Ninjatoes' papercraft weblog

Lara Croft EDS test build complete

2009-07-17T18:51:00.004+02:00

Test build complete! And the good news is, that I also already fixed all the things I wanted to fix that I found out about during the test build (like the waterjet engines, for example).

As you can see, I only build one waterjet engine and one arm, because the other ones are basically the same.

But I did build both legs, to test the balance. It will change a bit of course with the extra arm and engine, but the balance is very easily corrected by glueing on the right foot a bit differently if need be, so I don't think balance will be a problem! ;o)

Ben 10 Omnitrix by Ryan Mangion

2009-07-16T20:15:00.005+02:00

Papercraft has become very popular the past two years or so, and a lot of people are also creating their own models now.

And that's exactly what Ryan Mangion did: he made a papercraft Omnitrix from the Ben 10 cartoon!

In the cartoon, the Omnitrix is a device that allows the main character Ben to change form into several different aliens! (I'll let you do the guessing how many different forms Ben can assume... ;o)

Ryan made his paper version of the Omnitrix wearable around the wrist just like in the cartoon as you can see, and he also made the silhouettes of the different aliens interchangeable, so you can choose which one you would like to be!

download Ryan Mangion's papercraft Ben 10 Omnitrix

Have fun building!

TR:Chronicles Extreme Depth Suit nearing completion

2009-07-15T20:05:00.003+02:00

There are actually a few things I want to share with you guys, but since it's been a couple of days already since the last update on the EDS already, I think I'll tell you about that first.

I've already been fixing a few small things that I wanted to change after test building the other parts, and I think I will "fix" the mount for the small waterjet engines as well.

I kept it as one part, and of course it's buildable that way, but the parts are rather thin, and it makes it a bit more difficult than it could be I think. It'll be a quick fix though, so it's not a major setback. ;o)

Stay tuned!

Orange Star wants YOU!

2009-07-12T10:07:00.003+02:00

Here's the Advance Wars unit I was working on alongside of the Tomb Raider EDS, have fun building!

download Orange Star Missiles

Humpty dumpty papercroft?

2009-07-10T19:30:00.003+02:00

As promised, here's an update on the EDS test build.

It's not a very difficult model, so it's going pretty quickly, although fitting the inside of the suit inside the helmet properly might require some patience.

And as always, there a couple of things that I want to fix before releasing it. Note that I built the visor out of regular cardstock here, but that's just because it's just the test build.

And maybe on the final model when the visor will be transparant, it might actually be easier to fit the inside of the suit inside the helmet, when you can actually see what you're doing... ;o)

Stay tuned!

Tomb Raider diorama by Elso

2009-07-09T20:41:00.004+02:00

I made some good progress test building the Extreme Depth Suit, but I'll show you tomorrow, because today I want to show you something else!

I got something really cool in my inbox yesterday, a little diorama made by Elso combining some of my Tomb Raider models and some of Sascha's.

You may know Elso from some of his other projects (like a life sized Terminator endoskeleton... ;o) but I never knew he was a Tomb Raider fan!

I have to say it looks really great, and he even explained how he did it in a thread at the Spanish speaking Modelos de Papel forum (although you have to be a member to view the thread...)

Maybe the pictures (there are a lot more in the MDP forum thread...!) will inspire you to do something similar? ;o)

Have fun building!

The next step: test building

2009-07-08T15:19:00.006+02:00

I'm just going straight from the 3D to the test build, to see if everything works out the way I planned. So far so good... ;o)

Take a look inside

2009-07-07T10:00:00.001+02:00

As you can see, the plan is to make the visor of the Extreme Depth Suit transparant, so you can see Lara's head inside.

Although there are special printable transparancies, those are quite expensive, and since there won't be any special textures on the visor, I think it will be better to just use a normal transparant sheet.

I'm anxious to try it out, because I think it will look pretty nice! But for those that can't be bothered with the transparant parts (it will make assembling the torso a bit more difficult...!) I'll also include an opaque visor. ;o)

Stay tuned!

Lara from the waist up

2009-07-05T10:28:00.003+02:00

Well, except her head yet... ;o)

But if it keeps going like this, I'll have that done soon enough as well. Redesigning the joints to make them suited to make in paper form is really the most time consuming part on this particular model.

I'll have to think of something to easily tell how to glue the hips together, because it's important to glue on the angled parts correctly so the balance will be good and Lara won't tip over... ;o)

Stay tuned!

Lara Croft below the belt

2009-07-04T10:26:00.004+02:00

Unlike on a Twilight Princess model like ZaL, the changes made to simplify a model from an "old" game like Tomb Raider Chronicles, are often a lot more subtle (but no less important).

Tomb Raider III blank quad bike templates re-release

2009-07-01T19:11:00.004+02:00

Maybe it's because I started my new Tomb Raider papercraft project, but I received several messages from people about the TR3 quad bike model I made earlier.

