Sometimes, the answer to the question no one asked is the best answer of them all. No one genuinely needs a wind tunnel to put their toy cars in, and yet that’s precisely what a startup has been working to realize since late last year. The product’s just been launched—it’s called the Windsible, and we want one.
Fun Tech Lab’s scaled-down wind tunnel came to life as a bit of a moonshot. The company, which is relatively new and doesn’t seem to offer other products, launched a Kickstarter campaign this past June in a bid to make its idea of a miniature wind tunnel a reality. The project struck a chord: It was fully funded less than two months later thanks to 1,315 backers who pledged a whopping total of 2,091,030 HKD (approximately $269,100).
It sounds like plenty of resources went into developing the wind tunnel. Fun Tech Lab studied how a real one works and made all the components fit into a desktop package. Vents ensure smooth airflow in and out of the tunnel; a dial and slick animated display let you adjust the wind speed; and a smoke generation device reportedly developed specifically for the product allows you to see the wind, thanks to what’s referred to as “a special oil.”
The device looks plain cool, too. It’s sleek, futuristic, and seemingly very simple to use. It comes with a fogger, bottle of fluid, DC power adapter, cleaning cloth, and pair of modular smoke cartridges. Fun Tech Lab notes that the fog fluid isn’t a hazard to humans or our replica cars.
Playing office chair aerodynamics engineer with an assortment of Hot Wheels cars isn’t cheap, however. Pricing for the 1/18-scale, 1/24-scale, and 1/64-scale wind tunnels is set at $429, $339, and $239, respectively, excluding taxes and shipping. That’s not high enough to deter enthusiasts, and the two larger wind tunnels are already sold out. Fun Tech Lab hasn’t revealed when or if either model will be back in stock, but it announced that it will introduce a pair of even bigger tunnels sized to fit 1/10- and 1/8-scale cars if there’s enough demand from collectors.
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