1) gather reference
2) load and unfold object
3) Adjust Scale
4) Prepare pattern for printing
There's a 5th step that would actually be 0, but only if you have 3d software and that is to check the model
1)
You need to make sure the weapon is scaled right
I use wikis to find out how long the weapon is
2)
Unfold the weapon (object), I use the auto feature
Then I open the [2DPatternWindow->Scale Up/Down Development by Specifying Value...]
Unfortunately, the length corresponds to the Depth (displayed in the lower right) so we often have to do a little math
3)
Take the Final length (F) (from the wiki or other resource), divide it by the given Depth (D) (lower right of pepakura), then multiply by the Scale (S) (the Scale Development window)
F/DxS
Change the scale to match the value you get from the equation
This gets you in the ball park, but the Depth often doesn't match up
(need to do some checking in 3ds, but the weapons should be aligned to the axis)
I often have to adjust the scale, don't know why.
Normally, I raise or lower (Depending on whether the displayed depth is higher or lower) the scale to the nearest whole or half (.0 or .5)
and continue adding or subtracting .5 until I go past the target depth then I come back by .05
Normally the depth hits the right size and I don't need to alter the scale anymore
4)
check your paper size (letter or whatever size your printer can handle; if using a printshop to do posterboard, use A2)
Next, you rearrange the pieces; This is as much art as science so, my guidelines:
Reduce the tab size [Configuration->Flap Configuration], check the "Change all Flap Widths" box and enter a value, for small objects I set this to 5, 7, or 10, for the chaingun I used 20
try to fit the largest pieces first, rotating to fit. Then I look for trouble parts, parts that are too close together because they are joined and I seperate them, in other cases, I unify some parts
It's really hard to truely explain
here's a before/after set (these are screen resolution, go to the database for a copy of the pdo)
Before
After
You'll notice that I've changed how most items were attached, how they were oriented and their spacing
You can access the tools by right clicking
You can move in the rotation mode, but the dots get in the way sometimes
Join/Disjoin allows you to change what's attached to what
--if you have a green line, a single click will seperate; red line & arrow allows you to join, click once to chose, a second time to commit; nothing indicates that there are no pieces that attach
Another use of the Join/Disjoin tool is to look for parts that connect so you can arrange them close together (I'm getting better at this)
The last tool that's somewhat useful is "Check Corresponding Face" if you select a face in the 2d window, it will select the corresponding face in the 3d window.