Today I'm going to show you how to make a really cool candle powered pop pop boat using household items.
To make it we're going to need an empty drinks can, some Blu-Tack, 2 straws and an empty juice carton.
First we're going to make the boiler, and we'll start by taking the Coke can
cutting off the top and bottom with a pair of scissors, and turning it into a flat sheet.
Then we'll cut a straight line down one edge, and from that mark out a rectangle 6cm wide by 18cm long.
Be very careful not to cut yourself.
Once we've cut that out we need to gently fold it in half, but don't push down hard on the fold as we don't want it to tear.
Next we need to mark out a 1cm line around one half of the boiler
and cut it out with our scissors, so we should now have something which looks like this.
Next we're going to take out Bu-Tack, warm it up in our hands and roll it out into a long worm about 0.5cm fat.
Then we're going to open up our boiler pattern and stick the Blu-Tack onto the 2 outside edges of the smaller half.
Next we're going to fold it in half, remembering not to push down hard on the fold
and stick the two halves together.
Then we're going to take a bit more Blu-Tack and put it on the edges.
It should look like this.
Next we're going to fold over the tabs on both sides, and gently crimp it all the way up with some pliers to form a seal.
Then we need to take our scissors and cut off the excess tab to leave one long tab along the bottom.
Next we're going to take our Blu-Tack and push it into a flat strip about 1cm wide.
Then we're going to wrap it around the end of one of the straws, followed by the second.
Add a bit more until the straws are well sealed in a good plug of Blu-Tack.
Next we're going to open up the end of the boiler, be very careful not to cut your fingers
and push in the straws and Blu-Tack plug.
Add a bit more Blu-Tack to form a good tight seal. It should look like this.
Then we're going to take our scissors and cut the bottom tab along each side of the straws.
Next fold the tabs over and give them a squeeze with some pliers, but be careful not to rip the metal.
Our boiler is not complete.
Next we need to test it's air tight by dipping it into a bowl of water and gently blowing through the straws.
If you see any air leaking, give that area a gentle squeeze with the pliers and try again.
To make the boat we're going to take our empty juice carton, mark out and draw a line down the middle of it, and cut it in half.
To make the cabin for the inside of the boat, cut the bottom off the half with the plastic lid.
or if you have another empty juice carton, you can cut the bottom off that to make a slightly bigger cabin.
I've also cut out some windows and we'll be fixing that in place later.
Next we need to cut a small hole in the bottom of the boat for the 2 straws to go through.
This should be roughly half way up the carton an in the middle.
Then we need to put a thin ring of Blu-Tack around the hole on both sides.
Next we're going to take our boiler and poke the 2 straws through the hole.
Then we're going to fix the straws firmly in place to the bottom of the boat with a strip of tape,
Making sure the straws run to the back of the boat and are central.
Then cut the straws off flush with the back of the boat.
Next using a stapler we're going to fix the cabin in place.
And finally we need to make sure the Blu-Tack rings around the straws are pushed together to form a good seal.
Our boat is now water tight and complete, but to use it we first need to prime the boiler with water.
To do this we're going to take one of our straw off cuts and snip the end.
Then we're going to poke it into one of the straws at the back of the boat
and with a mouth full of clean water, blow water through the system until it comes out of the other straw.
The boiler is now primed and ready to use.
All we need to do now is drop a candle under the middle of the boiler, put it into the bath, and wait for it to warm up.
It shouldn't take long for the boiler to start popping, and off she goes.
After a while you might find that the boiler leaks and doesn't work properly, in which case you might need to seal it with some more Blu-Tack.
Or if you have any you could make a boiler using epoxy glue rather then Blu-Tack.
This is far more durable and should last a lot longer.
You can paint your boat using a waterproof acrylic paint if you like, you can also spray it with a waterproofing lacquer to help protect it.
But make sure it's completely dry before you use it.
If it's taking a while to get going, try dropping a second candle underneath the boiler. This should help speed things up.
If you like this project, maybe you'd like to take a look at some of my other videos by clicking on the links on the right hand side.
Or take a look at my youtube channel page.
Have fun and happy boating!