Kids have a natural attraction to lights and to things that "close/open". I wanted them to have some kind of toy, where they could find both, so I thought of making them a boat, then fitting it with lights and switches for them to play with.
The easiest boat I chose to build for them was based on the Ro-Ro type. Here are pictures of the steps to make it:
Kids seem happy with it for the moment, stuffing many of their cars in the garage, opening and close the doors, and switching on and off all the lights.
The easiest boat I chose to build for them was based on the Ro-Ro type. Here are pictures of the steps to make it:
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| Step 1- Cutting the sides and bottom of boat |
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| Step 2- Preparing the groove for the deck |
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| Groove is ready |
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| Deck is fitting perfectly |
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| Next is to drill the portholes |
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| I used a 10mm diameter drill the portholes |
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| Stoppers for the rear door |
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| Doors, one for the front and one for the back |
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| Hinges for the back door |
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| Hinges - Using reinforced Plastic. I ended by switching to metallic ones later on |
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| Grooves for the hinges. |
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| Hinges would be then riveted and glued |
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| Back door is ready |
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| Stapling the bottom part of the hull |
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| Leaving the glue to dry after the stapling work |
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| Keeping all in right angles for the next steps |
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| Sides of the 1st deck - Same porthole sizes |
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| All marked and getting ready for the stapling and gluing |
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| A bit of decoration for the sides using wood burner |
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| Sides are now ready |
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| Moving front door. Metallic hinges could be seen and magnetic stopper to keep it in place |
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| Front door ready and holding tight. |
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| Preparing the living quarters |
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| Two compartments should be more than enough |
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| Adding Carpets. Underneath this deck are lights. I have put a switch at the back as seen here |
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| The Bridge. Carpets have been fitted. Battery to operate the lights underneath |
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| Bridge is ready |
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| Top cover - This is what took most time, due to the rotating search light fitting |
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| Exploded view of the multideck boat |
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| Cosy and comfy |
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| Boat Garage. |
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| The boys getting ready to let their passengers get on board |
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| Front door opens, the boat has a large garage bay |
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| Blue lights for the bridge |
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| Back lights all functionning |
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| Front view |
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| Rear view |
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| Close view of the deck |
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| Time to get the boat inspected |
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| Boat certified all dox are ready |
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| Powerful search light, can rotate and kids really love it. |
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| Boat- general view at night. All lights on |
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| General view of the boat during day light. Next would be painting and adding some additional items |
