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How to Make a Paper Roller Coaster with Hex Nuts and Wire

A roller coaster must have a winding set of tracks for the car to twist and turn on as it runs. You can make a model of a loop-de-loop roller coaster track using paper, hex nuts and wire. The supplies can be acquired from a hardware store. Household tools will be needed, but no special equipment is necessary.

Things You'll Need

Plastic laminate sheet, 10-by-10 inches
Ruler
Pencil
Straightedge
Utility knife
Bonding glue
Metal clothes hanger
Pliers
Calculator paper roll
Cellophane tape
Newspaper
Brown acrylic spray paint
Silver acrylic spray paint

Instructions

- 1
  Place the plastic laminate sheet on the table. Draw a 5-by-9 inch rectangle on the sheet with a ruler and pencil. Cut the rectangle of plastic laminate out from the sheet with a straightedge and utility knife. Place the excess laminate aside.
- 2
  Place the rectangle horizontally on the work surface. Measure in an inch from each end with a ruler and make a dot with a pencil. Apply bonding glue to each dot. Press a hex nut, open side facing up, against each dot. Release the hex nut after a minute has passed. Let the glue set overnight.
- 3
  Hold a metal clothes hanger by the horizontal rod with the hook facing up. Twist the two wires that form the hook from each other with pliers. Straighten out the wire.
- 4
  Twist one end of the wire over the other end to form a loop in the middle. Pull on the sides of the loop until there is only two inches on each end of the wire.
- 5
  Insert the ends of the wire into the holes in the hex nuts. Rotate the wire so that it is facing you horizontally with the loop facing up. Apply bonding glue into the hole in each hex nut while holding the wire in position inside. Release the wire after two minutes have passed. Let the glue set overnight.
- 6
  Unfold three inches from the calculator paper roll. Tape the end of the roll to the wire going into the hex nut to your left with a strip of cellophane tape.
- 7
  Unroll the paper along the wire and around the loop and over to the other side. Cut the paper roll where it meets the wire in the hex nut to your right. Tape the paper to the hex nut with a strip of cellophane tape. Apply strips of cellophane tape to the side of the wire farthest from you so that it can adhere to the paper roll.
- 8
  Place a sheet of newspaper beneath the plastic. Cover up the plastic with strips of painter̵7;s tape. Shake a can of brown or silver spray paint, depending on whether you want to simulate wooden tracks or steel tracks, for 10 seconds. Spray the paper with the paint. Let the paint dry for six hours before reapplying another coating of paint.

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