Derby Talk

Love the Totoro car! My oldest daughter had that DVD out last month and as I watched with her, I thought the Cat-bus might make a pretty cool derby racer. It's on my list-to-build.

Wow. Simply... wow.

Does a racer even get up to a speed where this is a real issue?

Like Speedster, we keep the wood by the wheel bare and then make it shiny gray with graphite, rubbing it in.

You know it doesn't have to be over. My son built several more cars as a Boy Scout. He was a Den Chief and would work with his boys and race in the Pack siblings/leader races. True you can't go on to District or Council races, but the joy of building can still be there. My son has now aged out and i...

Ok Take Two (I typed in my response and then got logged out and lost it all.) Well Whoda, I have five very creative children. My four girls never felt that their AWANA Grand Prix racers had to be car shapes. As a result, I’ve help them craft butterflies, lady bugs, gerbils, dogs, boats, water skiers...

I have this little hotrod roadster pulling a tear drop trailer as my next project to complete. Rear wheels on the car are raised. If anyone was an old-school trailer camper, I plan to put “wings” on the trailer in honor of the many Shasta trailers my parents owned (even though to my knowledge they n...

When our local Scout Executive announced there would be an after party at the scout center after the Monster Jam show at the civic center, I stopped the derby projects I was working on and figured I’d try to make a monster truck to show the scouts. I decided on an Order of the Arrow Humvee. Specific...

BLAST Car racing was designed to take over for pinewood derby racing in the Boy Scouts. I don't think it's really taken off though.

Good memory Whoda! Glad you liked it (that one happens to be sitting on a shelf in my office at the moment). It was tons of fun to build and frankly I was shocked how many kids knew what it was. No more Phooeymobiles, but working on an Order of the Arrow Humvee (semi-monster truck) [District is havi...

Thanks! Wheels and axles would be great. I've got some custom projects (Ark II and LandMaster) that will be scratch built.

Hey JBD!

I did too. In a brief talks with multiple Commanders, apparently they felt derby racing was too competitive. They also don't allow Sparks or Cubbies to enter. I used to run workshops for the Grand Prix with my son. I enjoyed working to bring the children's visions to life.

Thank you Vitamin K! Looks like I might predate you by a few years. :) We had some issues with a flooded house, destroyed/equipment and a few moves. I see I need to update my profile, we're in Charleston, WV now. I lost my male racer, as my son aged out of Boy Scouts and is now off at college. Sadly...

I was looking to buy some classic/vintage kits , truck kits and maybe some pickup trucks. I talked to the owner at Beta Crafts and he doesn't think they'll continue making vintage and 18-wheeler truck kits. I ordered some 18-wheelers from the Canadian Scouts, but does anyone know of other sources? -...