2/28/2016

Little FAQ for beginners - English Version

(Version Française :  http://hellswordpapercraft.blogspot.fr/2016/02/petite-faq-pour-les-debutants-version.html )

Hello everyone !!

These times, I recieve more and more mails from people who want to begin papercrafting with some of my models and naturally, they have a lot of questions to ask which is completely normal so I decided to make a kind of FAQ to answer some of those questions to help people who wish to make their first Papercrafts to be right on track. Let's begin !!



-What is the difference between the different folding lines ?

There is two kind of folding lines, the first one which is something like this : --------- is called "mountain fold" just like the name implies it, the folding must be done to look like this : /\. Then, the other line which looks like this -.-.-.-.-.-.- is called "valley fold" and it's just a reverse fold like this  \/.
It's really important to respect that because folds are what gives textures and shape to the models.


What about paper and other stuff I need to begin building ? 

Most of my models must be built from paper going from 125g to 180g, everything depends on the size and the difficulty of the model. For example, if you want to make any model from my Fairy Tail series (which is really popular among beginners) go for 125g paper. And if you are not sure which paper to use most of the time if the model has a difficulty labeled as "easy/medium" it means 125g is the one to chose !
Now about the glue, it's kind of difficult to tell for people who doesn't live in France. Personnally, I use Scotch Gel glue which is an awesome glue but I have no idea if it can be found outside of France but here is a picture to show you what it looks like :
Now, some people ask me if they should use scissors or cutters or anything else, well you can use anything you are comfortable with even a chainsaw or a sword if it's what you like but if you do use those things, please be careful and send me photos of your finished models, I'm curious to see what a chainsawed Papercraft looks like !!

Do I need to put weight in the model to make it stand ?   

Short version : yes, always !
Why ? Because it makes the model stand on its feet (if it has feet of course because my MiniPokés doesn't have any feet !) and it prevents the model from flying away with the first draught.
What can I use to add weight in the model ? Marbles, rocks, anything you like, as long as it some weight and as long as it fits in the feet it's all good !!

Where are the instructions ? 

This one is the most asked question so here is a detailed answer :
The "instructions" are the .pdo files available with each and every of my models. Those files must be opened with Pepakura Viewer, it's a FREE software which can be downloaded here :  http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/download/viewer/  Now, let me show you how it works !


 As you can see, there is two windows, on the left there is the 3D model of the soon to be Papercraft, you can zoom, move and turn around the model as much as you like using only your mouse. In the right window, you can see all the parts to build the model, you can also move and zoom anyway you want but what makes this software awesome is that if you click on any part of the model here is what happens :


I clicked on the red framed skirt part and as you can see, it's now the only part showing on the left window, this way you can know where every part goes where but it also let you see where each glueing tabs are to be glued, just put your cursor on a tab and here is what happens :


I put my cursor on the upper most tab of the left skirt part and now, the tab is linked with a red line where it should be glued and you can see that the red line continues on the skirt part, it means that all the other tabs are to be glued just after the first one.

I see but... How do I know where to begin ? 

Don't worry, my job as Papercraft Builder is to arrange all the parts on the pages so they roughly are in building order. For example, this Erza model must build from the feet to her head and the arms must be built from hands to shoulders and Pepakura show you exactly which part is to be glued after the other. 
Erza model can be downloaded from here :  http://hellswordpapercraft.blogspot.fr/2014/02/fairy-tail-erza-scarlet-papercraft.html 

I really want to do Papercraft but what are the best models to begin with ? 

If you wish to begin Papercrafting, I've made some good models beginner friendly :
MiniPokés series : http://hellswordpapercraft.blogspot.fr/search/label/Mini%20Pok%C3%A9mon%20Papercraft
Chibi Puck from Berserk : http://hellswordpapercraft.blogspot.fr/2016/01/berserk-chibi-puck-papercraft.html
All the stuff you can find here : http://hellswordpapercraft.blogspot.fr/search/label/Other%20Papercraft

But as much as I'm proud to know that some people begin Papercraft with my models, I must admit must of my work isn't beginner friendly at all, so if you really want to begin with something easy but that looks awesome, I think the best option is to visit Canon Creative Park : http://cp.c-ij.com/en/categories/CAT-ST01-0071/top.html most of the stuff there is really cool !!

Well, I think it's enough for now ^-^ if you have any other questions about any of  my models, any building problems, just send me a mail and I'll help you the best I can !!

If you like my work and if you wish to support me and get some exclusive stuff in exchange, don't hesitate to check out my Patreon page by clicking on this button :


I really hope this article helped you and I wish you a good day !!

See you later for more Papercrafts *o*

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