PEPAKURA in prop making

Re: Peperuka in prop making

Some things work great with pepakura, and others make it more difficult. The building costs of pepakura are appealing since it is only cardstock, glue, printer ink, fiberglass resin, fiberglass mat/cloth, and body filler. You can even skip the fiberglass resin and just slush cast with casting resin. I don't recommend using just any 3d model to import into the software. It needs to be low-poly or the mesh needs to be "pep friendly".
Even meshes that have been specifically designed for pepakura have some tricky areas.
Propmaking with pepakura is not intended to be a final definitive solution, but as another option for builders. Speaking from experience, sculpting symmetry in clay is a pain, but in a 3d modeling software, it is simple. The quality of the finished product has a high dependence on the quality of the 3d mesh used in pepakura. Organic shapes do not usually come out well in pep, but there are exceptions.

Pepakura is great for weapon models, just turn off the "show tabs" option and transfer the pattern to sheet plastic/pvc/sintra etc.

It has its' uses, but I wouldn't rely on it for everything.


There's some Colonial Marine armor and weapon models on the 405th forums I believe.
 
Re: Peperuka in prop making

the guy who is doing the colonial marine stuff is nintendude or vagabond on teh SW boards. He and several others have completed the unfolds on all the armour and helmet - except fo the greebs (pepakura aint great for thiese small fiddly bits)

he's done loads of unfolds - bare in mind though, the pepakura model isnt meant to be hyper-accurate, merely a frame work to get goign on.
 
I didn't realize this got moved out of OT...oh, and the title was corrected? I thought that was hilarious. I guess we would have to get serious since we moved to the prop forum.

Anyway. Wasn't there a half size terminator endo papercraft book out there? I bet we the pep guys could make that into something awesome! Just double the scale, 1:1 endo.
 
Have been looking into this lately so a great thread for me :lol , my thoughts are similar to some of you guys in that it has a lot of possibilities if you know its limitations. I was thinking that basic prop shapes could be done in pep then add all the detail on after with plastic etc. I was thinking that if you could master a simple 3d program that was pep friendly anyone could make their own shells of a weapon for example and add to it. I use MDF a lot and as great as it is its pretty heavy at the end of the day, i can see pep expanding into a lot of prop making as they are producing all the halo weapons already so its only a matter of time before other props become available.

What 3d software is recomended for using with pep guys ?
 
I think papercraft needs lots of additional work to make it look more like a full fledged prop. I've seen those full statue papercraft, but they end up looking blocky and polygonal.

My work is testament to this...http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=55733 Frenzy's head was papercraft, but I had to add parts/ sculpt a full body for it to be effective.

Actually I just found this too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V25h8H4okME

Remember with pepakura, you can scale and detail a prop way before you ever build it!!! It's like CNC with out the carving machine! (not really)

I use Maya, export to DXF which imports perfectly into pepakura. I also use a program called 3d Rippper DX to take in-game models and turn them into models I can modify! Lots of people out there use Google Sketchup (free) which imports nicely into pepakura.
 
Last edited:
Ikariya said:
I think papercraft needs lots of additional work to make it look more like a full fledged prop. I've seen those full statue papercraft, but they end up looking blocky and polygonal.

My work is testament to this...http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=55733"]http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=55733[/URL] Frenzy's head was papercraft, but I had to add parts/ sculpt a full body for it to be effective.

Actually I just found this too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V25h8H4okME

Remember with pepakura, you can scale and detail a prop way before you ever build it!!! It's like CNC with out the carving machine! (not really)

I use Maya, export to DXF which imports perfectly into pepakura. I also use a program called 3d Rippper DX to take in-game models and turn them into models I can modify! Lots of people out there use Google Sketchup (free) which imports nicely into pepakura.
Click to expand...


What I dont understand with frenzy is why make his head out of paper , when you had to do the whole body anyway. Should be one or the other ? It seems the body would have been harder to make anyway
 
Fetts.Sobriquet said:
I'm starting to wonder if Iron Man statues will become a dime a dozen if pepakura really has made the whole suit reasonable to make time/money/skill wise. I guess we won't know until various skill sets attempt it. Finhead is having great success but he also has a lot of talent. Others might not. I wish someone would make a robocop pepakura so I can finally afford to own one. :lol

How much does a whole pepakura costume weigh? One that is glassed, and has plenty of body filler all over it smoothing it out nicely. Would a head to toe robocop/Iron man suit be impractical? Are these statues or costumes?

I suppose you could always make a mold from the finished product an cast it in resin/fiberglass to cut down on the body filler weight.
Click to expand...

There are complete files for both Robocop and Iron Man. Weight for the pieces will depend on how many layers of fiberglass you use, how much bondo, and how many pieces are involved with the complete costume. But youre right about the molding, a cast piece is TONS lighter than a pep master.

pep is the base for all my halo gear, and now for the Iron Man and War Machine projects. but its just that. a base. tons more work still goes in to completing a master. dont judge all pep builders or the medium itself based on the products youve seen where kids just pep something and paint it. of course it looks blocky. its not the methods, its the builder. if you were to give a hunk of clay to a builder with the same work ethic and skill set as someone that leaves their pep master all blocky, then you will have just as ugly of a result. i dont think its a developing trend tho, i think its already established. its just another tool in the toolbox. good for some things, completely wrong for others.
 
I agree with Goosebot. There are a ton of threads that have the title "Finished" on the 405th when some folks have only finished putting together the paper. At that stage IMO, it's only the beginning.

And any pep piece worth it's salt usually gets molded down the road. Cons and life is rough and everyone likes a guaranteed supply of replacements JIC. That and some pieces for trading props with fellow proppers.:lol
 
Im making a Fallout 3 BOS Helmet. This is my 5th built of the helmet and all the other was eder too big or the model was warped. Right now im building my 6ths and its going to be perfect.
helmetq.jpg
 
Change is good.

This costume began as Pepakura models that were fiberglassed, detailed, then molded or used directly to create bucks for the vac table. Think Pepakura is just for kids?... think again.

Black5.jpg


DSC06626.jpg


DSC06825.jpg


It's a tool, like anything else; just another way to do something that has it's use. It can either make your work easier , or infinitely harder. I think it all depends on who's hands are at the helm. Everyone has their preferences.

It should be noted that this approach was developed as a cost effective alternative to prototype 3-D models, no expensive CAD milling required... all you need is a printer and patience. It that regard, the technique excels.

Traditional sculpting will always have it's place, and every method has distinct advantages, but when it comes down to it.. aesthetically, there's more than one way to skin a cat.
 
This has come way up the scale.

Love how far its come as a tool for the skeleton of the prop and fleshing things out. Theres some amazing stuff.

I have a PS3 game I need something from, if you feel you can do this I have the $$$.
 
I like that it shifts the focus back on making it yourself instead of buying from someone else (and I've done my share of selling).

People may also be less likely to create and buy recasts if they can make armor/helmets themselves.
 
The quality has sure improved. I remember when people was pepping Halo 1 helmets and everyone thought they were Uber cool. Looking back at the first models they where blocky and relying on the game texture for defenitions. Now the tiny details are in the model and makes it very much better.
 
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