Hot Construction Toys How-Tos


How To: Turn a 5MW laser into a 100MW laser
Tired of that dinky little 5MW laser? Turn the power up and convert your 5MW laser into a 100MW laser? A small amount of modification can produce a significantly stronger light coming out of your laser. You will need a small screwdriver (such as a jeweler's screwdriver), needle nose pliers, a soldering iron and some bonding glue to do this properly. This video tutorial will show you exactly how to turn your 5MW laser into a 100MW laser.

How To: Build a looping rolling marble machine with magnetic elevator
Wow! No longer do you have to buy those huge marble machine roller coaster toys — you can DIY one! This video covers the materials, tools and techniques used to make a homemade rolling ball marble machine. If you haven't seen this rolling ball marble machine toy in action yet, WATCH IT. It's a looping rolling marble machine made with wood, rebar tie wire and polyurethane tubing, featuring a magnetic elevator.

How To: Build a couch with Legos
What's a house model if you don't have a couch in the living room, right? Where would the minifigures sit to watch TV? Can't be on the floor! In this video you will get a quick glimpse of the different bricks that you will need to complete the model as well as a detailed tutorial on the construction process all the way into a finished couch!

How To: Pot mod a green laser
Put the newspaper down on a work surface. Pick up the 5 MW green laser pen and unscrew the battery cap. Remove the batteries and put them and the battery cap aside.

How To: Build hot air balloon out of a garbage bag
This is a simple and easy tutorial, and anybody can build a hot air balloon out of a garbage bag by following the instructions in it. All one needs is a garbage bag, some stiff industrial wire and fire starter bars. The important thing, according to the author, is to judge how many fire starter bars will be required to make the balloon rise without melting its plastic body. First, two long wires are twisted together in the middle to make an 'X'. A smaller wire is twisted onto the middle of th...

How To: Make your own mylar balloon
Mylar balloons are the best party favors. They are big and shiny and last longer than normal latex balloons. In this tutorial, learn how to make a mylar balloon at home, from scratch. Stop spending so much money at the party store, and next time you have a big event, make your own! Not only will you save money, but it will give your party a cool personal touch.

How To: Make a larp shield out of foam and cardboard
This tutorial shows you how to make a fun boffer shield out of foam and cardboard. You'll need four pieces of corrugated cardboard cut into 18 inch diameter circles, a craft razor, spray adhesive and paint.

How To: Use basic building techniques
Papa Tom teaches viewers the basics for building realistic miniature buildings using Scene-A-Rama Building and Structures Kit. This is great for school or art projects.

How To: NASA Engineer Shows You How to Build a Mini Curiosity Mars Rover Out of LEGOs
You might have seen our post on this last week: It's a working reproduction of the Mars Curiosity Rover made with LEGOs, but it's a bit complicated for anyone without a decent amount of robotics knowledge. Plus, you need to have some Mindstorms NXT and TECHNIC parts lying around. If you want something a little simpler than programming a working LEGO rover, you could always build a scaled model of the MSL out of regular LEGOs. Not only is this easy to build and looks great, but the step-by-ste...

How To: Build Lego versions of the Halo weapons
Watch this six-part how-to video from Timgie Studios to learn how to make all the weapons from the Halo video game series on Xbox out of Lego bricks. These easy to follow tutorials will have your Lego Master Chief beating up Lego Elites in no time.

How To: Make your own slingshot from easy to find materials
Can you feel your inner Dennis the Menace trying to get out? Trying to recreate the early 90s bad boy Bart Simpson look? Watch these videos to learn how to make yourself a slingshot. This slingshot is made from materials that are probably laying around your house, but you will need some power tools.

How To: Make a homemade spin toy with a button and string
If you've ever found yourself bored and not knowing what to do, this video tutorial might help you out. See how to make a homemade spin toy with a button. Just get out a pair of scissors, a large button, a glue stick, string and a small piece of paper and you can begin building this time consuming button spinner toy, time consuming as in not hard to make, but fun to play with.

How To: Make a high-powered Nerf Rifle
This is a pretty brief tutorial on how to make your own Nerf Gun. This gun is air-powered and can shoot almost 200 feet. So, why buy manufactured Nerf Guns when you can build your own?

