Here is a PBY I built this year. Our church has a pinewood derby for anyone who wants to participate. I've had fun making cars and planes more for show than speed. The fuselage is a piece of 2x4 with basswood for the wings and tail surfaces. The engine nacelles are 3/4 dowel rod with 3D printed engines and props. Most of the shaping was done with a scroll saw, belt sander, and Dremel tool. The wings were removable so that it could race without them. I had plans to make the side blisters with an old Mattel Vac-U-Form machine I bought on ebay years ago, but didn't have time before the race. The paint scheme is obviously not accurate, but I liked it for the "showy" look for the race.

Well done, Jordon. I look forward to more projects.

Lou

My solid wooden models have all been for the pinewood derby that our church hosts most years. Having done years of plastic models, I enjoyed the challenge of working with wood. I always built them for "show" and not for speed. Another aircraft I build was a C-130 Hercules. These posts are in reverse order from when I built them. I'll be updating this throughout the week. The PBY was the most recent, then this Hercules, a "deuce and a half" truck, and the first one I built many years ago was a WWII Willy's Jeep.

For the Hercules, I basically used a scroll saw to cut the wings, tail, and nose shapes, and a belt sander for the rest of the shaping of the airfoil, fuselage, etc. The pinewood derby car makes up most of the fuselage. A piece of pine was added for the rear section. Basswood was used for to add to the height of the fuselage, wings, and tail surfaces. A wooden dowel was sanded down for each of the engine nacelles. The propellers were cut out of a thin piece of basswood. I was able to give them a bit of an airfoil and they would actually spin if you blew on them. The spinners were 0.45 caliber bullets my brother gave me. They were cut down and then drilled into the back. I inserted a pin that went into a corresponding hole drilled through the propellor and into the nacelle. This made it possible to remove the propellers for the race, but keep the lead for weight (it was an "open" class race, as this would not be "stock" for the rules).

Nicely done Hercules. I love the progress shots.

Louis

Well Done and welcome Jordon.

Great models with a bit of a twist (Derby racing).

Looking forward to more projects.

Cheers

Gordon

Thanks Lou and Gordon!

Hello again! Here is another pinewood derby "car" I made. It is a "deuce and a half" (2.5 ton) truck. I got it done in only 8 days. I had plans to weather it more, but didn't have time.

This was the first of my elaborate derby cars. I found the plans online. The whole jeep is made from the original pinewood derby block. I added more details like the plexiglass windshield, a steering wheel, gear shifter, a jerry can on the back, a rolled up blanket/tarp, and a duffel bag (hiding a lead weight). The wheels were found at a hobby store to look more authentic than the big plastic ones. I had more photos of the process saved on Photobucket, but since they switched to requiring paid subscriptions, I lost them all. Rats...

I had a lot of fun doing the weathering on this one.

Excellent vehicles. When did you make these?

Lou

Quote from: lastvautour on October 08, 2024, 11:58:13 AMExcellent vehicles. When did you make these?

Lou

The Jeep was 2013, C-130 was 2014, the deuce and a half was 2016, and the PBY was this year.

Thank you Jordon.

Lou

I was able to find a few more photos of my Jeep from another site I posted them on. Unfortunately, they have the Photobucket watermark on them now, but this will hopefully give you some idea of what I did with it.

Nice photos regardless of the Photobucket logo.

Lou

Quote from: lastvautour on October 10, 2024, 02:21:58 PMNice photos regardless of the Photobucket logo.

Lou

Thanks! I had a lot of fun detailing this one.