I read a children’s book to my son, and one part really resonated with him. The book goes into all sorts of detail about the routines of seven different families, but there was one dad who, after dinner, built model cars with his son. My son asked if we could build a model car. Knowing that he’s young and would need a project that could be started and finished in an hour, I decided to use my laser cutter to make a simple model car kit out of basswood sheet.
The laser-cut windup car pattern.
There are about a million and one patterns for making a car out of 3mm laser-cut basswood, but where’s the fun in that? I decided to design my own using Solidworks.
Resources
Let me know if you successfully build this car - I'd love to see it!
The car can be pulled backwards to “wind up” the wheels. It has so much torque that it sometimes does a burnout. Once assembled, the car can be easily painted or coloured to add some flair.
Other than one sheet of 3mm basswood, you’ll also need:
- four 608 bearings (skateboard bearings)
- an elastic band
- some basic white or wood glue
Most of the chassis is glued together, but the wheels are attached to the axil using the four little pins in the pattern.
Happy modeling!