WALL-E Builders Club

Pixar's Feature Films WALL•E
#30

You say he just started? Hmm… Anyways, I would love to see pictures of his workshop and painting kits. It’s interesting to speculate where he acquired the skills to do that good a job. Most companies who give work to model builders want something spic-n-span, brand new, before they go into production to have something tangible for testing, aesthetic appeal, the works. So where does the business come for models that are weathered? The film industry must be a good source.

Is anyone actually building a functional Wall-E? One that can compact? working solar panels? and move like some of the larger toys can? One with working eyebrows or some sort of wiper? I know some of these features may be quite difficult to come up with, hydraulics and such. However, household trash compactors have been around since the early 60’s.

#31

There are several people like Neil on the Internet like Randy Cooper, James Small and Joe Porter.
They do awesome work.

Since WALL-E is not a physical prop he suffers from CGI-tis.
Just like the CGI R2-D2 in the new movies can have more tools coming out of his body than is possible to have inside of him, WALL-E does not have enough room inside to allow himself to be drawn into a compack cube.

His head is almost as wide as his body which would prevent his arms from retracting in and his tracks would hit the bottom of his head.

Also the mechanism to deploy his tracks would have issues with the cleats on his tracks gabbing the ground as the tracks were deployed and retracted.

Tom Jozwiac who is building a fiberglass and resin WALL-E is going to have him remote controlled when he is finished,

We also have 2 other members designing working track systems.

I’ll post photos and video when they are running.

Scot

#32

Here is another update photo of Neil’s WALL-E build::

Stay tuned for more.

Scot
[url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url]

#33

Neil made some more progress on his 1/2 scale WALL-E (The more I look at it though I think it’s full scale compaired to the Rubik’s Cube.) and I thought I would share them with you.

Scot
[url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url]

#34

That is so darn cute! :smiley: You guys are doing an excellent job on this project… does the WALL•E you build actually work? (That is, does it move around and stuff?) I love the Rubiks cube as well; how it’s made to look old and used. There is some spectacular attention to detail in this project. Can’t wait to see the thing finished!

little chef

#35

These photos are of different WALL-E’s built by members of the Original WALL-E Builders Club.
We hope to have some mobile R/C WALL-E’s running around this year.

Neil is a professional prop and model maker. He knows how to weather his projects to bring out the realism.

Scot

#36

Neils’ WALL-E has arms.

He recently got back from his honeymoon and was able to send us this update.

Also another member named Zack posted a photo of his build.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Scot
[url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url]

#37

I’m pretty sure this is the same group I came across right here:

makerfaire.com/pub/e/2307 since it eventually links back to the same website, of which I am not a member. I was planning to attend this event and it slipped my mind this past Sunday while I was making more room in my storage space for empty Wall-E toy boxes. I was in San Mateo County, only 7 miles away, durn it. Only cost 10 lousy bucks for an admission fee, but I guess what was on display there is pretty much the same as the pictures you are showing.

So I guess it would have been nice to see other exhibits, that move that is. Anyways, here is an official picture of the Builder’s rep at the show:

flickr.com/photos/mattoons/3526404813/ I think it says he lives in Cupertino, California, which is about 20 miles away from the expo center and less than 10 miles from me.

And this article says that this particular Wall-E creation was to be on display: gizmowatch.com/entry/life-si … -fanatics/

Here is an article via Wired online about the group: wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/wall-e-robots/

Finally, there is this nice article I dug up, err ah, my dog Dug dug up while looking up at the Up balloon over Cupertino:

news.cnet.com/In-search-of-a-do- … 49697.html

Note that you see the cardboard Wall-E in these pictures that Elso Craft made last fall. I suppose he didn’t have it shipped up from Uruguay for the Faire.

#38

No, that was not us and we are not affiliated with them.

We didn’t go to the Makers Faire this year because when we do go, we want to have something to show.

Something that moves and looks screen accurate.

We currently have 9 static, 3 costumes, 4 CGI, 2 custum mini’s, 1 Gamecube Mod (The original), 1 working track drive prototype, and 1 CAN-Struction.

All of those are spread far across the US and the globe.

The track drive prototype is in California so if we went this year it could have been demo’d.

One of our members from The Original WALL-E Builders Club did post his WALL-E build on the other WALL-E Builders site.

He used our blueprints and advice to construct his out of Syntra (A type of plastic.)

It was included on the display boards the other WALL-E Builders had at the faire.

All the other photos I have posted are only seen on the Original WALL-E Builders Club Yahoo Group except for a few small robotic / battery operated builds and a GameCube Mod.
I don’t think I have posted those but I will soon.

Elso is a very tallented paper artist and did a fantastic job on his WALL-E.

After working so hard on his WALL-E I can see why he would not want to risk it being damaged or stolen when he shipped it from thousands of miles away.

There is a difference and a history between the two groups; when they were founded, what their final goal is, numbers of members, activity, etc…

We may not have 2757 members but what we have been able to achieve with our 731 still amazes me.

Scot Washburn
[url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url]

#39

Hello Everyone,

Just to let you know.
The Original WALL-E Builders Club will be in the November Issue of MAKE Magazine Volume 20.

Scot Washburn
[url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url]

#40

Hi Everyone!
Thanks for your interest in our group! I am Matthew Ebisu, Public Representative of the WALL-EBuilders.com, currently the largest WALL·E building site online! Our group currently boasts 3000+ members, founded Oct 16th and has been growing since. I was the person in charge of and representing our group at the San Mateo Maker Faire 2009, and we had a lot of fun showcasing our some of our builds. Take a look!

-Courtesy of Teresa, WALL-E Builder

456×608 56.4 KB

-Courtesy of Blossom, WALL-E and EVE builder


-Courtesy of Mmchartman.


