"Help!" for: Papercraft or Pepakura

[TwiggyShip]

The problem is that it is indicative that the pieces weren't properly aligned when being built. This could ultimately not matter to the builder, but if you want absolute precision and perfection, it is a big deal. The cleaner the pep work, the easier the smoothing stage will be, as you won't have to do as much work to even out the warpings and lopsides created by misalignment, which won't be easily obvious until you've covered the piece in a layer of bondo. Sometimes those are imperceptible though, and you can go on your way with the piece, but when those warps are larger, poor pepping will make you very mad when you get to smoothing.

Yeah, I see what you mean, however it really isn't anything major (or minor) really. Naturally for only my third attempt at pepakura I'm going to have some trouble with the assembly stage but I'm really only talking about little tiny things here and there. I haven't noticed any warping or lopsidedness of the sort, and naturally when I get round to priming the piece after I harden it any little problems should become apparent very quickly, I was just asking more for information's sake than an actual problem I'm having

 

[Nauxley]

I just had a question regarding visors. My friend and I were planning to put in an actual motorcycle visor after painting, but do we still need to put in the pepakura visor at the beginning? We would have to take it out before the fiberglass step anyway so we weren't sure if there was any point in having it in just for the resin step.

Also, the baseball cap part of the helmet is a bit crooked and we were wondering if having the pepakura visor during the resin step in would help straighten it out.

Thanks! hopefully we can get a quick reply because we're literally about to resin it and we need to know before we move forward

 

[Carpathia]

I just had a question regarding visors. My friend and I were planning to put in an actual motorcycle visor after painting, but do we still need to put in the pepakura visor at the beginning? We would have to take it out before the fiberglass step anyway so we weren't sure if there was any point in having it in just for the resin step.

Also, the baseball cap part of the helmet is a bit crooked and we were wondering if having the pepakura visor during the resin step in would help straighten it out.

Thanks! hopefully we can get a quick reply because we're literally about to resin it and we need to know before we move forward

It's always best to leave the pepakura visor in place until you harden the helmet (ie remove after fiberglassing the inside and before the bondo stage). The visor is a tremendous help in keeping the helmet in shape. Leaving it in until after the helmet is hardened guarantees that the visor opening is the correct size and shape.

 

[Nauxley]

Ok thank you. What is the best method to remove the visor after fiberglassing?

 

[Carpathia]

Ok thank you. What is the best method to remove the visor after fiberglassing?

A Dremel cutting wheel is the best way.

 

[Katsu]

Yeah, I see what you mean, however it really isn't anything major (or minor) really. Naturally for only my third attempt at pepakura I'm going to have some trouble with the assembly stage but I'm really only talking about little tiny things here and there. I haven't noticed any warping or lopsidedness of the sort, and naturally when I get round to priming the piece after I harden it any little problems should become apparent very quickly, I was just asking more for information's sake than an actual problem I'm having

That's good, I just wanted to put that info out there so you can keep an eye out for trouble later, if any are perceptible. If not, that's great! Good luck with the build man.

 

[TheRabbit]

What's the best way to make a helmet symmetric? I made a Mk6 helmet, and both the back (near the divots) and the front brim are visibly uneven. Looking at the helmet from the front, the right side (person wearing it's left side) of the brim is higer than the left side, and from the back the right side is taller than the left side, making the strip that goes down the middle skew awkwardly, and making it look very obviously uneven.

I'm using 110lb cardstock, flyingsquirrel MkVI helmet, using a sharp utility knife for cuts and scoring, and attaching pieces with superglue.

 

[Gray]

What's the best way to make a helmet symmetric? I made a Mk6 helmet, and both the back (near the divots) and the front brim are visibly uneven. Looking at the helmet from the front, the right side (person wearing it's left side) of the brim is higer than the left side, and from the back the right side is taller than the left side, making the strip that goes down the middle skew awkwardly, and making it look very obviously uneven.

I'm using 110lb cardstock, flyingsquirrel MkVI helmet, using a sharp utility knife for cuts and scoring, and attaching pieces with superglue.

Is there a slight chance that you may have folded some of the parts that you had cut out unevenly, meaning either too much or too little? It usually forms its normal shape throughout gluing pieces together so I can't see that being the case.

 

[Katsu]

The only way to prevent warping and skewing, is to do the pepakura process VERY carefully. An important note is that the numbers do more than just say which faces go together. If you line the numbers up perfectly, you will avoid warping. That means it should not look like
.123...
....123...

but instead SHOULD look like:
...123...
...123...

