Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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.

8 comments:

Eldon and Janeil Olsen said...

That is so totally cool!

Neil said...

I love the realism. Nice hub caps!

sheryl said...

Love it! Lots of detail!
We did many derby cars and got faster each time, but they were just painted slices of wood.

Chuck said...

pure awesome

Anonymous said...

Superb!!!! As a Westy owner who also did time as a Pack leader who , yes, worked with his son to get a car ready for the Pinewood Derby, I gotta say your van is priceless. Would love the plans to build one for myself :), Eric in McMinnville, OR.

Ken said...

Here is the link if you want to try it and build one yourself:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1kztktuwmbntblr/pEjht0wLsV

velvetelement said...

I love it, so cool!

D.B. said...

wow, that's craftsmanship right there!