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X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

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Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

Forget painting Oblivion....just bringing back those black and orange themed bins would improve X-Sector no end.

It's the loss of small things like this over the years that have caused the magic to disappear across the park.

And while that opening year picture has resurfaced and i'm on the topic of small details - what about the metal strips on the front of the Oblivion shuttles? It's all about attention to detail...

Check out this video from 9:10 onwards if you havn't already Marketing A Theme Park - The Alton Towers Story (Part 2 of 2)

:)
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

I do believe that Oblivion was never as black as that photo depicts. People who actually saw it in it's early years - feel free to prove me wrong here.

oblivlift.jpg


It just surprises me that this photo is always brought up when people start talking about the state of Oblivion's paint. Why aren't there others? I find it ridiculous that this is the only one from opening which has found it's way onto the internet. Even the youtube video doesn't show jet black. Sure, the track looks much better than it does today but it's not close to the photo. This makes me think that whatever camera/film the photographer was using may not have been quite right. For a start the white balance is off, and it does look fairly contrasty. We don't know where it's come from or what processes it's been through before being uploaded, which is why I'm led to believe this is not a true representation of Blivy's former glory...unfortunately!

On a side note I started going to Towers in 1999 and, while I admit I was only 7 at the time and probably wouldn't have taken much notice, I don't remember Oblivion being 'black-black'. I wouldn't have thought much fading would occur in just one year.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

That photo does look either:
1) Not set right: The photographer had the wrong camera settings.
2) Edited in photoshop, blacks increased as well as contrast.
3) If taken with film, blacks increased in darkroom or via digital means when converted.

Just ignoring Oblivion and looking at the rest of the area confirms that this photo is not what the area would have looked like in the flesh.

Also, you've got to take into account the amount of lighting on the day. Whether it was sunny, cloudy, dark clouds... all different types of natural light affect the colours in an image.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

I can never remember the ride being black, and in all of the old videos of the ride before it opened (for example, the Magic Factory documentary on Youtube) it looks grey too.

It does still need some paint though or else it's going to look horrendous when SW7 opens next to it. Especially the station. It's a shame there aren't more images of how the station used to look so that we can compare them with how it looks today. :/
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

It was never Jet Black, it was a darker almost Stealth Bomber shade of deep grey. its just got lighter with age.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

There are other pictures that show the track as it originally was but they are really hard to find as nearly every picture on the internet was taken within the last 5 years. Finding pictures of Oblivion when new is like finding pictures of The Vampire pre-conversion; there are a few out their but it's no easy task.

I found the one above in a post on TTF from 2006 which had a direct comparison shot next to it of how the ride looked then. Not pretty and that was 6 years ago!

There's also another one on TTF that shows Energizer with Oblivion's black track in the background:

energizerxs02.jpg


Here’s another picture from Alton Towers Almanac. Notice while it doesn't look as dark as the other two the supports are far from the faded grey they are now.

02_energizer_04.jpg


It is important to point out though that Oblivion was never pure black. Like TowersFreak has pointed out the original colour was similar to SW7’s except for that it has a matt texture so when light falls on it the track will appear greyer rather than shiny.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

Those pictures really do show how amazing X-Sector once looked...

And hopefully how great it will look again. I miss Energizer =(.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

I think peple forget just how quickly Oblivion's track faded. In fact, most of the fading had already happened by the early 2000's.

If you dig around properly, you can find a reasonable number of opening year pictures. Trouble is, they are usally small in size and low quality.

Here's another you can see the colour quite well on the supports:

ob8.jpg


More here:

http://www.tb5.connectfree.co.uk/park/x/oblivion/o-pics.htm

:)
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

Oblivion was matt black once upon a time. In "stealth" terms, it was closer to an F117 rather than a B2. If you know your model paints, Tamiya XF69 "Nato Black" would be a good match. It was certaily never quite as dark as Citadel "Chaos Black". Now it's closser to Humbrol 140 "Matt Gull Grey"

The SW7 colour doesn't look like any premixed shade I know of off the top of my head. If I had to mix it myself I would probably start with Revell 09 "Anthracite", and mix in a few drops of a dark green and black till it looks right.

[/cross over geekery]

Oh, and Eddie... Swarm? ;)
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

DiogoJ42 said:
Oh, and Eddie... Swarm? ;)
Click to expand...

Now that I look at it, Swarm's black track does fit in to the ride! So you caught me out Diogo :p

I find the black track on Merlin's coasters annoying because it's overused, although it matches with the ride's theme, the problem is that the Horror/Apocalyptic theme is overused A LOT. Come on Merlin try something else!
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

I don't think that the exact colour of the track is all that important, I think what is though is having that distinct colour scheme within the area. Originally we had the dark, grey/black coloured imposing Oblivion track dropping vertically into the ground through the white mist, surrounded by shiny metal fences with clean, beige concrete. The addition of the burnt orange gave the whole thing a rather cool edge. It was all very clean cut.

Fast forward to 2012 and all I am seeing is a dirge of greyness - what is their solution? Oh yes, paint everything possible in bright orange in a cheap revitalisation attempt.
 
Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

Seriously - does it matter what colour code the track once was???!!!! Im not overly bothered, the rustic grey now does it for me, as long as the thing works, doesnt break down and the wheels dont fall off then im happy! :)
 
As well as giving Oblivion a paint job I would like AT to jet-wash the hole area, give the station / queue buildings a serious clean / repaint and bring back "don't look down"!!

AND get rid of the orange theme that has creeped in - it's awful.
 
aru said:
...I would like AT to jet-wash the hole area...
Click to expand...
I thought that was a hideous, hideous grammatical error until I suddenly realised what you meant :p.

You're quite right though, the 'hole area' really could do with a jet wash. I've spent much of the last week jet washing a massive, damp concrete structure (barely started, I should add...), and the difference it makes is completely clear:

TTableTriangleBeforeAfter.jpg


To do an area the size of Oblivion's hole properly would take a couple of hours I'd guess. However, it'd be complicated massively by the fact that it's a very tricky area to reach safely - that'd turn it into a whole-day job. Plus, if you're going to do that area, it will stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the ride, so really you want to do the whole thing, and then you're talking about a job that'll take a couple of people two or more weeks.

Don't disagree that it'd look fantastic, though.
 
In reply to sam that no one goes on it anymore why do i always q for it and it takes almost 3 ride sessions before my grandson and i get on it. it may be old but still popular. we have mellin passes so we are there a lot

Islander isn`t the track getting a clean so they may do the hole as weell
 
To quote that other forum...

along with components of Oblivion being cleaned to remove limescale
Click to expand...

How much truth there is behind this, I don't know. But the old girl definitely needs a clean, so if it's true, then maybe Merlin do have a shred of sense after all.
 
Is there a way to effectively clean Oblivion without the paint fading/coming off?
 
Olii said:
To quote that other forum...

along with components of Oblivion being cleaned to remove limescale
Click to expand...

How much truth there is behind this, I don't know. But the old girl definitely needs a clean, so if it's true, then maybe Merlin do have a shred of sense after all.
Click to expand...

The misters will likely get a bit of a clean-up as they really suffer from limescale build-up. At the moment no major external work is happening on Oblivion as far as we can ascertain but ride cleaning normally occurs after Christmas.

It is likely by opening all of the Oblivion shuttles will have had their harnesses replaced though so they should be looking good.
 
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