The PEPAKURA question thread - PLEASE READ RULES IN FIRST POST!

Garicknak1 said:
Which method is better, a foam armor or papercraft? I know that papercraft requires bondo and fiberglass plus sanding and that Foam is easier. I like how the Fiberglass is sharper looking but the foam is decent also. In the forums opinion which is better?
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this has been discussed a bazilion times.

neither one is better. it depends on what result you want. pepakura will get you more durable rigid piece, while foam will wear because of its bendy nature, but its cheaper and easier to build

both are equally good tools for costume making, and the final decision is only yours to make.
 
Garicknak1 said:
Which method is better, a foam armor or papercraft? I know that papercraft requires bondo and fiberglass plus sanding and that Foam is easier. I like how the Fiberglass is sharper looking but the foam is decent also. In the forums opinion which is better?
Click to expand...
Being a pep guy, I couldn't understand why folks used foam. It just didn’t make sense to me. So I started asking. Apparently foam build can be significantly faster plus there are a lot of shortcuts one can take in foam. Even with card stock (instead of paper) large projects tend to become troublesome as the weight of the paper is beyond the strength of the paper and handling becomes difficult. Also, the larger the project, the easier it is for small errors to add up to big errors, especially on circular builds (I recommend starting on the inside and working your way outward). Furthermore, I've seen some folks do amazing paper builds and then watch as their pieces sagged under the weight and wetness of resin. Not to mention, even though its light as paper, dropping an unresined project could be catastrophic. Also, on large projects, I can see how running a single bead of glue to merge two foam parts would be handy instead of gluing 60 individual tabs. Then again, with the individual paper tabs, you'd have a tad bit more accuracy.

In summary, Foam has some great advantages. That being said, I haven't tried it and plan to stick to my paper. Lol.
 
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I have a somewhat off the topic question, The link I have for a tutorial on how to do Pepakura folding seems to be down and I think bugged, Does anyone know what is wrong with www.405th.com? Is it downfor maintenance, or has it been hacked?
 
i dont really know what i'm talking about, but i heard that the forum was down due to some issue a couple days ago.

in the mean time, if you want to take a look at my shredder thread (link below in my signature) i take you through the steps and if you have any questions feel free to post here, there, or send me a pm.
 
The 405th is down on repairs to the site, it was exploited by a malware bot and now has been closed. There hasn't been any word as far as when it will be back up and running.

About the folds check the model info to see which settings are on it, but in most cases (if the model is default white) the fold lines will be as such:

------- Mountain fold ( like this ^)
_._._._ Valley fold ( like this V )

If you want a good way to make your folds better score them lightly with a dull Xacto knife or use a ball point pen with a ruler to line your marks up.

Hope this helps.

-The Armorer
 
Ouch. good luck to them... I never understood why folks want to destroy other peoples stuff.

I find the Xacto method works best for mountain folds (be careful & cut lightly) while the ball point pen method (i use a dinner knife turned upside down) for valley folds.
 
Hey, is anyone having problems with getting files off of 4Shared? im trying to get the JoWe and Stealth warmachine foam files but everytime i click the link it brings up this Apache Tomcat internal error page.... any help with this? or can someone send me the files?
 
I think I've got the basics of pep down, and am at the point where I've built my paper structure (a long, curved Loki horn to be used as a model to make casts from)...however, I'm stuck on the physics of strengthening the piece from the inside when all I can really get to is about the first 2.5 inches of the inner surface.

Any tips? I can certainly resin the outer surface, but I'm nervous about getting to the bondo point and having the piece collapse from the pressure of sanding :x
 
You print it on a printer then move it to the Silhouette. The printed pages contain corner marks that the printer can use to align itself with so that the cuts match the printing.


Hacksaw44 said:
So if you get the Silhouette Cameo to cut the Pep files does it also print or do you print it first then move to the cutter ? I was wondering as to how it would line up with the lines if it from another print machine.
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Help sizeing a helmet PEP file

I'm in the process of making a Halo: Reach Spartan armor and helmet, but I've run into a bit of a snag. I'm currently trying to adjust the size of the Mark V helmet PEP file so that it'll fit my head. The default assembled size, in millimeters, is Hight: 300, Width: 288, Depth: 401. My head size is 23 inches around and 10 inches high, measured from top of head to bottom of jaw. In millimeters that's 584.2mm around and 254mm high. The size should also include space for padding. My question is what size should the pep file be adjusted to?
 
Re: Help sizeing a helmet PEP file

Thanks dude. I tried 280mm high, but it kept setting it to 279, so I decided to try 282. But now the problem is that on the right side of Pep designer 3, the pieces have moved out of alignment, so when I go to print them up, the pieces are going to get chopped up. How do I re-align them? My other question is what do people normally put on the PEPed helmet?
 
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OwlSpeckles said:
..Any tips? I can certainly resin the outer surface, but I'm nervous about getting to the bondo point and having the piece collapse from the pressure of sanding :x
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If it were me, and I wanted it to be really good and strong to withstand significant sanding before casting, I might try wrapping it in cling wrap and blue painter's tape to help seal the seams and mix some high-density filler (like colloidal silica, which would be stronger than sawdust) with some chopped strand into some resin and just pour it inside. Colloidal silica is really light and fluffy so that when you mix it into the resin, it makes it more viscous and not nearly so runny, and when it cures, it has a very hard and durable surface. And FYI, you're definitely going to need a dremel tool to sand it, because if any of it leaks out of any seams, the silica is going to make it way too hard to sand by hand with a block. Just don't use too much or else it's more likely to leave large air bubbles trapped at the bottom. The high-density filler is just to retard the viscosity enough so that your pep (hopefully) doesn't leak like a sieve. Also be sure to pour it relatively quickly once you get it mixed up, because that much resin will probably heat up fast, which means it will cure faster. You can just mix it up in several batches if you want to be able to take your time, though. Even so, the cling wrap and tape might not be enough seal it completely, so if you're going to try this, be sure to set down a plastic drop-cloth, too.
 
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Re: Help sizeing a helmet PEP file

You can left click on any of the pieces and move then onto a new sheet of paper as one option. In addition, the second tool in on the bottom line of tools is the rotate tool. If you click on that and then click on the large piece, you can rotate it to make a better page fit. If all else fails, right click on the troublesome pice and choose the join/disjoin face. Wherever you click on the piece, it will separate into two smaller pieces. Hope that makes sense. Keep in mind, if you only have the freeware version, you won't be able to save the changes.
 
So youre going to mold and cast it once done?

Simple! it doesnt need to be hollow, so use some exanding foam inside to solidify the shape ;)

Dont stop there!
Why use bondo and resin to create your outer surface? I assume you're making a silicone mold, so why not just use sulphur free clay to sculpt the shape? :D
OwlSpeckles said:
I think I've got the basics of pep down, and am at the point where I've built my paper structure (a long, curved Loki horn to be used as a model to make casts from)...however, I'm stuck on the physics of strengthening the piece from the inside when all I can really get to is about the first 2.5 inches of the inner surface.

Any tips? I can certainly resin the outer surface, but I'm nervous about getting to the bondo point and having the piece collapse from the pressure of sanding :x
Click to expand...
 
I have a question about scaling. I divided my height by millimeters and and came up with a number but I dont think its correct. I came up with a ratio of 17.272000 for someone who's 68 inches tall can someone more experienced with pep or math double check this and tell me if it's right? Id like to start pepping my first ever Iron Man helmet tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks.
 
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