The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
These three great starter kits for making small tabletop siege weapons pack quite a kick. They’re simple to build, and include well-documented, easy-to-follow instructions. All components are made of quality materials accurately machined and drilled. The Ballista kit (pictured) is built of laser-cut hardwood and is a real blast to assemble and fire. It’s a bit more difficult […]
This is a fantastic introductory electronics kit that comes with your choice of large red or green LEDs and everything else needed (aside from a soldering iron, solder, and flush cutters) to make one electronic 6-sided die. (The manufacturer says: “The name Dice Kit sounds a great deal better than ‘Die Kit’, so we bent […]
This kit is amazingly cool and easy to use. POV (persistence of vision) displays show words or patterns that seem to float in mid-air; if you’ve ever seen one, you know what a great effect it is. A line of LEDs flashes the Y component of what you’re displaying, and you provide the X by […]
I was looking for something to do with the kids. They raved about how much fun the rocket launching was at Maker Faire, so I brought some of that fun home with this kit, which is based on Rick Schertle’s project from MAKE Volume 15. The kit is an easy build, one or two hours […]
People my age remember red plastic toy rockets from childhood that you filled with water, pumped with air, and watched as they leaped dozens of feet into the air. Well, things have gotten far more serious in the world of water-powered model rocketry, and hobbyists are reaching heights upwards of 800′ using plastic soda bottles, thin […]
I’ve built my share of catapults (see MAKE Volume 28, “Gravity Catapult”), and this floating-arm kit has thoroughly impressed me. The parts come pre-cut in solid ash, and you clip off tabs to remove them, just like the plastic models I built as a kid. A file will help clean up the tabs. It’s put […]
The Rainbow Cube is a nerdy but gorgeous accent light consisting of a 4×4×4 cube of red-green-blue LEDs. Depending on how it’s programmed, colors appear to move, pulse, or wash through the cube in all directions, which is fascinating to watch. The LEDs connect to the PCB base via an ingenious structure consisting of thin […]
