My oldest son is in Cub Scouts, and they have the Pinewood Derby today. He wanted to make a Star Wars car. Here's what we came up with!

The ships are attached with magnets so they can come off before the race.

It started to splinter near the bottom as I was putting weights in, but overall I think it came out pretty good.

Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.

No, just kidding! Hope he has fun!

Car ran good but we didn't win. We did win best workmanship though.

I'm an eagle scout myself, but was only in cub scouts one year (the year before joining boy scouts). I HATED the pinewood derby. I had no idea what I was doing with my car as it was my first (and only) year doing it. My dad was pretty busy, and not really that handy either. So my car ended up looking super plain and generic. Then to make things worse, it was underweight so they had to glue on a few metal weights that made it look even uglier. And of course I lost all my races as well. So it all seemed like a big waste of time.

I find in general while it's nice to have the (father/son) bonding going on, it usually ends up being the best looking and fastest cars are the ones where the dad is really talented and did most of the work.

12 hours ago, markcsoul said:

I'm an eagle scout myself, but was only in cub scouts one year (the year before joining boy scouts). I HATED the pinewood derby. I had no idea what I was doing with my car as it was my first (and only) year doing it. My dad was pretty busy, and not really that handy either. So my car ended up looking super plain and generic. Then to make things worse, it was underweight so they had to glue on a few metal weights that made it look even uglier. And of course I lost all my races as well. So it all seemed like a big waste of time.

I find in general while it's nice to have the (father/son) bonding going on, it usually ends up being the best looking and fastest cars are the ones where the dad is really talented and did most of the work.

Totally agree with that. And while I admit I did most of the work here, I genuinely tried to keep my son involved in the process. I'd have him draw the lines where he wanted me to make the cut. We watched videos together on "How to make the best pinewood derby car". He did some of the painting, and he picked the overall theme. He sanded the nails too.

And this was also our first year. Not sure if we'll do it again in the future - but I learned a ton.

Worst part is, we got beat by someone who purchased a pre-made car.

You were probably thinking, "I'll fly this Death Star car because the Death Star is really powerful in the movies." They you got net-carred by a Jumpmaster.

I vividly remember my only Pinewood derby. I think I got fourth place (just outside the ribbons), but it was against at least 50 other cars. The best part was that my dad was the least handy dad ever (a Computer Science professor) and I think my mom probably helped me build the car. It did not look anything like the other "good" cars that were in the top 3 (I remember at least one looked very flat like yours). It had all the weight in the middle in one carved blob. I think I wanted it to look like a corvette or something. For some reason, by 100% chance, it ended up being good, so good that the other dads who knew what made the cars win kept coming over and looking at it and scratching their heads. I remember being so happy as I kept winning the groups I was in and then ultimately disappointed I didn't get a ribbon. I think that car might still be sitting in a box at my parents' house!