Up-Close Look at Starman, a 3D-Printed, Single-Rail Roller Coaster Built One Layer at a Time

KohlerCoaster spent an entire year painstakingly bringing Starman to life from scratch. Prototype after prototype was made and disassembled while he perfected every feature of the train, track, and entire support system over months. With each test, it became evident that even minor adjustments were required to make the 3D-printed roller coaster to work properly.

Single-rail designs are a thing in the theme park world, as evidenced by RMC’s Raptor coasters, Intamin’s Hot Racers, and Skyline Attractions’ Skywarp IIs, and to be honest, these full-scale coasters have nailed it in terms of mixing thrills with extremely small layouts. Starman strives for the same vibe, but in tiny, with only one central rail to keep the train on track through all the bends and drops.

It stands 3.625 feet tall, which is reasonable, but what’s truly impressive is that it spans 40.5 feet of track. The train itself reaches a top speed of 9.47 mph, which is fast enough for its scale to offer the real deal in terms of forces. You get six proper airtime moments where the train leaves the track and you feel weightless, as well as two full inversions, with a double zero-G roll being one of the highlights, where the train flips sideways twice in quick succession.


Then there are the safety elements, which include a large red stop button on the base and automatic mechanisms to assist keep everything operating smoothly. Finally, the demo video features David Bowie’s “Starman” in the background. Starman is a game changer for 3D-printed coasters. Getting a single-rail model to run properly has always been difficult due to stability issues, but this one simply cruises around the circuit with no problems.