[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/1B1VG4u.png[/IMG]
Back in 2010, I made a thread called Papercraft! (X3 times.) Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. This thread is meant to be a more informative post towards papercraft, it's uses and just how much money it could save you, and how much money it could make you pay. As long as you have a printer, and the correct tools, you could learn how to do papercraft and begin making things you never even thought of. You may know papercraft after seeing very many complex and huge models.
Let's go through the different applications of papercraft and what it can do for you :
[B]Classic Models (Also known as Pepakura)[/B]
Classic models is what your most likely going to see from papercraft. The cheap man's 3-D printing - with a huge amount of more work but probably more detail and precision. So here's some of that.
[IMG]http://www.creativecloseup.com/imagenes/paperinstruments/7.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.creativecloseup.com/imagenes/paperinstruments/8.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.creativecloseup.com/imagenes/paperinstruments/10.jpg[/IMG]
Okay. Let's stop there. Obviously, you can't start with that. Let's show you what you can do, with a single sheet. Most popular, minecraft skins converted to papercraft. I think you can assume what that looks like. So instead, let's show a video. This is a video on "Boxpunx." This is what inspired a series called "Cuboy" on newgrounds. It's a great way to test if your any good at papercraft. You can find a link to Boxpunx at the end of the thread.
[video=youtube;SSytjNwIVC8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSytjNwIVC8[/video]
[B]Decorative Papercraft[/B]
Used to decorate things, very minor 3D paper usually made by hand. There's some subsets of this :
Desktop Papercraft is basically a picture, only slightly 3D.
[IMG]http://www.desktopgremlins.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Awesome-bot-Hero-726x608.jpg[/IMG]
Camaraderie papercraft is like origami, only they are more permanent and strong, and most of the time, have very smooth cuts, using special paper which are colored.
[IMG]https://blog.adafruit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/joanie-lemercier2.png[/IMG]
[t]http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Digital-PaperCraft-Illustration.jpg[/t]
[B]Diorama's / War-gaming Terrain / D&D Battlegrounds / Games general[/B]
Now THIS, is where papercraft suddenly becomes interesting. Ever been playing warhammer 40k, D&D or maybe even making a model for school and when you go to the store you find that even the smallest of terrain can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars? Look no further. Anywhere from sci-fi to fantasy, they are unusually simple, infinitely expandable and most of the time, completely modular. Why take it just there? Make paper mini-figures and stop spending hundreds on mini-figurines when you can just use paper. In fact, just print out an entire game, what the hell. Rewarding, fast, fun and bound to impress friends, this is where most people will begin taking papercraft seriously.
[t]https://sirrob01.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/inked-adventures-dungeon-3-s01.jpg[/t]
[IMG]http://i.stack.imgur.com/HXbZg.jpg[/IMG]
(Quick note : I have personally built this one and it took about 2 weeks.)
[t]https://marquisor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/hpim0296.jpg[/t]
[t]http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/media/promos/Dungeonrise/dr_de4.jpg[/t]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/1H7kxrx.png[/IMG]
Now that I have you interested, let's show how you do it. How long does it take? How difficult is it? Papercraft can be divided into a couple of steps which you can make models either from the internet or your own design. On all papercraft, this is what you have to do.
[B]Printing
[/B][t]http://www.printerville.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/ES_Pro_4900_Front_w.paper_.jpg[/t]
Depending on your printer and what your printing on, arguably the easiest part. After downloading or designing a papercraft, press print. Done... sometimes. We'll talk about that later.
[B]Cutting[/B]
[IMG]http://www.lcipaper.com/kb/wp-content/uploads/cut-paper-with-exacto-knife.jpg[/IMG]
Cutting is on-par with time consumption with Gluing, you simply get a cutting matt, a cutting tool, and cut along the lines. It takes longer then you would expect, use a ruler to be precise on the visible parts, otherwise, just freehand it.
[B]Scoring[/B]
[IMG]http://www.laboratory424.com/files/images/build/mcpp/pic1-2.jpg[/IMG]
A lesser known step, this is taking a small piece of metal and making a straight line across where you are to fold. This will make it so the fold is straight, and not finger-shaped. Makes it so you can make perfect cubes! You can use a paperclip in an old pen or, on most exact-o knifes, it'll be placed on the back of it. The straighter you want the line, you use a smaller scorer - until it's sharp, then you stop.
[B]Gluing / Folding
[/B]Gluing and folding is - without a shadow of a doubt - the most difficult part of papercraft. It MUST be done by hand. You MUST have the correct type of glue, and most importantly, you MUST make it as good as possible. This is what makes or breaks your model. A bad fold, or a bad glue, can have you restart an entire section. Most papercrafts only have 1 section - but some have many. So practice this part. A lot. Make a bunch of props.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/XNe3Whz.png[/IMG]
Okay, let's get onto actual tutorials and, where to start. Now we know the steps, what do we need to fulfill them?
