Want an Awesome Dream Project? Build Your Own DIY Full Size F1 Replica Car

Dvda2108 is the tag used to identify an engineer/designer/craftsman on Instructables, a website with an endless array of DIY projects ranging from 3D printing to origami. Dvda’s project on the other hand is all about Formula 1.

To best understand how someone can just make an F1 replica in a space the size of your garage, it should help to know that Dvda is the sort of person that just loves working with wood. Wait a minute, that could mean that what I'm looking at is nothing more than a wooden F1 vehicle. Guess what, it really is made of wood, some panels, filler, and a paintjob. Ready to learn how to make your own? No? I'm going to show you anyway.

This project took Dvda from the middle of April to July 1st to complete, and if you want to make your own you will need some supplies first. Sheets of plywood, XPS foam, epoxy resin, primers, three types of saws, and a Stanley knife are the base for what you’ll be creating. All that’s just for the body; there’s paint too.

After hours of research, with a high focus on proportions and dimensions, and some final tweaking to make sure the project could be carried out with wood, Dvda embarked on a journey he initially believed would be easy.

Overall, nine stages are needed to create your own DIY F1 replica car. Components like the mono cockpit, front wing, rear wing, and wheels need to be created and then fused together, hopefully, using something stronger than wood glue.

As the project unfurls, the cockpit takes shape, initially in the form of a sort of coffin with plywood ribs creating the exterior shape of the replica. Once these ribs are in place, Dvda went to work filling in the bodywork and ended up failing on the first attempt, but soon figured out how to shape things properly with XPS foam instead of malleable plywood.

Up next, was the front wing. This was the “easiest” part of the project and will probably be for you too. Here, everything is made from plywood with simple cuts, no rounded edges or anything requiring a lot of dexterity. Throw that on and proceed to the next stage. The rear wing is completed in a similar fashion.

After endless trials with more foam and materials to get the body he desired, Dvda then went on to create the wheels this car needs to be complete. Using nothing more that old garbage bins cut in half and used as rims, plywood parts are then introduced as to give the tires their shape. These are then filled with boat repair foam to offer strength.

Endless sanding and filler stages later, and this replica was ready to receive its first coat of paint, in this case, a matte black paint and lots and lots of epoxy primer because matte wasn’t to be the final choice; shows off bodywork imperfections. More epoxy primer and bodywork later, this DIY project is ready for its presentation stickers.

Even though the project was to be a car where children could experience a feeling for F1, the health crisis set in, and that was no longer possible. But, if you want one heck of a project for yourself, this has got to be one of the essential ones.