Nintendo LABO

The creativity of Nintendo never ceases to amaze me.  This time with Nintendo LABO, we’re getting games that are literally straight out of dreams and into reality.  I reflect on a time when we were all kids and would let our imagination take us to a fantasy where we were in castles or the jungle, or in space; and we would make our tools and weapons from household objects and cardboard.  This is what I see as the inspiration for LABO.  Obviously kit 1 and 2 will be basic, but if it’s a success the possibilities are endless of what we can get.  Imagine a Legend of Zelda kit where you build your own master sword and shield.  This is taking my love for papercraft to the next level.

Nintendo LABO:

https://labo.nintendo.com

Homer Simpson Papercraft

This Homer Simpson papercraft was created by Ninjatoes.  It comes with the papercraft sheet and instruction sheet.  There’s a lot of stuff to printout, so I suggest you print the instructions in black and white ink.  I would also recommend you make two copies of the papercraft sheet because one copy will be the one you cut and build, and the other can be used as a guide sheet.  This papercraft seems easy, but after all the cutting and gluing you will realize that it’s actually challenging.

The difficult parts were the small parts such as the arms, fingers, ears and nose.  Since there were a lot of parts to glue, it also took longer to build because of how much time I had to wait for pieces to dry before connecting them together.  Needless to say, patience and tweezers were both needed in this build.  While the instructions are color photos, I was still lost on certain sections of the build and had to improvise.  The easiest parts to build were the pants, shirt, and shoes.

Once completed Homer looks pretty cute, and accurate to the cartoon.  The arms of my papercraft are a little warped, but I’m okay with that because it’s barely noticeable.  My favorite part of this papercraft is the head because of how much detail went into building it (the printout even includes Homer’s comb over hair).  In fact just building the head alone would be sufficient to have as a nice display piece.  I had a great time building Homer Simpson, and hope to do another Ninjatoes papercraft in the future.

Homer Simpson Papercraft:

http://ninjatoes.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/homer-simpson

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roWtEj5_7CA

Breaking Bad Paper Dolls

I usually like to Google random stuff that’s on my mind when I’m bored.  This one time though, I was watching part 1 of season 5 of Breaking Bad when I decided to do a search on Breaking Bad art.  I found a lot of really cool art inspired by the show, but the one piece that really got my attention was paper dolls from the show.  The artwork is done by illustrator, Kyle Hilton.  His artwork reminds me of artwork from GTA Vice City and San Andreas. They both have this cel shading type of effect.

Kyle is very talented and likes to create various paper doll characters from TV and movies.  On his website you can find paper dolls from movies such as Pulp Fiction, Drive, and from TV shows such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Eastbound and Down.  You can tell Kyle is a true fan of these movies and shows because of all the detailed accessories he adds to his printouts.  In fact if you’re a fan of these shows too, you’re bound to get a laugh when you see them and they remind you of certain episodes.

Each paper doll character consists of one full color printout.  The cutting is pretty easy, although certain areas require more skill (such as the holes in a ski mask).  Once the cutting is done, each piece of clothing (i.e. pants or suits) adds on pretty easily and cleanly.  I like to use painter’s tape to attach pieces, because painter’s tape holds on pretty well and doesn’t rip paper.  I had fun playing around with this quasi-papercraft, and hope Kyle keep’s up the great work.  (I would also suggest he do characters from the Wire.)

Breaking Bad:

http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad

Kyle Hilton’s website:

http://flannelanimal.tumblr.com

YouTube:

http://youtu.be/V_eQjlCIItw

Megatron Papercraft

This is my second Transformers papercraft, the first one was of Optimus Prime.  I loved that papercraft because he was actually able to transform from robot mode to auto mode.  Unfortunately Megatron doesn’t transform into a gun, so he’s always in robot mode.  Not that this makes a failure, but it just would have been nice to see him transform.  Megatron does come with some cool features such as a removable cannon and a classic 80’s look.

This papercraft requires two sheets of paper, one for instructions and the other one is the template.  To create him you will need scissors, glue and string.  The instructions are pretty easy to follow, and he is fun to build.  Megatron is such a cool villain, and if you’re going to make Optimus Prime you also have to make Megatron (and once you make him, be sure to squash him).