How To: Make a medium Knex gun
Assembly instructions for a medium sized knex gun

How To: Make a Bridge Out of Popsicle Sticks
Do you have free time? Then build your own bridge out of Popsicle sticks. Bre Pettis goes over the basics of building bridges. As a bonus, you get to watch other people stand on their own bridges and break them.

How To: Build a treadmill desk
This is a great way to turn your treadmill into a walk station quickly and cost effectively. You only need a few things for this project: a tape measure, four shelf mounting brackets, screws, a drill, and a shelf.

How To: Build a rubber band powered mini car launcher
What is it about boys and toy cars? Speed, motors, and lots of fun! In this video, Kipkay shows us how to make a mini toy car launcher that is powered by rubber bands. Make sure an adult supervises this project, as power drills are required. Once it's completed, your kid will have a blast with his or her Hot Wheels and some rubber bands. Don't forget to download the PDF of the project before you start.

How To: Build a Lego car
Watch this how to tutorial to learn to make a Lego car. This Lego car is very simple and doesn't use many bricks, but it is used as a base for more advanced models.

How To: Make a Tesla vortex
Take a journey to the center of a vortex. A beautiful whirlpool is created by the magnetic coupler inside a tall CD cover, driven by the Tesla CD Turbine on faucet water pressure.

How To: Convert 2D Photos Into 3D Models
The video below demonstrates how you can convert you 2D Photos into 3D Models using 3Defy. You will need to follow these steps:


How To: Make a Fun, Kid-Friendly Toy Gun from a Hot Glue Gun
Here's a fun little hack you can try at home with your kids. The purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to make this fun toy gun. It's a very simple and economical project. Tools and Materials:

How To: Make a Soul Eater scythe out of cardboard for cosplay
Soul eater is one of the most popular manga and anime series in the world, and the scythe that protagonist Maka uses against the souls of the damned is one of teh cooler weapons in modern anime. This video will teach you how to make an excellent cardboard replica of it for cosplay.

How To: Construct a mousetrap car
In this tutorial, we learn how to construct a mouse trap car. You will need: wood, string, wood glue, duct tape, scissors, markers, a mousetrap, wheels, and a drill to do this. To start, you will lift the mousetrap up and tape duct tape around it along with a long stick. Then, tape this to a piece of wood. From here, you will glue together two sticks and then put wheels on the top and bottom of it. Next, you will lay the mousetrap on top of this and then push it. Then it will roll away! You c...

How To: Make a professional looking boffer weapon with latex inexpensively
Looking for a weapon making tutorial that goes beyond the foam noodle and PVC method? This tutorial shows you how to make a professional-grade sword using an ultralight core and latex. You'll also need a utility knife, a foam cutter and a dremel drill.

How To: Build your own Japanese katana out of foam
If you're looking to play a samurai or other Japanese inspired character at your next boffer larp, this tutorial is for you. You're shown how to build a foam katana using duct tape, a razor blade, measuring tape, cloth athletic tape, DAP contact cement, liquid craft latex, fabric to cover your blade, rope, fiberglass core, and of course, foam!

How To: Turn a Cobra Crossbow into a larp safe crossbow
If you're only fighting with foam, you don't want a professional hunting weapon. But you can refit a commercial crossobw and make it larp safe. Starting with the Cobra crossbow, you can modify it to safely shoot foam tipped arrows at a boffer larp.

How To: Make a boffer mace out of foam, PVC pipe and latex
This tutorial shows you how to make a boffer larp safe mace. Get some PVC pipe, a foam noodle you can get at a drug store, and some soft foam for the head. Then cover your pipe with pipe insulation and sheath the weapon in latex.

How To: Paint your airsoft gun using Krylon paint
Airsoft is a fun and exciting tactical game that really gets you off your feet! And what really sets it apart from paintball is the guns! They look much closer to the real thing and add that extra depth to the game! But the paint jobs and wood finishes are never the best, but that's ok, because you can paint it yourself! In this video you will get a tutorial on how to paint your airsoft rifle using Krylon paint.

