Home » Archives for July 2009
I enjoy nicely detailed architecture papercraft. I am not sure why I don't post more of it, especially since I am an architect by trade. I will have to do better in the future.^^ This papercraft saloon is a free sample from Whitewash City which produces scale model building templates for use in Old West tabletop RPG games. All the models at Whitewash City were designed by Eric Hotz and are 30mm scale (also known as "S scale" or 1:64 scale). The PDF template for the saloon may be downloaded here.
Last week was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission, so the thoughts of some papercrafters (like myself) have been turned towards papercraft models of spacecraft. Here is one of the best crafted models I have seen in the spacecraft category. This 1:48 scale Apollo 11 Lunar Module was created by Japanese designer U-Don. If you would like to attempt his ultra-detailed papercraft yourself, U-Don has provided a 13 page template along with 14 pages of photographic instructions on his web page here.
This is a full size papercraft model of the helmet that the character Alan Bradley wears after he is teleported inside a computer in the Tron 2.0 video game. Alan is the computer programmer who wrote the Tron program. The Alan Bradley character was played by actor Bruce Boxleitner in the Tron movie and voiced by Boxleitner in the video game. Except for the more elaborate decorative pattern, this helmet is very similar to helmets seen in the original movie. I was very pleased with how well the parts of this model fit together when I was building it. The finished model is sturdy enough to be worn, but it may require some padding inside to get it to fit correctly. Here is the template info:Scale: 1:1Finished Size: approximately 8"(20.3 cm) "ear to ear"Number of sheets: 9 Number of parts: 35 Difficulty: 2/5 Download (includes lined & unlined PDF's and a PDO)Previous Tron papercraft: Jet's Identity DiscSark's Identity Disc Tron's Identity Disc Hog Goggles Bit - Yes, No and Neutral
As I have said before, monkeys always make me smile, and this one is no exception. This colorful monkey is the work of Belgian artist "Fossfor" and may be downloaded from her Flickr page here. As if you couldn't tell, the title of this paper toy is "Monkeyking".^^
Robo Battle Pigs is a simple game created by Randy Cox for a game design competition in 2001. The game is played on a standard chess or checker board and involves two or more mechanical pigs battling it out with lasers and powerful robot fists. After the game gained a following, illustrator Andy Kurzen designed a Robo Battle Pigs paper toy that may be used as a game piece. Links to both the paper toy template and rules for the game may be found at Kurzen's website here. [Photo via boardgamegeek.com]
This 2" (5 cm) long Scooby Doo Mystery Machine van and ruined castle wall backdrop were created by Gary Williams and Craig Griswold in 2002 for use with the D6 Role-Playing Game System by West End Games. Included in the same PDF template as the van and the wall are cutouts of all the Scooby Doo characters. The PDF may be downloaded here. Also available are templates of an uncolored haunted bungalow model and a 3D interior of Doctor Who's TARDIS.
In the Sims 3 video game a marker called a "plumb-bob" hovers over the head of a selected
character and indicates the character's mood by its color. A green plumb-bob indicates a good mood, while a red plumb-bob indicates a horrible mood. DeviantART artist "killer094" of Finland has created nicely textured papercraft versions of both the green and red plumb-bobs. Template downloads are available here and here. If you would rather make an origami version of a Sims plumb-bob, "phreed83" at Ehow.com has instructions posted here. The photo at right shows the origami plumb-bob rigged to wear on your head for cosplay or Halloween. For a joke, I'd hang one of these over my desk at work if I thought anyone there would have a clue what it was.^^
Another Star Trek papercraft is finished. This is the Elite Force video game's version of a Starfleet "personal access display device" or PADD for short. Think of it as a hand held computer interface. I made this papercraft 1:2 scale rather than 1:1 scale like the previous Star Trek device models because it was just too floppy at 1:1 scale and also the model's texture is somewhat grainy and looks better at a smaller scale. Here is the template info:Scale: 1:2 Finished Size: 3" (7.6 cm) x 4.5" (11.5 cm) Number of sheets: 1 Number of parts: 8 Difficulty: 1/5Download Previous Star Trek papercraft posts: Klingon KnifeHypospray Borg Cube
This papercraft comes from the 1986 animated movie Castle in the Sky, the first official movie release from Studio Ghibli. The flapter is a machine that flies by means of four vibrating insect-like wings. In the movie two young characters, Pazu and Sheeta, make use of the flapter in their adventures which eventually lead them to a legendary flying castle in the clouds. This papercraft was designed by "Orca", Japan, 2005. The template may be found here, while instructions in Japanese are located here. The wings may be built with either cardstock or clear plastic (as is shown in the photos).
Illustration student Richard Sullivan was given an assignment at school to create a custom Cubee using a known character and this Darth Maul was the result. Why didn't I have these kind of assignments in school? ^^ The final template is three pages and includes two different Maul heads, two capes, a double light saber, and a Sith Speeder. The pages of the template are available at Richard's DeviantART page here, here and here.
I was a little bummed two years ago when Marvel Comics killed off the original Captain America, Steve Rogers. However, as you may know, this month Marvel is bringing Rogers back in a five issue limited series entitled Captain America: Reborn. To celebrate, I did a recolor of my Tron Disc template to create a papercraft model that represents the good Captain's shield set in a stone base. Hope you enjoy it.
