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

[xingshen]

Thought so

Thanks

 

[Auryn]

Firstly, thank you everyone for sharing so much knowledge and experience.
I have gone through this whole post, all the tutorials and I still have a couple of questions- but I have questions about the 3d files.

I am currently in the process of deciding wether to spend copious number of hours learning blender and creating my own 3d file of the armor I want to make ( Of course the character I chose has neither a pep file nor a 3d file out in the verse that I can find) or to pay someone I found on elance to create the 3d file for me.

If these questions are answered elsewhere feel free to point my ignorance in the right direction
The questions I have are
1- are there any specific parameters or tips that should be followed in the creation of the 3d file of the armor?
2- should the armor be scaled to my size in the 3d file or later in the pepakura software??
3- once the 3d file is imported to the pep software, will the software unfold the different pieces automatically or will I be doing that by hand??

 

[Aphius]

The questions I have are
1- are there any specific parameters or tips that should be followed in the creation of the 3d file of the armor?
2- should the armor be scaled to my size in the 3d file or later in the pepakura software??
3- once the 3d file is imported to the pep software, will the software unfold the different pieces automatically or will I be doing that by hand??

1. Try to avoid making the model too complex, it needs to be able to be assembled by humans.
2. You just have to make sure it would fit, but mainly you'll specify the scale in Pepakura itself.
3. It does unfold them automatically if you tell it to, but it has no regard for your human logics and will throw really long parts at you that kind of intersect and do some strange things. Not always though, for example a simple model will not have the same issues as I usually end up being asked to unfold complex shapes.

I usually specify edges myself and then tell the software to unfold it how I want.

What are you trying to make? Maybe someone can help with whether it exists or not.

 

[Xolotl]

I tried a search with no luck if somebody could help it would be greatly appreciated. I have multiple pep parts spreading across multiple pages.....is there anything I can do to where tabs and numbers would be added to the edges of these pieces so that I can make one piece out of it? Or do I just have to pay attention to the printing order and try and piece them together that way?

 

[Aphius]

Last time I did that I had to pay attention to the printing order.

Hoever, you can also add text labesl to the pieces at the page border, at least then you can mark which is the two edges of part A etc.

 

[dvaras1]

hello everyone. new guy

Im so new at this it should be illegal but I have a question:

I downloaded the pepakura viewer software to be able to get the templates for a few things I want to try my luck on. Issue Im having is that when I print, I only get the numbers and not the outline of the item in question, even when I set the lines to a heavier setting. Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[Pilot]

No sweat, dvaras1, we usually don't prosecute for the first offense. :lol

In my experience - and these may not be the only reasons - files will print like that because either (a) they're set up for metric A4-sized paper rather than US letter (or the reverse) and the software gets confused, or (b) the pieces are laid out too close to the borders of the printable area of the paper, and the software gets confused.

As far as solving either one of those problems, or any others regarding the Viewer program, I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you. I haven't touched anything except Designer in ages and would likely steer you wrong as far as what options are or are not available in Viewer. I just wanted to let you know that you're not the only one this happens to, and we are listening out here.

Welcome to the RPF!

 

[SaberFreak]

I had the same problem when I bought a new printer and used it to print pep files for the first time(I had no such problem with my older printer).

I found out that it's because my printer was configured to print 'Document' or 'Text' by default, and I had to change the setting to 'text & drawing' to get the lines to show.

Fiddle around with your printer's setting and see if that solves the problem.

 

[STEALTH]

Get Pepakura Designer, you can do a lot more in terms of modifying the files for your needs.

 

[JasonCash]

does anyone have a pep file for a TMNT Shredder helm and face plate from the cartoon?

 

[Korban]

hello everyone. new guy

Im so new at this it should be illegal but I have a question:

I downloaded the pepakura viewer software to be able to get the templates for a few things I want to try my luck on. Issue Im having is that when I print, I only get the numbers and not the outline of the item in question, even when I set the lines to a heavier setting. Any help will be greatly appreciated

I solved this by changing the line setting under the print settings from Vector to Bitmap (I believe). I'm going off memory here, but basically the finer, smoother option made the lines print faintly or not at all, even with thickness set to 10. As soon as I switched to the other option I could set the thickness to 3 and still get a nice line.

 

[Fierfek]

does anyone have a pep file for a TMNT Shredder helm and face plate from the cartoon?

I made this file a while back from a TMNT shredder model.

If you want I could upload it.

 

[JasonCash]

that looks great but I'm looking for the original cartoon helm.....

 

[SuperheroDIY]

Hi all,

I've begun my first foray into Pep and am having some trouble. One issue is the scaling but I will get that figured out on my own, not a big problem.

The second and strangest thing that I just can't figure out is that whenever I unfold my model it creates mirror patterns in the 2D model. Doesn't make any sense. If I want to actually put it together then I have to cut it in half before I do so. And it does this for EVERY single piece!

What is the deal with that? I've searched and searched online and on this board but I can't find anything about that. Here's an example.

My model is below -- note the shape of one side:

Then when I unfold it, it creates this mirror pattern for this one side. I added the green line so you could see how it's mirrored:

And it does this for every piece so I have to cut each one in half! Any help/suggestions are really appreciated.

 

[Coolguy26]

Hello guys, i've been into pepakura and such for a long time and stuck in the detailing the fiberglassed helmet part.

So my question is, when you detail armor, how is it done? Do you use a dremel? Cuz i dont have one, and i was wondering if its possible without one. Like maybe with a knife or something. I'm about to bondo and i would like to know what to do.

Thanks in advance

 

[SaberFreak]

So my question is, when you detail armor, how is it done? Do you use a dremel?

Can you be more specific? I don't use a dremel at all(although I do have one) when I do the finishing on any of my pieces(pep or otherwise). I only use hand tools.

 

[Coolguy26]

Detailing , like as in when you add lines to the helmet, how would you add them. Do you use a knife? Before, after, or during bondo-ing? How is it done?

 

[SaberFreak]

All detailing should be added after bondoing. If its a depressed line I would add it using a scribing tool, or a sharpened nail in my case.

If its a raised line I'd roll some milliput into a string and use that to construct the line.

 

[Coolguy26]

Ok thanks a bunch, now i could detail:cool

 

[Apocodaddy]

Dung0beetle's tutorial link doesn't work.