Hi All

I have just moved into my new house and don't have a garage or any spare rooms, so I have nothing to do in my spare time :'( So i was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for things to do with my time! It has to be reasonably cheap, i like mechanical things and i also like soldering things together etc and it has to be possible to do it on a living room table!
I was bought an remote control car in kit form when i was younger, and building that up was brilliant but it was over very quickly (i think they are advertised as taking 18-20 hours to complete - im looking for something like that but a build that would take a lot longer! I looked into model engineering but its not very table top friendly and ive had enough of machining bits so im in more of a 'buy a massively complicated kit with everything included and carefully put it together' mood
Anyone got any ideas!?

Thanks

Al

meccano?

Radio Controlled aircraft and associated electronics eg. we used to rewind cd rom motors to power small indoor planes

megajolt / megasquirt......

keep yourself occupied and earn a few beer tokens in the process

james mays program on meccano is actually what started this hankering, but i looked into getting meccano and i have no idea what im looking at or for... what can you build with the smaller kits? It kind of looks like the only one with enough stuff in it is the no 10, and thats well out of my budget :s what does one actually need to start making interesting models out of meccano?

how long does it take to make a model airplane? I like that it seems like it would be similar to the rc car project but wont it all be over just as quickly? I tend to get a bit obsessed and spend hours working on stuff like this in the evenings so i need something that literally needs 1000's of hours to complete, or like meccano that you can build up into lots of stuff...

thanks guys

RC "Foamie" Planes

have a look here RC Groups

These can be built using good old duck tape and polyesyteren or EPP foam (depron)

Cost is mimimal and if it fails then ---- Build another one.

heres a a video of a foam f-117 (stealth) flying

Link

What about some of the etched brass metal model locomotive/rolling stock kits? prices vary according to complexity and scale. There are kits for all abilities as well.

how much is a megajolt kit? how complicated to put together?

Model ship building

How about one of these - should keep you occupied for a while, but you will need a big table!

Victory

Megasquirt MS1 V3.0 Full UNASSEMBLED KIT GENUINE B&G | eBay

no idea how complicated it is to put together...

but i think they are worth about £300 complete

How about an aquarium?

wowza that looks nice and complex! the added advantage of being useful to the build!

that ship kit was epic! would certainly take a good amount of time to finish! Im looking at all the other things they do as well very interesting...

ill looking into the rolling stock idea as well I didnt know if anyone did complete kits for that kind of thing or if they were all done by modelmakers with lathes and mills etc!

I had a look at those foamies and they look nice and simple to make, could be something to look at having a go at cheaply thanks for the idea

thanks for the ideas chaps!

Al

[Edited on 19/9/11 by hellbent345]

I'd suggest radio controlled boats. Buy a set of plans and have a go at a scratch build then chuck it in the water. I'm having a go at that myself

race RC cars? cheap motorsport, tuning engines, setting up your car.... RC cars are very advanced and you can tune them handeling wise as much as any 1:1 racing car..

I've just started playing with multicopters - easier to fly than R/C helicopters, and a hell of a lot cheaper to repair when you crash!

I've just made one of these, and will probably make one of these in the very near future. Just learning how to fly the tricopter - slightly scary!

Note: the quadcopter is simpler to make, as you don't need a servo and fancy linkages - I wish I'd made a quad from the outset...