Papercraft props - Anyway to make them last longer?

[Jet Beetle]

there are lots of papercraft sites - especially when it comes to video game characters like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTYNDoTecOM

I love the way these things turn out - they look like they were plucked right off screen of the game - Is there anyway to make them last loner - or perhaps build them around something that would be more of a statue - foamcore - or some sort of hardening spray?

 

[R2Dan]

all the pepakura guys use resin and fiberglass to reinforce their paper models. Works fine, but the brushed on resin might need a bit of sanding afterwards. Fiberglass usually goes on the inside for reinforcement

 

[Jet Beetle]

that sounds great - have you ever held one that has been treated like this? And - I know this will sound stupid but, would you be brushing on the fiberglass on the inside ?

Know of any good links where this method is demonstrated?

 

[Contec]

For such small figure i would cut a small hole in the shoe of the figure and pour some resin inside and move it around (slushcasting) and after a few pour all of the figure will have a layer of resin on the inside and dont need any fiberglass.

 

[Raffles]

that sounds great - have you ever held one that has been treated like this? And - I know this will sound stupid but, would you be brushing on the fiberglass on the inside ?

Know of any good links where this method is demonstrated?

http://405th.com/forums

Lots of great tutorials on here. I'm actually just putting the finishing touches to a helmet. I'll post a step-by-step on how to reinforce it for you.

 

[MisriahArmory]

I pour Smoothcast 300 in my stuff. Then I add fiberglass. You can't go more solid

 

[Jet Beetle]

http://405th.com/forums

Lots of great tutorials on here. I'm actually just putting the finishing touches to a helmet. I'll post a step-by-step on how to reinforce it for you.

Thanks a million Raffles -

i saw on other sites the people who glob the resin gel all over the helmet they made but that gel is not clear and it seems like I may ruin the paper sculpture

 

[Contec]

then use a tiny amont on the inside of the sculpture at first. Just as little so that it dont warp the paper.

 

[JackFrost]

you can give them several light coats of clear, it has to be done in light coats though so the ink wont run at first

 

[R2Dan]

Sorry, the outside resin coating would of course ruin the printed papercraft finish. filling it with resin sounds like a great idea though! There are clear resins as well, but then it would look gloss coated and that's probably not what you want

I'd try the slush casting method as contec suggested

 

[drusselmeyer]

My question is: Why does papercraft have to be in PAPER??

Print on plastic instead!

There are several brands of clear transparency material made for your printer(laser or inkjet) that will give you crisp clear images on a plastic surface rather than paper!

A coat of white paint on the back side of the image should work with any images which need to be opaque.

 

[fabrik]

For a cheaper alternative why not try builders foam, just squirt some inside (though not too much) and it should expand to fill the entire space inside the model and dry pretty tough and light. You can then use a spray laquer on the outside to make it tougher.

 

[propologist]

My question is: Why does papercraft have to be in PAPER??

Print on plastic instead!

There are several brands of clear transparency material made for your printer(laser or inkjet) that will give you crisp clear images on a plastic surface rather than paper!

A coat of white paint on the back side of the image should work with any images which need to be opaque.

oops I was thinking of the cubecraft stuff..

 

[Contec]

For a cheaper alternative why not try builders foam, just squirt some inside (though not too much) and it should expand to fill the entire space inside the model and dry pretty tough and light. You can then use a spray laquer on the outside to make it tougher.

It works but it can easy deform the model.

 

[blackdog]

Home depot used to sell a product that would penatrat wood and harden into plastic. paper is wood pulp. I would look into that.

 

[Goosebot 5000]

what exactly are you trying to support?

 

[BlindSquirrel]

I've faced the same issue. I spray the outside with Crystal Clear to seal the paper and the pour some plastic inside for a nice slush coat. Any expanding foam will de-form your piece.

 

[Goosebot 5000]

I've faced the same issue. I spray the outside with Crystal Clear to seal the paper and the pour some plastic inside for a nice slush coat. Any expanding foam will de-form your piece.

thats why i was asking what he was building. i would agree with this and go for slush coats. that way you dont have to worry about with fiberglass at all. just a few minutes of swirling chemicals and youre done.

 

[CB2001]

Indy Mogul's Halo Armor, which uses Papercraft method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1WK26NHx0o

From one of the PDFs I read at the 405th, an alternate method to the resin/fiberglass method is using resin and hot glue (as in hot glue sticks kind of hot glue). I didn't read it all the way, but I'm sure the PDF is still up there.

 

[xenocon]

I've faced the same issue. I spray the outside with Crystal Clear to seal the paper and the pour some plastic inside for a nice slush coat. Any expanding foam will de-form your piece.

Best advise on this thread. 405th mostly discusses prop building and doesn't address issues of maintaining the print of the papercraft. gradually filling the inside with slushed resin is tough though when you find that a small hole somewhere in the piece lets out enough resin to ruin it.