After debating with myself I said just go for it. I love the roller coaster in the amusement park and had it running like a fine oiled machine. The one thing I hated about it was the plastic base and the shinning plastic look. So I took the plunge and took it off the layout after carefully documenting what holes were used for each pole. Put down some foam to give it a little bit of curvature and carefully sprayed the base down with adhesive and rolled the grass mate over the top of it. Then even more carefully sprayed the beams with some dull coat trying my best not to get any on the track. Then with a dry paintbrush went over all of the rivets with just a little black paint in order to have them stand out. Got it back into place and with about 30 minutes of adjustments it is back to running. Before and after pics below....
