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Excalibur Scratchbuilt Papercraft Figure

BuildMyPaperHeart

By BuildMyPaperHeart,
in Fan Art

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BuildMyPaperHeart

BuildMyPaperHeart

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excalibur_by_buildmypaperheart-d7wyqnr.j

 

 
I decided to return to this project (after a year and a half) at first because I'd finished the Captain America figure, but also because Digital Extremes announced this Limited Edition Excalibur Statue: http://store.warframe.com/products/excalibur-collectors-statue*
 
I thought: "I could spend under $100 to own one of these... or spend over 100 hours making one of my own." As an artist alone, I made the obvious choice! I've said it before, but gosh this figure was a long time in the making, and I'm glad to see him finally completed, as he should be and deserves.
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BuildMyPaperHeart

BuildMyPaperHeart

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Thanks everyone for the awesome compliments :D

 

Any details on the build process?

 

Hard to explain. It's the same in terms of the basic steps but much different in terms of the specific parts. But I suppose I'll overview.

It's mostly just knowing how to fold 3D shapes, and being able to draw the templates out. You know those T-shaped templates that fold into a box? Like that, but for all sorts of geometric shapes. Those basic principles make up the bulk of the smaller parts, which are then combined to make a full figure. If you're looking to get into papercraft, I started with Cubeecraft: http://www.cubeecraft.com/. Then you can move onto more complicated figures when you feel confident in that.

 

In terms of tools, it's just paper, a pencil, ruler, good precision scissors, a hobby knife just in case, Elmer's white glue, and a toothpick for applying said glue. First you draw up the unfolded part on the paper you want to use. I tend towards Construction/Pastel paper. Then you cut out the piece, fold it, and use the toothpick to apply a good thin layer of glue to the folds. Press the folds together and eventually construct the part. Repeat until a few parts are done, and then you can either put them together or add more detail work if necessary. Graph paper helps a ton in working out the specific measurements of stuff or for sketching potential proportions.

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MechaTails

MechaTails

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Yeah, I've made papercraft stuff before, it was fun for the first 5 minutes, then it got tedious cutting all the shapes out lol. I like how Steelix turned out.

 

I'm more interested in the joints, I didn't know you could make sturdy joints with paper lol. Do you have to harden those pieces with glue? Did you design them yourself? How are they assembled? Maybe you took inspiration from Shockini figures?

 

Oh yeah, and I think you could save yourself some headaches if you simply make a basic body then add details by gluing them on. Would give the figure a neat layered effect too, I think. It looks like that's what you did for the chest piece for example, and it looks cool :)

Edited by DarkTails
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BuildMyPaperHeart

BuildMyPaperHeart

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I'm more interested in the joints, I didn't know you could make sturdy joints with paper lol. Do you have to harden those pieces with glue? Did you design them yourself? How are they assembled? Maybe you took inspiration from Shockini figures?

 

I definitely had to build it myself, though it's all inspired by traditional joint tech.

The rotating joints are based on the first tutorial of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bAOo7N3re4. Learned this waaay back in high school like 2009 or so, it's been an amazing bit of knowledge for me.

As for the shoulder/elbow/knee/thigh joints, it's sort of like this: http://s659.photobucket.com/user/sarnian1979/media/CutJoint_zps2e47f5c7.jpg.html. See how there are three pieces: two blue pieces that snap together, and one orange piece between them. They rotate at the connection peg in the orange part, which is secured on both ends by the blue parts. Now just imagine the peg being a fourth, separate piece, that's pushed through a hole in all three parts. This is then secured by an extra layer over the external to "lock" the peg in place.

 

Oh yeah, and I think you could save yourself some headaches if you simply make a basic body then add details by gluing them on. Would give the figure a neat layered effect too, I think. It looks like that's what you did for the chest piece for example, and it looks cool :)

 

That's exactly what I did for all the parts! One step ahead of ya! It's a great tactic to ensure accuracy and give depth. Hard to see from the picture though, I've only got my phone for a camera.

Edited by BuildMyPaperHeart
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