Mini-Mote and Nunchuk

Setting a lower bar on size.

 

Shaping the Wii-mote Case.

Taking the base made in part 1 of this tutorial, I’ll now be using modeling clay/putty, filed down buttons, and a few salvaged pieces of plastic to rebuild a case for the Wii-mote.

Note: Clay/putty used not that great, your area might have better available, something stronger/better/harder.

I apply the clay directly to the main board in some areas, covering it to shape it. This can’t be improving the lifespan of the Wii-mote any but I don’t care. I won’t go out of my way to fill in air pockets (especially surrounding the diodes) and make sure the rumble node stays well cleared but other than that, fill her up.

And with that said:

It now officially looks like crap. I wanted to show this awful and easily skipped pic because getting here is somewhat logical/necessary. Using obviously too much clay and straying slightly outside of the intended lines guarantees you are left without gaps in your finished shape. May the evidence of my mess guide you onwards when confronted with a similar stage of grief.

Luckily the ugliness goes away easily enough when starting to file the extra off. Take a good long while here to smooth and shape every line.

The button holes also need to be covered with a sturdy, wear and tear proof form fitting shape. What better than to use the recycled holes from the original cover, all cut and filed to small place holders for the buttons. Also added a small piece of plastic to cover the led lights.

And after that it starts to look a whole lot better fast:

 

Shaping the Nunchuk.

At first I thought to make the Nunchuk for this tutorial as small as possible. But play testing that config was rather disappointing in the handling and looks department so now I’ll just make a (still smallest but not so much) streamlined companion to my new mote.

I’ll use bits of the old form to fashion the new. Playing around with assorted cut pieces from the original Nunchuk casing I came up with a scheme that feels quite good in the palm of your hand.

This was then covered in clay in much the same way as the mote, making sure not to block any of the moving parts while filling in the gaps. Then after drying use files again to regain your shape. I also used a bit of speaker wire to accentuate and protect the edges and palm-rest/grip.

 

Paint.

If you are completely satisfied with your shapes, sanded and smoothed everything using finest grain and all, then this would be the stage to give them a paint job. I’ll use modeling paint to make the base white and add a layer of varnish to keep it fresh.

The buttons.

Finally it’s time to get the buttons back into place. Again I reused the original materials since I want to keep the original look/art for this mod but if needed paint/reshape to fit your style. I’ve cut the tops from the buttons which made them shorter, then glued these in place on top of the rubber pads.

 

And after all that hard work you might get something like this:

And this:

Or this:

Click to see more pictures

or leave a comment below.

 

 

 

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