"Help!" for: Papercraft or Pepakura

[Roadkiller]

Paper mache and cardboard is certainly workable, and it's cheap! It won't give you the most detailed suit, but it can be just as rewarding and won't break the bank. Check out some mache/cardboard armour in this thread:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/24906-Reach-Scratchbuild-WIP?highlight=paper+mache

 

[AirixAram]

So I am the noobest of noobs, just an fyi. I have decided to make myself some armor for an upcoming party. I have found the pepakura blue prints and all for the armor I want to make, I have downloaded Pepakura 3. My question how do I scale the armor to fit me. I know I have to measure myself then add an extra bit on and such and in another entry someone said to go to the 2D viewer and enter in the measurments or something along those lines only problem is I can't seem to find that area. Any help would be nice and as a warning I will be asking a lot of questions! Thanks!

-Meredith

 

[dericrw]

Did you download Pepakura Designer? Because Pepakura Viewer will not allow you to scale.

 

[Ral Partha]

So I am the noobest of noobs, just an fyi. I have decided to make myself some armor for an upcoming party. I have found the pepakura blue prints and all for the armor I want to make, I have downloaded Pepakura 3. My question how do I scale the armor to fit me. I know I have to measure myself then add an extra bit on and such and in another entry someone said to go to the 2D viewer and enter in the measurments or something along those lines only problem is I can't seem to find that area. Any help would be nice and as a warning I will be asking a lot of questions!

Read this guide.

 

[Elmoose187]

hey im new to this in general but i have foam mats my dad is a mechanic/electrician so i have a heat gun but i have a question on the pepakura and the paper. people tell me to use card stock to to the design but im not doing the resining and stuff like that. to get to the point i need to know if i need to use card stock or jus plain paper, and if i need to use a special printer if i need to use card stock...?

 

[ventrue]

hey im new to this in general but i have foam mats my dad is a mechanic/electrician so i have a heat gun but i have a question on the pepakura and the paper. people tell me to use card stock to to the design but im not doing the resining and stuff like that. to get to the point i need to know if i need to use card stock or jus plain paper, and if i need to use a special printer if i need to use card stock...?

No idea what's with the heat gun, so I'll skip that part of the question.

If you use standard 60g/m² paper, a large model will warp even if you just stare at it, long before you even think about resin. Check your printer's specifications if you don't know what paper it likes.

 

[Strychnine]

Hello,

So I just Pep'd for my first time (scaled, I promise), and I think everything came out looking pretty snazzy, but I hit a bit of a roadblock.

I started at the spine and worked my way up the shoulders. I test fit it at that time, and it went well enough, I suppose, so I continued on. Now that I'm 95% done, I realize that I'm not getting into it as-is, so I wanted to ask a couple questions.

The head hole, there's just no way my head is getting through it. Does that usually have to get trimmed? It would fit around my neck, but my head is another matter.

That leads into a second question: Do people keep this chest/torso/back piece as one single piece and slide into it? I ask because it sort of seems like my body would fit into it, if I just had a way to get my body into it, but there's no way I can get my shoulders through the bottom hole, and my head through the neck, like I said.

If it helps, I scaled using the method in this thread: http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...rmour-Tutorial-V.2?highlight=SCaling+Tutorial

Myscale factor was 6.55, so the chest piece was made with a height of 380mm.

So cliffnotes: Is it expected that I can get into my chest piece with it all being one complete piece? Thanks in advance!

 

[Roadkiller]

... So cliffnotes: Is it expected that I can get into my chest piece with it all being one complete piece? Thanks in advance! ...

No.

To elaborate. At some point during construction you will seperate the piece into two parts, by cutting it along the top and under the armpits. The piece can then be put on and removed 'clamshell' style.

I seperated mine once I had the entire piece smoothed out with body filler (Bondo).

 

[Strychnine]

To elaborate. At some point during construction you will seperate the piece into two parts, by cutting it along the top and under the armpits. The piece can then be put on and removed 'clamshell' style.

