Pinewood Derby Car races are a fantastic tradition, blending creativity, craftsmanship, and friendly competition. For those looking to go beyond the standard block and create a truly unique car, transforming it into a fish, like a trout, can be an exciting project. This guide details the process of crafting a trout-shaped pinewood derby car, turning a simple kit into a standout racer.
The journey begins with the official Pinewood Derby Car Kit from Boy Scouts of America. The first step involves sketching the desired trout shape onto paper. It’s crucial to trace the wooden block from the kit and mark the axle locations. These axle points are predetermined and must be used according to BSA rules, influencing the design’s constraints. When sketching the trout, consider the axle positions; this might lead to an unconventional head shape and necessitate extending the wood near the tail to accommodate the rear axle.
Once the paper sketch is finalized and transferred onto the wood block, the cutting process begins. A scroll saw significantly simplifies this step. Making strategic cuts for the dorsal fin, anal fin, and tail axle supports is the initial focus. Then, flipping the block allows for cutting the fish’s curved body shape. To maintain stability for finer details, reattaching the scrap piece with painter’s tape helps in completing cuts for the head, tail, and all fins. This method ensures cleaner cuts and better control, especially for intricate shapes.
With the basic shape cut, sanding refines the trout car. An orbital palm sander with coarse grit sandpaper is effective for shaping curves around the head and fins, and smoothing rough edges from the saw. Following the power sanding, hand sanding with rasps and progressively finer grits of sandpaper (60, 150, and 220 grit) achieves the final smooth finish. This meticulous sanding prepares the surface for painting, ensuring a professional look.
Painting brings the trout pinewood derby car to life. Reference photos of the specific trout species—in this case, a California Golden Trout—are invaluable for color mixing and marking placement. Using inexpensive water-based acrylic paints and brushes allows for creativity without significant investment. A base coat of yellow provides a vibrant foundation.
Mixing olive green with sandy brown creates the trout’s dorsal coloration. Adding dark blue to this green mix, and then thinning it with water, produces a translucent color ideal for parr markings, allowing the yellow base to subtly show through.
Details enhance realism. Painting the gill plate edges, mouth, and eye comes next, followed by red markings on the gill plate and lateral line. An orange-ish belly color, pectoral fins, and other underside fins contribute to the trout’s lifelike appearance. Lines on the dorsal and tail fins, black spots on the tail and dorsal fin (concentrated near the tail and sparsely near the head), and finally, the lateral line, complete the paint scheme.
After painting, a protective lacquer coat seals and enhances the finish. Finally, attaching the wheels completes the transformation of a simple block of wood into a striking, trout-shaped pinewood derby car. This detailed approach allows for creating a unique and visually appealing car that’s ready to race.
