A Treasury of Wooden Toys, Volume 3, 3: Sailboats and Submarines

In this detailed how-to book of wooden toy projects, the home wood craftsman will find full-color illustrated chapters with instructions on building two different functional toy sailboats that will delight and impress in operation. The hull of one of these boats is turned on a wood lathe. Also included are plans and construction details and photos of two rubber band powered toy submarines based on historic boats. One of the toy submarines is a profile model of a World War II U.S. fleet submarine. It is built from a single 3/4 inch thick pine board with a long slot sawn out for the twisted strands of rubber bands. The boat has diving planes to permit various underwater and surface runs. It is designed for children old enough to safely and patiently wind the rubber band motor for each run. The propellers are built with a winding handle to make winding faster and less likely to slip out of one's grasp and waste the effort. None of these boats is suitable as a tub boat for a child's play or bath. Adult supervision is suggested to provide safety when children are playing near pools and lakes, and initially to explain operational details to the interested child. The Akula submarine is a functional toy replica of a Soviet Cold War nuclear attack boat. It is a 3-D project in which the hull is glued-up from five pine boards and turned to shape on a wood lathe. The boat is ballasted and balanced to float level with the deck at water level, requiring positive buoyancy. The hull is ventilated with drilled vent holes to preclude trapped air from restricting operation. This model represents the happy domain between intricate scale models and operational near-scale toys. Each of these functional toys will also appeal to adults who will be fascinated to see them in realistic operation. Every toy will make handsome display in a child's room.