This houseboat offers all the finest amenities of life on the water. It features one bedroom, a kitchen, a central living area, a covered porch, and a rooftop deck. It is completely seaworthy. and is stable in even the roughest water. Lightweight furniture is recommended.
The front door and the porch
Oars on the wall of the kitchen
The kitchen window
The bedroom skylight
Store seldom used items in the aft trunk
The rooftop deck over the kitchen
The front door
How it started: Recently, on my other blog, I wrote about having “Lego Block” – a condition similar to writer’s block. I just couldn’t get inspired to build anything. Phillip emailed one word to me: “Watercraft.” So, I built this.
What I like about it: I really like the way this thing turned out. I like it a lot. When I started building it (from the pontoons up), I had envisioned a speedboat. I don’t think this craft would be very fast, but that’s OK.
What I’m not so fond of: I put a lot of work trying to get a rounded front on each of the pontoons, and I just couldn’t get it right. I came very close, though.
A quick and easy amphibious car.
How it started: I started out building a race car that just happened to look like like a boat. Then, half way through, I changed my mind and decided to build a car that was a boat.
What I like about it: It was a fun little project. I think I kept the nautical theme consistent.
What I don’t like so much: I tried to make the wheels integrated into the design, so it wouldn’t look so much like a boat with wheels added. I don’t think I succeeded.
This is a hovercraft. An overly complicated hovercraft, apparently with some sort of hybrid solar energy / liquid fuel power source. Since it takes three people to operate it, and there is no room for either passengers or cargo, I can only guess that it intended for research missions.
How it started: The idea of a three-person control cockpit entered my mind somehow. I built the cockpit, and all the controls, and then decided that it should be a helicopter. I envisioned dual rotors on top for lift, three propellers on back for navigation, and maybe some addition props on the sides for additional control. It was going to be complicated. I built the engine on back, but then I couldn’t get the dual rotors to come out the way I wanted. After several attempts, I decided to scrap the helicopter idea.
I did like the cockpit, though, so I tore down the engine, and rebuilt it with some sort of space ship in mind. I had that rod piece sticking out the back, which I had intended to be a connection between the engine parts – like a fuel pipe or drive shaft or something. Then I realized that I could attach a propeller to it. Then I added two more rod pieces, and I was back to my original three propeller configuration. But what was going to lift it off the ground? I stuck some dish pieces to the bottom, thinking of some sort of anti-gravity lifters. Then I had the idea to put propellers inside the dishes, and make it a hovercraft. Then I removed the dishes, added one of those fan housings on the bottom, and I had a hovercraft.
What I like about it: My favorite part is the set of black wavy pieces on the bottom. I think it makes a believable hovercraft skirt. This whole thing was improvisation from beginning to end, and I really like the way it turned out. I like it a lot.
What I don’t like: Really, there is nothing I don’t like about this craft. I had originally envisioned the various components to be more visually connected – with hoses and gears and such – but that’s just not how it came to be, and that’s just fine.
