Ever since “Back to the Future II” I’ve wanted a hoverboard. Who wouldn’t? They’re extremely cool. The prop itself is a fun design, and I figured it’d go great with my growing prop collection. Rumor has it that Mattel is going to market a licensed replica this year, but like all licensed prop replicas it will be WAAY out of my budget.

Members of the Replica Props Forum (www.therpf.com) have posted dimensions and even downloadable, printable graphics to help build your own. To really build a nice one, some of the parts should be machined and molded/cast or vacuum-formed, but I wanted to do this “on the cheap”. So, here goes.

I should have taken more pics from the beginning, but here goes. I started by creating a custom paper size for my inkjet of 8.5″ x 26.9″ (the longest it would let me make it) and printing the graphics on thin posterboard/cardstock cut to 8.5″x28″. Because of the restriction in length, I had to scale the board down slightly. I then 2 pieces of 1/4″ foamcore to the correct dimensions, then 2 more 1/2″ shorter and narrower. I then laminated these together with the 2 full-size pieces in the middle, with the 2 smaller pieces on top and bottom to allow me to taper the board. I filled in the taper with Elmer’s wood filler, cut the angle for the tailkick, glued it back together, and glued on the graphics. Basic board complete:

For the magnets, I found these tapered plastic bowls at the dollar store for 2/$1.00:

I cut the bottom 1/2″ off, and cut a piece of plexiglass to fill in the top:

After some gluing, filling, and sanding. Unfortunately they’re a bit larger than they should be (about 6″ at the bottom) but it’ll work for this build.

I cut the base of the magnets from styrene:

I then built the clamp pieces from styrene and disposable plastic plates. I filled in behind the plastic plate pieces to give the piece strength.

I made the center clamp piece from 2 pieces of 1/8″ styrene (glued together) and used a 1/2″ countersink bit for the holes:

And here’s a dry test-fit on the board:

Still some paint work to do, then I’ll tackle the top of the board with the velcro, foot disc thing with the pink fuzzy stuff, etc.

I realize it isn’t perfect, but total cost breaks down like such:

2 pieces foamcore $6.00
plastic bowls $1.00
plastic plates $1.00
pink paint $3.89
primer $0.96
plexiglass scrap $0.00
2 tubes wood filler $6.00
clearcoat $3.89
thin posterboard $1.96
spray adhesive $4.96
1/8″ styrene scrap $0.00
TOTAL SO FAR $29.66