Here is my new custom engagement ring box inspired by The Little Mermaid animation created by Disney in 1989 which was loosely based on 1837 Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. I was excited to build it because I grew up on original Little Mermaid and it’s songs. This is my second model based on this classic movie. I already made Prince Eric’s castle on occasion of new Little Mermaid 2023 movie release which I enjoyed too. If I was not so busy I would attempt to sculpt Halle Bailey mermaid. I think she did amazing job as Ariel Disney Princess
I sculpted this miniature diorama based on the image I received from the client. It was small scene of Eric meeting Ariel at the beach. She sits on the rock which happened to be great space to hide the diamond engagement ring. The scene was not featured in the movie and the image was fan art based on official Jim Shore Little Mermaid collectible. I found it by accident while searching for more reference photos. The other personalized ring box idea would be scene from lagoon on the boat which also gives room for hidden compartment underneath. Here is the image showing where the engagement ring fits.
How To Make Little Mermaid Statue
I sculpted it on tablet using my favorite Nomad Sculpt App. I started with reference photo and quickly set up basic shapes creating the scene. You can see the engagement ring is hidden inside of the dome. I built rock on top of that shape. Then I set up Ariel and Eric with basic box shapes. After that I started sculpting faces. This was going to be most challenging part to get them look like in the animation. I started new file for each of characters. When I was happy with faces, I added bodies in T-pose in correct proportions. When this stage was completed, I transferred them to my first file and arranged the pieces like in my initial sketch. Seeing more realistic body shapes helped to make more corrections to the pose.
I spent many days shaping all the parts. When I was happy with all the pieces, I started merging them into 4 separate parts which would be easy to print on my resin 3d printer. I sprayed all with grey primer and filled and sanded all the layer lines. After few passes I was ready to paint. I started with airbrush skin tones and mermaids tail but quickly moved to small brushes because it was faster than masking the hard to reach areas.
The base was Printed in PLA on my FDM 3d printer. It was simple shape so easy to sand. I spray painted it with MTN 94 spray paint in the same Bordeaux color as Eric’s Castle. I think it complements Ariel’s hair nicely. There is red felt lining for ring holder and it also should protect blue paint of the figure section. There are 3 pairs of magnets embedded in both parts to hold them together lightly but it is not necessary.
I shipped the model to new owner and it is waiting for the day of proposal. I will update this post when I get the news about it. I hope it will be another success!
