Subject:
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Re: Not Pinewood Derby Cars!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 26 Feb 2004 19:32:43 GMT
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Viewed:
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537 times
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In lugnet.general, Erik Bush wrote:
> As I am currently building a mobile crane my mind started to drift away from
> my project and began thinking... Has anyone tried to have "Lego Derby Car"
> races before? Perhaps people could do it during Brickfest or another event
> or whatever? I was just wundering if anyone else has thought of this.
> Maybe we could even make it an event at Brickfest! I really don't have any
> details because this thought just came to my mind about an hour ago. If
> anyone has any comments please put your two cents in.
Ah, I remember Pinewood Derby! I won twice, and I spent about three years
pushing for a Space Derby to be run, only to transfer up to BSA mere months
before they finally ran one. Man, I was mad about that...
Anyways, it'd make a great use for the Racers track system. String a bunch of
the straight sections together on an incline, and put a ramp at each end, and
you'd have a great LEGO-authentic track to work with (or, if you want a more
bumpy ride, string a bunch of inclines together with a straight at each end).
Obviously the padding in the landing box would be much simpler to do in non-LEGO
form, but the box itself could be brick-built. The track system would place
clear restrictions on the size of the car, which would be in keeping with the
Pinewood Derby rules. The tricky part would be coming up with a way to make a
simultaneous launch trigger. Ideally, it should come up through the track, so a
really shallow car doesn't have an advantage over a taller car on a top-trigger
system, or a skinny car doesn't have an advantage over a wide car on a
side-trigger system. It's a lot easier to restrict the maximum ground clearance
in the center of the car than any of the other dimensions, but the design of the
track system doesn't immediately lend itself to that kind of trigger. The best
I came up with involves brick-building the outside portions of the tracks
together to make them stable with a 1-brick clearance between the starting
section and the first section of the incline. Then, use 3-long friction pins in
just the center holes to attach 3x5 liftarms by the middle hole on the 3-long
side (this will allow the last hole to stick up through the track as a
stop-trigger, while also allowing the 3-long section to lay nearly flush with
the rest of the track. The various L-shaped liftarms can be linked together
with long liftarms and 3-long non-friction pins (make sure the linking bars are
firmly attached to each other to prevent any kinks during launch) In the
post-launch position, it will leave a 1-stud gap on either side that should be
filled in with a tile surface.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Not Pinewood Derby Cars!
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| LOL.....having just taken down the section of Pinewood Derby Track that had been set up in my living room...... Actually, my own kids (and numerous friends) have done just this on their own. With the first few sections of the Pinewood Track (an (...) (21 years ago, 27-Feb-04, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Not Pinewood Derby Cars!
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| Hey, As I am currently building a mobile crane my mind started to drift away from my project and began thinking... Has anyone tried to have "Lego Derby Car" races before? Perhaps people could do it during Brickfest or another event or whatever? I (...) (21 years ago, 26-Feb-04, to lugnet.general)
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