Wanted to share my first ever attempt at building a pinewood derby car with my daughter. Last year we joined a great organization called the Indian Guides/Princesses. It's like Boy/Girl Scouts but it's a much looser time commitment and it emphasizes camping out. I'll post more about the organization later. Back to the car. We first decided what car we model and of course we ended on a car that we have in real life, the Buick Grand National. So, from there it was shaping and carving. I will say the Dremel tool is amazing. I would have never been bale to make this car without it. We shaped and made a channel in the bottom to add extra weight. The goal is to make the car as heavy as the restriction allows to provide the momentum. Using a postage scale, we confirmed our weight. My daughter finished the paint job while I went back to using the Dremel to polish the axles. We added a touch of powdered graphite to the wheels and voila, we were ready to race. This being our first attempt we didn't expect much but we ran 6 races and ended up placing first each time. My daughter was ecstatic when she received the largest trophy when called up on stage that day. I was very proud of our accomplishment. Enjoy the pics.
