Datsun 280Z Pinewood Derby Car

It has been 2 years.  I have moved and am no longer involved in the Pinewood Derby Race I loved so much.  My friend had been asking for a few years to build him a 280Z car he could paint.  The race he will be entering is on his birthday this year and I no longer am busy building cars and teaching children to build cars, so I decided this is the year.  Here is my result.....

AMPHOCAR Pine Car for Amphicar enthusiasts!

Is it a Race Car or a Tub Toy?!  The Amphicar was my wife's first Pine Car.  Highly detailed but did not win the trophy.  She lost out to my Outrigger canoe.  I am glad to be off the hook now that she trophied with the Olympic Flyer.

Behold, AMPHOCAR!

Note horn and searchlight

Propellers, exhaust ports, and bilge pump pipe

dash detail and seats

Water tight underbelly

Rear fin detail and luggage rack

Life Car mimics Real Life

Here is a car my oldest daughter made when she was 13.  The Life Car was chosen from recent game activity with sisters and Grandma.

In the brain of a child thing have to be "right".

Mom and Dad are up front, Dad is driving.

The youngest sisters are in the back.

 Big brother is the tallest and the oldest daughter is shorter than her next younger sister. All of the children are sitting in the "correct" order of traveling.

A very nice personal customization of the Life Car.

As usual, weight seems to be an issue with our creations.  An large block of time was spent on lathing the people out of hardwood.  I just could not remove enough weight. Solutions was to cut the "heads" off, hollow them out, and make paper bodies.

Who's Car?

My oldest daughter is a Whovian.

Thus Whovians Dream:

High School is not leaving much time for outside activities.  But as much time as she had to spend on her car this year, she was able to express her creativity.  The car ran about mid pack, I think the drilled wheels proved themselves to be worth the time.  Maybe next year we can focus more on balance and polish as we settle into the more intense high school life.

Very creative!  

The SUV Pinecar

My middle daughter wanted to be clever with a play on words.

Presenting the Pathfinder Joy Ride:

For those who are missing it, our scouting organization is called Pathfinders.  The car is a Nissan Pathfinder SUV.  Thus, Pathfinder Joy Ride!

Very accurate.

I just want to note here, this is the 3rd paint job.  Turns out Silver is incredibly sensitive to temperature.  As it is winter, we were painting outside of the recommended range (on the cold side).  The first paint job by my daughter was great!  But I, of course, thought I would do a quick "touch up".  The paint crackled.  Bad news!  She had to completely  sand it down and repaint it.  Again, I did not learn my lesson, I touched it up and caused a run.  Way way bad news!  I had to wet sand it late at night and take it to work with me.  I drive around town and visit clients at their workplaces.  So, I had to shoot the car at lunch and then hang it in my car and drive around town.  My fault so I had to fix it.

Good job!

The Tron Cycle

Here is my 6th grade daughter's interpretation of the Tron Cycle

Behold TRON XS (extra small):

Of course, it must be painted with Glo-in-the-Dark paint!

She is a Junior and thus was limited to 4 1/2 inch wheel base and unmodified wheels.

She brought home the Craftsmanship medal for Complexity for Junior Girls.

There is alot of Dremel time, as well as actual tears invested.  But perseverance won out.

Nice Job!

The Wife's Pine Car

My wife built (sculpted) from pine this masterpiece.

The Olympic Flyer:

Overall Adult Craftsmanship Award

She was very pleased with finally beating out her husband for the Craftsmanship award.  This was an Unlimited Class car and was 5th in the speed standings.  A bit of a shocker for those who purchased speed razor wheels.  These home modified BSA wheels performed almost as well with a separation of less than 1/2 a car length behind the leader.

Also of note, this car did not start out as an Unlimited Class car.  An ooppsie during the crafting of the helmet without a double check for length made the car to long to qualify for Pro Stock Adult.  Subsequently the decision was made to move the location of the sled back and the wheels modified for Ultimate.

A very nice car! 

My Pine Car Trains

Here is the stable

Handsome bunch

49er

Commodore Vanderbuilt

20th Century

Mercury

Here is the underside shots.  The 49er turned out to be unstable and wobbled down the track.  The 20th Century was stable but slow 4.0+ seconds on the 49 foot track.  Commodore Vanderbilt was fast, until it hit some debris and from then on it was slower.  Someones car shed some weight.  The Mercury was the most successful, finishing a strong 4th place at 3.64 seconds.  Very stable, very fast a straight runner.  Of course, the Ultimate Class is extremely competitive.  The winning time was 3.5 something.  Everyone was shocked my HUGE train was competitive.  The winner was a sliver of a car.

Pine Car Derby is done!

The Utimate "Big Cheese" Class

Race and Craftsmanship

Craftsmanship Overall Trophies

49 feet of track

Display racks

Race Start

The BIG RED BUTTON

Starter soleniod

All in all, a very good day.  Not without hitches and glitches, but those we learn from.  Next year will be improved, again.

Countdown to Pine Car Derby!

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!

The crush is on for Pine Car Derby March 2, 2014.

Here is my current progress:

Wheel mount for lathing

Lathing the inside of the wheel

Trains use a lot of wheels!

Mercury with paper skirts

49er first color

Commodore Vanderbilt

20th Century primer coat