How to Make a McLaren Senna in Tinkercad

This project started about a month ago where I was researching an Instructables project I could have done. As I scrolled through the following contests during the week, nothing really stood out to me as my strengths were very technology and strategy based. However, I saw this “Distance learning with Tinkercad” contest, my head clicked - what if I made one of my favorite hypercars into Tinkercad?

As I did some further research, I found it very challenging to make the extreme details of the McLaren Senna’s car. I then moved forward to see if I could do some other cars and thought of cars such as the Apollo Intensa Emozione, Mclaren Speedtail, Acura NSX, and the McLaren P1. With the time constraint I was in, I knew it wasn’t possible or at least efficient to do so, and I ended up going even further back to the drawing board... and thought of Legos!

Yes, Legos were the ultimate gamechanger. They were full of endless fun and creativity with mostly simple shapes and at the moment I also remembered that a few months back I bought and built the Lego Mclaren Senna Speed Champions set from Target. I quickly ran upstairs, scrambled through my shelf, admired my glorious lego figure, grabbed the instructions, and headed straight to work.

Supplies

PC (8GB RAM Recommended)
Tinkercad
Lego Instructions
Notes (Optional)

Step 1: Creating Your Universal Plan

Start by creating your universal dimensions you will be using throughout your project. This includes setting up your grid in Tinkercad. I decided to use the default millimeters but feel free to use the other options. I also decided to set the one “brick” benchmark 3 mm wide and 1 mm tall. However, keep in mind throughout the process, you may need to adjust accordingly just as I did.

Step 2: Building the McLaren Senna

Here are 69 steps required to build the magnificent hypercar. I also included a helpful tip in every picture, so feel free to read those as well. Put on some music and have fun working 👊 (The tires act as a movable part and the spoiler could function as a connector)

Step 3: Building the McLaren Technology Centre (Headquarters)

I decided to top my McLaren Senna with McLaren’s very own headquarters located in Woking, United Kingdom. Keep in mind there is no blueprint for this and is where you have to get a bit creative and write down some notes along the way. There were also no specific measurements required. I just ended up scaling the base to 100mm and adjusting from there.

Step 4: Add the Scenery

With the McLaren Senna and the McLaren Headquarters complete, I added the final touch with some terrain details. I started off by using the “terrain” shape under the “shape generator” tab on the last page and added a mountain in the background. I used the 3D “tree” shape and accidentally combined it with the “asteroids” shape to create a very nice, rendered tree. I mixed the leaves of the trees with the classic green and rose to create the spring vibes from the sakura trees. I finished it off with Instructables x Tinkercad in the bottom right to give it it’s respectable tone. In the end, I’m very glad about how it turned out.

Instructables - Tinkercad Display.stl
Download View in 3D

Step 5: Problems Encountered

As my first Instructables documentary, I certainly will admit this wasn’t easy and most definitely not perfect. I faced many complications such as a bugged Tinkercad grid, keeping track of the screenshots, making sure to not highlight or move the wrong object, keeping up with time day and night, and so much more.

Step 6: Applying the Problems for Something Better (The Learning Environment)

There's a saying where if you get down and face failure, you grow stronger every time. This theme would definitely fit my scenario, determining what shapes aren't worth engaging (the windshield, for example) and what shapes could have been made a lot faster than what I had originally done (the triangle wedges and multiple curved pieces). As I went further into the project I was absolutely mind blown on how much I had actually learned and grown mentally stronger simply by breaking things down piece by piece. With countless hours of grinding this project, I was able to get it done and it was all worth it in the end. And most importantly I had lots of fun doing this.