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 TV show would be on 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 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 and can 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
YouTube link:
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 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 25th anniversary collection version but it was so expensive I decided to look around for a better price. While I was still looking (and still am), 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.



Papercraft template link:
http://www.paperrobots1999.com/model04.html
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25c_7bpWNwA

R2-D2 Papercraft

The R2-D2 papercraft has been one of the most intimidating papercrafts that I have done to date. Although the template only takes up three pages, what seems difficult is all the cutting and gluing that is required to finish it. But if you take your time like I did, eventually it all comes out pretty smoothly. For this project I decided to use special tools that I borrowed from a manicure set. In this case I used small scissors to cut little tiny details (the zig-zag areas), a nail file to press down on areas that needed to be bent in a straight line, a nail cuticle tool to paint on the glue, and some eyebrow tweezers to glue small pieces together. I also used a pen filter which I wrapped masking tape around so that I could glue paper parts that were circular. This project took me about a week on and off, and the cutting was what was most time consuming. Advice that I would give anyone that wants to do this papercraft is to print out two copies of the template so you can have one as a guide line along the way because this is a pretty confusing project. My only complaint about this template is that it doesn’t come with English instructions, but the pictures more than make up for it along the way. I think this has been one of the best papercrafts you can find online and it being part of Star Wars makes it a 10 out of 10 in my opinion.




Link to the template:
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~sf-papercraft/Gallery/r2d2/r2d2.html
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smrhiPsq55A

Paper Craft Onitsuka Sneaker

When you’re broke having a hobby can be very difficult. I think to even consider yourself a hobbyist you have to have a collection to begin with. Yet this requires money to even buy the things you want to collect. But not to worry, there are still some hobbies you can have that require no money. Paper craft is the perfect hobby where you don’t need to spend very much; all you need is some glue, paper and scissors. I’m pretty much a newbie when it comes to paper craft, even though I have been doing it for many years. To get back into the swing of things I decided to start off with a simple sneaker. The sneaker I chose was the Mexico 66 by Onitsuka Tiger. The template is made by Shin Tanaka. Shin is a famous paper craft artist that is not only talented but also very friendly by encouraging others to take up the hobby by offering free templates of his artwork. His background story is also very interesting because he started doing paper craft as a kid when he couldn’t afford to buy the sneakers he liked. To keep faithful to the original sneakers I also used the website zappos.com to copy the placement of colors on the sneaker. This website is amazing because it offers pictures of the sneaker from various angles. Once you print out the template creating or building the sneaker takes about a couple of hours. Like most crafts, taking your time is what gives you the best results so I recommend you take your time and cut neat lines. I also recommend you cut and glue the laces individually because when you’re done it makes the sneaker look so much better. The only problem I had with the Mexico 66 template was that the outer sole didn’t match up when I tried to glue the top part of the sneaker on to it. However I just cut around the parts that didn’t fit and it still ended up looking pretty good in my opinion. This template was fun to make and I can’t wait to make more in different colorways.


YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cljH4eYzEq4
Mexico 66' colorway:
http://www.zappos.com/onitsuka-tiger-by-asics-mexico-66-birch-green
Mexico 66' template:
http://shin.onitsukatiger.co.uk/pdf/paper_Mexico66.pdf