Here's what I've been working on... hah.

[Overmountain]

So, between work and this stuff I've been MIA. Haven't hardly even touched a piece of steel in weeks... which sucks...

I made a ton of birdhouses for the scouts to nail together, then came Pinewood Derby time. I am particularly proud of my boy's cars. There is obviously a little help from dad, but these designs are all theirs. They are 5 and 8 BTW.

One is supposed to be a cross between Lightning McQueen, a Porshe 911, a Saleen S7, and something else... The other is a Luigi rocket/jet sled/cart thing. (Mario Brothers is popular in my house...)

Both are all wood (except the characters and windshield) and all started as blocks of wood and a set of derby car wheels and axles. If you follow the link into my pintrest account you can see the whole build for anyone interested...

Shew, now back to sharp things!!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Ah, that's where you've been.

Cool cars. I saw some kits the other day at Hobby Lobby. Pretty neat.

 

[tryppyr]

I'm not sure those Marios are acceptable additions to a Pinewood Derby racer. I think they'd have to be removed for the race.

 

[Spy D]

Very cool cars! I still have my Pinewood Derby car from when I was 8. I won first place in my age group back in 1981. Man I feel old now. Do they still have the 5 ounce limit? I remember that being a point of contention with my dad at the time. lol

 

[Overmountain]

Yep, 5oz max plus a page or two of rules. We did have to remove the characters prior to the race, saving a little weight as well as not having them fall off.

Over the past couple of years my oldest boy has really started to develop a good rhythm and technique laying on the paint. I may see how he does with a bigger target this summer... As far as teaching basic woodworking and finishing along with some basic physics and sportsmanship, pinewood races are hard to beat. Awana, some smaller local clubs, and even the girl scouts at least here are starting to get into it. Ton of fun for a few dollars and a few shop hours.

I'm sure you can tell we tend to go a little overboard. The orange and black car is HoC Candy Tangerine and Midnight Pearl, with a pearlized base clear and 7 layers over it. Kiddo painted the pinstripes, windows, and headlights etc and did the spraying. I masked the sections and painted the wheels. Youger did the same on his, but only has a couple coats of clear.

-Eric

 

[Will52100]

Looking good, really liking the Mario car

 

[AVigil]

My sons car was very plain when he did the pine wood derby.

His car won every single race both years and he went home with 1st place trophies and Grand Champion Trophies.

All I did was install the wheels and weight

 

[Overmountain]

My oldest boy's car last year was a very plain shape. He drew it, and I cut out the basic shape. From there he did all the shaping and painting. Even the masking as the colors were in straight blocks on the car. It seems the simpler they are the faster they are (which I explained to both the boys...) And that was the case this and last year. He's only 7 turning 8 so I'm truly impressed and proud. He's gonna put me out of business in a couple years. His car last year was third locally in speed but the first two were DQ'd at district for illegal parts. He had a chance to race the district winner after the fact and if he'd gone to district he'd have won. (Unfortunately, even in scouts, an organization founded on honor, integrity and honesty... we have a few cheating issues. Usually parents of course...) This was my 5 year old's first year.... But we are a Mario junkie family...

Here is last years car. He made the shoebox display with computer cut and paste graphics in MSPaint and printed onto sticker paper. He puts me to shame with a computer too. Friggin kills me. Feel like the old guy who needs a teenager to hook up my stuff around him. And I used to design and install entertainment systems for a living...

Didn't have a proper clear to spray with the gun last year. Those gun handle deals for rattlecans work surprisingly well. And the dog sleeps in the kid sized car bed in the corner of the pic. Spoiled dog... Ignore the messy workbench. It has since been retopped and organized.

The ninjas are stickers under clear and the pinstripe is the vinyl tape type laid by him.

A.V... Yeah, I figured there were some winning derby dads here. Seems like it's right up our type-A, fiddle and fix, handyman type personalities! It will probably kill Stacy and have this banned to the deathzone of around the grinder. But feel free to show off a derby car on this thread if you have one. I know a lot of us are proud pappa's with cool kid projects...

-Eric