Thanks for such a quick response.

I guess, then, a measuring tape of some sort would be the thing to use to make sure that I actually would fit into it then?

Also, it seems sort of an intimidating process to cut into the armor after all that. I haven't found any sort of guide or anything that goes over that bit, and I do rather hate to do anything big, like, say, cutting the torso piece I spent all that time on, without someone to talk to, or some kind of guidance. How does that bit work?

 

[Roadkiller]

You could cut it now before you resin it to check the fit. Then simply glue or tape it back together.
I was satisfied by measuring the circumference of my neck and checking it against the neck hole. The rest I took on faith

Near the neck hole, there are two large indented areas (one on each side). This is where I suggest you cut at the top, at the 1/2 way mark of this area. It'll create two flat areas (top and bottom, or front and back, depending on how you look at it) where a buckle (pic below) can be glued to the underside.

I'd recommend securely glueing 1/2 of a side release buckle to the top portion of the chest/backpiece with just the "teeth" showing below where you cut the piece in two. Attach the other half to the bottom/front piece, flush with the cut. Don't put either portion on a strap, but directly to the armour. It may take some trimming to get the buckle fit but once you have it lined up properly and everything dries, the two pieces won't slide around and the armour will just clip together.

Oh, and FWIW if you look at the pics of my work in progress, I didn't do this. I cut in the wrong spot and the lower portion of the buckles are on straps, thus the piece 'floats' a bit. I am going back to do it the way I just suggested.

 

[Strychnine]

Awesome. Thanks for the info, and nice build. So to be on the same page, you've cut the entire torso piece into two halves, correct? Not hinging like a clamshell (which I wouldn't be able to get my head through) but with buckle-snaps at the shoulders and, I assume, the sides?

I have a narrow neck, so that bit isn't a problem, but I measured to make sure and there's plenty of space for me in there, but there's no way my head is getting through that opening. If you wouldn't mind, could you point out in the image I posted of my armor where you cut yours? Thanks again!

 

[Roadkiller]

Correct, I cut the entire torso into two halves, and put buckles at the shoulders and sides (4 total).

I am not happy with where I cut my torso at the top. It may be visibible in the pics that I put rubber tubing there to keep it from sliding around. I am going to epoxy it back together and cut it at where I have put blue lines in your picture (below). Cut it on the flat so that each half of the buckle is easy to glue to a nice solid flat area.

 

[NeoKeth]

I have a couple of questions. I have been searching this entire thread and all over online. I am just planning for when I paint my suit and thinking back to year ago, when I joined, I thought I remembered seeing a symbol with 405th underneath on a shoulder (like in halo 3) but I can't quite remember what it looked like exactly. My two questions:
1: Is there an official 40th.com logo or symbol?
2: Would it be appropriate to have it on a piece of armor to show my appreciation for all your help and to help promote other builders or do you have a system for choosing the best works to represent 405th?

 

[Roadkiller]

... . My two questions:
1: Is there an official 40th.com logo or symbol?
2: Would it be appropriate to have it on a piece of armor to show my appreciation for all your help and to help promote other builders or do you have a system for choosing the best works to represent 405th?

My two answers:

1. Here, please read the thread also:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/8547-405Th-Graphic-Guidelines

2. The answer from "Adam", who is the founder of the 405th website and as much as anyone can claim to be the guardian of its' intellectual property (the thread is also a worthwhile read):

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...n-to-start-a-controversy.?p=444486#post444486

 

[TheEnigmaticTwinky]

Okay, I'm 5 feet, 3 inches tall. (I'm Asian, meaning I'm pretty damn short.) I plan on using VROGY's Halo 3 marine templates for my costume, but I have no idea whatsoever on how to scale it. Could someone help me with this?

 

[Moko NZ]

Hai,

I am totally new to this but have the main idea... but the one thing I'm confused about is:
1. Do you have to scale the Pepakura file?
2. How do you do that? And the method on finding out what number to scale it by.