-This was one of my builds. As you can see, we have numerous builders building not just WALL-E, but also EVE, M-O and the Autopilot!

So yeah, we’re the WALL-E Builders! If you’d like to see more of our photos, here’s the link to our personal flickr site I set up for the group: [url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/wall-ebuilders/[/url]
By the way, membership is of course free and no prior knowledge about building robots is necessary- that’s what our group forums are for. All you need is an interest in building your own WALL-E robots!
http://www.wall-ebuilders.com

#41

Here is a link to the current issue of MAKE magazine, where one of the Builder’s groups was supposed to have a writeup. Here is one about Wall-E:

makezine.com/20/made_wall_e/

But that doesn’t get you anywhere, so maybe you have to pay a subscription, which is $10 for 4 online issues. I just want the one article for the one issue, and am not willing to shell out that much unless it’s one great article.

Edit next day: Well, it’s at the local supermarket. It’s buried in a section described as “snapshots from …backyard technology.” And it’s only 1 page, with half of that a nice photo of Wall-E against a clay rubble background at some construction site. Here are some quotes from the half page remaining:

"Before the …film…premiered, replicas of (Wall-E) were already showing up on the internet. That’s because at least one replica builders’ group had a head start… Scott Washburn explains: “I…posted it at the end of Sept '07…such a positive response that …on Oct 8th (2007) I created the Wall-E Builders Club” …grown to nearly 700 passionate (members)…sometimes meet at nerdy conventions.

…grown men (almost exclusively)…

“He’s a very sympathetic character” says Guy Vardaman, a web developer from Burbank, Calif. “…innocent looking…but he also looks …rugged…tank-tread drive and all of those scrapes and dents… realistic…you can believe he’d actually work”

Maybe that’s what launched a thousand Wall-E’s, he looks easy to make, at least as a static replica. (One’s) with a working drive, sound effects, and radio control, are harder to come by.

“M(ine) will be radio controlled, so he’ll move around on his treads,” says William Miyamoto, 42, a stay-at-home dad and actor from Los Angeles. “I plan on articulating his head and arms… also a sound system…”

The club is collaborating to design a track drive that members can replicate. …myriad of benefits to working in a group, such as the pooling of talent, expertise, and purchasing power…trading…sharing of parts.

“…(After) years…you can run out of steam. The encouragement of the group can make all the difference.” --article by Gareth Branwyn

That is pretty much it. The whole issue is 178 pages and is stuffed with all sorts of projects. Most of the projects are shown with at least some guidelines on how to actually ‘make’ something. Not so with this Wall-E article. There are also segments on ‘kid-friendly projects’. Each issue in the store is $15, and is much cheaper online

#42

Ah, well that’s alright. I actually met the several of the original designers of the Disney-Pixar promotional WALL·E at the Maker Faire anyway. They were really cool, we shared a bunch of design plans, and they were impressed with our group. Thanks!

#43

Oooh, that’s interesting. Was there only one promotional Wall-E ever made? I saw it at the L.A. and London premieres, with a guy in the background visible operating from some sort of controller on top of a trunk, which you can see right here: metacafe.com/watch/1496708/w … in_london/ The animatronic Wall-E was about 4 feet high and looked a bit bigger than I was expecting. Is this the one now being used at Disneyland? Or did they make copies for the 3 other parks?

If you scroll up this page a few posts, you will see that I was only a few miles from this San Mateo event and lost track of it timewise, dang it.

#44

It’s my understanding that there is only one promotional robot built by Disney’s Imagineers, although considering their marketing funds they could’ve built more. WALL·E is a pretty huge robot as seen in the film, as he stands only a foot or so smaller than the humans. I personally like building him at a smaller, more conventional level, since he’s more accessible that way, but your mileage may vary.

Don’t feel too bad about missing us at the Maker Faire. We had so much fun in May, we’re planning to do it again in 2010! We’ve got a bunch more ideas like a Steampunk WALL·E and an EVE dirigible, so please stop by!

#45

This stuff is so hardcore, I love it! I’d like to see a nice Up fanbase make some Up stuff, like the bird on the mantle or a SoA model. Love your AUTO, it’s awesome!

#46

Thanks for your kind response! I know that while I am personally a huge fan of WALL·E, my true passion is building anything PIXAR related. I usually post my stuff on the wall-ebuilders.com website. But just today I created my own group on Flickr for all PIXAR related builds. So let me be the first to welcome you to the new group and please stop by!
www.flickr.com/groups/buildpixar

#47

This would honestly be the perfect time to join considering I have a class based on creating 3 dimensional art in the spring, so building stuff would fit into that very nicely! Maybe we could talk about stuff I could work on or something. Very cool!

#48

Excellent! I’m always available to work on new projects and to help out so please keep me posted.

#49

Matthew,

Glad to see you guys are still out there.
We had thought Bruce went on to bigger and better pastures.

The old web address pointed to his latest venture for a while.

There is plenty of room on the internet for more than one WALL-E site.

The WALL-E Forum is another Great Site http://walleforum.com

What the different sites have to offer varies quite a bit.
Some have more members than others while some have more activity.
Some are just fan sites.

The Original WALL-E Builders Club on Yahoo Groups [url]http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/wallebuilders/[/url] is free to join and we have dimensional drawings to help anyone build their own WALL-E as well as many members with experience in prop and Droid building to bounce questions off of so prior knowledge isn’t an issue either…

We have had 12 members so far build WALL-E replica’s out of many types of materials.
Two different schools are using our drawings to teach shop classes regarding manufacturing techniques and robotics.

Our article in MAKE Magazine was a nice tip of the hat to our Builders Club and I thank Gareth Branwyn for the interview.

If anyone wants to build their own WALL-E please feel free to come and join the fun.

Scot Washburn
Founder / Owner
The Original WALL-E Builders Club