With the Air Traffic Control Training Table converted to a diaper changing table, we needed an alternate landing strip for the toy airplanes. The kid-allowed airplanes are currently kept in a shoebox.
In this Instructable, we build a cardboard aircraft carrier that has room to slide the shoebox inside and out of the way for easy cleaning.
The carrier is loosely based on the Nimitz-class carriers, for those who are into that sort of thing. Also, I can't be held responsible if Maverick does a flyby and makes someone spill their coffee.
NOTE: I won't be very specific with measurements in this instructable, though there are some in the picture notes. The size of everything really depends on the available cardboard and the size of the shoebox. I did most of it by laying out the pieces, marking where they would sit, and trimming to match.
In this Instructable, we build a cardboard aircraft carrier that has room to slide the shoebox inside and out of the way for easy cleaning.
The carrier is loosely based on the Nimitz-class carriers, for those who are into that sort of thing. Also, I can't be held responsible if Maverick does a flyby and makes someone spill their coffee.
NOTE: I won't be very specific with measurements in this instructable, though there are some in the picture notes. The size of everything really depends on the available cardboard and the size of the shoebox. I did most of it by laying out the pieces, marking where they would sit, and trimming to match.
Step 1: Materials
Shoebox (for the toys).
Cardboard for the main components
Tag board (like cereal boxes) to attach the main components
Wood glue
Wax paper
Utility knife or other implements of destruction
Paint pens and/or markers for detailing
Colored construction paper to make it all one color (I didn't use this, maybe when it goes back to dry-dock)
Cardboard for the main components
Tag board (like cereal boxes) to attach the main components
Wood glue
Wax paper
Utility knife or other implements of destruction
Paint pens and/or markers for detailing
Colored construction paper to make it all one color (I didn't use this, maybe when it goes back to dry-dock)
Step 2: Main Components
The main components are:
Flight deck
2x side walls
1x main wall
floor piece
nose assembly
I used graph paper to draw out the largest flight deck that I could make using the available cardboard sheets. Using a ruler and pencil, I drew and cut out one copy of the flight deck, then used that to trace and cut out another copy. The cardboard I used was double thickness, so there is a total of four layers used on my flight deck. I used wood glue to seal the two layers together.
There are three walls around the box, two on the side, one in the middle. See the notes in the images for placement. The walls were made in a similar manner to the flight deck, with several layers glued together. I used the bottom of the flight deck to lay out the shoebox and determine the lengths of the three walls. NOTE: When cutting cardboard for the walls, it is probably better for structural integrity to have the lines on the walls go up an down, not lengthwise.
The floor piece is one sheet of cardboard. More information on cutting the floor piece will be toward the end. I did not cut this piece until I was just about finished, it was only one layer thick, as it only has to keep the shoebox from falling out the bottom of the carrier.
The nose assembly construction will be described in the next step.
Flight deck
2x side walls
1x main wall
floor piece
nose assembly
I used graph paper to draw out the largest flight deck that I could make using the available cardboard sheets. Using a ruler and pencil, I drew and cut out one copy of the flight deck, then used that to trace and cut out another copy. The cardboard I used was double thickness, so there is a total of four layers used on my flight deck. I used wood glue to seal the two layers together.
There are three walls around the box, two on the side, one in the middle. See the notes in the images for placement. The walls were made in a similar manner to the flight deck, with several layers glued together. I used the bottom of the flight deck to lay out the shoebox and determine the lengths of the three walls. NOTE: When cutting cardboard for the walls, it is probably better for structural integrity to have the lines on the walls go up an down, not lengthwise.
The floor piece is one sheet of cardboard. More information on cutting the floor piece will be toward the end. I did not cut this piece until I was just about finished, it was only one layer thick, as it only has to keep the shoebox from falling out the bottom of the carrier.
The nose assembly construction will be described in the next step.
Step 3: Nose Assembly
The nose assembly is mostly just for looks, it does not really support any weight, other than to keep the front third of the flight deck from buckling.
The nose is a few triangles of cardboard with a cross-piece, finished off with a trapezoidal cover.
The images show the various pieces and how they fit together.
A piece of tag board (taken from the corner of a cereal box) is used to connect the nose assembly to the bottom of the flight deck. Edges of cardboard don't glue very well, so I used the tag board with some wood glue as though it were tape holding the nose assembly to the flight deck.
The nose is a few triangles of cardboard with a cross-piece, finished off with a trapezoidal cover.
The images show the various pieces and how they fit together.
A piece of tag board (taken from the corner of a cereal box) is used to connect the nose assembly to the bottom of the flight deck. Edges of cardboard don't glue very well, so I used the tag board with some wood glue as though it were tape holding the nose assembly to the flight deck.
Step 4: Gluing and the Floor Piece
Before you start gluing, wrap the shoebox in wax paper to keep it from getting glued to the carrier. My shoebox had a hole in one side that was handy to pull it out of the carrier, if it doesn't already have one, you may consider cutting one out.
I used tag board from leftover food boxes to connect all the walls and the nose assembly, see the images below for notes on placement.
The floor piece was simply a rectangle of cardboard to cover the bottom of the shoebox compartment. It should be just a bit longer than the length of the side walls, and just a bit wider than the width of the shoebox.
I used tag board from leftover food boxes to connect all the walls and the nose assembly, see the images below for notes on placement.
The floor piece was simply a rectangle of cardboard to cover the bottom of the shoebox compartment. It should be just a bit longer than the length of the side walls, and just a bit wider than the width of the shoebox.
Step 5: Finishing
For the flight deck details, I penciled in the lines first, then I used paint pens from an earlier project to color them in. Markers would probably have been fine, but the paint shows up very nicely. Hopefully it doesn't peel off too badly.
Remove the wax paper from the shoebox, and there you go!
In future efforts, I may add a layer of gray construction paper to cover up the unsightly tag board on the sides and bottom of the carrier.
Remove the wax paper from the shoebox, and there you go!
In future efforts, I may add a layer of gray construction paper to cover up the unsightly tag board on the sides and bottom of the carrier.
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118
mikeasaurus
says:
Apr 18, 2012. 11:56 AMReplyyou should enter this in the Big and Small Challenge!
11
Phydeaux (author)
in reply to Apr 18, 2012. 2:02 PMReplyThe challenge page wouldn't let me comment for the last couple days, for some reason... looks like it's fixed now though, my link actually posted this time!
118
mikeasaurus
in reply to Apr 18, 2012. 2:24 PMReplywe were having some issues, it's in now!
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