The Aliens from the Toy Story movie franchise, specifically known as the “Toy Story Aliens” are small, three-eyed, green, squeaky-voiced, and adorable extraterrestrial toys. The Toy Story Aliens made their first appearance in the original Toy Story movie released in 1995. They were featured in the claw machine at Pizza Planet, where they resided and awaited their turn to be chosen by “The Claw.” The Aliens are known for their unwavering devotion to “The Claw,” which they believe to be their deity. They often chant “The Claw” in a synchronized manner when it descends to pick up one of them. They are friendly, innocent, and have a strong sense of camaraderie. Throughout the Toy Story film series, the Aliens play various supporting roles. They are first saved by Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the original Toy Story when they are picked by “The Claw.” In subsequent films, they are shown as loyal and helpful characters to the other toys, often assisting Woody, Buzz, and their friends in various adventures. The Aliens’ voices are characterized by high-pitched, squeaky tones, adding to their charm and humor. It was high time for me to build Toy Story Alien to add to my collection of custom engagement ring boxes.
People often write to me with ring box ideas. This time I was tasked to create engagement ring box with Toy Story Alien from Pixar animated movie. The Claw Machine looked perfect as enclosure for diamond engagement ring. I was interested the most with this glass part because I was not sure If I can make transparent part. I had some epoxy resin from Eric’s Castle project so it was the best time to test it. The plan was I will embed the alien in resin. Simple, until I tested it. When I make completely new figure or engagement ring box there is a some testing and failures I have to go through. Here was one major too and I have to show it to you. It looks funny but it costed me a lot of wasted time and some anger.
It turned out pouring clear epoxy resin on painted figurine was not great idea. I expected failure with lots of air bubbles but did not guess optics will be my enemy. With specific shape of Claw machine glass I created lens which distorted the image of Alien inside. My idea how to fix it worked but costed me new mold and hours of sanding and polishing inside tight spaces. I learned new things on this one and already revised this model and made version 2 and will offer you few copies. If you want one, send me message, the contact form is in About section. For second prototype I used Anycubic new Crystal Clear resin and I love how it turned.
The rest of the process went simple, I went through it on multiple project. I sculpted all parts on my tabled using Nomadsculpt app. Toy Story Alien is made of simple shapes so the sculpting went smooth. I printed all parts on Anycubic Photon Mono X 3d printer. I sand it as smooth as I can, spray with grey primer. This shows me areas which need some additional work with filler and repeat the process. It takes few passes to get the smooth and flawless shapes.
The model left to its top secret destination and will be used for proposal soon. I hope one day I will be able to share the pictures of the event and names of the lucky couple. If any of you used one of my ring boxes and have photos of proposal you share on Instagram, please tag me, I would like to see them and and show here if you want it. I will of course include the links to you and your favorite photographer. If you have creative ring box ideas and want to materialize them, send me message through contact form in About section.
