Tutorial: How To Make Good Folds For Pepakura Armor

[purpuk]

another folding idea

Hi guys. Good going there! I've just been doing my mountain and valley fold creasing with a craft knife "heavy Pin" point. I only drag the side of it ( not the point ) over the card and it doesn't tear the fine surface of the 250 gsm card i'm using....:cool Oh! News Break.... try glueing thin sticks of balsa or card to the thin unsupported edges of your armour...I do now. It keeps a straight and FLAT surface and hence less need for filler weight and costs adding up...:$

 

[Toxic R4ptor]

Short, sweet and to the point! thank you! This helps out a whoooooole lot thank you very much!

 

[PyroStorm13]

this was a big help, i was having trouble with this bc i have such unsteady hands! this is going to make my pep look much crisper.

 

[purpuk]

folds and edges

yes it's amazing....80)3.... I've also borrowed my wifes desk lamp...the one with a 12 " flouro in it.. I put it opposite the work shining towards me over the ruler. i can use my creasing pin to line up both ends of the ruler perfectly over the lines on the card. this way I dont get my big head to cast shadows over the work and once i get one crease done i turn the work Clockwise(i'm Right handed). The pin slides from the start of my crease and i can feel the start of the last crease made. If you a left hander turn the piece anti-clockwise so your pin can feel the start of the previous crease....This is how i do it. If you find an easier technique let me know...cos there's an awful lot of folds in the armour if you're going to make a full suit.
Sorry but I don't use photo bucket so on my webpage you can see my CQC lid in progress @ r4meyer.com

 

[TheBatmanGuy]

I so wish I had found this before I made two masks...
I did pretty well with the folds untill the really tight tiny itsy bitzy lines that destroyed my self confidence and made me hate my life and everything about it. This would have helped me out if I had found it sooner haha

 

[purpuk]

You're welcome.....Post a piccie of your folds and we'll compare the different methods maybe there's a hybrid method we all haven't seen yet?

 

[Fireryne]

Here is a quick video that i did, my baby is crying but you can hear me and see everything. this is how i do it, it works well for me.

 

[roxashighwind]

This is fantastic! I appreciate this a lot, since I never actually noticed the two different line styles.

 

[Starrmont]

I've been using the scalpel method, but I'm thinking I might try out the idea with the pens. Faster, safer, and probably cleaner. Not to mention it'll make my pep work look all cool and multi-colored. XD

 

[MatPresco]

The method of using an ink pen worked wonders for me.

ALSO, a question more of preference:

I've folded my pieces and began gluing them together for a helmet. I'm finding it very difficult in some places to get the pieces together.

Does anyone have any suggestion of what order to build a piece in?

Top to bottom? Bigger pieces first? Smaller pieces first?

 

[frankfills]

Here a suggestion... if you using pen to score the lines use cutting Matt underneath, it works wonder for me.

 

[ControlrFreak]

Thanks for these awesome tips! I'm about to make my first set soon and this is really helpful to a beginner like me.

 

[agentflorida]

Assembling the Pepakura is one of the hardest and stressful parts of building an armor, thank you for making a guide to make it easier for others.

 

[purpuk]

This is my lid number 3.

The first was a Carter and it really did look like a first attempt. Number 2 Shrank just way too much with a plain polyester resin on the paper as first soak. This latest CQC uses Aircraft Chemical and fire resistant Polyester resin and it doesn't shrink much at all. You can get it from East Coast Fibreglass. The UK composites supplier. . They do Kevlar and carbon fibre and metals to mix in with their resins too. The piccie is full size here so you can see how the smaller folds on the edges do pull together nicely and the main panels don't get pulled out of alignment. I must say the RoboGenesis unfold is a good example of what can come through the Pep software.

 

[FalseShepherd]

Has anyone tried making the paper model out of like plain printer paper? Just for cost reasons?

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Regular paper won't hold up to the resin method.....it will soak it through and make it too soft......then it will collapse under it own weight. I also thought of using a lighter weight paper....I tried 90 lb, but that still gave me a lot of dent and sagging sections. Its the 110 lb that holds up the best. I do use the regular paper to first build a piece every now and then....just to see how the piece looks and fits all together.....I'ma very tactile builder.....

 

[FalseShepherd]

Regular paper won't hold up to the resin method.....it will soak it through and make it too soft......then it will collapse under it own weight. I also thought of using a lighter weight paper....I tried 90 lb, but that still gave me a lot of dent and sagging sections. Its the 110 lb that holds up the best. I do use the regular paper to first build a piece every now and then....just to see how the piece looks and fits all together.....I'ma very tactile builder.....

Thanks! That's kind of what I expected. I printed my first helmet on regular paper just to get some experience and see how it all goes together before going for heavier stock. Have you ever used something like Mod Podge to shore it up?

 

[Dirtdives2424]

I've used Mod Podge, yes. But only till I discovered other methods of hardening. But still, MP is too watery to use to harden paper.....If it were 110 lb paper....maybe.