Hot Hobbies & Toys Posts


Bubblebot: Build Your Own Gigantic Bubble Generator
Love bubbles but hate the toil and trouble of using your own lungs to blow them? Allow us to introduce Bubblebot, the latest Arduino-powered toy to attain celebrity status on Instructables. It's not an easy project by any means—even the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur has fewer steps. But come on, it's an automated giant bubble robot! It's worth it!

How To: Create a custom checkered gun stock
Want to add a personalized touch to your favorite gun? Looking for some ways to dress up the stock on a new rifle? Checkering a gun stock is a way to add a little unique twist to your favorite rifle or gun. It is not an exceptionally hard technique to master, and you only need a few basic tools to do it. This tutorial from Midway USA shows you how to create a custom checkered gunstock for any wooden stock.

How To: Make a flying helicopter out of office supplies
Bored in your cubicle all day? It's time for helicopter wars! This video shows you how to make a fun and simple helicopter out of some basic office supplies. The materials you will need are: a big paper clip, a smaller paper clip, a large aluminum can (such as from Rockstar or Monster energy drinks), a ruler, Scotch tape, a rubber band, a pair of pliers (if you have a Leatherman multitool, those will work just fine), a pen you can take apart for the long tube, a pair of scissors, and some pla...

How To: Make a helicopter powered by rubber bands
This is a great little rainy day project you can make for almost no money, or a fun party trick you can use at the next office Christmas party! You will need two disposable drinking cups (stiff plastic or paper will work best), a fairly thick straw, a sturdy paper clip, a thick rubber band, a cocktail stick, a bead and a plastic ring you can get from the neck of a soda bottle. Assemble as shown, and then let it go!

News: Carnivorous Furniture Eats Flies and Mice for Energy
PETA wouldn't consider James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's ingenious flypaper clock very eco-friendly, but I might beg to differ. The clock doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Instead it captures flies and converts the bodies of the dead insects into energy. Eight dead flies makes for roughly twelve days of power. Not bad.

News: Balloon + Coffee Grounds = Robot Hands
Inspired by Cornell's new, innovative robotic gripper (a sort of shape-shifting balloon hand), Steve Norris of Norris Labs decided to go DIY and make his own home-brewed replica at a lower cost.

News: Hunting Hydrogen Balloons with Fireworks
A group of R/C helicopter enthusiasts (of the superbly named entertainment production company Dude Licking a Pole Production) outfit a mini 'copter with little missiles, and send it out to hunt balloons in the cold Swedish wild. Motivation: mystifying. Outcome: wonderful. It's like James Bond meets an arcade game. And it's got everything we love: R/C , fireworks, and great video game style motion graphics.

How To: Make a simple homemade bottle rocket from household items
What's the best way to pass the time when you're bored beyond your wits? Make things explode, of course! But let's just say that you don't want your house to catch fire. The next best option that you've got is contained within this here video.

News: Riot in a Jar
Pie in a jar. Tree in a jar. Garden in a jar. Why not violence in a jar? Akin to the classic ship-in-a-bottle, miniature riots bottled up in jam jars entitled “Small World Re-enactments” by British artist James Cauty:

News: Haunted House in Rotting LEGO
Mike Doyle's latest LEGO house (perhaps even more hauntingly beautiful than the last) is a Victorian mansion that transcends the material so effectively, the plastic reads like real rotting bricks and mortar. Beautiful house-devouring trees, created with LEGO hinge cylinders to mimic the texture of tree bark, and ridged 3 mm hose, droid arms and other technic connectors for the creepy, spindly branches.

News: Arabian Camels Tortured By Remote Control Robot Jockeys
In the wealthy oil man's world of Arabian camel racing, the tradition of using child jockeys has been replaced with the use of small robo-jockeys in recent years. But after finally ridding the game of the mistreatment of children, the sport is now under scrutiny again. The Dubai police have discovered a new feature illegally added to the torturous, whip-endowed robots: hidden stun guns.

News: LEGO x Angry Birds
Kickass collection of Angry Birds LEGO art by Tsang Yiu Keung. Note: Catapult them and they will assuredly shatter into a pile of tiny LEGO bricks, just like the fate of the pigs they're aiming for.

