While a lot of members attest to the great use of X-acto knife, might I suggest using a scissors? Believe me, a medium rubber grip scissors can speed up the process. In most pep files, you do not have to be 100% accurate in your cutting. The tabs, as Ventrue said, you don't have to be exact. As for the edges that you need to stick together, you can have better control using a pair of scissors. No rulers are needed. Again, you don't have to be 100% accurate. Once you pep your pieces, more often than not you will apply resin and rondo over it. When I first pep MK VI - HD helmet, it took me almost 20 hours because I tried to be perfect. Now, I can finish pepping a helmet in less than 5 hours.
"Help!" for: Papercraft or Pepakura
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While a lot of members attest to the great use of X-acto knife, might I suggest using a scissors? Believe me, a medium rubber grip scissors can speed up the process. In most pep files, you do not have to be 100% accurate in your cutting. The tabs, as Ventrue said, you don't have to be exact. As for the edges that you need to stick together, you can have better control using a pair of scissors. No rulers are needed. Again, you don't have to be 100% accurate. Once you pep your pieces, more often than not you will apply resin and rondo over it. When I first pep MK VI - HD helmet, it took me almost 20 hours because I tried to be perfect. Now, I can finish pepping a helmet in less than 5 hours.
You cannot use regular paper. 110lb paper stock is the minimum. Some members prefer to use cardboard, but it requires a lot of scratch-build. If you go with 110lb paper stock, you need to apply resin on the outside. Cut a hole and slush Rondo on the inside. That will make the gun hard enough for use. Rondo is basically a mix of 1 part resin and 1 part bondo.
I assume from your questions that you've never done this before. With that in mind: Pepakura guns are insanely difficult. You should try something easier first.
200 to 250 g/m² paper/cardstock works best.
If you put stuff on the outside, you're obviously going to mess up the shape.
Disturbed1
Jr Member
Completely different topic, but it still applies to the thread. So in Pepakura Designer after attempting to resize the pieces to fit, is it supposed to change all the other dimensions to perfectly even out the entire piece? or am I just skipping a ridiculously simple step? I'm kinda new to this and haven't messed with the dimensions yet, although I did a practice H3 CQB chest
Satchmo III
Well-Known Member
If you enter a new value for any one of the three dimensions (height, width, or depth) the other two will scale proportionally to the new value. For example, if you increase the height by a factor of two then each of the width and depth dimensions will double also. You can't change just one of the three dimensions, without the other two changing automatically, so you won't end up with something like a model that is disproportionately tall and really skinny. When scaling pieces for your body keep in mind that you should consider all three dimensions to ensure a proper fit.
Yes. Just try it out.
Satchmo III
Well-Known Member
Well said.
It's honestly personal preference at this point, what do you find less monotonous and tiring? Although from what I've heard you should score all your pieces (common method is with a pen) before you cut them out.
Little tip: Having a buddy work with you and/or some jams playing in the background (playlists or pandora.com are both recommended) will help your work go faster.
Little tip: Having a buddy work with you and/or some jams playing in the background (playlists or pandora.com are both recommended) will help your work go faster.
I usually print only a few pages at a time (with all the pieces for a certain part of the model). I score them before cutting them out, then I cut out only what I need immediately and glue that together. The advantage here is that you don't end up with a 200 piece puzzle (*sifts through bag of parts* "Now where is the other piece with edge 3719...?"), but can use Pepakura Designer to find pieces on your printed pages (*click* "Ah, page 42" *browse* "There."). The pieces that I do cut out I "pre-fold" immediately. That means, I gently push each fold into the right direction, but I don't turn the fold by 180° and press it down like when building a paper plane. The pieces then usually kind of "fold themselves" while glueing, you just need to force them into place.
Ahhh I know what you mean...Atleast I stuck with something small for my first project, I just need to figure out a 38 piece puzzle
. Thanks for the info!Hey guys, I just finished my first armor piece in pepakura and ive noticed some areas where i've messed up while gluing pieces together which caused some bending and creases. Is there a way to fix these creases and bending somewhere in later steps? Would it be smart to resin the pep with the bending there?
Can you take a picture of that?
Ah, I see. I think you can fix that later with some putty and sanding as long as the model as a whole isn't distorted. You should try to avoid it though, maybe heavier cardstock would help there.
I'm using 110lb card stock, but I think my problem was mostly gluing way too fast and not matching the numbers perfectly together, and also since its my very first thing i've done in pepakura, I didnt expect it to be perfect. Also, I'm using Elmers glue, should I be using a low temp glue gun?
One One Seven
New Member
I am new to this and I am going to start off with Kat's helmet, The question is: What lb of card stock do I need?
I looked online and they said 110lb and I cant afford a printer that can handle that..
I looked online and they said 110lb and I cant afford a printer that can handle that..
If you can get it, try cardstock heavier than 110 lb. 110 lb equals about 170 g/m², and in my opinion, the fun really starts only above 200 g/m². But I suppose personal preference plays a big role here.
I have never used Elmer's, I don't think you can get that here. Other people don't seem to have any problem with it though. Which glue you want to use is personal preference, too.
I just accidentally answered the first part of that question
(And you could have found it all over the forums as well, just as a side note.)
My printer can't officially handle 250 g/m² A4 cardstock either and yet it works. Just try it out. The worst thing that can happen is that the printer is too weak to pull it through and you have to pull it back out yourself. (Or maybe it overheats and explodes, who knows.)
One One Seven
New Member
Well, Hell I will give it a try. Thank you.If you can get it, try cardstock heavier than 110 lb. 110 lb equals about 170 g/m², and in my opinion, the fun really starts only above 200 g/m². But I suppose personal preference plays a big role here.
I have never used Elmer's, I don't think you can get that here. Other people don't seem to have any problem with it though. Which glue you want to use is personal preference, too.
I just accidentally answered the first part of that question
(And you could have found it all over the forums as well, just as a side note.)
My printer can't officially handle 250 g/m² A4 cardstock either and yet it works. Just try it out. The worst thing that can happen is that the printer is too weak to pull it through and you have to pull it back out yourself. (Or maybe it overheats and explodes, who knows.)
@ ventrue: The places where ive held the peaces together for the glue to dry and some places where its been bent...
I don't believe it is your fault on that. I pepped 4 of same gauntlet and I have the same problem. It is because the middle pieces are too large and curved. The gauntlet should have been broken into smaller pieces to enable the curvature to show up better. To fix the problem, just apply more bondo to smooth out the surface.
If your printer is those that feed paper in on one side and come out the other side, it should be able to handle 110lb paper stock. Some printers take the paper and roll it for printing. These printers may get jammed. Check the specs on your printer. It should say if it handle cardstock.
I've completed 4 sets of suits out of Elmer's glue. I recently switched a general brand of white glue, which cost only 99cents. It is tackier and glue immediately. I think I may have used only 1 ounce of it so far.
I posted a quick tutorial earlier on how to use Elmer's glue. Hope this helps.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...or-Papercraft-or-Pepakura?p=508629#post508629
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