my crazy ship

This has been bugging me for a few days.

http://photobucket.com/albums/a212/Bagu00/?action=view&current=my-crazy-ship.jpg

With the 2 prop assemblies and the main ship body I can successly make the props rotate (the rotate script on each the prop shaft whichs I make the anchor).

The problem comes when I want to link all 3 elements together. I lose the spin at this point (though both prop shafts are still spinning).

The way propellers are usually done is to use rotating textures instead of rotating prims. Basically you put a picture of a propeller on a flattened cylinder, and then rotate the image while the cylinder stays put. Almost all the propellers you see in SL are done this way.

Of course, the texture propeller won't give you the depth of your modeled propellers, but it is the simplest and most reliable solution. Getting all the pieces of each modeled propeller to move synchronously is a pretty complex task. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone pull it off successfully, come to think of it.

One positive, by the way, is that every prim you don't put ito the propellers is one that you can use for things like additional seating inside the craft, or other details you wouldn't have been able to afford with the propellers consuming 8 or 10 prims as they are.

you could use a modeled prop when the engine is off and a animation when its spinning (just alpha out the modeled) gives you the best of both worlds since linked prims cant move independently