Sableye: Vehicle Prototype By Ilse Cadena
2024
High-impact Polystyrene Plastic · Auto Bondo Body Filler · Magic Sculpt · Spray paint
This project is a 3D toy vehicle prototype created in the Design Prototyping class at Otis College of Art and Design, inspired by my favorite Pokémon, Sableye. Pokémon has had a huge influence on my life for as long as I can remember. I love how the franchise combines adventure with strategy, and I’ve played most of the games throughout my life.
My design draws inspiration from Sableye’s face, with an emphasis on his iconic teeth and elements from both his normal and Mega Evolution. Red diamond shapes protrude from the back of the vehicle as a reference to the large red diamond Mega Sableye holds. His teeth are incorporated into hinged jaws, allowing the mouth to be displayed open or closed for an interactive display. The prototype also includes a battery box, although the vehicle itself is not powered.
What is Pokemon?
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise centered around fictional creatures that people can catch, train, and battle. The franchise spans video games, animation, trading cards, and other forms of media, with each Pokémon having unique abilities, designs, and characteristics.
Sableye is a ghost/dark Pokémon and his design was based on the Hopkinsville Goblin, a famous 1955 paranormal encounter in Kentucky involving alleged alien creatures.
This image is from the Pokémon anime and shows Sableye in his normal form. He has a small purple body, blue gemstone eyes, and a small red gemstone on his chest.
Sableye stood out as the character I wanted to design around because I love his mischievous, thief-like gremlin teeth.
This image features Mega Sableye protecting itself with its giant red chest gem. In its Mega Evolved form, its blue diamond eyes turn red, its teeth turn yellow, and the red gemstone grows to nearly twice the size of its body.
With these physical differences in mind, I wanted to combine elements from both forms into my design.
First Concept Sketch. Procreate, 2024.
I had this idea of making the vehicle like a hauling truck that transports and exports gems.
Ironically, The quick sketch, which I only had a fuzzy photograph of, ended up becoming my favorite iteration of the three.
I gave the body more form by cinching the waist down the middle and added its gems to the back as a way of keeping the concept of it “hauling gems.” I also made the face larger so the mouth would stretch across the entire front of the vehicle, allowing it to open and close.
With the design figured out, I was able to build a foam core model:
The foamcore model helped me see the design more clearly in 3D and figure out the different parts I would need to build for the final vehicle.
I was also able to articulated the jaw into the body using 2 pin needles.
Exploded drawing of the foamcore model, separating each part of the vehicle from the main body to map out the individual pieces needed to build the final model.
Prototyping
I started carving a foam model at the same size as my foamcore model. The finished foam was cut into four separate parts, making sure there were no undercuts so each piece could be vacuum formed. Each foam piece was then vacuum formed using High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) plastic.
After having all four parts, I cut the plastic using the band saw, removing the larger sections I didn’t need. Using a Dremel, I then precisely cut around the edges and corners to refine the shape. I glued the four parts together using Zap-A-Gap and Magic Sculpt to recreate the original form.
Once it was dry, I used more Magic Sculpt around the edges to smooth everything out so you couldn’t tell it had been made from four separate pieces. I also sculpted both eyes and the lips around the mouth. The teeth were made from Magic Sculpt as well. I measured and spaced them out during this step to make sure they would fit properly and look good with the mouth both open and closed. After smoothing and sanding out the body, I hollowed out the bottom of the vehicle and built a square compartment inside for the battery box. Two holes were drilled for the cables to come through, allowing them to stay hidden inside the hollow body of the vehicle.
The red material covering the vehicle in the last image is Auto Bondo Body Filler, which is commonly used on vehicles to fill dents, scratches, and other surface imperfections. It dries quickly, allowing it to be sanded and smoothed down.
This was a process of applying the Bondo, sanding it down, and priming the surface repeatedly until the entire vehicle was smooth and ready for the next step.
While working on the body, I also made the wheels and lower half of the jaw from plastic. Since these pieces had no major imperfections, they only needed to be primed and spray painted once. The tongue was sculpted separately using Magic Sculpt and painted with pink acrylic paint.
Once all the pieces were dry from spray painting, I assembled everything together to complete the vehicle.
Final Prototype. Side view ( Closed mouth )
Final Prototype. Front View ( Open mouth )
