This is the first robot custom engagement ring box I made in 2012 for a client from the USA who found me by my previous works. It is based on my favorite character from Disney/Pixar movie – Wall-E. I always wanted to challenge myself and build this little robot from scratch, so I did.
I had to break it to small parts and draw each of them in CAD. On this project, I planned to use my laser cutter which can very precisely cut the outlines in a sheet of material. I used styrene on this one. It is commonly used material for scratch-building, it is soft and easy to cut with a knife and easy to sand. You can buy sheets in different thickness in well-stocked model shops. Gluing is also easy, if any of you built plastic models, you know the smelly glue :) It melts the material and welds it creating a very strong bond.
Before I started, I knew it will be complicated build with many parts. To give you an idea, each of this 2 little parts on the photo above was made of 59 separate pieces, assembled together and sanded. That does not count the tracks which were made of cardboard sections.
This was the moment when I regretted that I didn’t buy this toy and modify it. The only thing that kept me going, were new skills and extra self-confidence I will acquire for my next modelmaking project.
The ring is resting on this little pillow, hidden inside. The small copper slider is made at the bottom so it can be pushed to reveal the surprise.
The best part was the painting stage. I could finally see it assembled and painting the rust is my favorite now. The basic colors were made with spray paints to get nice and even yellow color or random dots on rusted areas where I used few shades of grays and browns. It was later refined with fine brushes and acrylics. It was great, but I had to be careful not to overdo it, so it doesn’t look too much like a trash. It will at the end hold the very expensive piece of jewelry.
This model was published on my blog here http://themodelmaker.net/wall-e-engagement-ring-box/ and quickly became the most popular engagement ring box in my collection. I got many features on wedding related websites and got repinned hundreds of times on Pinterest. That sent me more clients interested in this model, so I had to create something that takes less than a 100 hours to make. I now use existing toy as a base, I modify it, clean, fill, add the slider and repaint it from scratch. It maker more durable product with more points of articulation with even higher level of detail. It is still very limited edition but allowed me to make few more people happy.
Now you can make me happy by clicking the upvote and resteem below. Can you say no to this cute eyes? :)
Wall-E wants you to click that upvote button :)