[B]Paper
[/B]Woah woah wait, my paper isn't good enough? No. It's not. In almost 99% of cases - Cardstock will always be better. It's hard, it doesn't flop around, it's the maximum you can print on in most cases. Card stock has a couple of different weights, and depending on your printer, might make or break your purchase. 60 lb Cardstock, 5 dollars for 100, is the most common. However, to be most effective, you will need 110 LB cardstock. Believe me, it folds well, it glues well, and it's heavy. 10 dollars average for 100, that's a good 50-70 models, more then enough for most packages.
A myth in papercraft is that paper models are too light for stuff like wargaming, where a simple bump can move them. There are ways to get around that, 110 LB cardstock will help that. There's a bit more information on weighting below.
[B]Printer
[/B]Get a (preferably) color (preferably [B]LASER[/B])printer, 600 dpi, can handle cardstock. Inkjet paper requires time to dry, and can usually handle less then a laser printer, lower resolution, etc. However, a laserprinter does make cracking in the ink when you fold it, and sometimes, will lift when your hands are all sticky. For the sake of the length of the thread, you can just google recommended printers. A majority, are okay.
[B]Cutting Tools
[/B][IMG]http://www.laboratory424.com/files/images/build/mmb/step1-1.jpg[/IMG]
Don't use scissors. Your going to have a bad time. What you will need though, is an exact-o knife. There's a couple different types, a classic toolshed one, or a paper one. Both will work fine. If your really crazy about this, and want to save a huge amount of time, you can get something called a cutting machine. There's a couple different ones, but the one that most companies support, and allows you to make your own files easily, is the Silhouette Cameo. It automatically cuts your printed papercraft, and can handle anything from average paper to fabric. For papercraft and many other things, it has an infinite amount of uses and cuts the time by half. If your serious, get one. It costs about 200 dollars, but honestly, it's worth it. Looks nice too.
[IMG]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/413LNxhA42L.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Glue
[/B]Having the right glue is extremely important. If it's too sticky, you may find less room for mistakes, not sticky enough, and you can guess what happens. So I get a combination. You'll non non-water based glue, quite difficult to find, and superglue. Superglue is used very lightly on central hubs of connection, while the other glue is to keep minor areas together.
You'll also need spray glue, non-acidic so you can use it indoors. This will allow you to glue entire sheets together relatively easily.
[B]
Weighting
[/B]How can you make your model stop freakin' moving? Add some weights. How do you do that? Take that superglue, and glue some pennies on the inside of your models - if you can't do that - you can do it with the other way. Black Foamcore is a cheap base for your papercraft models that, most importantly, makes sure the bottom of them are as flat as possible. Use your exacto-knife to cut it to the inside size of your model, and presto! You have, not only more structure, but a perfectly flat base. Using the exacto knife again, you can make a slight cut in the center, and using a hammer, you can push a penny in there - with no glue - and increase the weight of your paper model by a huge amount.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/0hqIY9f.png[/IMG]
Finally, we have our resources. Here's where you can start papercrafting. Have fun! Also worth to note, big companies love papercraft, don't know why, they just do.
[B]Tutorials
[/B][URL]http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?view=pages&pgid=14[/URL] - WorldWorksGames Wargaming beginner tutorial
[URL]http://www.papercraftmuseum.com/beginner-tutorial/[/URL] - Papercraft Museum beginner tutorial (video formats)
[url]http://global.yamaha-motor.com/yamahastyle/entertainment/papercraft/howto/0002.html[/url] - YAHAMA (Video) tells you advanced tips and tricks for precise models.
[B]
Model Sites
[/B]Sites for papercraft models, almost all free.
[url]http://global.yamaha-motor.com/yamahastyle/entertainment/papercraft/[/url] - YAHAMA
[url]http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/1006/[/url] - CANON
[url]http://pixelpapercraft.com/[/url] - Minecraft skins to papercraft
[url]http://www.papercraftmuseum.com/[/url] - Most popular papercraft site
[url]http://www.urmesurveillance.com/3d-papercraft/[/url] - Be super creepy.
[url]http://paperkraft.blogspot.com.ar/[/url] -[B]
Model Packagers[/B]
Sites to pay (sometimes free) for model packs for games. Mostly tabletop stuff, usually overly expensive.
[url]http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php[/url] - High-quality tabletop papercraft.
[url]http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php[/url] - Site for a majority of tabletop papercraft.
[B]Communities
[/B]Communities dedicated to papercraft.
[url]http://boards.4chan.org/po/[/url] - 4chan
[url]http://www.reddit.com/r/papercraft[/url] - Reddit
[url]http://www.reddit.com/r/Pepakura/[/url] - Pepakura site
Nice OP. I don't even do paper-craft and now I want a Silhouette Cameo. I'm sure I could find a reason to justify it.
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