Papercraft template link:

http://www.paperrobots1999.com/model10.html

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-TJ7zXMlCc

Nike Air Force 1 Papercraft

The Nike Air Force 1 papercraft is a very special papercraft for me because it’s the one that triggered my interest into papercraft as a hobby.  I love it because it mixes my love for sneakers with the joy of constructing something from paper.  The template was created by Shin, who is also a sneaker head and has done various other papercrafts.  The best part of this build is that it only requires one sheet of paper, so it’s really easy to do.  First off what you want to do is cut each piece individually neatly.  Trust me the cleaner your cut, the better the final product will look.

You might want to cut out two copies of this template because it can get a little confusing.  That is unless you follow my video and see which pieces are glued on to one another first.  After I cut each piece I also like to fold the creases so that once they’re glued you won’t have to do it.  Once the major pieces are constructed the final piece is the laces.  I like to take my time here by cutting and gluing each string individually.  When it’s complete it gives it a nice 3D look to them.

If someone were to ask me what is the best papercraft to start with, I would say this is an absolute must.  It’s not easy, but the final product is so rewarding.  While, Shin has done many other shoes since then, this is still his best work.  I’m still hoping though, that one day he might want to do a Nike SB model as well.  If not, I will attempt to create one myself.... err... but don’t hold your breath, lol. Till then I will keep doing this same model, but in different colors.

Nike Air Force 1 template:

http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/FUU/RPWY/FM2KBS4W/FUURPWYFM2KBS4W.pdf
Shin’s Website:

http://shin.co.nr/

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LaOcCfV9oA

Spiderman Papercraft

When it comes to superheroes, Spiderman is one of the coolest out there.  I was first introduced to him back in the 80’s when his 60’s TV show would be broadcasted in the morning.  Though the animation now seems ancient, when I was a little boy it was one of the most exciting shows to watch (along with Rocket Robin Hood and The Mighty Hercules).  I loved the theme song especially, “Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can... etc.”  Then as I got older I started reading his comics and got involved in the comic collector hype of the early 90’s.  I really loved Spiderman because there were so many things I could relate to him with.  First off his name was Peter, which is also my name (that might seem insignificant but I always thought it was neat).  Second, he loved Mary Jane, a redhead which I also share an interest with.  And third, he was a web-slinging-spiderman; how could you not like that.

Spiderman’s powers are the only powers I think that are just as amazing as Superman’s.  I mean flying is cool, but so is web-slinging.  In the spirit of admiring Spiderman I decide to undertake a papercraft version of him.  The version I found was from paperrobots1999.com, the same place where I first got a papercraft version of Optimus Prime.  This website makes amazing designs that are simple to follow that can also have hidden gems.  For example I like how you are be able to remove Spiderman’s mask and reveal Peter Parker’s face.  The only difficult part of this build was attaching the chest pieces to one another.  Once put together this papercraft can be positioned in multiple stances with various moving parts and is worth the effort to build.

Papercraft template link:

http://www.paperrobots1999.com/model07.html  (no longer working)
Try this:

https://lukebwallace.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/spiderman.pdf

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jc93vje8ZI

Optimus Prime Papercraft

Recently I’ve been looking to buy a new Transformers toy, more specifically an Optimus Prime.  Optimus isn’t just a good guy, but he’s also the biggest and baddest hero you can find.  This makes him really popular and a toy that many people want to have in their collection.  Unfortunately his popularity also makes his toy really expensive and hard to find.  My local toy store had the 25^th anniversary collection version but it was so expensive I decided to look around for a better price.

While I was still looking for an Optimus Prime, I decided to do a papercraft version of him.  This papercraft version of Optimus Prime comes in color, takes up about two pages for the template and one for instructions, and uses rubber or string to attach it all together.  While the actual template might seem a little armature at first, when you are done you will notice how professional it really is and how special this papercraft is compared to others.  What makes it stand out from the rest is that since it is a Transformer, it actually transforms from robot to truck; how cool is that!  This papercraft took me about a couple of days to finish, and I would really recommend it to anyone that loves transformers and wants to have their own Optimus Prime in paper.

New link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ihJgnSOAmME9nGNz-vjlwtMF_qZRycNV/view?usp=sharing
Papercraft template link:

http://www.paperrobots1999.com/model04.html

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25c_7bpWNwA