Secret parts...

The new "secret model" is one of those models that has been waiting for me for ages to finish it, so since I already did a lot of work on it before, it should be finished soon.

Stay tuned!

Puss in Boots a.k.a. Final Fantasy X Cait Sith doll release

This papercraft Cait Sith doll is just like other cats, in that he absolutely *hates* water...

• download the parts and instructions here

Have fun building!

Two down, four to go

For some reason, I really like the look of simple paper models like these dolls. The proportions and use of simple shapes make them look very comical! ;o)

So with the Cait Sith doll, I guess that's two down, four to go! (download will be ready probably in a couple of days, after I finish the instructions)

Stay tuned!

No cats were hurt, really... !

This picture was taken before the "stress test" (you never know, right? ;o) but I hadn't shown it to you guys yet: here you can see (most of the) rest of the body.

Like I said before, it's a pretty simple shaped doll so there weren't too many problems. Just some glueing tabs that I liked to switch, and I made the paws (which I now realize are not in this picture yet) a little bit smaller.

The reason it has only one leg, is because the other one is basically the same (again, I assure you guys, that no cats were hurt in making this test build... ;o)

Stay tuned!

Cait Sith papercraft whiskers stress test

So, how to avoid a test build getting boring?

Simple: come up with some excuse to hang two staplers from one of the whiskers and make a video about it. ;o)

Of course I always use pretty thick paper (200 gsm) and I took extra care glueing the whiskers inside the snout using the small glueing tabs. But still I was pretty impressed! (the black stapler is almost completely out of metal and actually pretty heavy!*)

But luckily, even if you want to use thinner paper, it shouldn't be a problem either, save for someone sneaking into your house at night and hanging two staplers from your Cait Sith doll's whiskers...

(* I couldn't get it to breaking point though, adding more weight just made the whiskers slip out of the clamp... ;o)

It's not easy being green

Although it has been a busy weekend, I did manage to finish the 3D work on the Cait Sith doll (for now...) and get it ready for testing!

Mine's bigger than yours

Lulu's Cait Sith doll really is just that: a simple doll with not a lot of small details, so it doesn't need quite as much work as some more complex models to make it buildable.

A lot of times though, some of the changes I make to a 3D model don't really have anything to do with it not being buildable otherwise, but they're just personal preference.

For instance, the ribbon from the Cait Sith doll's cape is made up from 3 different parts, and you can easily imagine simply cutting out all three pieces, and glueing them on top of one another to make the ribbon, so it's perfectly buildable.

But I thought it might look good to keep it even more in style with the low level detail style and create the ribbon out of one piece, and to exaggerate it a bit like you can see in the image above.

This is a very small example of course, but I guess it's my way of saying: look beyond the obvious impossible-to-build problems, and don't ignore to the other parts. ;o)

How to cut up a cat

The first thing I always do when I start making a new papercraft model (regardless whether I make it by hand or on the computer) is cutting up the model into seperate sections.

It makes building the final paper model easier, and it gives you something to work with, a plan that you can follow instead of aimlessly trying to get it to look and build right.

I'm sure it's obvious that the arms and tail can follow pretty much the same technique as those on the Moomba doll as well as the head (albeit a very different shape ;o)

The legs on the Cait Sith doll though are much thicker than those on the Moomba doll, so I think it won't be a problem if you just glue them on top of the boots, instead of pushing them inside.

Next up...

^ This.

And Lulu's Cait Sith doll.

Stay tuned!

Black Hole Panzer release

Tanks are a pretty versatile unit in Advance Wars, it's just that you usually need a lot of them. But now even that problem is solved:

• download Black Hole Tank papercraft parts & instructions

Have fun building!