How To: Build a bench out of Legos
For a more outdoorsy model, such as a park, one key ingredient that you will need is a bench! But if you're not quite sure what bricks you will need, or how to construct one, this video is your solution! In this video you will get a quick glimpse of the different bricks used for the model as well as a detailed tutorial on constructing the bench itself.

How To: Make a Protoss carrier from StarCraft 2 with Legos
"Carrier has arrived", the sweetest sound you'll hear before the echoing blasts and inherent cries of death that you'll bring to your enemy. Protoss are a race in the games StarCraft 1 & 2 for the PC, and for you Protoss players who also enjoy playing with Legos, then start harvesting that vespine gas and get ready for this great video! In this video you will learn which pieces you will need as well as the steps you will need to take to finish your carriers for the final push!

How To: Make a rubber band powered car with CD wheels
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a toy car with CD wheels. The materials required for this task are: 2 thread spools, long piece of thing wood, 4 CD's, 2 screws, 2 washers and 2 bolts. Begin by drilling a hole in the spools and 2 holes in the wood. Then place a washer on the screw. Now place the CD on the washer. Then add another washer and secure it by screwing on a bolt. Now put the wheel through the first board of wood. Then put it through the spool and other wood board. N...

How To: Make a basic rubber band car
To make a rubber band car you will need one sheet of card stock, four paper clips, two binder clips, one plastic straw, 8 inches of dowel that fits into the straw, two pencils and one rubber band. You will also need four CDs or round pies of cardboard, tape, a ruler and a marking pen. First, unfold the paper clips. Then fold the card stock and attach the paper clips. Cut squares out of the card stock. Then, cut the straw. Attach it to the card stock. Affix the pencils to the card stock with h...

How To: Make a Lego boomerang
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a LEGO boomerang. LEGO is a line of construction toys manufactured by the LEGO Group. This is a very simple LEGO construction. It only consists of 8 LEGO pieces and 2 optional LEGO pieces. It doesn't matter about the color of the pieces. The video provides a visual demonstration and step-by-step instructions for viewers to easily understand and follow along. The video is descriptive and explains all the instructions. This video will benefit th...

How To: Build a LEGO snow plow
This video shows you how to build a LEGO snowplow. For this project you will need the following LEGO pieces: 1-1x4 plate, 3-1x2 plates, 1-1x2 plate with claws, 1-1x2 plate with handle, 2-1x1 smooth plates, 2-1x1 cylinders, 2-1x4 smooth plates, 1-1x6 smooth plates, 1-2x6 plates, 2 nozzle bricks, 2-1x1 claw bricks, and 2-1x1 slight slope bricks.

How To: Build a LEGO stroller
In this video you will learn how to build a LEGO stroller. The materials you will need are 4 of the small slanted bricks, one two by four thin brick, 3 two by 1 thick bricks, 2 one by one thin bricks, 2 one by one by four studded bricks, a small smooth brick, two odd angled smoothed bricks, 4 wheels, one one by two with dot in center bricks, and one one by two handle bricks. Then after carefully assembling the bricks as shown he will show you a example of what it will look like when you're fi...

How To: Make a Lego sword
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a LEGO sword. LEGO consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts. This video is very short and only lasts for 35 seconds. It is very basic and easy to follow. This LEGO construction is very simple, fast and easy to do. There are only 3 pieces required to make the LEGO sword. It does not matter what color the pieces are. This video will benefit those viewers who enjoy pl...

How To: Make popsicle stick fences
If you've got a tiny farm, you're going to need some tiny fences. Don't shell out your whole allowance for a fancy store bought fence set. Instead make your own fences out of popsicle sticks. This video tutorial demonstrates how to create stalls and stables so your miniature farm animals won't escape.

How To: Take apart a laser pointer
Have you ever had a combination of extreme boredom and an unrelenting curiosity? If so one thing you may have attempted to do is to take apart or "de-engineer" a common office laser pointer. In this online video we are shown how to take apart a cheap laser pointer. It should be noted if you are going to attempt to do this you should only try it on a laser pointer that is inexpensive so your loss will not be great if you should make an error.

How To: Make a sword out of cardboard
Learn how to make a sword out of cardboard with this video. Materials: