Post by chknbone on Nov 8, 2005 9:34:38 GMT -6
Hello all! I've surfed my way through here a couple of times over the past year (?), lurked in here several times over the past month and finally decided to join the fray. So now that I’m here let me tell you a little about myself….
I used to love to build derby cars as a kid for R.A.s (Royal Ambassadors – kind of a cross between Boy Scouts and Awanas just for boys). My very first car was a hand carved, hand painted, silver and green monstrosity that probably weight around 3 .oz total. We didn’t touch the axles or wheels (other than to insert them) and we added no weight to the block of wood. It never reached the finish line. A couple of years later, after a move and joining another church, we entered another competition. I don’t remember my car that year but I do remember two of my close friend’s cars. They had two older brothers that had been into Soapbox Derby racing and their dad was VERY knowledgeable about reducing friction, maxing out weight, painting, etc. They had two of the coolest derby cars I have ever seen and they were fast as lightning. They walked away with everything. Every race they entered, they won handily all the way through the regionals. Over the next couple of years it was just a given that the Parrish boys were going to get the trophies. Then they got too old and Mr. Parrish “helped” my cousin build a car. He won everything. The next year my cousin was too old and Mr. Parrish “helped” me build my car. Basically, I would go over there every couple of evenings and see how “my” car was coming. While I didn’t actually “do” a lot with Mr. Parrish, every night that I was there he took the time to teach me what he was doing and why. Needless to say, I won for the first time ever. I “loved” that car (I was a kid).
The first year that me and my oldest son were building a car, I was telling him all about my races as a kid and of all the different cars that I could remember (not just mine). He asked me which one was my favorite and I told him that honestly the “silver and green monstrosity” that never made it to the finish line was the greatest car I ever had. He looked at me with a face that said, “WHAT?” I explained that I could remember lying in bed at night holding the silver and green car imagining it going down the track, how fast it would be, how cool it was and how awesome my dad was to carve it out. I further explained that I could still picture that car in my mind as clear as if it were yesterday. The shape, the colors, the horrible paint job, every lump and bump from being hand carved but never sanded…everything. It’s the only car I can remember. I still “love” that car.
A couple of years ago my dad found my “winning” car in my old room and while it brought back a lot of memories, I honestly had no idea what it looked like until I opened the box and saw it again.
So now that we are building cars, I’ve try to merge my two past memorable cars together. I want them to be fast, I want them to be good looking but most of all I want them to be theirs. I make them do all the “axle” work, the sanding, the painting and the placement of decals. I let them come up with the idea for what they want the car to be and then I try and figure a simple way to shape it so that they will have an easy time getting it to look good. Now admittedly I don’t let them “do” everything. I like to paint the lettering on the wheels, I take the time to create stickers or decals on the computer and test ways to get them on the car without it looking too much like a sticker, I’ll cone the wheel hubs with the hub tool and I’ll put the axles in as straight as I can get them.
Below is my oldest son’s first car from two years ago (Herbie). He has made two other cars now but so far that one is still his “champion”. He won 2nd in Speed and 1st in design.
Bone
I used to love to build derby cars as a kid for R.A.s (Royal Ambassadors – kind of a cross between Boy Scouts and Awanas just for boys). My very first car was a hand carved, hand painted, silver and green monstrosity that probably weight around 3 .oz total. We didn’t touch the axles or wheels (other than to insert them) and we added no weight to the block of wood. It never reached the finish line. A couple of years later, after a move and joining another church, we entered another competition. I don’t remember my car that year but I do remember two of my close friend’s cars. They had two older brothers that had been into Soapbox Derby racing and their dad was VERY knowledgeable about reducing friction, maxing out weight, painting, etc. They had two of the coolest derby cars I have ever seen and they were fast as lightning. They walked away with everything. Every race they entered, they won handily all the way through the regionals. Over the next couple of years it was just a given that the Parrish boys were going to get the trophies. Then they got too old and Mr. Parrish “helped” my cousin build a car. He won everything. The next year my cousin was too old and Mr. Parrish “helped” me build my car. Basically, I would go over there every couple of evenings and see how “my” car was coming. While I didn’t actually “do” a lot with Mr. Parrish, every night that I was there he took the time to teach me what he was doing and why. Needless to say, I won for the first time ever. I “loved” that car (I was a kid).
The first year that me and my oldest son were building a car, I was telling him all about my races as a kid and of all the different cars that I could remember (not just mine). He asked me which one was my favorite and I told him that honestly the “silver and green monstrosity” that never made it to the finish line was the greatest car I ever had. He looked at me with a face that said, “WHAT?” I explained that I could remember lying in bed at night holding the silver and green car imagining it going down the track, how fast it would be, how cool it was and how awesome my dad was to carve it out. I further explained that I could still picture that car in my mind as clear as if it were yesterday. The shape, the colors, the horrible paint job, every lump and bump from being hand carved but never sanded…everything. It’s the only car I can remember. I still “love” that car.
A couple of years ago my dad found my “winning” car in my old room and while it brought back a lot of memories, I honestly had no idea what it looked like until I opened the box and saw it again.
So now that we are building cars, I’ve try to merge my two past memorable cars together. I want them to be fast, I want them to be good looking but most of all I want them to be theirs. I make them do all the “axle” work, the sanding, the painting and the placement of decals. I let them come up with the idea for what they want the car to be and then I try and figure a simple way to shape it so that they will have an easy time getting it to look good. Now admittedly I don’t let them “do” everything. I like to paint the lettering on the wheels, I take the time to create stickers or decals on the computer and test ways to get them on the car without it looking too much like a sticker, I’ll cone the wheel hubs with the hub tool and I’ll put the axles in as straight as I can get them.
Below is my oldest son’s first car from two years ago (Herbie). He has made two other cars now but so far that one is still his “champion”. He won 2nd in Speed and 1st in design.
Bone