News: IBM's “Watson” Supercomputer Demolishes World's Top Jeopardy Players
A testament of man vs. machine will air on February 14th, 15th, and 16th when IBM's supercomputer "Watson" is pitted against the world's fiercest Jeopardy players, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, for a chance to win a cool $1 million. It took researchers four years to build Watson, a machine mastermind the size of ten refrigerators and equipped with complex algorithms capable of decoding the complexities of the human language (no small feat). Watch below as Watson kicks ass in a practice round ...

UPDATE: Lightercycle Instructions Translated Into English
An incredibly kind & helpful WonderHowTo-ian, Samuel FU, has translated the Chinese instructions for the amazing Lightercycle into English.

How To: Turn 2 Disposable Lighters into a Lightercycle (English Instructions)
Here's the English language How-To for constructing a Lightercycle using 2 cigarette lighters. Original article courtesy of WonderHowTo user rmansur.

How To: Make a silicone mold in your kitchen with common household items
You can easily make an inexpensive silicone mold in your kitchen for cheap! This is a great project to do with your kids, or just for fun! You can also use this method to easily make theatrical props and prosthetics.

How To: Create a simple mold to cast a toy duplication
If you have a toy you love SO much, this video will show you how to create a simple mold so you can duplicate it! This simple how-to tells you what you'll need to get cloning today. This video will also tell you what can and can't be cloned.

HowTo: Turn a Lighter Into a Lightercycle
The english version of this how-to is found here. Little did I know, that lighter in my junk drawer has a bad ass motorcycle inside it, just burning to get out.

How To: Make a basic hotwire cutter for cutting foam
Hobbyists from many different hobbies, from model aircraft to tabletop wargaming, all need to cut foam, and that means a hotwire cutter. If you have the DIY bent that goes along with most of these hobbies anyway, check out this video for a guide to making your own simple hotwire cutter for basic foam cutting.

How To: Make a replica Yukki Cross Artemis scythe from Vampire Knight for cosplay
Watch this video for instructions on making the Yukki Cross Artemis scythe from the anime / manga Vampire Knight.

How To: Make a Soul Eater scythe out of cardboard for cosplay
Soul eater is one of the most popular manga and anime series in the world, and the scythe that protagonist Maka uses against the souls of the damned is one of teh cooler weapons in modern anime. This video will teach you how to make an excellent cardboard replica of it for cosplay.

How To: Craft a mini ice cream charm from polymer clay
Here's one way to get your fill of ice cream without the calories. These miniature cupcake charms are adorable and can be used to adorn charm bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.

How To: Create a working paper magazine for a Colt pistol
This tutorial shows you how to make a working magazine out of paper for use with a Colt M1911 .45 pistol. You will need many sheets of plain white paper, glue them together and then add some aluminim for reinforcements.

News: Functional LEGO Snow-Eating Beast
The Stilzkin Indrik is a mighty, mini LEGO Russian crawler, capable of lugging heavy loads over snowy terrain: "It has a large contact surface, which prevents it from sinking into the snow. It offers great traction on almost any surface, and loads of torque to get out of tight spots."

How To: Build a motorized gyrocar with a gyroscope and everyday household objects
Build your own miniature gryocar from a toy gyroscope in this fun little project with Kipkay and make it ride on skinny tracks! All you need is a toy gyroscope, a spraypaint canister top to fit the gyroscope assembly, and some assorted parts that you could probably find around the house (or at your local hardware store). Ask your parents for permission first!

How To: Use the correct tires for the temperature and improve RC performance
Optimize vehicle performance by knowing the differences between the different tires available for your RC vehicle. Each type of tire (commonly referred to by the red dot, blue dot or green dot) is optimized for a specific operating temperature range. Knowing about the different temperatures and what tires are best suited for them could be the difference between first place and second. Find out more in this instructional video.

How To: Install a ProLine universal shock kit and power stroke system in an RC car
Upgrade the shocks on your RC vehicle to new aftermarket parts with this informative video. This video details how to install the Universal Shock Mounting kit with Proline Power Strokes. Tools needed for this install are a 5.5 driver and a 2.0 hex.

