Super Mario Themed Chess Set
Spring 2024
Role
Quinn Morris
Solo: modeling, assembly, drawings, rendering
Description
A complete chess set with every piece modeled from scratch in SolidWorks. Each piece had to hold the traditional height hierarchy and assemble exactly in the center of its designated square.
Overview
Background
A simple premise with strict requirements: design a full set of chess pieces around a custom theme of my choosing. Every piece had to reflect the traditional height hierarchy, some slightly taller or shorter than others, and each had to assemble exactly in the center of its square.
Build
I themed the set on Super Mario Bros Wii, which is my favorite video game of all time.
Result
A full assembly with each piece positioned in its square, rendered in PhotoView 360 and backed by a complete set of dimensioned drawings covering both part and assembly specifications.
Modeling the characters
Most pieces had complex geometry, and required using features such as custom planes, drafts, fillets, revolves, and lofts to finish their forms.
Patterning was used to handle repeated pieces, such as keeping all eight pawns identical without rebuilding them one at a time.
Assembly and documentation
The assembly mates every piece to the exact center of its square while preserving the height order from pawn to king.
Dimensioned drawings were used to communicate both part and assembly specifications, and taught me how to document a design rather than just model it.