That’s right! It’s derby night at the ol’ school cafeteria. The scouts outdid themselves once again. On Mason’s first run, he came in second. (His car in in the far right lane.) His car did well overall but there were some cars that were a smidge faster. Here were the den winners for speed and […]
In our house, the pinewood derby prep typically starts over Christmas break and spans a few weeks. It all begins with a sketch on paper that is transferred to the block of wood. Then Mason and Bill cut it out with a coping saw and use a power sander to clean up the rough edges. […]
The Center was abuzz last night for the annual Pinewood Derby. The weigh-in and set up went as planned and the cars were lined up and numbered for their races. Every year I am more impressed with the transformation that takes place with the blocks of wood. Click on the picture above to see it […]
Now for the debut of Mason’s pinewood derby car. Presenting Pikachu riding on a wedge of cheese. Mason wanted the paint job on the spoiler to echo Pikachu’s tail. We hope it does well and by well, we mean we hope it wins for speed and/or style. The race is tonight so there will be […]
Tonight before bed, Mason peeled off the masking tape from his car which had gotten several coats of yellow spray paint. Then they taped off a new area and added brown to the spoiler. The derby is on Friday night and his car is so close to being finished.
Tonight began the prep for the paint job. The basic shape of the car is set and the rear spoiler has been added. While Walker was at his boy scout meeting, Mason taped off parts of the car that he did not want to get painted. Here is the car’s driver. We are getting excited. […]
It’s almost pinewood derby time and as is our custom, we started building the car over Christmas break. The design is always child-directed with adult supervision. I enjoy listening to the sounds emerge from the garage and being called over to see the phases of completion. There is always a lot of buzzing, whirling and […]
There was a buzz in the air as the cars were checked in and tagged for the heats. Everyone milled around them to get a good view before voting for the most creative car. I could see there was no shortage of creativity. One scout even incorporated the weights as his hood ornament. That was pretty […]
While there is something to be said about having a good looking car, it’s also important to have a fast car. First, Bill and the boys file the nails with fine grit sandpaper and then they apply graphite. Next they have to nail the wheels into the car. It’s important not to push them in […]
I have learned a few things about painting pinewood derby cars from watching Bill and the boys. The trick is to start early. We began our cars over the Christmas break. If we hadn’t wanted the help of a special woodcutter, we might have been inclined to begin even earlier. Second, the details that Mason […]