Because Hemp Makes Everything Better‽ /s

Full body Wii-mote & Nunchuk modification. The first in a series of Wii-mote modifications that will be posted here in the coming months.

Need tiny people to
make tiny patterns.

The Hemp-Mote & Nunchuk

Made with 3 kinds of 100% natural hemp string on the outside (while remaining 100% functional on the inside).

In stark contrast to the original Wii-mote set; what was once sleek, white and hard plastic has now become a slightly fuzzy, natural and textured concoction. No more bland, branded and boring but mottled, flawfull, rough and just a tad sweat absorbing.

The Hemp-Mote is absolutely playable, all buttons, accelerometers and the infrared camera accounted for. Unfortunately its exterior is also quite fragile and prone to degeneration (As far as game controllers go), and being in this raw state makes it more of a show-case piece than a daily replacement.

Made?

I’ll post a more thorough tutorial on a similar Wii-mote mod soon (Update: posted tutorial part 1 & part 2), hopefully answering most questions.

First the original Mote & Nunchuk needed to be whittled down to a smaller form factor (so I wouldn’t end up with a very stocky mote).

Full Frontal.

Using saws and files I removed most of the hard plastic shells, then rebuild the underlying shapes using modeling putty. After Smoothing out the results I gave the whole a quick black paint job to ensure eventual gaps wouldn’t stand out too much.

Tadaa, a base to wrap stuff around.

I then took out my ball of string and started wrapping. Unfortunately, to keep the string from unraveling/shifting, you have to rather painstakingly glue everything into place as you go… Oh joy.

The first to get wrapped were the wire connecting the Wii-mote to the Nunchuk, then any large areas lying below others. Round and round I went. And round. After these single long unbroken string shapes were done it was onto the detail work. Buttons, ridge guards, connectors, shaping each to fit the whole (all the while making sure the underlying mechanisms function smoothly. Test often).

Finally, In a move that might have severely altered the here shown pictures, I used a lighter to remove any fuzz and somewhat seal the hemp string closed. /extreme caution

coincidentally, the thick wound wire connecting the controllers is now ideally suited to permanently alleviate the same boredom that inspired its existence.

Hemp-mote side shot.

Nunchuk wire connector.

Now What

As said, the unprotected hemp is too sensitive to sweat, skin oils and stress to handle normal/daily playing conditions (with anything but latex gloves). And taking into account that wearing gloves while playing would make the whole endeavour rather retarded, the Hemp-Mote will mostly enjoy a long life as a showcase model with the occasional demo game.

That is until I figure out a way to make something more/better out of it.

Battery Insertion. The front part of the battery lid is now connected to the main body, allowing the lid to remain attached.

WHATS NEXT?:
First up, as far as Wii mote-mods are concerned, is a tutorial with accompanying “basics” mod. It goes into more detail about how this was done, and maybe help along some other modders. After that I’ll be playing with texture and looks for another mote, maybe 2, before losing the plot just a short bit later on.

For now though: more pics:

Please leave your comments and questions below.

And spread the word far and hard!

<<Trackback>>