How To: Strap your RC tires with duct tape to improve traction
If your RC car tires are lacking some of the rigidity you'd like them to have, check out this video to learn how to strap your tires. You'll need some duct tape and a flat surface, ad then you'll be back at the track ready to eat up the competition with better traction and stability.

How To: Make a balloon blaster projectile weapon
Check out this short video to see the amazing Kenny create a balloon blaster, projectile weapon. By inserting one balloon inside another, you can use the use the air pressure to fire your projectile. Remember, never point a weapon, even a balloon weapon at anyone.

News: Polar Bears Play Bloody Game of Soccer With Snowball Spycam
Blizzard Cam, a 40 mph mobile spycam on skis, spies on a group of adorable polar bears (um, minus the blood stained faces) as they devour a pile of remains. Operated remotely, Snowball Cam is released from the Blizzard if scientists detect the bears may attack the device. The decoy can roll across most terrains (even up hill), and easily distracts the bears into a game of soccer. From a BBC TV program on polar bears.

How To: Install 17mm hex adapters into a short course truck
In this video, 17mm hex adapters are installed on a Short Course truck. Installing these adapters allows a greater range of wheels and tires to be used on your SC racer vehicle. Squirrel of ProLine demonstrates the installation technique.

News: Apple Engineer Builds Fully-Functional Ancient Computer With LEGOs
Apple software engineer Andrew Carol built a fully-functional replica of the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's oldest known scientific computer. The 2000-year-old analog device was used by the ancient Greeks to predict the year, date, and time of future solar and lunar eclipses accurately to within two hours. Carol put together the 110 gears (made with 1,500 LEGO Technic parts) in just 30 days. See how it works below. For more information, check out Fast Company's interview with Carol.

News: 160-Piece Arsenal of Life-Sized LEGO Weapons
The LEGO Life-Size weapons flickr group has 160 LEGO constructed weapons- guns, knives, bombs and more. A selection below, click through to view more.

How To: Make little people out of candy for the holidays
This is a budget friendly gift you can use to give out during the holiday season - make little candy people! They're easy to make - all you'll need is some lollipops, platic wrap, small assorted candies, and some decorative ribbon.

How To: Mod a G2 pen for better spinning
If you're serious about spinning pens, you probably already know how awesome spinning with a modified one is. The G2 is great by itself, but stretched out like this it looks cool and spins great. Watch the video to learn how to make it.

How To: Swap the light kit from a Peter Fish Illuminator to a Duncan Freehand Zero
If you prefer the light kit from the Peter Fish Illuminator yo-yo but the action of the Duncan Freehand Zero, you're not alone and you've found help. This video will teach you how to swap the light kit from the Illuminator onto the Freehand Zero for the best of both worlds.

HowTo: Capture Superman Footage With an RC Plane
Although Team Black Sheep issues a "Do Not Try This At Home" warning, they also offer full instructions for building "the ultimate Ritewing Zephyr", an RC plane that is so badass it can do this:

HowTo: You Killed Kenny Doorstop
Instructables user BrittLiv uses a moldable silicone called sugru to sculpt this awesome doorstop of South Park's miraculously indestructible Kenny McCormick.

How To: Solve the Rubik's Cube intuitively without algorithms
Check out this three-part video tutorial on how to solve the Rubik's Cube intuitively and without algorithms. With this method there is no need to memorize complicated algorithms. Crack the Cube with sheer brain power, if you can. No one said you had to be a genius to solve a Rubiks Cube, you just have to have a little common sense and patience.

HowTo: Make a Jenga Pistol
Not only will this wood-block pistol make you the terror of your next family activity night, it'll actually improve your Jenga game! Through science! For, you see, the faster you can knock a block out of a Jenga tower, the shorter the amount of time over which it can exert a frictional force on its neighbors. Which means the whole kit-and-caboodle is much less likely to come tumbling down. Want one? You'll have to build it yourself. Which is fitting because the word "jenga" actually means som...