How to Build a Miniature Sand Rail
The sand rail is a special type of lightweight vehicle, designed to run on off-road terrains and specifically on sand. Normal vehicles would normally plunge into the sand, unable to move, whereas the light sand rail with its relatively large wheels can move freely. Sand rails have a simplistic design to minimize the vehicle's weight, making them easy to recreate on a miniature scale.
Things You'll Need
- Thin cardboard
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Glue
- Styrofoam
- Dark brown felt
- Utility knife
- Coloring pens
- Wooden skewers
Instructions
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1
Draw a trapezium on a piece of thin cardboard, with its equal sides measuring 6 inches, the large parallel side measuring 3 inches and the small parallel side at 2 inches. Design four rectangles around the trapezium, measuring 1 inch in width. Use each side of the trapezium as a rectangle's base.
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2
Make a design of your choice on the four rectangles and use black color for the trapezoid. Cut out the template and fold it on the trapezoid's lines to raise the rectangles. Use sticky tape to hold adjacent rectangles together.
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3
Create two cylinders out of thin cardboard, measuring 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch in height. Make an additional two cylinders, measuring 1 inch in diameter and 3/4 inch in height. Use coloring pens to draw the tires and rims, to make them resemble car tires.
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4
Attach each pair of tires on the end of a wooden skewer. Use sticky tape to glue the skewers on the bottom of the sand rail's body. The pair of large tires must always go to the back side of the car -- the trapezoid's large parallel side.
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5
Form two passenger seats by carving Styrofoam with a utility knife. Glue strips of dark brown felt on the seats to give them a realistic look; do not attempt to color the Styrofoam, or you will ruin it. Place the seats within a 1-inch distance of the trapezoid's large parallel side.
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6
Cut eight 3-inch pieces of drinking straw. Make a 3-inch by 3-inch square by gluing the ends of four drinking straw pieces and place it on the table. Glue a drinking straw piece standing upright on each corner of the square.
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7
Place the drinking-straw design -- with the upright straws facing downward -- over the passenger seats. Connect the rear angles of the cardboard trapezoid with the rear angles of the straw square, using two diagonally placed pieces of drinking straw.
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8
Cover the empty parts of the trapezoid -- behind and in front of the seats -- with cardboard. Before adding the new parts, draw the same design on them you used for the sides of the sand rail's body.
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Tips & Warnings
Use the same color of straws, to avoid giving your miniature an awkward look.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images
