The Pod

Well this is just getting ridiculous...

But it's time for another spaceship!

The tricycle was definitely an improvement, but we can go bigger. And what's bigger than a tricycle (but also cheap, easy to be stored, and already beat-up enough that no one will care if I screw PVC pipe onto it)? A bike! I am fortunate to have access to a bike that is old enough that it can be used for a spaceship. So that's my next project.

Expected problems:

There's a lot of problems that come with building a spaceship on a bike. Similar to the tricycle, there aren't very many places to attach structural parts to the bike that won't interfere with a person's ability to ride it.

Stability is a huge issue with this project. Bikes are stable when they're moving because of inertia, but by adding a spaceship body to this bike, I'm making it more difficult to get moving, heavier, and raising its center of mass. All of these changes make the bike more likely to tip over, and tipping over would be disastrous.

The red shows the path of my legs as I pedal, which means that no structural parts of the ship can overlap with that region.

Additionally, I don't actually want to add anything permanent to the bike. That means creating joints that attach to connection points on the bike that are strong enough to support the ship but still removeable.

The last major issue that I've got no place to store a new spaceship, especially since this will be bigger than the first two. I can store a bike, but it can't be stored with a spaceship body on it. So every part of this ship must be removeable, including all the cardboard and any lights I add.

Joints: attaching pipes and cardboard

Bike and PVC cross joint:

Testing using interlocked pipe straps to connect pipes

This technique may have worked but was ultimately not very strong against twisting

An idea for a 3D printed part that would hold a pipe onto the bike

A cross joint made of 4 pipe clamps, 4 bolts, and a bolt through the center

The cross joint on the bike, but no bolt was used through the center

PVC to PEX conversion:

To change from the sturdy, straight 1/2 inch PVC to the bendable PEX pipe, I placed a small piece of PVC into a PVC joint, then shaved the end of the PEX pipe down slightly so it would fit into the PVC pipe.

Cardboard to PEX and PVC clips:

I made clips for PEX out of 1/2 inch PVC and clips for 1/2 inch PVC out of 3/4 inch PVC. They're made by cutting the pipe longways into slightly more than a semicircle to achieve a strong clip. These clips are possible only because the inner diameter of the pipe I made the clip out of is just barely smaller than the outer diameter of the pipe that is being clipped onto. Clips like this exist at stores, but I wanted to try making my own.

Structure: detachable PVc and pex skeleton

Above, planning the shape with cardboard strips

Below, an initial plan for shape

Above, planning the structure with string

Below, a clear plan for connection points and pipes

Above, the final skeleton

Below, the removed skeleton pieces

Shell: Seven detachable cardboard panels

Finished first panel

Partially finished back

Second panel in progress

Finished back

Finished side

Partially finished front

Test run: To check if the cardboard panels could stay on the skeleton while the bike is being ridden, I took the bike on a test run. This also served to test how easy it is to put the bike together from its storable state. I've learned a lot between making the first cardboard panel and the last, so the first panels don't stay on as well as the later ones, but overall everything stays together. The bike is tippy, but not scarily so, and it's actually pretty easy to get on and off and start pedaling. With this milestone cleared, it's time to move on to the less fun part: making this project look nice.

Bikeship02

Bikeship01

finishing: cover & Paint

Cover:

I've upgraded my covering skills, switching over from gluing paper bags on cardboard for my last ship to using watered-down Elmer's glue to cover the notorious cardboard seams with large sheets of paper. The new technique is definitely easier, though I still have a long way to go until I create a ship that looks nice when observed from more than five feet away.

Paint:

I'm not sure this spaceship qualifies as a spaceship. Its shape, fitted to the bike, ended up looking like a bug rather than a flight-capable craft, and I decided that I didn't want to change the look or add anything to force the space theme. Running with the organic feel of the body, and also running out of time before school started back up again, I painted some hasty green lines on, taped them into swirly vines, and painted the rest black.

BikeshipQuick

BikeshipQuickReverse

I named this ship the pod because it now resembles a seed pod more than a spaceship. It looks strange and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'd love to try to build something like this with real materials--you know, something a bit more durable and high-quality than cardboard--to see how I can apply my design ideas to something more lasting. However, I'm proud of what I did to overcome all the design challenges that came with building a detachable cardboard shell on a detachable plastic pipe frame. The general concept of building a shell over a small vehicle with cardboard and plastic pipes wasn't new to me, but every other part of this project was, and though "years of experience building cardboard spaceships" isn't quite something to put on a resume, I've definitely gained some skills that will help me make better projects in the future.

Winter 2020-21

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