On the piece. It is VERY VERY VERY important that all numbers on the entire piece are lined up correctly with their corresponding numbers. Misalignment of these numbers is usually the cause of warpings in the helmet not caused by damage.

Also, placing the edges of the pieces as closely together as possible is important, as it keeps it from being too widely spaced.

The last advice is to practice. It took me three goes at the ODST helmet before i had a pep model that was acceptable for resin. It may be a bit of a time sink, but like any great hobby or sport, you need to practice it a bit to get the feel for what works and doesn't work, and improve your game!

Good luck, and feel free to ask any more questions you have.

 

[TheRabbit]

On the piece. It is VERY VERY VERY important that all numbers on the entire piece are lined up correctly with their corresponding numbers. Misalignment of these numbers is usually the cause of warpings in the helmet not caused by damage.

Is there any way to make Pepakura print out alignment marks instead of edge numbers? I'd much rather have something like |||| than 1726 (which is much more difficult to line up when one of them is upside down). I can always looks at the model to find out which edge matches up with which (even thought that's relatively simply for 99% of the pieces) so I don't really need the numbers at all except for trying to get them to line up.

 

[ventrue]

Is there any way to make Pepakura print out alignment marks instead of edge numbers? I'd much rather have something like |||| than 1726 (which is much more difficult to line up when one of them is upside down). I can always looks at the model to find out which edge matches up with which (even thought that's relatively simply for 99% of the pieces) so I don't really need the numbers at all except for trying to get them to line up.

No, but I'm sure the developers would like to know about that idea. You should send it to them.

Try aligning the end points of each edge, that's usually the easiest way.

 

[Katsu]

Remember that it goes by the furthest point of each number. So 784 would go from the upper left tip of the "hat" on the 7, to the protruding rightmost "arm" on the 4, and since they're flipped, you'd compare the upper left tip of the 7 on one 784, to the right arm on the other 784... a bit complicated... But do your best! Maybe post pictures of your piece and we can give more specific tips?

 

[Gray]

Is there any way to make Pepakura print out alignment marks instead of edge numbers? I'd much rather have something like |||| than 1726 (which is much more difficult to line up when one of them is upside down). I can always looks at the model to find out which edge matches up with which (even thought that's relatively simply for 99% of the pieces) so I don't really need the numbers at all except for trying to get them to line up.

Not that I know of, but I'll tell you what I do that could help quite a bit. I take the folded piece that I have cut out and before gluing it on, I try to line it up with the other piece as best as I can, and by piece I mean each edge, than I see which part to glue on first, and the rest fits on fine!

 

[redwizard3d]

i use CA glue on my peps and it works like a dream. Find 2 matching pieces, line up one end so the ends of the first tab match the piece your gluing to, drop enough CA that it doesnt dry immediately but not so much that when you push the pieces together it doesnt come out the sides and try and pinch the 2 pieces together with your nails rather than the flats or even ends of your fingers as if theres too much CA, it will glue your finger to the pep. I've had to cut my fingers from a pep several times and every time i've lost a layer of skin(albiet a thin layer). I may see if i can make some pointed thimble type thing that when worn on the end of your finger allows you to pinch 2 parts together without sticking your fingers to it.

 

[the end]

hey i would like too know how to make some of the armor but i don't know where to find materials to make the armor i want

 

[Carpathia]

hey i would like too know how to make some of the armor but i don't know where to find materials to make the armor i want

Read the attachment in this thread...

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/34408-All-In-One-New-Member-Introduction-Guide

 

[linz742]

I am looking for pepakura files for mass effect n7 rebreather helmet and armor does anyone know where to find it?

 

[Zizx]

When im glueing a tab to another piece am i supposed to cover the .... or ._._. lines or have them still visible.

 

[Katsu]

I am looking for pepakura files for mass effect n7 rebreather helmet and armor does anyone know where to find it?

In my files I have an unfolded file called a Joker Breather. I never played mass effect (GASP!) So I have no clue if that's right. A picture would help.

When im glueing a tab to another piece am i supposed to cover the .... or ._._. lines or have them still visible.

I personally think of it like this.. Theoretically when you cut along the lines, you are supposed to cut right through the middle of each of those dots. This means that each piece has half of an edge, and that you should be lining up the two halves. This means you should lay the pieces in such a way that the top one's lines cover exactly over the bottom one's.

 

[Zizx]

Ok that makes sense I'll start doing that from now on thanks Katsu.