Painting Tubular Steel Track

We all know that Magnum red is no longer red and even the Raptor and Mantis has faded a bit from what they used to be. My question is can you paint metal track? You cant just use regular paint becasue that would not hold. What kind of paint do they use anyway for coaster track? They would need a giant crain to gt at most of the bigger rides. The Corkscrew is still Blue so how dose that not fade, do they paint that becuase they can reach it? As usuall I tried to search for pervious topics here about this but found none on the painting procces itslef.

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Joe E

A man who knows nothing of paint but can almost reach the top of the Corkscrew to paint it

From my understanding they are painting Raptor this offseason, Mantis the next year and Magnum in two years. I heard it will cost only $250,000 to paint Raptor. I am not sure who is doing the job but what they do is they have these paint sprayers. The way they work is very easy, all they have to do is keep the sprayers five feet away from the track. When the paint hits the steel it dries automatically and the extra that falls is basically dust by the time that it hits the ground.

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daniel j. haverlock
Magnum Count: 1266
MF Count: 117
spiritofthepoint.com

it takes 1500 gallens of paint to paint raptor.i was just watching the making of raptor video and that was one of the stats brought up.

Thanks Dan. You are wealth of knowledge. That I kind of cheep all things considered. The raptor does need it. I remember them warning me on (I think on Tuesday, May 16th, a wet day) that the Raptor was leaking rust and my cloths would get rusty. (Like that would stop me from riding the Raptor.) The track is more rust now than green anyway. But If its that cheep, why cant they do it to the magnum. I don't like orange. O well. Raptor needs it more I think.
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Joe E

mantis needs it the most.there is hardley any paint on it.

Do they have to paint around the weather? So the cold wont effect the drying, or does that not matter?

i was curious if they did some heavy work on the first loop of raptor a year or so ago, theres an area of it that looks pretty good compared to the rest of the ride
anyone know what i mean, or why?lol

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am i tall enough to ride?
icq#14421339

The funny thing is, you'll notice that all of the new B&M rides have painted rails. Even SFO's Batman has a sort of primer battleship gray color on the rails. And Talon... wow, have you seen that orange?

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50

Talon does look beautiful. Probably just because it's all shiny and new. That coaster, if you ask me, has one of the best looking color schemes around. (And I hear the track is filled with sand to reduce noise. Interesting.)

Jeff: Yeah, as opposed to non-painted grey running rails? That's what the old ones had/have, eh?

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How dare you vanquish the Steel Phantom without his consent? Fear the Phantom's Revenge.

The reason they warn people of Raptor rust is that is stains your clothes pretty bad!

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daniel j. haverlock
Magnum Count: 1266
MF Count: 117
spiritofthepoint.com

Will this painting of Raptor then eliminate the rust problem for next year? Will they paint the actual rails this time so that there will not be this problem anymore like their newer B&M rides?

Dueling Dragons at IOA also uses the sand-filled track. I think a lot of newer B&Ms will.

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Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00

Magnum's track isn't...never mind, I won't bring it up again.

I've been wondering if they'll paint the rails as well. I used to like the unfinished look or B&M rails, but that was before they started to rust. I think it will really improve the look of the ride.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50

They need to paint the magnum back to whatever it used to be. Like Vince said in a previous thread it appeears red to colorblind people. I am one of those people so for me its the orignal color is deep red. So paint it whatever color it was (bright Dark light hevey Redish Orangeish red orange) so it will look Magnum red to me. Just paint the thing so everyone can be happy. And yes, paint the rails. Paint them them sandblasted grey so they can keep the original appearance too. That solves the rust problem without changing the look.

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Joe E

MF is pink Right?

A few comments:

1) The rusty rails on Raptor have been a *major* problem for CP in recent years. They have even gone back and approaced B&M about this issue. Between the ruining of guest's clothes when they ride in the rain, the corrosion of the steel, and the simple unappealing look it creates, I would bet money that one of the reasons for painting Raptor and Mantis both is in order to paint the rails. The fact that Talon has painted rails only supports this idea.

2) Someone asked why Corkscrew was still blue and not faded like, say, Magnum. The explanation is that red fades faster than any other color (usually, and especially in sunlight). And that explains why Magnum and Mantis both look pink, rather than red.

3) As for colorblindness and the appearance of Magnum, I have to disagree. I suffer from red/green colorblindess (the most common form of colorblindness, mostly seen in men) and I can say without any hesitation that Magnum is nowhere near red. Yet rather, the rails on that ride seem as faded and orange as you can possibly get.


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James Draeger
'00 CP Trips: 22
C G & C P

I found the color of the Magnum!!!!!!!!!!!
It is now Magnum Colored. I will submit it to Crayola (you know how they have those come up with a new color and name it deals) as a new color. How sweet would a Magnum Crayon be. Magnum is so unique, why not be its own color.. It is whatever you want it to be. So if you ever see something that looks like the color of the Magnum in your eye (wehther your non colorblind, red/ green colorblind or just plane messed up colorblind like me) you can say "that is Magnum Colored" . When walking down the Gemini Midway play I Spy. Be Like "I spy somthing Magnum". I am not arguing the Magnum color becuase it is different in everybodys eyes. So can the color of the Magnum be magnum?
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Joe E

Yes, finally recognition that is not red, but orange.

Magnum at least looks decent. I won't argue about the color, but at least it's still a nicely saturated color, and a reasonably consistent color. Unlike Mantis which has faded to the point of looking downright chalky particularly in the areas that were once red (more red than Magnum ever was, but that's another matter). Raptor also looks reasonable except that some of the darker areas are looking a little chalky...well, apart from the ****hawk crap all over the vertical loop and boomerang, but that's not a paint issue...powerwashing might fix that.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I have a suggestion. I think they should paint the Magnum track scarlet and leave the supports grey. This way the Magnum would have the same colors of a certain great school which I attend here in central Ohio:) I won't name any names though. Then the Magnum would be a winner in every way possible:):)