 

[ventrue]

I am totally new to this but have the main idea... but the one thing I'm confused about is:
1. Do you have to scale the Pepakura file?
2. How do you do that? And the method on finding out what number to scale it by.

1. Yes
2. You decide which size you need and enter one of its dimensions (not the scale factor) into Pepakura Designer.

There's a great scaling tutorial for 2., make sure you read that. It also explains how to determine that size. And read the rest of the stickies as well, they cover almost all of those basic questions.

 

[Enternal]

Hey guys, got a few questions here.

1. About how long does it take to put a mark VI standard Chest, helmet together?

My deadline is of course the 31st. I have The shoulders, Fore Arms and Hand Plates finished. Ive been aiming for one piece ore more a day and have not had problems putting it together, should I assume 2 for the bigger pieces?


2. The forearm piece is perfect length wise and my hand was able to snug through but tore ring of the cuff part a little when testing. I glued it back, when I resin this will it be firm enough that if I tug my hand back through with minor pressure it wont crack? Or should I widen the hole. And should I put the cover piece in the cuff to resin and cut that out after to stable it?

3. For the resin process if I apply think coats over time will that significantly reduce warping?

4. I know the neck area of the helmet might need to be cut for my head to fit, are there any other pieces that I should watch out for like the forearms? I scaled the armor set for 6" and I'm 5"10

5. What is the difficulty and time between the HD Mark VI helmet and the standard robogenesis one? I was saving this piece the helmet for last so I have the most pep experience. Is it a big difference in looks that its worth doing? I've looked at both of the pep files, but don't see much of a difference in the 3d model.

 

[ventrue]

Hey guys, got a few questions here.

1. About how long does it take to put a mark VI standard Chest, helmet together?

My deadline is of course the 31st. I have The shoulders, Fore Arms and Hand Plates finished. Ive been aiming for one piece ore more a day and have not had problems putting it together, should I assume 2 for the bigger pieces?


2. The forearm piece is perfect length wise and my hand was able to snug through but tore ring of the cuff part a little when testing. I glued it back, when I resin this will it be firm enough that if I tug my hand back through with minor pressure it wont crack? Or should I widen the hole. And should I put the cover piece in the cuff to resin and cut that out after to stable it?

3. For the resin process if I apply think coats over time will that significantly reduce warping?

4. I know the neck area of the helmet might need to be cut for my head to fit, are there any other pieces that I should watch out for like the forearms? I scaled the armor set for 6" and I'm 5"10

5. What is the difficulty and time between the HD Mark VI helmet and the standard robogenesis one? I was saving this piece the helmet for last so I have the most pep experience. Is it a big difference in looks that its worth doing? I've looked at both of the pep files, but don't see much of a difference in the 3d model.

1. Depends on how fast you are
I am doing a HD Mark VI and I spent one evening doing all the scoring, cutting and half the glueing for one helmet. Wrong size, restart, wrong size, restart, and then another two evenings for the complete third one. That would make four evenings just for the paper model. After that, you have to resin it, possibly give it multiple layers. Resining doesn't take long, but the curing times depend on the resin you use. The same thing goes for reinforcing. After that, I have no data myself, but detailing with body filler can take lots of time. Lots!

2. If there are support struts in your model, you should use them while resining. Depending on how much pressure you apply, resined paper may still rip, but once you get some reinforcement in there, it will become pretty hard. You can still remove material then, so don't do it now.

3. Not sure if you mean "thick coats" or "thin coats"... Do a very thin coat first, so the paper doesn't soak. After that, you can do thicker coats.

4. No idea.

5. I think it's worth it.

 

[Enternal]

thanks for the response, very helpful

I guess ill start the helmet soon, I figure I should be able to get a functioning outfit for Halloween and improve on that later for conventions.

What sizing did you use for your head? Mine measures 9" in length and I just sized it to 10.5 With my crunch time, I don't leave much room for error