Pinewood Derby Photos

This was my second year running the Ward's Pinewood Derby. We had several workshops prior to the event to help get the bodies shaped. The kid's designs were amazing.

We had 28 entries this year, twice that of last years event. Luckily I learned my lesson about delegation and of course the leaders really stepped up.

The hit of the night was the photo-finish video replays. Some of the races were really close and they kept the crowd occupied while we got the next heat ready.

It was another great event. Hopefully we made some lasting memories!

2D Printed Pinewood Vanagon

I'm not the first to make a Pinewood Vanagon, but I doubt anyone has made a photo-realistic one like this:

We had an "open" division for the dads (and Cubmasters). There were some crazy entries. Annie didn't want to build a car this year so she had to drive instead.

I don't think she had any idea of what I was up to when I was taking the original photos, but this is what I had in mind! The car on the right was made with a 3D printer!

I think the height exceeds the limit (rules vary), but other than that, it is a legal pinewood car. The sides are balsa and it only weighed 4.5 oz. when completed. The original axle spacing was perfect. I didn't bother with adding weight, graphite or polishing axles (Annie's car was embarrassing fast last year, loosing only to the car that took Districts).

Here is one of the original photos I started with.

How did it do? Let's just say I didn't loose every race. With vanagons, it is about style, not speed!

I'm getting a lot of interest in this, so if you want to try and build your own, the files and notes are here.