Miniman's Toylander build thread

[miniman]

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!

[pmessling]

Wow that's great. Think given the sheet metal we have at work if i was to tackle it i would make it out of metal, although would make it heavy. Aluminum as per a real one.

[Pixel Pusher]

Excellent.

Bookmarked.

[TorqueVR]

I hope you have as much enjoyment from building it as I did building their jeep last year. The parts all fitted perfectly, the plans and instructions were first class and the end result was better than I had hoped.

[jeremyc]

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

[miniman]

jeremyc said:

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

At £35, another set of plans is the cheapest bit of building a second one!

[Murph7355]

Are they electric?

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

[odyssey2200]

book marked

[miniman]

Murph7355 said:

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

[Murph7355]

miniman said:

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

Thanks for this.

Did a bit of Googling too.

My lad's only 6mths old. Plenty of time to get one built

[TorqueVR]

miniman said:

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

Or two!

[vdubbin]

I was looking at building one for the VDublette, but as I lack (a)the skills to build one from plans, and (b) the funds to buy the full kit, it's had to go on the back burner.

[miniman]

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

[miniman]

Finished off the side panels, now they are cut out it seems really big.


Front wing by binaryimage, on Flickr


Side panel by binaryimage, on Flickr

Then cut out a load of the other smaller pieces.


Pile by binaryimage, on Flickr

Today was delivery day. Slow start:


Parcel by binaryimage, on Flickr

Nice key switch I found on eBay


Switch by binaryimage, on Flickr

More importantly...


Box by binaryimage, on Flickr


Parts by binaryimage, on Flickr

First set of components - front swing axle, steering and stub axles, steering column, rear axle, brake assembly, front bumper, motor mounts, big bag of fixings


Parts by binaryimage, on Flickr

[Dr G]

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

[miniman]

A little more progress today, starting to look a bit Land Rover-ish now.

Front inner wings

Inner front wings by binaryimage, on Flickr

Rear inner wings

Inner rear wings by binaryimage, on Flickr

Getting quite big...

Rear panel by binaryimage, on Flickr

[miniman]

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

[Dr G]

Looks like it would need two to lift it already! Keep us posted, following with interest

[SlipStream77]

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

[TVR Sagaris]

Would've loved one of these as a kid and it looks like a quality kit. How fast do they go?