a proper area to work on the waltzer, i think i would get way more done. Its such a hassle having move it about everytime i need to touch or look at it😭

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Hi, Im not dead, Just procrastinating.
You ever watch a youtube video think "huh, i wish i could get paid for waffling a load of bullshit to the camera for 20 minutes".

I dont usually watch the talking head type videos, and i dont think it will happen again 🤷‍♂️

Some fiddling with options seems to have fixed the issue. Hopefully😭

I thought i found a way to do this processing without having to convert all the dng files to tiff files, and subsequently no longer need 800gb space for a 3 min video.

I thought that using Adobe DNG Converter to "fix" the DNG files would help with that, and infact, save me some space. But i was just doing a comparison in photomatix between the tiff and the "fixed" dng files, and yeah nah... Shits not good.

This is the corner of the same frame, using the same settings, the only differance being one is the tiff input files, the other is the DNG input files.

Tiff Input, Looks fine.

DNG input... Looking fucking awful. I have no idea whats going on there.

Im going to fiddle around with the dng converter and see if this is fixable, if not, its back to the drawing board 😒

I was just installing Colorlab to see what thats like at color grading, and it needs fucking python 3.6 ... in 2025... 🙄

Ive been looking at Photomatix for doing the hdr / tonemapping. Im tired of pissing about with enfuse and what not.

This frame is from an 8mm film, the top images are the three photos that were captured using hdr brackets and the bottom image is the final output from Photomatix. I think it looks pretty fucking considering how dark the film is.

It did a reasonable job of filtering out the cracks visible in the sky from the emulsion (at least thats what i think they are) and the truck is actually visible now, not just a black rectangle.

I would say its worth the extra time and space needed to process the 'hdr' brackets.

Jesus christ.
So, i just changed the tolerances, and it did it again, which is weird.. I take a look at my code and Yeah... i forgot to use replace all the hardcoded tolerances with the ones from the config file😭

Which means it just so happens the previous reels of film ive been processing just so happens to work with the hardcoded values 🤷‍♂️

Im dubious about changing the tolerances because if i do, then the frames will end up further away from the sweet spot for the sprockets, which means more alignment later on.

Literally just as i posted the last post, it stopped again 😭