I released several versions of that one, including a blank one that you could print on coloured cardstock, or that you could colour yourself.

But therein lies the problem for the people that e-mailed me: they didn't know how to edit the PDF files on the computer, so I decided to release the blank quad bike as plain jpeg files, that everybody should be able to work with (but of course if you want to, you can also colour them after you printed them! ;o)

If you want to mix and match components with the coloured versions, make sure to print them at the same scale. The instructions stay the same of course, have fun building!

Who's chasing Lara?!

2009-06-30T19:18:00.003+02:00

Although in the game, you don't actually get to control Lara on dry land, and the Extreme Depth Suit is much to heavy and clumsy to move around in in any normal manner anyway, Lara running will make a great pose for the EDS papercraft model I think!

TR:Chronicles Extreme Depth Suit (EDS)

2009-06-28T10:02:00.003+02:00

Most of you already know I'm a sucker for old school 3D graphics. The N64, the classic Tomb Raiders...

The last classic Tomb Raider was Chronicles, and unfortunately, the game looked rushed and the PC version was full of bugs, especially the final level...

It still had its moments though. In what's probably one of the shortest levels in Tomb Raider history, you get to use this Extreme Depth Suit (EDS) to retreive the Spear of Destiny from a sunken U-boat on the ocean floor.

At first glance, it looks simple enough to make into a papercraft model, but of course I have to complicate things again *sigh*... ;o)

Stay tuned for updates!

greetz ninjatoes

Probably something Tomb Raider

2009-06-25T19:44:00.003+02:00

Possible ideas for my new project are slowly taking shape, it will probably be "something Tomb Raider"...

(and "something Advance Wars")

First ZaL has landed!

2009-06-22T19:34:00.003+02:00

Whew, I just uploaded my new Zora armor Link two days ago, and I haven't even really thought about a possible next subject yet, and already I received the first pictures of a finished ZaL!

Lauren built this in just one day (a few hours actually!) and it looks really amazing! Great job!

So like I said, I haven't decided on my next project yet, but after Cremia's wagon and the long time I've been working on ZaL, I think I'll want to do a non-Zelda project next. That doesn't tell you much, I know, but once I have decided, you guys will be the first to know. ;o)

Hero Clothes Link and TP Zelda are not scratched from the "to do"-list of course, it just means I'll make them later. ;o)

Stay tuned!

ZaL release

2009-06-20T16:53:00.002+02:00

I *finally* finished ZaL, have fun building!

download Twilight Princess Zora armor Link

ZaL release probably this weekend

2009-06-19T19:24:00.004+02:00

Even at a late stage like this, I sometimes find things I still want to change. It's no surprise that it's one of the parts that I decided not to test build of course... ;o)

Originally I wanted to try and see what the blade would look like if I cut it up lengthwise, but after I tried and saw, I came to the conclusion that it was much too difficult, so I decided to unfold it differently.

It's not that big a setback of course, and the sword and shield are the last parts I have yet to build. So perhaps I'll be able to release ZaL this weekend already.

About halfway with the instructions, I think

2009-06-17T20:24:00.004+02:00

I'm making the instructions as I'm building the final build. Well, sort of: I also already made the head and one of the hands, but those instructions aren't done yet. Step 33 is where I'm at as far as instructions are concerned.

The instructions for ZaL will have a lot of steps, as usual. Probably a lot more than you guys will need, but oh well... ;o)

Bobo called, he wants his shoes back...

2009-06-13T11:02:00.004+02:00

The final build is going quite quickly and I'm happy to announce that with clown's feet like these, we don't have to worry about Link falling over... ;o)

Stay tuned!

Half a Link makes one complete test build

2009-06-09T19:05:00.003+02:00

This hand is the last part I will test build I think; the sword and shield aren't the most troublesome parts, so I think I will skip the test build on those two parts and hope there won't be any surprises (aren't I the rebel? ;o)

The one-armed, one-legged, one-headed Link

2009-06-07T11:26:00.000+02:00

No hair, no ears, this is perhaps my easiest head to date... ;o)

The "method" of attaching the helmet to the head works great too, and allows for some adjusting if you wish to do so.

The one-armed, one-legged, no-headed Link

2009-06-06T10:28:00.003+02:00

I already found a few small things I'd like to change, but overall, ZaL's test build is turning out quite nicely.

I think I will keep the layered man-skirt, with some pre-shaping it looks a lot better than the flat version.

Stay tuned!

ZaL test build going great!

2009-06-03T19:32:00.003+02:00

Granted, I only glued the first few simple pieces together yet, but still... ;o)

Just getting started

2009-06-01T10:14:00.002+02:00

...and that makes 100%. Now it's time to unfold all the parts in Pepakura Designer and test build the papercraft model to see if everything works out the way I planned.

In other words, I'm just getting started... ;o)

Almost done with the 3D model...

2009-05-31T14:05:00.005+02:00

95% now, more or less.