Pinewood Derby!

[Tubajug]

Where's the miniature Howard Hughes ?

Ha! Wrong Hercules though... That was the Hughes H-4 Hercules, this is meant to be a Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

[Tundratubast]

Nice "Herc", but won't the props just eat up the competition when she's flying down the runway?

[Tubajug]

More painting updates! The painting is done minus some touch-ups in some spots.

Masking the cockpit windows:


A coat of tan:


Masked up for the camouflage:


Brown!


And the tape comes off!


The prop spinners are 0.45 cal bullets I got from my brother who casts his own. I just cut off the back part to keep the "cone" and painted them. They are removable so the props can be taken off for the race, then put the spinner back in for more weight. Before the camo paint job it weighed 11.4 oz. Haven't weighed it since then.










Now to prep the wheels/axles! The race is on the 28th of this month.

[tbn.al]

Great job Jordan! It looks like you have included the wheel well blisters. Are you going to recess the wheels?

[Rick F]

That's looking very cool Jordan. Nice job!

[Tubajug]

Thanks guys!

The wheels will not be recessed, they'll just be sticking out the sides like on any other pinewood derby. The scale wouldn't be quite right to build a blister around those monster (to this scale of airplane) wheels. The scale is about 1/98 for anyone who's interested. I used the width of the pinewood derby block as the "constant" and did all the math from there, just using dimensions for the full scale plane I found online. The block is 1.75" wide and on the real plane that part of the fuselage is 14 feet wide, so I just went from there. My dad actually used photoshop and made me some full scale plans that I printed off and then traced onto the wood to get the shape of the wings, tail surfaces, etc. It's been fun! Certainly my most involved pinewood derby!

Here's what I made for my girls (they're 5 and 3 years old. We have an 18 mo. old too, but she doesn't really care about pinewood derbies at the moment). They helped with the sanding, but that's about it. I drew out a bunch shapes and this is the one they picked. They couldn't decide on a red or a yellow car, so it's both! They did agree on the pink lighting bolt though. I will need to add the weights and wheels to this one. It will be entered in the "stock" class.

[Uncle Buck]

My son had his final Derby race last night. While his car wasn't nearly as pretty as any of the ones Jordan has posted here, it was FAST. I finally realized the trick is spending time with the wheels and axles.

[Tubajug]

Nice job Uncle Buck!

I guess I should report that my "car"-go plane didn't race very well (not that I was expecting it to). The only time it made it all the way down the track was when it was stuck on the other cars and all three made it down together! Every other time it would "hop" off the track after hitting the curve at the bottom of the incline. I think it was just a bit too sharp and my plane weighted oddly, so the front wheels would hop up and get off the track. Oh well, it was fun! Of course, I didn't think to take a video until after the fact (I was the announcer for the evening anyway. I've been told I have a great face for radio!).

My daughters' car one a few of their races (which was great to watch their faces when it won) but wasn't fast enough to beat the winner. It was a fun night. Lots of "oohs" and "ahs" when I pulled my plane out of the box for sure!

[Thomas Maurice Booth]

Here is an entertaining video, made by a former NASA JPL engineer, explaining the science behind making a fast Pinewood Derby car.

http://gizmodo.com/the-science-behind-m ... 716398/all" target="_blank" target="_blank

TMB

[Tubajug]

Here is this year's car. Bonus points if you can name that plane!

[Dan Schultz]

It's a 'Hellcat', I think. A plane that was designed for aircraft carrier use.

Was the plane that 'Indiana Jones' just crashed called a 'Texan'?

BTW.... I'll have a BUNCH of P-47 literature heading your way tomorrow!

[Tubajug]

It's another kind of Grumman "cat," but not the Hellcat.

Harrison Ford crashed a Ryan something-or-other (I forget the letters and numbers), but it wasn't a Texan (AT-6) built by North American. Those were advanced trainers, Ford's was a primary trainer.

[bort]

Wildcat?

My father was a mechanic in the Air Force in the 60s/70s, and is HUGE into WWII and 1950s airplanes. I remember learning a lot of this stuff as a kid, but I didn't retain *too* much of it.(Hope I'm right!)

[Tubajug]

Wildcat?

Ding ding ding!

[Tubajug]

Time for the yearly update! This year I built a "deuce and a half," a two and a half ton army truck from WWII. I thought it would go nicely with my jeep from a few years back. Unfortunately I procrastinated and only had 8 days to do it. I did all the painting the day of the race. It came out pretty nice, but I would have liked to have done more weathering and details (headlights, grill, winch, etc) like I did on my jeep. I had plans for putting a "canvas" cover on it too, but again, I ran out of time. Still, I don't think I did too bad! I borrowed a bag of bullets from my brother for weight (it weighed over a pound and a half) and it still didn't make it to the finish line... Oh well. I build for looks, not for speed!





Here it is on my shelf next to its predecessor:

[Uncle Buck]

Very nice!

I'm enjoying a temporary reprieve. My oldest is too old for Pinewood Derby, and my youngest isn't old enough yet. My oldest and I finally learned how to make a fast car, but ours always turned out ugly. What you did isn't easy!

[Tubajug]

Thanks Uncle Buck! Someday I'll make one that's fast and good looking, but for now I'm content with good looks. Years of model airplanes have made me pretty quick when I have to be. I still like taking my time and adding little details (like the windshield wiper marks on the Jeep, that's probably my favorite part). I might try a tank next year. The wheels (or tracks) are already turning in my head...