Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) builds some amazing roller coasters. Outlaw Run. Goliath at Six Flags Great America. And those are just their “built from scratch” coasters. The company has turned dying wooden roller coasters into the amazing hybrid coasters we now know as New Texas Giant, Iron Rattler among several others recently completed or under construction.
The company may want to connect with Brad Corben before they start working on their next project.
He builds amazingly detailed Rocky Mountain Construction coaster models and other amusement park attractions.
Brad sent me photos of his latest design, named Ironside – The Viking Warrior. It’s still a work in progress. But as you can see from the photos, it already looks like a miniature Rocky Mountain Construction creation.
After seeing his work, I had to ask him a few questions about his model-building talents.
C101: Why Rocky Mountain Construction coasters? What inspires you about their work?
I think what Fred Grubb, Suanne Dedmon and Alan Schilke have created is a whole new coaster experience that is fresh to the industry. And I feel their coasters have been the biggest most “WOW” thing to happen in the coaster industry in the last 10 years. I love the design of the red track, which also I know can alter depending on the colours chosen by the park. But it gives their coasters a look and you can definitely pick one out and say “hey, that’s a RMC Coaster” just like how easily you can spot the square spine on a B&M (Bolliger & Mabillard) track.
C101: Do you have a favorite RMC coaster? Why is it your favorite?
Being from Europe, I’ve not had the opportunity to ride one. But from watching them and seeing all the different designs it’s hard to pick. That drop on Iron Rattler looks insane. But I think I’ll go with Goliath at Six Flags Great America. It has a very impressive lift hill structure and it’s small and compact but fast with crazy drops. I love the zero-g roll stall. That is a piece of genius and it looks awesome the way it fits against the lift structure. But I’m very excited for Twisted Colossus. This should be one epic ride.
C101: Will this be a working model when complete?
The model will be complete in three moths or so. The track is very difficult and I have done five different ideas. It was planned to work so I kept the layout simple. And as it was my first model of a coaster, I didn’t want to do anything to difficult, so I left out inversions, but I would have loved to have had a zero-g-roll stall in there. But the track has been so difficult, I decided to focus on making the model look good, so if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. But I do currently have a solution for tracking, so work is now continuing. But there’s also a lot of small details to do with fences, queue lines, signs, etc. until it’s finished.
C101: What materials do you use when constructing these model?
I use styrene plastic which is great for structural beams, making buildings, etc. And I used match sticks and long sticks to make the supports. And for the footers, I use perler beads which are a children’s toy. I also use paper, card and acrylic paints. And model grass, gravel and trees from a model railway store.
C101: What’s your typical model-building process? Do you use computer software to design the models?
I draw everything by hand. I start with a layout. I see it it looks good, then I draw it out to scale on tracing paper. All the the supports are made out of card first to get an idea for the shape. Then I copy to cardboard templates out of wood structures. Then I transfer the layout and supports on to a base.
C101: What’s your favorite part of the design process?
My favourite part is the designing on paper and then seeing what I drew transform into a 3D model. It’s quite rewarding to see parts that turn out exactly how you imagined them.
C101: How do you incorporate theming and buildings into your designs?
Again, I draw ideas down. I research other coasters a lot online and I get an idea for the theming. A great example for my model is Wodan at Europa Park. That coaster inspires my theme and ideas a lot for this model as I went with an viking theme.
C101: And why a S&S Double Shot?
I built an S&S double shot as I like the how the frame work looks and all the insides of the tower. I could have got a big long tube, painted it and said I made an Intamin tower. But I wanted a challenge with constructing the tower’s frame.
C101: What’s your dream job (hopefully it involves model-building!)?
Model building has been a hobby of mine, building funfair rides when I was a teenager and now coasters. But I’m very lucky to say that I am doing my dream job, and I get to roller skate for a living everyday being apart of Starlight Express the Musical in Germany. But another dream would to be able to ride coasters for a living. But also model building too, I love doing it and if parks wanted me to build models for them, then I’d definitely do it.
We’d like to thank Brad for taking time to speak with us. Follow him on Twitter at @Coaster_b to see more of his work.
So he’s never been on a RMC coaster, but he feels “Their coasters have been the biggest most “WOW” thing to happen in the coaster industry in the last 10 years.”
Based on no personal experience…
@Zach, while I agree that photos/videos alone don’t do these roller coasters justice, I think of any coaster company of the 2000s/2010s, RMC makes the most visually stunning products. I don’t think you need to have actually ridden one to see what they’ve done for the industry.