The Workshop

‘The Workshop’ celebrates the inventors, hobbyists, and weekend engineers bringing their wildest projects to life. From a backyard baseball stadium to a teacher who spent 1800 hours building a hovercraft, these stories showcase the creativity, dedication, and joy of building something just because you can—a tradition Popular Science has highlighted for decades. If you or someone you know is working on a hobbyist project that fits the bill, we’d love to hear about it—fill out this form to tell us more.

An old DC-6 cargo plane converted into lodging rests in the snow under a glowing aurora, its windows and engines illuminated against a dark, starry winter sky.
Aviation

A pilot turned an old plane into a two-bedroom apartment

Jon Kotwicki jokes that converting an aluminum plane in Alaska is the “worst idea that a person could possibly have.”

A man wearing glasses and a light T-shirt with an Atari logo is reflected in a window as he adjusts a narrow digital LED screen that displays the text "Arriving in 7 minutes" in red. The man is looking up at the screen, and the interior of the building is visible through the window.
Vehicles

Philly’s ‘transit vigilante’ created a real-time bus tracker for his neighbors

With a sports timer and some clever coding, Max Goldberg built a DIY display that tells South Philly commuters exactly when their next bus will arrive.

Two men are standing behind an enormous, pale orange Atlantic Giant pumpkin, with their hands resting on it. They are inside a large greenhouse structure, surrounded by green vines and leaves. Both men are smiling and wearing casual t-shirts and jeans.
Agriculture

Giant pumpkin growers face off for world gourd domination

There’s a surprisingly competitive global race on to grow a 3,000-pound pumpkin.

A nighttime photograph shows a suburban house transformed into a dramatic haunted house display, illuminated by intense purple and blue lighting. The front lawn is covered with numerous Halloween decorations, including glowing ghosts, demonic gargoyles flanking a sign that reads "THE VENEZIALE MANOR," skeletons, and lighted pumpkin figures. A bright moon or spotlight shines in the upper right.
Projects

Teen turns his suburban home into elaborate haunted house every October

This year, 16-year-old Joe Veneziale created a terrifying Old Hollywood hotel.

a station wagon in a driveway
Projects

A life-long car lover recreated the Griswold’s famous station wagon

A Q&A with Tom Dittus, the man behind the Lake George Family Truckster.

a tyrannosaur skeleton on display in a musuem
Dinosaurs

Amateur paleontologist opens fossil museum in rural Minnesota

Jim Pollard is bringing bison bones, fossilized mammoth poop, and more to Blue Earth’s 3,000 residents.

teen boy standing next to two hexagonal structures filled with bees
Bees

This teen 3D-printed a beehive for his bedroom

Oliver Taylor estimates there may be as many as 40,000 bees buzzing around his DIY hive. 

man pulling down interior
Projects

Texas brothers buy abandoned Boeing 727 for $10,000

‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’

circa 1942: A U.S. Air Force B-17 'Flying Fortress' bomber flies through the sky, World War II. The aircraft was used extensively in Allied air raids, such as those against Hamburg and Dresden, and battles against German aircraft. (Photo by R. Gates/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Aviation

Illinois man has spent 40 years rebuilding a WWII-era B-17 bomber

This restoration isn’t just for show. Mike Kellner wants to fly the ‘Desert Rat.’