FalseShepherd
Well-Known Member
First suit of armor! First time experimenting with cosplay! First time using pepakura! THIS WILL BE A TOTALLY NOOB BUILD!
Here's the background:
I got it into my head to make a helmet for decoration in my gaming room. I have been a lifelong Halo fan and was fascinated by the idea of building my own props. I started delving into the 405th and decided that I might as well go for a full suit. So, here we are. I have never done anything like this before and I am sure that I will have infinite questions.
I started on the helmet about 1 month ago. Pictures are posted here. I initially built it out of regular printer paper. It worked OK, but I learned quickly that it would not hold up to the weight of the resin and fiberglass process. So, I started my second helmet on card stock (as recommended by like everyone...).
So far, card stock is much easier to work with, and the helmet is going well. I do not have much time to work on it, but I will post updates as they happen. Stay tuned to watch me struggle and fail!
For whatever its worth, I would recommend building, at least some things, in printer paper first if you have never worked with pepakura before. It gave me the opportunity to get used to the medium and scoring techniques as well as make mistakes that I can avoid this time. Also, I was able to check fit since I am unfamiliar with scaling in pepakura. If you have an infinite amount of time, it's worth doing.
My methods:
Cutting with the sharp side of an exacto - sharp, precise, and effective. Also, gives me good control of the finer details.
Scoring with the blunt side of an exacto - sharp enough to score effectively, but not so sharp as to cut through the cardstock. (this method was much more dangerous with the printer paper)
Gluing with mod podge - couldn't find any Elmer's glue, so my wife recommended Mod Podge. So far, it seems to work basically the same as Elmer's glue. Though it does dry very fast if you use a conservative amount.
I am freehanding the cutting, but using a straight edge for the scoring. Using the backside of an exacto and a straight edge, I can be very precise and get solid scoring.
I attempted to use a glue stick for the printer paper model. I thought it would be easy to maneuver and handle. I was correct. Unfortunately, the glue did not stick well to the paper. I can only imagine that this problem would worsen with cardstock so I switched glues.
Note: I layered the paper helmet with spray paint. Many layers applied gently and lightly as possible. My plan is to toughen it up enough that it might hold up to the resin. Hopefully, I will be able to make something interesting out of it and, if it collapses, that's ok too.
Here's the background:
I got it into my head to make a helmet for decoration in my gaming room. I have been a lifelong Halo fan and was fascinated by the idea of building my own props. I started delving into the 405th and decided that I might as well go for a full suit. So, here we are. I have never done anything like this before and I am sure that I will have infinite questions.
I started on the helmet about 1 month ago. Pictures are posted here. I initially built it out of regular printer paper. It worked OK, but I learned quickly that it would not hold up to the weight of the resin and fiberglass process. So, I started my second helmet on card stock (as recommended by like everyone...).
So far, card stock is much easier to work with, and the helmet is going well. I do not have much time to work on it, but I will post updates as they happen. Stay tuned to watch me struggle and fail!
For whatever its worth, I would recommend building, at least some things, in printer paper first if you have never worked with pepakura before. It gave me the opportunity to get used to the medium and scoring techniques as well as make mistakes that I can avoid this time. Also, I was able to check fit since I am unfamiliar with scaling in pepakura. If you have an infinite amount of time, it's worth doing.
My methods:
Cutting with the sharp side of an exacto - sharp, precise, and effective. Also, gives me good control of the finer details.
Scoring with the blunt side of an exacto - sharp enough to score effectively, but not so sharp as to cut through the cardstock. (this method was much more dangerous with the printer paper)
Gluing with mod podge - couldn't find any Elmer's glue, so my wife recommended Mod Podge. So far, it seems to work basically the same as Elmer's glue. Though it does dry very fast if you use a conservative amount.
I am freehanding the cutting, but using a straight edge for the scoring. Using the backside of an exacto and a straight edge, I can be very precise and get solid scoring.
I attempted to use a glue stick for the printer paper model. I thought it would be easy to maneuver and handle. I was correct. Unfortunately, the glue did not stick well to the paper. I can only imagine that this problem would worsen with cardstock so I switched glues.
Note: I layered the paper helmet with spray paint. Many layers applied gently and lightly as possible. My plan is to toughen it up enough that it might hold up to the resin. Hopefully, I will be able to make something interesting out of it and, if it collapses, that's ok too.
