Mini Gnome and Mushrooms Paper Toys

These cute papercraft mushrooms and gnome are by US artist Michele Romo at the Crowded Teeth blog. Michele created these paper toys as part of a personal year long creative project that lasted from November 2007 till November 2008. An unusual construction technique that requires bending thin strips of paper is used for the gnome's head. The template for the gnome and mushrooms (including an optional beard for the gnome) is located here. Instructions are located here.

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Street Fighter Papercraft: Zangief

The Capcom character Zangief first appeared in the 1991 Street Fighter II video game. Zangief is a underhanded professional wrestler from Russia who's training method involves wrestling bears. This simple four piece papercraft of Zangrief was likely a Japanese promotional item related to one of the many Street Fighter video games. A scan of the template is available from the Game&Graphics blog here.

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Red Brick English Church Paper Model

Here's another great architecture papercraft from Pepachal. The text with this paper building describes it as being a "creepy" church in rural Yorkshire, England, but I am guessing that the building is fictional. The deeply recessed windows and the use of photorealistic textures on this paper model give it a nice solid feel. The template with instructions in PDF format are available here, just click on the blue links. Previously, Pepachal had created an Irish stone chapel which may be found here.

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Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Paper Theater

Late last year I was approached by a theater in the Netherlands to produce a paper theater for their gift shop. But alas, the project never became a reality and I was left with an unfulfilled desire to design a paper theater. I finally got inspired enough to follow through on my desire a couple months ago after watching the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The movie is directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and features the final on-screen performance of actor Heath Ledger. The plot of the movie involves a troupe of traveling actors whose portable stage looks much like a life size paper theater. At the end of the movie Doctor Parnassus, the leader of the troupe, is shown on the street selling toy theaters which resemble his own theater. This papercraft is my attempt at recreating the toy theater seen at the end of the movie. Information for the template is as follows:

Scale: 1:2 (estimated)

Finished size: 7" W(17.8 cm) x 7" H (17.8 cm) x 4" D (10.2 cm)

Number of pages: 7
Number of parts: 23
Difficulty: 3/5
Download

The photo shown above doesn't do justice to the 3D effect of the theater which is similar to 3D decoupage. I hope you enjoy the theater. It was a lot of fun to design and build. Oh, I forgot to mention the model comes with a "curtain" and there are slots in the top so that it may be used as a functional toy theater and not just as a prop for a book shelf.

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World War I Tank Paper Model

The Ford 3-Ton M1918 was one of but a handful of tank models that the US produced during World War I. The tank carried a two man crew, could travel at a whopping 8 mph, and was armed with a single machine gun. This papercraft version of the Ford 3-Ton, created by Joseph A. Golden, is intended to recall the paper toys that were printed on the backs of cereal boxes in days gone by. This tank and several other paper toys are available at Golden's website here.

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Studio Ghibli Origami: Totoro and Gigi

Here is some wonderfully creative origami by UK artist Robin Glynn. Both are characters from animated films by Studio Ghibli. On the left is an origami totoro from My Neighbor Totoro. On the right is the cat Gigi from the film, Kiki's Delivery Service. Folding diagrams are available for both the characters. A link to the diagram for the totoro may be found at the bottom of the page here. A link for the diagram for Gigi may be found at the top of the page here.

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Galleon and Pirate Ship Paper Models

These two sailing ship papercraft were created by the Atocha Treasure Company. On the left is the Spanish galleon Nuetstra Senora De Atocha which sank in a hurricane off the coast of Florida in 1622. Modern treasure hunters were able to locate the wreckage and salvage the Atocha's treasure in 1985. On the right is a generic model of a buccaneer pirate ship from the same time period as the Atocha. A low res template for the galleon is posted here while a low res template for the pirate ship is posted here. Pre-printed, high resolution templates may be ordered from the ATC for a price.

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