THE SWARM: Construction Updates

[MattyMoo]

A few pieces of B&M gray colour track are on site behind the crane and tent thing looks like station track.

I'd be pleasantly surprised if this was the case...

[Geo]

That was probably one of our lorries on site today with more reinforcing steel

Sounds like it was, can I ask what company you work for?

[KingVeveraine]

When I was there the other day there were construction workers wandering around the closed off sunken garden, which would be a bit odd if it was just a publicity 'area', I'd have thought?

[javs]

So I am confused! Are there pieces of track already on site?!

[Diesel]

I'd be pleasantly surprised if this was the case...

No, track did arrive around 5pm on Wednesday August 3rd.

That was probably one of our lorries on site today with more reinforcing steel :DSunken Gardens being closed off is purely for marketing purposes at the moment judging by the plans, a fake entrance if you will - maybe they'll change their minds though and have two access routes to the island?

Funny... Sunken Gardens is still accessible very much so! The temporary entrance to the gardens are imeadiately to the left of the stealth entrance underneathe tyre.

[Geo]

Thank you for the extra details diesel! Are there any pictures?

[Diesel]

Not at the moment - The single track piece was lifted and hidden within minutes, there are 3 large containers in front of where the track laysm two red and 1 beige in colour. Along with this quite a large tent has been erected in front of the beige container/over the top between the two red ones. Not sure if the track is visable from other parts of the park.

[MattyMoo]

Sounds like it was, can I ask what company you work for?

I work for a nearby reinforcement steel company - there aren't many of those about so you can probably work it out :blink:If anyone is vaguely interested, a lof of the steel left to produce will be delivered "made up" in to cages that can simply be dropped into place, instead of being supplied in loose bars that they then tie into cages on site... saves time!

[Geo]

It seems they are going to keep alot of it underwraps. Not sure how they are going to hide 50ft of track. HmmmEdit: 50ft hight not lenth

[Mad Coaster Man]

It seems they are going to keep alot of it underwraps. Not sure how they are going to hide 50ft of track. Hmmm

They'll probably build a tent around all of the track.You can probably see it from storm surge (if you can be bothered to queue that long).

[Sidders]

It seems they are going to keep alot of it underwraps. Not sure how they are going to hide 50ft of track. HmmmEdit: 50ft hight not lenth

50ft? The Swarm will stand at 127ft, but either way no, I don't see how they are going to hide it either. Not that they'd want to - the plans aren't very ambiguous (á la Oblivion, Th13teen) so there isn't really anything to hide except for the storyline/further concept elements. Plus, as well as the promotion thus far, they'll want the public to see their creation during the process, so those who, by chance, haven't seen any promotion will look at the ride and want to come back when it's opened.

They'll probably build a tent around all of the track.You can probably see it from storm surge (if you can be bothered to queue that long).

This would be an interesting feat. Seriously though, for the same reasons aforementioned, Thorpe will not be hiding the track once construction is under way.

[pluk]

I don't see how they are going to hide it either. Not that they'd want to - the plans aren't very ambiguous (á la Oblivion, Th13teen) so there isn't really anything to hide except for the storyline/further concept elements. Thorpe will not be hiding the track once construction is under way.

Unless there is something about the track they want to hide for now. Like that third rail

[Sidders]

Unless there is something about the track they want to hide for now. Like that third rail

Well of course, they'll want to hide it once it's on site; they're doing that now. But once construction begins and the crane is lifting supports and pieces of track into place and such, as well as the station/themeing build, it'll be nigh-on impossible to simply "hide", and anything we've missed up to now will be revealed, possibly creating further excitement.

[Geo]

50ft? The Swarm will stand at 127ft, but either way no, I don't see how they are going to hide it either.

Just a figure of speech :blink:I can't wait to see the theming plane, I hear it could be an actuall Boeing. Am I right in saying this?

[d.m.k]

I hear it could be an actuall Boeing. Am I right in saying this?

Where did you hear this? If I'm right in saying there is going to be a crashed plane and helicopter, it's likely to be off a manufacturer's scrap or maybe even Merlin Studios? Although I'm doubting the latter because it would be cheaper to just buy an unused/scrapped plane.

[Liam T]

I will be shocked if Thorpe keep to the plans and have the plane theming, remember the windmill and the headchopper affect in the saw plans had to change.

