helicopter birthday cake

For my son's 4th birthday (this was pre volcano) I made him a cake that was a helicopter complete with spinning blades.

Don't forget to look at my other cake in this contest:
moving tank cake

Please check out my other instructables and I also have a diy podcast called mechanicalmashup.tv

Step 1: The base

The base was made from a scrap piece of wood I had lying around. I painted it white and stenciled on the helicopter symbol. Leaving out part of the H to create a four because it was my son's 4th birthday. I created the helicopter landing skids with coat hangers and slipped them right into holes in the wood base to keep everything stable (plus it had no welder at that point) If you look, you can figure out where the 8 holes were drilled. The frame of the helicopter was an old cookie sheet I cut to size and bent into the shape I wanted. The motor is one of those flywheel motors you get with cars where you push them and they keep going. I picked up the toy car from a recycling store as well as the hotwheels track I used to make the blades. Everything was screwed together and then I wrapped the mechanism in tin foil to keep the cake from being contaminated by anything. The man is a rescue hero (one of my sons favorite toys at the time).

Comments

[katirdh3030]

Thank you so much Dave..I will post a pic and show it to you..;O)

[katirdh3030]

Hi Dave!. This cake is awesome!. I recently got started into baking. My brother is a helicopter pilot and he is finally getting his last hours to start making the real $$. We are so proud of him adn I will love to make this cake, but following your instructions I am a little puzzle..How did you attach the hangers to the base of the helicopter? . And where can i get a motor?. My email is [e-mail]. I will aprecciate very much if you can give me some info. Thanks so much. And great JOB!!

[dave spencer]

As I remember it I just punched holes in the pan to thread the hangers through. They were set into holes in the wooden base so that's where the got their structural integrity from the friction of the holes in the pan held everything else in place. I got the flywheel motor from and old toy car at a recycling store. You could also use an electric motor if you can scrounge one or you could buy it. I use www.allelectronics.com (no affiliation). Good luck and post a pic if you can

[stephenniall]

This is a bit advanced for me with cake making ! i think i shall do a capacitator cake!

[annes dream]

Thank you for these instructions! I run a small day care and make a special cake for each child when it's their b'day. One of our little boys LOVES helicopters, so guess what cake he got? Your instructions / pictures were perfect. My cake was a BIG hit! Thank you. Sincerely, Anne :)

[Sunny124613]

best cake ever!! and I love how you did the launch and land pad

[msimon3]

kinetic cake!!!! YUM

[Dillis]

Nice! I wish I got cakes like the ones you make! Btw, I'm not sure if you mentioned it in your instructable (I didn't read it, I just saw it from your tank cake!) But I noticed you used "Hot wheels" tracks for the propellers, right? Either way, amazing cake!

[Bad Donut]

does it go soi soi soi?

[jongscx]

no, it goes whoosh whoosh whoosh...

[Bad Donut]

aw... you killed the joke...

[jongscx]

And video killed the radio star!

[bowmaster]

And I killed the video!

[radioactivedog]

I'm glad my son didn't see that one for his birthday... it's hard enough to make a nice fancy cake without dealing with moving parts! Nice Job!

[Gavabc123]

just amazing!!!!!!!! cake is the worlds best clay thing

[ArtisticSugarworks]

What a great cake! Also a great idea with the motor! Very creative!

[Who Needs Brakes]

I want to see it take of & go SPLAT for a Helicopter Crash Cake, that would have taken some time & effort to make, beats the boring old traditional round cakes we all got as kids, DEAD SET AWSOM Happy Birthday Brody your a lucky kid mate

[mrmath]

Look out Duff, here comes Dave! This thing is done exactly as Duff from Ace of Cakes would have done it, except they would have used fondant instead of icing on the outside of it.

[dave spencer]

Hey, I actually emailed Duff with my volcano cake. I wasn't looking for a guest spot on his show or anything, just saying "hey, check this out". I never heard back from him :(

[cry_wolf]

Yeah i live right by Charm City Cakes, and those guys get Thousands of emails a day. Try again with this cake, nice instructable btw. :D

[Darkshot]

i sooo wanna be you

[cry_wolf]

Haha :D

[mrmath]

Looks like it's time to start a [mailto:[e-mail]?subject=cool%20cake&body=Check%20out%20this%20cake%20at%20http://www.instructables.com/id/helicopter-birthday-cake/ write in campaign].

[LinuxH4x0r]

I wrote!

[mrmath]

Cool! Everyone else: Just hit the link and hit send.

[dave spencer]

wouldn't it be great if Duff came here and checked out the whole contest? It would be like Wayne Gretzky stopping by to watch you play pickup.

[mrmath]

Here'a a new write in link with stuff about the contest (and a little butt kissing:

[mailto:[e-mail]?subject=cool%20cake&body=Check%20out%20this%20cake%20at%20http://www.instructables.com/id/helicopter-birthday-cake/.%20%20We%20also%20are%20having%20a%20whole%20contest%20about%20cake%20decorating%20we'd%20love%20for%20you%20to%20check-out:%20http://www.instructables.com/contest/cake/.%20Someone%20said%20having%20you%20stop%20by%20to%20check%20out%20our%20contest%20would%20be%20like%20Wayne%20Gretzky%20stopping%20by%20to%20watch%20the%20local%20kids%20play%20pickup.%20Could%20you%20please%20stop%20by? Write In Campaign]

[GorillazMiko]

That cake looks good. I want to eat it. NOW. +1 vote. +1 rating.

[Weissensteinburg]

I think more than a few people here will be tempted to attach candles to the spinning blades. That's a really cool cake idea. Nice job!