Made in China: Farmers quit fields to build giant Transformers models

A group of farmers in China have exchanged ploughs for welding equipment in order to build gigantic models of robots from the film Transformers. China Daily reported that a group of farmers in Xiaoye, a village in the eastern Shandong province, gave up their day jobs to devote their time to building the models of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and their various allies and antagonists. Their biggest robots cost around $16,000, and are being bought by property developers to put in places like housing developments and malls. They use car parts and other scrap metal to build the models.

Once we have the structure, all the parts are welded and assembled by piece according to the blueprint. The paint colors are selected and mixed by ourselves.

Designer Wang Shizun

Their success is testament to the popularity of Transformers: Age of Extinction, which was ruthlessly targeted at Chinese audiences. Chinese car brands were featured and Hong Kong is the backdrop for some eye-popping action sequences. The film has already grossed $280m in China since its release just over two weeks ago.

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