Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.17

Papercraft Models

There are several Japanese, European, North American and other world websites and blogs on the art of building Papercraft Models. Their subject matter and complexity vary greatly from Animals, Castles, Motorcycles, Gundam Figures, Airplanes and Custom Designer Toys. There are simple models for small children; and others that will take an adult many late hours - with a lot of extreme patience.

A Few Papercraft Websites:
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/
http://cp.c-ij.com/europe/papercraft/nl/
http://gunime.blogspot.com/
http://papercraft-world.blogspot.com/
http://papercraftparadise.blogspot.com/
(just Google "Papercraft" for more)

I would like to share some notes on a couple that I have made:

Star Wars "Sandcrawler"

This papercraft model is about 3" x 6". I did this in November, 2007 over a couple of days.

The pattern was in color and was printed in color on white 67 lb. card stock. After cutting out the parts with an exacto knife and folding the parts accurately using a sharp edge metal picture frame, I then used Weldwood Carpenter's Wood Glue to bond the parts together.

Extras for effect: This model had eight tank type treads on the bottom. I mixed a little Burnt Umber and Payne's Grey Acrylic in water and applied a light wash two or three times over the lower sides and all over the bottom. I also spattered a thicker wash application over the tire treads. I touched up any white paper fold edges that showed with a fine point black marker. I applied matte acrylic clear varnish over the completed papercraft model. Now it just needs a couple of those little Sandcrawler guys placed around the model!

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"Gundam Model Head" Papercraft

This papercraft model is about 4" x 5" x 6". I completed this in August, 2006.

The pattern was in color and was printed in color on white 67 lb. card stock.

Strengthening a weak image: The image line work supplied was very fine (no strength) and the color supplied was also very weak (not my printer). So, I decided to paint all the colors by hand, while all the cutout card pieces were laying flat. I mixed the red, base grey, yellow, and black using Hyplar Acrylics. Once dry, I folded, and scored the back sides where necessary. I used carpenter's glue and some 3M clear double sided tape to bond and hold all together. The image's graphics are now a lot stronger. I decided also, to paint a camo effect for the grey helmet and face area (give it more character). After all parts were put together I did minor paint touch-up where required and then I brushed a seal of matte clear acrylic varnish over all.


I do have another Gundam papercraft model with the same size head and a complete body with weaponry, which makes it 36" tall. Hopefully I will find time to create it!

I surf many Papercraft sites each month looking for a variety of good or unusual papercraft and I download them into a file folder, which I later backup onto CD's. Usually Papercraft Models are saved as PDF or JPEG files.