It's not a lion!! >:3

If you didn't know about my lame sense of humor yet, you do now. ;o)

But don't let that stop you from downloading and building Lulu's Moomba doll:

• download the parts + instructions

Have fun building!

Probably not what you think

It's (probably) not what you think... ;o)

As you can see, I finished my build of the Moomba doll, so once the instructions are done (hopefully tomorrow) I can release it on my website.

Stay tuned!

Who needs a head anyway?

Of course I did find *some* time to work on the Moomba doll during work, and because it's quite a simple model to build, it's already half finished. ;o)

With only the head left to build, I should be able to make the instructions and get it ready for release this weekend.

Stay tuned!

Basic tools and techniques

I usually start my instructions with the basic tools you need to build a papercraft model. And that's really not a whole lot!

All you really need, are the parts, a sharp knife and glue, and if you don't want to ruin your desktop, a rubber cutting mat.

Besides these basic tools, you can really use anything you happen to have handy: I often use a toothpick for those hard to reach places (or to pre-shape small fingers ;o)

Because toothpicks are quite small though, I also sometimes use a thin metal rod, which is a bit longer (and stronger... ;o)

I always print the parts on 200 gsm paper, which is about 2.5 times as thick as regular paper. Other people use 160 gsm, or 120 gsm paper though, or just plain printer paper. And some people even use different thicknesses for different parts on the same model!

The knife I use is an X-Acto knife with a #11 blade, but really any (hobby)knife will do, as long as it's very sharp! ;o)

The glue I use is called "Tesa hobbyglue", but they don't seem to sell it in a lot of other countries. But they're bound to sell other hobbyglues suited for papercraft!

Like I said, these are just the tools that work for me and you will figure out your own preferences soon enough after building a few models. Yamaha has some very nice video tutorials explaining several basic papercraft techniques, so be sure to check it out!

Have fun building!

Déjà vu?

Déjà vu? Or can you spot the differences? ;o)

Finished test build is finished

Here's the other half of the Moomba's test build. ;o)

Of course I finished it at the same scale, so I wouldn't have to do the first part all over again; besides the scale, I will change the way the neck attaches to the body, and some other small things, and then I can re-unfold the (hopefully) final version!

Stay tuned!

"Small doll is small"

So far so good, the idea to stick the legs through the hips and paws works out well, and the "smooth build" body is a nice contrast with the "edgy" paws and tail.

The only thing is, that I think it needs to be a bit bigger; my test build is will only be about 14 cm tall (including the spiked hair) and now that it's being assembled it just looks so... small. ;o)

Let's see if it works this way...

I was finally able to do some work again on Lulu's Moomba doll, as you can see I've unfolded it for the test build.

I already tried to find a nice lay-out for the parts (I always like to keep the parts together the way they should go together as much as possible) but it might change a bit when I have to fit them on seperate sheets... ;o)

I'm also testing the colour of the fold lines, but not on the body yet, because I don't know if I'll make the body a smooth build or a polygonal build yet, or something in between.

That's what the test build is for of course (and to see if it's not too difficult to build this way of course... ;o)

Stay tuned!

Stella's Tomb Raider weblog feature

I'm a big Tomb Raider fan. (surprise surprise...)

Anyone who is too, will probably know Stella's Definitive Tomb Raider Site.

It's famous for its detailed walkthroughs of all the Tomb Raider games and for many gamers, it's the place to go to for tips and tricks or general tech help if they're stuck on one of Lara's adventures.

It's been one of my favourite Tomb Raider sites for many years now as well. I visit it often for detailed ingame info on particular events during Lara's adventures, and for savegames if I just want to replay a particular part of one of the games, rather than start from the beginning.

So I was pretty psyched when it turned out that Stella in turn liked my own little website as well, especially the Tomb Raider section of course. ;o)

Thinking that other Tomb Raiders might like my Tomb Raider models as well, she asked me if I could write a little piece about it for on her weblog to introduce her readers to the world of (Tomb Raider) papercraft as well.

After much negotiation (well, in reality I immediately said yes... ;o) here it is:

• Tomb Raider papercraft on Stella's Tomb Raider weblog

Have fun reading!

Legs like a stickman...

Although the 3D models for these dolls are already a lot less complex than the main character of course, I still like to simplify them a bit further to (hopefully ;o) make them even more fun to build. That's just personal preference I guess.

And then there are the things that I think will really make it a better construction, I think. It's probably immediately apparant on this particular doll, that its arms, legs and tail look pretty fragile.

But because of the way the doll is built (the legs are basically pieces of strings between the body and the paws, and don't really "grow" out of the body and paws) I think it would look pretty good if you'd emphasize that and use it to your advantage.

By making a hole in the paws and body, you can push the "legs" into the paws and probably get a stronger joint as well, instead of just glueing them on top of the paws with the little surface/contact area there is, or using "hard-to-reach-inside" valley folds.

With good glue and some patience, the other methods would probably work as well, but it's something I'd like to try out and like I said, this one is perfect for it. ;o)

Down Under Doll

It's a tough choice, because all the dolls look like they will be a lot of fun to make, but since I'll have to make them one at a time, I think I'll start with the Moomba.