"Help!" for: Papercraft or Pepakura
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I'm about to resin and I still don't know how to fix D:
Gokussj5okazu
Well-Known Member
My best advice in this situation is to use popsicle sticks. Glue them down flat to make flat faces perfectly flat, or glue them together end to end to hold everything in place.
HOW dO I STOP MY HELMeT CROOKING? D:
If the helmet is slightly crooked, can I correct it later on after bondo? i read this comment that says you can fix crooked helmets after bondoing, but I'm not sure how. Sanding?
Applying a first thin coat of resin strengthens the paper, though it doesn't become solid lump, there is still some flexibility. So you should be able to apply a thin coat, straighten it with popsticks or tooth picks and then apply your second and third coats. This information is based on my current project, let it warp a little during the paper stage, I've applied a thin coat of resin and it seems flexible enough to alter.
Bondo can be used, but only practical for smaller imperfections, as applying large amounts of it will change the Centre of gravity and offset the helmet. (it will weigh down ones side of your head more)
So, how do I straigten it using tooth picks or popsicle sticks? Is there a special technique I should be using?
Carpathia
Sr Member
You don't actually strengthen the piece with tooth picks and popsicle sticks. They are used to brace your model while you strengthen it, to keep it from warping. To do this, simply glue/tape the sticks into place (usually on the inside of the piece) so they prevent the piece from deforming.
so do I just tape some popsicle stivks inside of the helmet, resin it, and remove it? is that what you mean? Because i'm trying to make the helmet straight, not preventing it from warping.
Carpathia
Sr Member
That's correct. Straightening the helmet and preventing warpage are the same concept. If your helmet is warped, then you'd put in the sticks to straighten it; if it's already straight, then you can put in the sticks to keep it that way.
One bit of advice, once you get the piece straight, I would apply two coats of resin before removing the supports.
Again, I get that you have to put sticks into it to straigten it, but I still don't get the concept. Sure, the sticks will give support, but HOW will it really straigten it?
MissingSpartan7
Well-Known Member
The sticks are straight, oddly enough. Adding them into a section of the helmet that is not straight will greatly improve the straightness of that section.
For example, if I have a ball, which is round, and I press it up against a wall, which is straight/flat - it will deform the ball along the surface that is contacting the wall, and make it straight/flat.
Ergo, if I use sticks, it will provide a rigid, straight, surface for that section to deform against (to a shape you actually want).
Failing that explanation, can you provide a picture of the issue you are trying to resolve?
That way, someone can potentially annotate it to help solve this problem.
I can't provide pictures, but the right side of the helmet is bending into the helmet itself, and I can bend it outwards with my hands, and it would look ok, but it won't stay. I sort of have a clear picture of how the stick method works now, but can I cut a round shape piece of cardboard, and fit that in? I think that would cover more and be less work.
MissingSpartan7
Well-Known Member
Cardboard will definitely work as a support, but can still bend. Gluing in flat at least 1 layer of corrugated cardboard, with the internal ridges running perpendicular/at 90 degrees to the warp, so it is less inclined to "give way" would work. A second layer on top of that would be even better.
However, from what I can gather about the problem, running a brace (rigid material of your choice) from the left side, to the right, inside the helmet should provide significant lateral support, and stop that section from "caving" inwards - maybe for long enough to re-resin it. If that is a possibility...
That explanation/analogy could have been a lot better. I would more liken the sticks to pushing the wall up against something, rather than something up against the wall.
Silver Gooch
New Member
In my last Iron Man Mark VII build I did my best with the very close together mountain and valley folds. Now that I am going to take a second crack at this helmet I figured now would be a good time to ask everybody's opinion on the best way to have clean folds that are VERY close together.
Here you can see how "close" I'm really talking.
I have tried scoring the lines and then even using a ruler and tweezers to fold these bad boys. Sadly enough, I can't get a result that I'm half proud of. The second picture, by the way, is only about 1.5" x 1.5". It can be rather difficult to see how large/small it is seeing as there is no real scale in the frame. Suggestions?
Here you can see how "close" I'm really talking.
I have tried scoring the lines and then even using a ruler and tweezers to fold these bad boys. Sadly enough, I can't get a result that I'm half proud of. The second picture, by the way, is only about 1.5" x 1.5". It can be rather difficult to see how large/small it is seeing as there is no real scale in the frame. Suggestions?
Yeah. The right side caves in a little, so I'll make the cardboard cutout big enough to fit and prevent warp, but wide enough to keep the helmet from caving again. Thanks for the help!
I whistled in real life. There are some 3d files that were designed more to be true to the design than they were to be easier to pep out. I've been playing with some of the hyper accurate reach files and they get pretty gnarly with the little tiny pieces for small pips and shallowly indented details. Honestly, I don't want to sound lame about it, but if I CAN avoid ridiculously tiny pieces, I'll just leave them out. It means later I have to put a piece of tape on the spot so rondo doesn't leak through when hardening, but really if you don't do those tiny pieces just right, they can actually throw off the look of the piece by bulging it out weirdly. Something else that I've done is find places that were incorrectly unfolded and correct them. Sometimes a piece will have a flap that gets glued onto a very narrow piece, and that flap should be on the same side as the narrow part as it can impede the bend of the narrow part if it is behind that. (I know these are difficult concepts to explain in text..)
The other really important suggestion I have is you should crank down the line weight on those pieces. I usually print with the thinnest lines possible, it gives you a bit more area to move in those tight confines. I know the line weight is higher on yours because fold/cut lines on mine are about as thick as the lines weight on the numbers.
Edit: One last thing you could do if you have the tools at your disposal, is to export the model and use 3ds max or something to crank down the resolution in those areas... basically merge some of the polygons so they're not so horrible.
I finally got a chance to explain. Please don't criticize me for not having such a passion In pep. I do, I really do. it's just my first time and everything seems really hard.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4441441413370&l=8608063885940915143
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4441441413370&l=8608063885940915143
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