Pinewood Derby Ork Vehicle

[Jeff McC]

This one lives on the margins of Oldhammer, but as it involves scratch building a vehicle, (which is very oldhammer) I thought I would share it anyhow.
My son's cub scout Pinewood Derby is coming up and occasionally they need a slow car to round out a heat. This seemed like a good excuse to have a bit of Orky fun.I should have take a photo before I primed it...

The finished vehicle (tank?) will have 6 wheels (3 per side).
The turrets are wood, the guns are made from brass tube, and the hatches are made from card as are the ork repairs. The crew's from Kromlech (so not oldhammer at all). The turrets can rotate, but the elevation of the guns is fixed,; the fit on the turrets is tight enough that I'm not worried about them turning during a race.

 

[Gallivantes]

Any kind of parent/child project always warms my heart. Here's to parents who put the effort in.

 

[symphonicpoet]

Is six wheels even legal? I know you aim to lose and all, but can you enter a car into a heat that doesn't meet spec? All that said, I can see where you might win best design with that. (And a darn good thing you didn't paint it red.)

 

[Jeff McC]

I didn't see extra wheels specifically mentioned in the building guidance. My son has his own car that he built himself (minor help provided) This one only would see service if there's a bye in a race - the gate timing software gets cranky if there's not a car in every lane. So it's not officially entered in the race in any case, and I don't think anyone will get to fussed about extra wheels when it's being used in that manner.
Anyhow I buckled down and finished it this afternoon.

 

[symphonicpoet]

Gate timing software? Good lord, this has gotten much more high tech than I recall.

All that said, I bet anything there will be more ork vehicles in the race next year. That looks fabulous.

 

[Suber]

I love it! So 'Wacky Races' vibe!

 

[Jeff McC]

I was surprised by the tech level when my oldest started scouting too, It seems to pay off though - the difference in last years first and second place finishes was about 4/100 of a second.
Thanks for the kind comments!

 

[LilBroGrendel]

It looks great! Very inspiring too see a project of this kind.

 

[daddyorchips]

that's great. now i'm off to learn what a Pinewood Derby is!

 

[symphonicpoet]

Might be one of those uniquely American things. It's a Cub Scouting event where young kids (theoretically) build small model cars from a block of wood and then let them race down a gravity track. In my day the gate was a rod with a series of pegs that one of the adults turned to release all the cars at once. And judges stood at the finish line, as I recall, to determine the winner. It was pretty simple. (Thus my surprise at the high-tech whiz-bangery.) It's conceptually much like a soapbox derby, but without drivers. The wheels simply fit around a center guide rail. (So more wheels should, in theory, slow the car down by providing more friction.) There are typically also awards for artistic merit. There's a similar boating event called a "raingutter regatta" where young boys propel small wooden sailboats down a narrow trough by blowing on them. (In which case there is arguably some "driving" of a sort involved.) When you're a young child these sorts of things are tremendous fun. Maybe even when you're a grown adult.