Pasta Jeep Models

Here's something different: Jeep models created entirely from uncooked pasta shapes, by Serghei Pakhomoff in West Ural, Russia.

Sergei says, "I send you the images of my hobby. This is my original idea. All models made from pasta only. Is it interesting for toy collectors? I am happy to connect with them." See also his military and tractor models (50K JPEGs).

According to Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta from Iowa State University, "pasta" is wheat paste that is extruded or rolled. It can be fresh or dried, but for modelling purposes you want the dried variety. High-quality pasta is made of semolina (from durum wheat) and before drying it is typically extruded under pressure through a die to form a variety of noodle shapes such as macaroni or spaghetti.
 

To help provide some possible ideas for potential pasta prototype plans you could produce, here's a plot of many of the most popular proportions of pasta. See also a printable poster of the picture (90K JPEG).

For more details on what's available, see Pasta Shapes & Sizes from CNN.com, and the World Directory Of Pasta Shapes And Names.

An excellent teacher's resource titled "Pasta"bilities: Noodling Your Way into Simple Machines gives instructions for building rolling vehicles from pasta, and lists some of the useful shapes: lasagna, rotelle, penne, spiral, spaghetti, small diameter circles, ziti, wagon wheels.
 

The instructions continue:

• "Offer students both glue and glue gun. They will soon realize which glue holds well.
• The lasagna makes the best base for the cars.
• The wheel and axle can be made using the rotelle (wagon wheels) and spaghetti. The small diameter circles will hold the spaghetti to the rotelle more securely.
• Students need to glue one rotelle to the spaghetti, and then glue the ziti underneath the body of the car, so that both wheels will turn.
• A movable door can be made by placing part of a lasagna noodle in hot water, then shaping it over a curved surface. Glue the door to a hollow noodle. Attach a piece of spaghetti noodle and slide the hollow noodle over it. Other desired shapes can be made by first boiling different noodles.
• A movable ball and hitch can be made by making a trailer, gluing it to a circular noodle, and placing the circular noodle (0) over a fixed piece of spaghetti noodle.
• Caution: Keep a careful watch on the use of the hot glue guns."

Judging from the photo above, Sergei's models are about 3" (7cm) long. And it looks like a good idea would be to leave one long noodle sticking out from the base, to use as a handle during construction, then cut it off when you're finished.

If you have the patience to assemble the models using flour paste instead of a hot glue gun, you could pop them in boiling water later -- what a great idea for the next time you have a Jeep buddy over for dinner.
 

Well, until now if you searched the web for "Jeeps and pasta" about all you would find is the comment that the 2007 Jeep Wrangler "leaks like a pasta strainer." But now, with Sergei's help, we have charted new territory.

Thanks to Serghei Pakhomoff for his photos, Alan Roth for the "Pasta"bilities instructions, and Parmigiana Pasta Machines for the pasta shapes. -- Derek Redmond

For another do-it-yourself project, see Juice Jeeps by Jarek Skonieczny on CJ3B.info.

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