underestimating Pepakura

[KilGannon]

I feel like Ive made a horiable mistake taking on this project. I hope i'm done w/ this in time for Dragon*Con i guess ill make a WIP thread soon but right now i jut working on regular paper to get scaling right... So many pieces It's almost a little intimidating.

 

[Arioch]

Keep going, its worth it in the end.

 

[gingersnapples]

hold on a second, are you using printer paper or 110lb cardstock? second of all, the cutting is the hard part. after that its quite easy if you have the know-how and the materials to make armor.

 

[Boba Fett]

Show us a pic! We'd love to help and offer some advice. Take your time, and it'll all come together. It IS a lot harder than you may think at first, but you can do it.

 

[KilGannon]

Well ive spent the last few days reading like "EVERY" stickey so i'm pretty sure i have a good understanding of all the processes & i already have Most of the mat's in my shed (Bondo, Resin & Stuff like that) and right now im just using printer paper to make sure i have scaling done correctly before i start dipping into my cardstock

 

[Patryn]

So its a thread saying your not sure you know what your getting into but yet when offered help say you know what your getting into? Kind of a wasted thread since it serves little purpose yet...

 

[Sky Dragon]

Keep going, its worth it in the end.

Agree with Arioch 100%. My build has been progressing slower than... I don't even know, I believe the euphamism is "Molasses on a cold day", but it's more like molasses at absolute zero. However, I know that once my build gets finished (working on it at the moment), it will be well worth all the time and effort and papercuts and hot glue burns. Just think, when you get done, you will be a real life Spartan...

 

[KilGannon]

Agree with Arioch 100%. My build has been progressing slower than... I don't even know, I believe the euphamism is "Molasses on a cold day", but it's more like molasses at absolute zero. However, I know that once my build gets finished (working on it at the moment), it will be well worth all the time and effort and papercuts and hot glue burns. Just think, when you get done, you will be a real life Spartan...

Yeah like i kinda thought i was gonna sit down a put a helm together and be all like "yeah look at this" now i see im going to be working on this for a while before i get to say that

So its a thread saying your not sure you know what your getting into but yet when offered help say you know what your getting into? Kind of a wasted thread since it serves little purpose yet...

no I was kinda saying "Wow I didn't think this was going to be the hard part"

 

[sonic sod]

hey KilGannon pep is a hard thing to do i found it difficult when i started but what i recommend is that you start with low def parts then you will build up the skill and feel confident in using pep i hope you do well in your projects .

sonic

 

[KilGannon]

I have a question on the fold lines weather it be a mountain or valley fold how do you know like how many degrees to fold it

Also.. just put the visor together.. i think i could force this onto my cat

so yeah gonna scale up a lot

 

[ventrue]

I have a question on the fold lines weather it be a mountain or valley fold how do you know like how many degrees to fold it

You don't. All you know is that it's above the threshhold at which Pepakura Designer hides the fold completely. If you have a computer nearby, it's always a good idea to leave Pepakura Designer open, that way you have some idea of what you're trying to do

What I do is "pre fold" every fold slightly (i.e. not twisting it by 180° and creasing it like when you build a paper flyer), just to get the rough shape. That way the pieces stay a little rigid, but are flexible enough to kind of "fall into place" once you start glueing them together.

 

[NoxRocks]

I have a question on the fold lines weather it be a mountain or valley fold how do you know like how many degrees to fold it

I've found it more beneficial to bend them to a 90 degree angle, then wait until you start putting things together. It helps the pieces take shape too, and let's you kind of see where and how things go.

 

[weeds]

I worked for a cabinet maker for a while (an old German guy). When I had problems he'd say, "Cheff" (he couldn't say "Jeff"), "Cheff, you just have to be smarter than the wood." When I sit here putting these pieces together I think, "Cheff,you just have to be smarter than the paper!"

Seriously, though I pre-fold the pieces a little to make sure the fold is clean and then as you line up the tabs, the paper "knows" how far to go. I keep Pepakura open too. I use the viewer when I'm building, cause I like the immediate check on tab matches and where pieces are on the sheets.

I also "dry fit" everything before I glue. I bend it and push it and unbend it till I know just how it goes together. Then I glue.

Last piece of advice I have for you w/r/t fit is that I pick out the pieces I need to test the fit and just print those, cut 'em, crease 'em and fold 'em to test the fit. For example, on the forearm, I put all the pieces from wrist to the long part that goes over the elbow together first to see if it was the right size, then printed the rest. For the thigh it's the outside part from kneecap to the tallest part.

stick with it...

Jeff

 

[Doctor Napkin]

The first time I did a pep, I knew I wasn't going to get it right the first time, and I knew it was going to be a journey of trial and error. I now get every pep right the first or second time depending on the piece. I've gotten really good at scaling and assembling the model.

 

[NoxRocks]

I also "dry fit" everything before I glue. I bend it and push it and unbend it till I know just how it goes together.

I do this quite often.

 

[KilGannon]

finished test scaleing w/ paper moved up to cardstock love the texture

 

[Combust]

I have a question on the fold lines weather it be a mountain or valley fold how do you know like how many degrees to fold it

Also.. just put the visor together.. i think i could force this onto my cat

so yeah gonna scale up a lot

Loled hard!

Yes, keep at it and you will find as you keep building, you will keep learning, and from there it gets easier.