[Sidders]

I think it'd be a crying shame if Thorpe just "forget" to put the plane in in much the same manner that they just "forgot" the windmill to Saw. Mind you, the concept of the windmill being an integral part of the themeing went when the theme turned from Southern US abandoned sawmill/once-thriving-now-barren arable district to the rusty metal and blood of Saw's IP contract.There are "aircraft boneyards" all over America, usually situated in uninhabited places like deserts (which also, I assume, would prolong possible corrosion/oxidation of metal parts than a more humid area), where planes are retired from service where the planes then become used for spare parts or end up as scrap metal. Some of them are privately owned or leased to other private owners by the owner of the land they occupy, though some (the majority in fact) are owned by the US government. Either way, I'd imagine the purchase of one of the planes - given that Thorpe have no intention of flying it with restocked munitions etc., wouldn't be so pricey.But these boneyards would be ideal for picking up the body of a retired plane (only the body is stored - most electronics, avionics and munitions and engines are removed), though there are exceptions for aircraft that may be brought out of retirement) and using just the body of a plane would make it much lighter than a normal plane, helping it stand at the angle shown in the plans. All this considered, surely Thorpe need to start digging to accommodate to section of the plane that will be stuck in the ground? I can't think of any other way that it will remain at the angle proposed if it's not wedged deep underground with the other wing (with concrete enforcements obviously).And for those who've never seen an aircraft boneyard, they really are quite extensive things:So there's no shortage. I'd imagine Thorpe could easily grab a helicopter from one of these places too.

[pluk]

I'd have thought they wouldn't be that hard to come by even in the UK. There are loads of shells of planes laying about behind the scenes at airports, used for fire / police training etc. They've got no real value beyond scrap so that plus transport costs should do it. If it is supposed to have just crashed it doesn't matter what state it's in and they'd only need the bits sticking out the ground, they wouldn't need the other bits (like the opposite wing) to bury at all.I'm optimistic, think they would have considered it before going to the trouble of adding it to the plans.

[Sidders]

I'd have thought they wouldn't be that hard to come by even in the UK. There are loads of shells of planes laying about behind the scenes at airports, used for fire / police training etc. They've got no real value beyond scrap so that plus transport costs should do it. If it is supposed to have just crashed it doesn't matter what state it's in and they'd only need the bits sticking out the ground, they wouldn't need the other bits (like the opposite wing) to bury at all.I'm optimistic, think they would have considered it before going to the trouble of adding it to the plans.

Well if they can find one in the UK then that'll save shipping costs as well as re-assembly. Obviously the abandoned/crashed effect of the plane would only add to the theme, so no extra tarting up would be needed (except possible structural re-enforcement to ensure the thing doesn't fall apart). But my main issue is how they're going to erect it and keep it standing at the angle proposed. I'm sure they'll go ahead with it - like you say pluk, it's not something that can be thrown at the last moment so I'd imagine they've been preparing for it - they may have already purchased the plane. Gatwick's not far away. So it'll certainly be an interesting construction.

[Geo]

I'm pretty sure that is the case, sidders beat me to it but it's cheaper to pick up an actual plane. You never know, if it passes through heathrow (doubt it!!!!!) my dad could snap some pictures while toeing :blink:Edit ovisously it's not going to be a working plane, I mean air freight.

[TraX]

I think that Thorpe are being as carefully secret about this as they can. Obviously with plans having to be submitted, there's only so much they can hide although, I do know the park were furious with so many leaked details with the run up to Saws opening.Without over exciting anyone, I think there will be plenty of surprises to come.

[daza88]

I would say they have most likely got all the large pieces of themeing like the firetruck, plane and helicopter and merlin studios have begun doing their thing with them off site. Not to include these large pieces would damage the new island area as a whole imo otherwise it would just look blank.Any one notice on the plans the tower by the church? looks like we be getting a church like tower as a near miss.The Marquee... maybe its just a food tent, jokes. Interesting though.

[JackR]

I know this is a bit late, but I've just arrived back from holiday and there's something I noticed about the name. In my opinion it's not the best name they could think of for the ride and it doesn't compare to the likes of 'Colossus' or 'Stealth', but I think it will catch on and seeing the train is supposed to be the alien, you could imagine it representing a swarm swooping between ruins and debris. Also, the word 'war' is in the middle of 'swarm' so in the video clip on the Swarm Mini site, the phrase 'war is coming' may also link in with the name Swarm as if the swarm is coming over to Thorpe. Unlikely but it did come to mind straight away when I saw the video and I thought it would be worth suggesting And I would imagine they would get a real plane shelling for scenery, I landed at Gatwick about 2 hours ago and I saw about 3 old planes in the grass, I thought they were from WW2 and were there for a heritage or historic related reason but surely a legit plane shell wouldn't be too hard to acquire?

[Geo]

And I would imagine they would get a real plane shelling for scenery, I landed at Gatwick about 2 hours ago and I saw about 3 old planes in the grass, I thought they were from WW2 and were there for a heritage or historic related reason but surely a legit plane shell wouldn't be too hard to acquire?

I agree, I thought everybody knew about getting a real shell, I'm not sure where I heard it though Nice review you've got there too

[javs]

My initial thoughts were that it would be a real plane, decommissioned of course. But then it occurred to me that 'The Swarm' will fly under its wing. Now I am not sure how this works. Will they have to build reinforcement into the wing structure or is there a tunnel? I am pretty sure H&S would not let a ride simply fly under an old aircraft wing that had not been heavily modified and reinforced in some way. Just a thought.