Toy Work Bench for my Son

This build is a little off-topic for me - no video games or overly nerdy themes this time. My son is almost two, so it is about time that he had his own tools and work bench. I thought about buying him a plastic bench, but I thought this would be more appropriate.

I started with a thrift shop TV stand and used some leftover 1" by 2" to make a frame for the pegboard backing.

The next step was to cut a rectangular section out of the middle so that I could make a lift-lid bin for him to store his tools inside. I initially used a small Dremel oscillating cutting tool to cut through the top of the stand. I used that for the left side and the back. It cut fairly straight and evenly, but was extremely slow. I figured a larger reciprocating saw would cut much faster... I was right, but it chewed through the wood and was extremely uneven. That was not a good idea.

Oh well, what is done is done. Apparently I need to pick a smaller sabre saw for this kind of thing. From here I attached a 2" by 4" to the front to create a front barrier for the bin.

I painted the stand, lid, and frame with plastidip to give it a rubberized feel and then attached the pieces together. I used a metal large hinge for the lid. I had thought that I had more than one laying around, but could not find any others. I will add a couple more later for added stability.

Finally, I snapped on some click-bins, attached some pegs to the board, and hung up some of his toy tools.

 The little guy's first order of business was of course to remove all of the tools I had hung up for him and put on his new hardhat.

So far he seems to be a big fan, let's see how long that lasts!

Halo 4 Battle Rifle

I meant post this a long time ago, but I got a bit sidetracked and then forgot. I started out with a NERF RapidStrike and added onto it to make it look more like the Battle Rifle from Halo 4.

The first thing I did was add an extended barrel made from PVC pipe and a metal rod (I don't remember where rod came from). Then I added a NERF scope and used some foam to make an extended top rail. I used more foam to make the large blocky stock and to round out the base of the grip.

Next came a few layers of black plastidip to seal it up and give it a base color (I am sure that this did not look sketchy at all hanging in the middle of my garage with the doors open and facing the street...).

A few layers of silver Rub-N-Buff and it was pretty much complete.

I liked the look of it better without the magazine in place, but I felt like I needed to leave it since it was still capable of firing the NERF rounds.

Obviously it is still a far cry from the game model, but I figured it was passable for a Halloween costume. I still need ideas for next years costume, so please hit me up with suggestions in the comments.