Roos Clan Racing's cars - finally done!

[roosclan]

Finished up the boys' cars this afternoon (had to leave work early to take advantage of the 65deg weather -- in KS in January!). They're rough cut and haven't been sanded smooth, but the shapes are done.

Left to right:
Red Hot (Webelo 1), Viper (Bear), Haven't-Figured-Out-A-Name-Yet (Tiger)

Yes, that is a Lego engine on my Tiger's car. I had to help quite a bit with this one. He wanted a definite car shape. Now I just have to figure out where/how to place exhaust headers... Body with Lego is 23g

My Bear's car will have carbon fiber slats on the thin side rails for strength, and birch plywood on the top and bottom so he has a surface to paint his snakeskin pattern onto (why, oh why did show him the model car with snakeskin door panels and hood?) Not much to do in the way of sanding... Weight: 10g

Warpspeed's (or is it Lucky13's?) offset body design really caught my Webelo's eye, so we tried a variation of it. We'll see how easy it is to weight and balance. Carbon fiber canard is planned for the front that will extend in front of the wheels. Weight 12g

The temp is going to plummet to subfreezing this weekend, so it'll be rough working in the garage, but I think we can get all the sanding done. My Webelo didn't like my drill press with sanding drum, so he's going to stick with a good old fashioned sanding block (apparently he wants to keep the skin on his knuckles).

The Webelo's and Bear's car are set up for offset weight placement, and all three will be rail riders. We have a championship to defend! Last year was 1st & 2nd in Pack, 1st and 4th in District. Maybe this year we can take 1st-3rd in Pack and District.

[Lucky 13]

RoosClan,

Those are some nice looking cars !! 3 Cub Scouts, I bet your hands are full !! That's a lot of years of pinewood derby racing !! The offset body design is WARPSPEEDS, I wish I could take credit for it though !! lol !! Good luck in your upcoming races. Keep us updated with the car progression and the race results !!


Lucky 13

[roosclan]

Jan 24, 2009 1:41:19 GMT -6 Lucky 13 said:

RoosClan,

Those are some nice looking cars !! 3 Cub Scouts, I bet your hands are full !! That's a lot of years of pinewood derby racing !!

You're telling me! These are my 3 oldest boys. I have 3 more boys, ages 4, 2, and 1, so I'll be doing this for a while. We're going to try to get them done in time for the Feb. WIRL race to give them a trial and then get them back in time for our Pack & District races in either March or April (they still haven't set the dates yet).

[roosclan]

Here's where the cars stand now. I'm hoping we we can get them done in time for the March WIRL race.



My Bear's "Viper" still needs the diamondback pattern, green Kandy, name stencils, and clearcoat.

My Tiger's "Lowww Riderrr" just needs to get his spoiler mounted, clearcoated (forgot to put the engine in for the pic), and balanced.

My Webelo's "Red Hot" just needs a good coat or four of clear.

Of course, wheels, axles, and alignment still need to be done on all of them.

[roosclan]

Here are the finished cars. Introducing:
Lowww Riderrr, Viper, and Red Hot!

[cue Michael Buffer voice]
In the Bear den, weighing in at a hefty 4.998oz, gunning for his brother's title, with a bite worse than its bark... Vvvvviiiiperrrrr!!!!!

My Bear's snakeskin didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. I should have used a more vivid secondary color under the Kandy Organic Green. The military brown shows up well, but the Pagan Gold doesn't stand out like it does in the light.
Specs:

• slots moved back (rather, wood cut off rear & relocated to front)
  
• 5/16" thick, using the Pro Body Jig to make the holes over the slots
  
• Kustom Kolor paints to make the snakeskin pattern. My son airbrushed it all himself!
  
• 4.998oz.
  
• CoM @ 3/4" with left-right weight balanced toward dominant side
  
• Rail Rider with neg 2.5deg camber on rear, 2.5deg pos camber on front. Agressive steer toward rail
  
• plexiglass guide pin
  
• EZ-Slide graphite spray on body by FDW, buffed to high shine
  
• Extreme Lube from Pinewood Extreme
  

Stepping up to the track for the Tigers, flaming fast and gunning for a trophy, rookie racer extrordinaire... Lowww Riderrr!


Specs:

• My son really wanted a car-looking car, so we scoured the forums until he saw a car that inspired him. He loves Legos, so he had to have at least one Lego on the car, and we had tons of these engine blowers from kits.
  
• slots moved back (rather, wood cut off rear & relocated to front)
  
• Kustom Kolor "Tequila Sunrise" color-shifting flames over Black and Black Diamond. Even my 7y.o. managed to use a double action airbrush rather well.
  
• 4.996oz.
  
• CoM @ 7/8"
  
• Rail Rider with neg 2.5deg camber on rear, 2.5deg pos camber on front. Agressive steer toward rail
  
• just couldn't get the car balanced much past center weighting. After weighting with W cylinders in the body, I only had to add 2 tungsten cubes and a small dab of W putty to get it up to weight.
  
• EZ-Slide graphite spray on body by each wheel, buffed to high shine
  
• Extreme Lube from Pinewood Extreme
  

Representing the Webelos, built by the returning 2008 Pack leader and District Grand Champion, burning up the track with a Warpspeed-inspired design... RRRrred Hot!

Specs:

• slots moved back (rather, wood cut off rear & relocated to front)
  
• Kustom Kolor black covered with Red Fasglitter mixed in Minwax Polycrylic and sprayed through a large-nozzle airbrush. Cleared with Pledge Future floor polish.
  
• 4.992oz. (I may add a hair more to get it to 4.998oz)
  
• CoM @ 3/4" with left-right weight balanced toward dominant side
  
• Rail Rider with neg 2.5deg camber on rear, 2.5deg pos camber on front. Agressive steer toward rail
  
• plexiglass guide pin
  
• EZ-Slide graphite spray on body by all wheels, buffed to high shine
  
• Extreme Lube from Pinewood Extreme
  

All attendees of the 2009 Pack and District Pinewood Derbies on April 3rd and 4th will get to see these boys compete in a fierce contest of crafstmanship, physics, and pure fun!
"LLlllet's Get Ready to Rumblllllllllle"
[/cue Michael Buffer voice]