Will It Float? Testing the Buoyancy of the LEGO Ideas Jaws Boat
Duh-nuh. Duh-nuh. Duh-NUH!
Source: LEGO
Jaws (1975) redefined what a movie could be. It set the tone of summer blockbusters for decades to come and put Steven Spielberg on the map as an esteemed director. Could the newest Ideas set do the same for LEGO? 21350 Jaws is a fun, interesting, and detailed set with loads of interesting techniques and parts usage, including a new string Mixel ball element.
Here at BrickNerd, when The LEGO Group offers us a set to look at, we like to go above and beyond the standard review—whether it’s seeking expert opinions, modding sets to be even better, or testing out delightfully absurd ideas. So I asked my kids what they thought was the most interesting thing we could do together with the Jaws set, and the oldest one said, “Well, it’s a boat, right? Does it float? Can you make it float?”
Can I Make It Float?
“Can I make it float? I don’t know kids, but we’re gonna try.” I’m sure there are videos and articles out there about how to make a brick-built boat float (say that ten times fast), but I didn’t want to just copy what others have done… so I jumped into the deep end. Actually BrickNerd has already explored if MOCs float a few years ago, so let’s call this article a continuation of our thrilling series, “Will It Float?”
Looking at the Orca boat from the Jaws set, it was a pretty obvious challenge. First of all, it’s fragile, like really fragile… at times frustratingly fragile. It’s a great display set but not really suitable for kids to play with. I had to rebuild the entire bow of the boat a few times because there was a particularly loose connection. While there are a few tiny spots where I could add ballast or air pockets to make it more buoyant, I didn’t want to MOD the boat it more than I had to.
I also didn’t want to use any permanent glue, waterproofing solutions, or anything else that would permanently alter the set. (It is LEGO, after all, and we’ll save modding actual pieces beyond recognition for another article on another day.) This left me with one adhesive option: trusty wood glue. It doesn’t melt the plastic like super glue, and from previous experience, I know it can be removed relatively easily from LEGO.
At the hardware store, a very confused gentleman asked me, “You want to float what?” I didn’t know what I was looking for, so I wasn’t much help, especially since I had about a thousand tiny cracks in a relatively tiny boat to repair. I finally said, “Do you have foam? Maybe some kind of foam that will float?” He pointed me toward some foam core boards, which I grabbed along with a pool noodle and some packaging tape. It was time to float this boat!
Time to Test
Stud-phen Spielberg minifig via BrickLink.
Stephen Spielberg is no stranger to LEGO, having both himself and his films immortalized in plastic bricks. I wonder what he would think as I take a LEGO version of his iconic ship, drop it in a kiddie pool, and count how long it takes to sink… (we are very scientifically accurate here at BrickNerd). Now to the question at hand…
Will it float? It is a question as old as time. Our ancient forebearers, I assume, would make crude boats and send them down primeval waters, just as my own kids do today. A part of me held out hope that there would be some movie magic and this boat would float on its own without alteration, but alas:
We’ll use the metric TTS (aka Time To Sink) to measure how well the boat floats. As you can see in the picture, the boat from the set capsized almost immediately without any modification—it floats for some time on its side as the tiny air pockets filled with water. But since Bruce the shark would be able to eat you if your boat was sideways, we’ll classify a keeled-over boat as “sinking” for our purposes.
No Flotation Device: 1 second TTS
Hardcore Foam Core
Next up came some craft projects. Using ordinary foam board, like the kind used for school projects, I cut out a rough outline of the boat and glued the ship onto the board using wood glue. I turned on my camera, held my breath, and placed the boat in the water:
It fell over on its side pretty quickly, and the glue failed and the foam board came off after a few moments.
Foam Core Boat Bottom: 2.7 seconds TTS
Since I had to purchase a whole sheet of foam board—in an attempt to get my money’s worth, I thought, “You know what, anybody could make a LEGO boat float? What if I made an entire LEGO set float!?" Wouldn’t that be cool?”
I traced a piece of foam the size of the entire LEGO Jaws display set’s base. Bruce the shark attaches to the base of the display rather well, but the boat simply rests on the base. I did a test float of just the base:
Ladies and gentlemen: it floats! Success! At this point, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I gently placed the boat on the display stand and held my breath:
Even with some weights on the opposite side for balance, the weight of the boat sadly drags the whole build under.
Foam Core Entire Set Bottom: 2.2 seconds TTS
Now, I don’t know a whole lot about boats, but I think a lot of them have a keel or a weight in the bottom of the boat that keeps it steady. I quickly cobbled together something I thought might work from metal, weighted Brick Derby axles, plates and bricks. (Before you look at this next picture of my creation, please remember that I already said I don’t know a whole lot about boats… but I feel like this is pretty accurate.)
Even after doubling the size and weight of my ‘keel,’ the additional weight in the front of the build kept dragging the whole set under to the clear depths of the pool.
Foam Core Entire Set Bottom with Weights: 2.4 seconds TTS
While I was contemplating my next move, my son asked me what I was doing. I said I was trying to make the whole set float, and he said, “That’s not cool. Boats are cool.” With that sage wisdom ringing in my ears, I returned to the core mission: floating boats.
Noodling on Pool Noodles
Pool noodles float. People holding pool noodles float. LEGO held up by sliced disks of pool noodles must float, right? Right?
Sadly the weight distribution of the boat continued to be an issue. The pool noodles definitely have the buoyancy to make the ship float—almost too much buoyancy. But even after trying strips instead of disks, gluing them on, and using a pontoon-style design, these noodles refused to cooperate.
Pool Noodles: 1.8 seconds TTS
That’s a Saran Wrap!
At this point, I was getting pretty frustrated. Also, my kids were asking when I was going to be done with their pool so they could play. It was 95 degrees out. The pressure was on!
My last idea was to make some kind of shell out of tape that would essentially waterproof the outside of the leaky brick-built hull. I first covered the boat in saran wrap to protect the bricks from any kind of sticky residue that the tape might leave. As I tightly wound this plastic wrap around the outside of the boat, just out of curiosity, I placed it gently in the pool and waited for it to sink:
Wait, what is this!? Instead of sinking, she floated! It was a “Jaws-dropper.” I didn’t even need to add the tape. She floated for a full five minutes before I got her out. I just stood there a bit dumbfounded that the simplest of techniques was the best—all it needed was a bit of plastic surgery.
Here’s a video (please ignore the other submerged LEGO pieces):
Plastic Wrap: ∞ seconds TTS (whoops, broke my own timing standard)
So yes, the Orca boat from the LEGO Ideas Jaws set can float! That’s a wrap on this episode of “Will It Float?” What should we try to float next? Maybe we should try a bigger boat…
You can attempt to float your own Orca boat (or shark) when LEGO Ideas 21350 Jaws set hits shelves on August 3rd for $150 US, $200 CAN, and £130 UK.
DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Should we try and make the shark float? How would you make the boat float? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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