Gizmodo: hobbies

Build Your Own Battlestar Galactica Viper Rocket!

Danny Allen — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:30:00 EDT

Estes may have discontinued its wicked Battlestar and Star Trek replica rockets almost 20 years ago, but some clever hobbyists have info on how you can still build one today.

Verna Rockets has a full debrief on its own builds, complete with links to several sites with parts and instructions. You'll find everything you need to build a flying model rocket that looks like a Recon Viper, the U.S.S. Enterprise, even The Black Hole Space Probe from "The Black Hole"

Confession: I always get psyched by rocket kits. Have any pics of your own launches that you'd like to share? [Verna Rockets via Hobby Media]

LittleBits Fit Together Like Geeky Magic

Matt Hickey — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:00:49 EDT

There was a game that used various tiles laid down in a certain order to control battling robots. It was a board game and it was a lot of fun. The idea was to make a path that would let your robot run a program, and that's the (very) basic idea behind littleBits: snap-together micro-circuit boards that allow you to use Lego-like pieces to make larger structures that can do a lot more than their individual pieces. In theory the potential is as limited as the pieces people can put together and the software it can run. We see this as more of a prototyping toy than a professional modeling tool, but either way it seems very, very fun. [Ayahbdeir via Engadget]

Elaborate, Handmade Japanese Marble Mazes are Awesome

Adam Frucci — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:34:37 EDT

There's not a ton of info out there on these amazing, handmade marble mazes other than what's to be found in these Japanese YouTube videos, but we think they're cool enough to share with you anyways. Apparently, there's a subculture in Japan that makes really elaborate marble mazes that look like models from a train set or something. Check out the first one above, then hit the jump for two more.

If you have any more info on these, feel free to let us know in the comments. [TV in Japan]