Introduction: Build a Wagon Out of K'nex!!!
It's your child's first day on the paper route! You both get up, hurriedly eat breakfast, and get ready to leave. Everything is going great-until you see the enormous stack of papers you have to deliver. Your spouse has already taken the car to work, and now you have no way of transporting the papers from house to house!
Wait! Not need to be disappointed! You can still build a nice wagon to carry the papers in!
"Out of what?" You ask?
K'nex! Surely your child has some K'nex in their room! In less than a half hour, you can build a medium sized wagon out of K'nex that will allow you to run the paper route with ease! So what are you waiting for? Start building!
NOTE: Throughout this Instructable, the placement of white rods is very important to the sturdiness of the wagon, so please place all white rods EXACTLY as shown in the pictures. Thank you!
Step 1: Parts
You will need:
-36 White connectors
-18 Blue connectors
-30 Yellow connectors
-10 Green connectors
-44 Grey connectors
-27 Orange connectors
-2 Light grey connectors
-1 "Y" connector
-4 Red connectors
-5 Purple loop connectors
-8 Grey rods
-10 Red rods
-1 Blue rod
-58 Blue separators
-76 Grey separators
-104 White rods
-11 Blue caps
-2 Tan rotation locks
-3 Black caps
-196 Green rods
Step 2: Wheels
Take a wheel and insert it into a tire. Repeat to get two complete wheels.
Step 3: Axle: Part One
Insert a grey rod into one wheel.
Step 4: Axle: Part Two
Add a grey separator to the grey rod. Next, add a green connector.
Step 5: Axle: Part Three
Add three grey separators and a blue separator to the grey rod. Next, add a green connector. Repeat until there are five green connectors total on the grey rod. Make sure they are all facing the same direction!
Step 6: Axle: Part Four
Add a grey separator to the top of the grey rod. Next, add the second wheel.
Step 7: Red Rod
Add a red rod to the wheel piece as shown.
Step 8: Wheels and Axles: Repeat
Repeat steps 2-7 to get two wheel pieces total. Notice the separators are going in opposite directions on each axle.
Step 9: Bottom of Wagon: Part One
Take nine white connectors, and connect them using green rods. Repeat to get three pieces total. Next, connect the three pieces using green rods. Finally, fill in all spaces using white rods. Make sure that the white rods are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 10: Bottom of Wagon: Part Two
Take two grey connectors, and slide them together as shown. Repeat to get nine pieces. Next, connect the pieces using green rods. Repeat the process to get two rows total.
Step 11: Bottom: Completion
Connect the grey rows to the main bottom of the wagon using green rods. Next, fill in all spaces using white rods. Make sure the white rods are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 12: Connecting the Wheels to the Bottom of the Wagon
Connect the bottom of the wagon to the wheel and axle pieces using green rods. Next, fill in spaces using white rods. Make sure they are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 13: Sides: Part One
Take five blue connectors and four white connectors. and set them exactly as shown. Next, connect them using green rods.
Step 14: Sides: Part Two
Take nine yellow connectors, and connect them using green rods.
Step 15: Sides: Part Three
Connect the two pieces you have just made using green rods.
Step 16: Sides: Part Four
Take two grey connectors, and slide them together. Repeat to get two pieces. Next, connect them to the rest of the side using green rods.
Step 17: Sides: Repeat
Repeat steps 13-16 to get two sides total.
Step 18: Sides: Attaching
Attach the sides to the rest of the wagon using green rods. The blue connectors on each side should all be facing the same direction. Next, fill in all spaces using white rods. Make sure they are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 19: Back
Take three yellow connectors and three blue connectors, and set them exactly as shown. Next, connect them using green rods.
Step 20: Back: Attaching
Attach the back to the rest of the wagon using green rods. Next, fill in all spaces using white rods. Make sure they are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 21: Front: Part One
Take two light grey connectors, two yellow connectors, one white connector, and three blue connectors, and set them exactly as shown. Next, connect them using green rods. Then, add a white rod to the two light grey connectors. Finally, add a second white rod to the top of the white connector as shown.
Step 22: Front: Part Two
Attach a yellow connector to a "Y" connector. Next, add it to the front piece as shown. Finally, add a blue cap and a black cap to the central white rod.
Step 23: Front: Attaching
Attach the front to the rest of the wagon using green rods. Next, fill in all spaces with white rods. Make sure they are exactly the same as in the picture!
Step 24: Corners: Part One
Take four white rods, and add them to each corner of the wagon.
Step 25: Corners: Part Two
Take four red connectors, and attach them to each corner of the wagon using green rods. The white rods should come up through the red connectors.
Step 26: Body of Wagon: Complete
At this point, the body of the wagon is complete. Check to make sure it looks like this.
Step 27: Handle: Part One
Take an orange connector, and attach it to a grey rod. Next, add a grey separator and a blue separator to the rod. Then, add another orange connector. Repeat the pattern until there are eight orange connectors on the grey rod. Then, add two more grey separators, and a final orange connector.
Step 28: Handle: Part Two
Take a second grey rod, and add grey and blue separators in the same sequence as on the original grey rod. Next, attach it to the other end of the orange connectors, making sure all of the separators correspond.
Step 29: Handle: Part Three
Add a yellow connector to the end of the handle piece. Next, insert a white rod through the yellow connector and the first orange connector. Then, add two more yellow connectors to the white rod. They should be upside-down of the original yellow connector.
Step 30: Handle: Part Four
Repeat steps 27-29 to get two handle pieces. Note that the second piece has a different separator/connector sequence, which is shown more closely in the second picture.
Step 31: Handle: Part Five
Connect the two handle pieces together at the yellow connectors. Make sure the yellow connectors are still level with each other! (One handle piece should be upside down from the other).
Step 32: Handle: Part Six
Make a third handle piece as shown. Next, add two purple loop connectors to the ends of the grey rods. Then, attach the piece to the other two handle pieces, making sure the two pieces on the end are at the same level.
Step 33: Handle: Part Seven
Take a red rod and attach it to a purple loop connector. Next, insert it down the end (through the orange connectors) of the handle piece with the other loop connectors.
Step 34: Handle: Part Eight
Take two orange caps, and attach them to the red rod. Repeat five more times down the red rod. Next, add two tan rotation locks to the last segment of the red rod.
Step 35: Handle: Part Nine
Take seven red rods, and attach them to two blue connectors. Next, insert one of the red rods through the purple loop connectors at the end of the main handle piece.
Step 36: Handle: Complete
At this point, the handle is complete. Check to make sure it looks like this.
Step 37: Handle Connector
Take a blue rod, and attach it to a black cap. Next, slide a purple loop connector onto the rod. Then, slide four blue connectors on. After that, slide a second purple loop connector onto the rod. Finally, add a second black cap.
Step 38: Handle Connector: Attaching
Move two blue separators to each side of the blue rod. Next, attach the blue rod to the yellow connector on the front of the wagon (step 22).
Step 39: Attaching the Handle
Attach the handle by connecting the purple loop connectors on the handle connector to the grey rods at the end of the handle.
Step 40: Done!!!
Congratulations!!! Your K'nex wagon is complete!!! Have fun rolling around the neighborhood!
Runner Up in the
Toy Rods and Connectors Contest
dotnetsp2 made it!