Mr. Pringles Race Car

Years ago, I made the first similar toy car with my child. These are made with simple tools (scissors, pen cutter, manual jigsaw) and aluminium foil roll tubes. The newer version is made of more solid materials and with more serious tools. Please ignore the machines shown in the pictures. I tried to recommend alternative basic tools that can be found in every workshop. You will succeed with these tools.

Have fun and good luck!

Used materials

• Stretch wrap cardbord tube, diameter 60 millimeters
• Carpet Roll cardbord Tube, diameter 100 millimeters (not in the picture)
• Plies
• Contact adhesive (not in the picture)
• Wood screw 3,5×30 millimeters (3 pieces)
• Wood screw 3,5×45 millimeters (2 pieces)
• Coupling nut M6×20 millimeters (2 pieces)
• Screw M6×60 millimeters (flat head, partially threaded)
• MDF (Medium-density fibreboard) 38×60×250 millimeters
• Hardboard 4×100×250 millimeters
• Paint or self-adhesive film (not in the picture)

Necessary tools

• Jigsaw or band saw
• Long jigsaw blade
• Drill-press
• Drum sanding for drill-press
• Bit and drill for the screw used
• Flush trim bit
• Abrasives
• Wood screw 5×80 millimeters (2 pieces)

I made a side view drawing of the car. Based on the drawing, I made two perpendicular holes in place of the cockpit on the longitudinal axis of the 60 millimeter side of the MDF. I connected it to the pipe through them, and if the hole is crooked, the car will be knock-kneed. I made holes in the pipe through the MDF and then fixed it with 3.5×45 millimeter screws. I attached the fiberboard to the MDF with 3.5×30 screws. I glued the side view drawing of the car onto the fiberboard.

I made the rough cuts with a band saw. If you don't have a band saw, you can use a jigsaw with a long blade. (It is important to choose the right size blade. In the retracted position, it should not be shorter than the diameter of the pipe.) You need a jigsaw table for this. This is a simple structure, for which you can find help on the Instructables page. Enter jigsaw table in the search box, and voila.

I made the work on a carpentry milling machine with a drum sander of the correct diameter to the exact size. You can use a drill press for this operation. How to make the right drum sander can be found help here and here. When sanding, remove the resulting burr, as it deforms the paper sheet and gives an imprecise outline.

I used a drill press and a 6 mm drill bit to make the locations for the axles. The continuity of the cardboard tube is eliminated by the cut and thus bends more easily. Therefore, pump the drill to reduce this deformation.

I dismantled the template and marked the center of the cockpit. I put 6×80 millimeter screws in the holes of the axles. I leveled the pipe with the screws and created the cockpit location with a drum sander.

I made 68 mm disks from the 100 mm diameter pipe with a hole saw. I rotated them in pairs so that their inner sides were facing each other and rotated them 90˚. I glued it with silicon acetate to bridge the gap between the two sides. I inserted an M6 screw through the 6 mm hole and (taking care to match the edges) clamped the two sides together with a nut. After the silicone cured, I put the screw in the drill press and sanded the tread of the wheel. There are several ways to drill pipes. To perform the operation, I recommend the drill press, and a V-Block Drill Jig. I used a hand drill, which is dangerous and requires a lot of practice.

I countersunk the location of the screw heads on the wheels. I placed the M6×20 millimeter connection nut in the car body. I put the M6×60 millimeter partially threaded flathead screw in the wheel and screwed it into the connecting nut. I attached the coupling nut into the body of the car with silicone. After the silicone cured, I took a measurement between the wheel and the body to make the spacer. For this, I cut 297×25 millimeter strips from an A4 sheet of paper. Starting 20 millimeters from the end (so it doesn't stick to the screw), I put paper glue on it and rolled it onto the screw. I cut it at an angle to fit the body of the car and covered it with foil.

I placed a sheet of paper on the curves and traced around. I copied the drawings onto Plies and cut them a little larger. I attached the parts obtained in this way to the pipe with contact adhesive. I worked it to exact size with a sanding block. I put instant glue on the edge of the plies to get a hard and well-adherent surface. I sanded the glue again with 240-grit sandpaper and a sanding block. I always pushed the sanding block inwards (in the direction of the arrow), because if I move it outwards, the plies become carded.

I used self-adhesive foil to decorate the surface of the car. I stuck the two foils together with masking tape. I drew the pattern on the paper side, which I cut with a modeling knife held vertically. First, I glued the foil to the curves and cut the protruding edges with a modeling knife. After that, I applied the film to the surface of the cylinder. It's very fiddly, I'm thinking about using printable self-adhesive film.

I tried the printable self-adhesive film. Acceptable as a decoration on the shelf. It has a nice even surface, but the paint layer is not shiny enough and very thin. It wears out quickly and is not suitable for long-term active play. I have attached the template in PDF format. Perhaps the best solution is painting.

The head is made of a 40 millimeter diameter wooden ball. I made an 8 millimeter diameter hole into it. I attached it to the car with this hole. If you intersect a sphere with a cylinder, you get an ellipse. Like Mr. Pringles face. I drew an arrow on the ball so that I could keep it in the right position while sanding. I placed sandpaper in a tube with an inner diameter of 50 millimeters and sanded the wooden ball until I got the ellipse of the desired size. I drew the outline of the resulting ellipse with a pencil and deepened the ellipse with a mini drill and a mini drum sander. I left a small bill on the helmet to make it more plastic. I drew Mr. Pringles face on it and painted the ball with matte white paint. I masked the face with painter tape and painted the helmet red. I removed the masking tape and drew the outline of the face with an alcohol marker, as well as the mustache and eyes showing through the white paint. I drew his eyebrows on the helmet because it gives him a cartoon character.