[#11] The Final Papercraft Object: Poison Apple Pinball Machine

 

The Final Version


This is it! The final version of my papercraft pinball machine. All parts of the object were modeled in Rhino 7 and I used a mix of laser cutting and hand cutting all of the components. 


3D MODEL

Not many changes were made between last week and this week's 3D model. I just revised some colour choices, set the materials for rendering, and finalized the page layouts for printing. I am happy with the model and kept thinking of more ideas to increase the functionality of the object but they didn't fit with the schedule or purpose of this project so I'll save them for next time. 

In the end, I went with an eggplant purple for the main cabinet and back box. The play surface and bottom of the cabinet are in black. For all of the decorative aspects and play surface objects I tried to keep to the theme of poison apple with greens, red and bright pink.   

Working Perspective View of Model in Rhino
Rendered View in Rhino with 2D Back Box Decoration Visible

Rendered Image - 3/4 View
(Rendered in Good Quality)

Rendered Image - View from Top
(Good Quality)


PAPERCRAFT ASSEMBLY

When it came to assembling all the parts of the pinball machine, the round bumpers were by far the most tedious and frustrating. There are 8 round bumpers and each one is comprised of a small cylinder that's about 3/4 cm tall and wide. On top of the cylinder sits a truncated cone with a flat top that's about 1.5cm wide (the squares in the images below are all 1cm for reference). To aid me in cutting out all of the tiny pieces, I utilized the laser cutter. This saved me time in cutting but resulted in a bit sloppier bumpers than I had hoped. The laser cut everything out nicely but the size of each piece was slightly too small and the pieces no longer aligned properly. This made the top circles a bit too small so there are gaps visible on most of them. Next time I will have to do more testing with the laser cutter to take into account the small bit the laser removes while it cuts. It was only an issue at the small scale of the bumpers. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to re-cut all the pieces and start over. 

I also used the laser cutter for the pinball surface and the decorative letters on the back box without issue.

Assembling Round Bumpers from Laser Cut Paper


Round Bumper Template for Laser Cutter

Close-up of Round Bumper Template


Everything else I cut out by hand. I found it easiest to manually add the tabs in while I cut them out. I generally placed tabs on all sides of each piece then removed tabs where I needed as I assembled them. This let me be more flexible and adjust as I went along. The cutting and scoring of all the pieces took quite a while but made assembling easier to plan out and execute. 

Manually Added Tabs on Back Box Pieces

Some of the harder to assemble parts were the ball catch and ramps in the back box. The ball catch is comprised of a half cylinder with two sloped ramps that catch and slow down the pinball. It must be assembled in certain order so that you can adjust the placement of the ramps inside to slope correctly and before the bottom is placed on the cabinet which encloses the whole assembly.
Assembling the Ball Catch

The ramps inside the back box are designed to slope downward but also tilt so that the ball travels all the way to the end and doesn't get stuck inside somewhere. They needed to be attached inside to the front face to fit them properly and stay in place once the back is secured.

Back Box Internal Ramps

I assembled the entire cabinet and back box before attaching the surface obstacles and bumpers. It was easier to apply the decorations to the back box before attaching to the cabinet so that I could apply enough pressure for the paper pieces to lie flat. I also tested the ramp system inside in case I needed to fix anything.

Back Box Decorations Applied

As you can see in the photo below, it was very difficult to get the black surface to not be bumpy. I think the solution to this would be to use a much more solid paper or cardboard to avoid the influence of the other structural pieces. The sides applied pressure to the surface making it bow and the ball catch provided some support near the front but since there was nothing to support the rest of the surface it created a bump.

Cabinet + Back Box Assembled
Left: Showing flex of surface
Right: Testing layout of surface objects

Happy with the layout of the bumpers and obstacles on the surface, I glued them down and finally attached the legs to the bottom of the cabinet to finish off the piece. 

I had initially planned on attaching a clear surface over the top of the play surface but I found that the clear plastic wouldn't sit flat (experienced the same flexing as the surface below) and clouded the surface underneath, so I went without it. If I can find the right thickness and clarity of plastic to use I will attach it in the future.

Lastly, I needed to find an appropriate pinball for the pinball machine. It was difficult to find ball that was both small and round enough. I tried out some ball bearings, beads, and BBs without luck. I ended up finding the perfect pinballs - small silver cake decorating balls. They're the perfect size, and best of all, you can eat them after!

Small Silver Cake Decorating Balls

The Pinball in Action

Final Version Alongside Previous Prototypes



Materials Used:

  • 80 lb. Dark Purple Cardstock (Cabinet & Back Box)
  • 65 lb. Cardstock (everything else)
  • Yamato Liquid Glue
  • Silver Cake Decorating Balls (~3mm)
  • Laser Cutter
  • Craft Knife + Ruler
  • Lots of Binder Clips, Velcro Tape, and Patience



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