Miniman's Toylander build thread

So as I currently have a little time on my hands and the twins' first birthday is coming up, I thought I'd get on with building them a Toylander. It will probably take me a year so by the time its finished they might be able to drive it! If not, big sister will probably help. It also has the potential to prevent people from buying them plastic ste for their birthday and Christmas; instead they can buy an axle or a motor or something.

Anyway, it's a Toylander II:



You start with a set of instructions


Instructions by binaryimage, on Flickr

which are quite complex!


Complicated by binaryimage, on Flickr

and two sheets of full-scale templates


Plans by binaryimage, on Flickr

Before you start, you need a real Land Rover to pick up two massive sheets of MDF


Wood by binaryimage, on Flickr

I've started by making the floor panel as it is one of the largest individual pieces and is largely invisible once assembled, so a good place to start honing my jigsaw skills.


Floor cut out by binaryimage, on Flickr

Then moved on to the rear panel


Rear panel plans by binaryimage, on Flickr

The plans are stuck to the sheet of MDF then cut out.


Rear panel cut out by binaryimage, on Flickr

So that's day 1, I will post up progress!

Excellent.

Bookmarked.

If you make a copy of the plans you can build them one each.

Are they electric?

And how much is the build likely to cost? (Yes, yes. I know I can Google ).

Yes, either single motor or double, 12 or 24v.

Cost depends on how much you make yourself vs buy from Toylander. A full kit excluding body panels is about £800 but the manual gives plans for fabricating all the metal parts, and a wheelchair could well give up its running gear.

They are quite big - 1.6m long - and will happily transport an adult

Or two!

A little more cutting today, plus a trip to Wickes for more jigsaw blades

Tailgate cut out of the rear panel (needs some fettling with the sander!)


Rear panel & tailgate by binaryimage, on Flickr

Rear inner wings and part of the seat


Inner wings, seat by binaryimage, on Flickr

Front panel, quite important I think!


Front panel by binaryimage, on Flickr

Couple of small parts


Bonnet / motor panels by binaryimage, on Flickr

Front inner wings


Inner wings by binaryimage, on Flickr

And today's money shot, the 1.6m long side panels set up ready for cutting tomorrow.


Side panels by binaryimage, on Flickr

Top work, sir; almost want to make some babies so I can build one too!

Good bit of progress today. Rounded off the edges of the side panels with the router, then fitted the first side panel:


Side panel by binaryimage, on Flickr

The instructions for the side panels look really complex (4 pages worth) but as with the rest of it, everything has obviously been very well thought through. I figured I'd cut a couple of corners, only to find that I couldn't then screw some of the joints together as the drill wouldn't fit. Following the plans properly would have avoided that one!

So with both side panels on, I then started on the front wings so it now looks much more like a Land Rover. And it is huge, and weighs a ton!


Front wings by binaryimage, on Flickr

Great stuff, I want a Land Rover now!
Don't forget to wear a mask when cutting/sanding MDF.