Arisia 2011 Modeling Workshop - Thanks

    Well, it's over and I would like to thank everybody who came to the workshop on paper spaceships. It's the very first time I have done anything like that and it was really great to get the opportunity to talk about modeling and paper modeling in particular.
     I hope that anybody that didn't have too much success at the workshop doesn't come away from it feeling bad. On the way to finishing the first model I was happy with, many crashed into the waste paper basket (but not as catastrophically as the N-1).  I can only hope it at least sparked your interest and you will follow some of my suggestions for more information on the handout or in the expanded version on my previous blog entry.
     I definitely would like to do this again next year  and it would be great if one of you would help me run it. I think I have learned a lot from this experience to better shape version 2 if I get the opportunity to do it again. In the meantime, I'll put some informative links right here.
     Oh, also before I forget, I would love it if the gentleman who brought the book on the paper satellites comment with the actual title and author since I stupidly forgot to make a note of it. I remember that book from when I was in 7th grade and recall it was a really great beginner's book.

Some Workshop Links:

• Workshop outline blog entry and Workshop handout for 2011
• ST-TMP shuttle and instructions (the test model we used)
• Spacestation 42's Paper toys links
• Nasa Great Observatories models - Note, B/W only but simple to make. Great for Photoshop repaint or even physical painting. You can even try gluing foil paper on it to simulate the gold and silver foil insulation on the actual observatories. You may need to use rubber cement for foil, or use paper backed foil. As for where to get the foil,  you can use aluminum foil, or you can get paper backed origami foil paper and also from fancy chocolates (after thoroughly cleaning the chocolate off of it...yum).
• Lower Hudson Valley e-giftshop - A really great collection of real space and sci-fi subjects (including some educational stuff such as Ptolemaic as well as Copernican system models).
• Niels Paper models - a great starting point for some real space rockets, particularly the early ones.
• Also check out this oldie but goody from the Internet Archive, the now lost paper model site for Phillipus Landsbergen Observatory. (Be patient with the archive files as they can be flaky. Try clicking on different archived dates if some of the files are missing or the Wayback machine has recall problems)

Hope this helps, and hope you have fun. See you next year!

Mod Monday: Arisia 2011 Workshop - Paper Starships (Part II)

(To go to Part 1 where the topic was introduced)

What will I need to build these models?

• A computer with a working printer, ideally color, and a network connection. Since you are reading this right now I presume this is a given. Also handy is a pdf viewer like Adobe Acrobat and photo imaging software like Photoshop or Gimp to view and print files.
• Materials to cut paper and cardstock: Scissors (a pair, one for large sections and one for details), a hobby blade is also handy such as an X-acto or similar, and a cutting surface (SAVE THAT TABLE TOP).
• Glue: Something with low water content, sticky but not instantaneous. Preferably, you want the glue to be clear and non-staining. White glue will do if used carefully.
• Straight edge and a sharp point: Kits go together better with straight cuts and scoring. A metal edged one can be used in combination with a sharp blade for long straight cuts and "rolling" (see below).
• Paper and card stock: For most things, standard cardstock is about right. Photofinish paper is a good middle weight and has the benefit of having a naturally tacky surface and the ability to provide a glossy finish although it is pricier per sheet. There are times that regular paper will be better or just fine if layered (glueing parts on other sheets to double up). There are also times old cereal boxes are best. In this last case you can print the sheet on regular paper and then glue it onto thick, non-printable, cardboard.
• Nice to have: tweezers for those small bits, round cylinders of different diameters and other curved surfaces for shaping curves, markers for touch ups. Also a vacuum cleaner for the little bits of paper litter you will generate.

Any general instructions?

• Generally, cut close to the lines. Most of the glues you will use are water based so be careful as they can do 2 nasty things: 1) Warp your paper or card if over saturated, & 2) Cause inks from inkjet printers to run.
• Paper has considerable strength by weight so it resists bending. It is better to score fold lines by running a sharp tip over the line prior to bending. If using a knife, be careful to not cut through the paper or score so deeply that the paper will tear when folded.
• Paper can be curved without rolling by running a sharp edge against the inside such as the straight edge or the edge of a scissor. This is the same as curling ribbon. Be careful not to tear or crease your part accidentally in the process. This can happen with skinnier parts.
• You can help finish a kit by using a marker or colored pencil to help blend in edges between parts. This is particularly noticeable in darker parts where the white of the card edge is shown in sharp relief. Some modelers exclusively use black felt to color in edges.
  Seams are perhaps the most problematic aspect of paper models as they are difficult to hide. Unlike plastic, you can rarely sand, fill, or paint over the problem. Most designs try to hide the seams in the pattern of the skin or put seams along natural join lines of the model.
  Another way to hide seams is to avoid "tabbed" construction and instead rely on "butt" joins where the glue tab lies underneath both glued pieces so that the edges of two pieces lie against both. This won't solve the edge visibility problem though on corner joins.
• Other handy tips are available at the following sites:
• Niel’s paper models tips page
• Steve Brown’s very extensive FAQ.
• The very detailed “build” descriptions of the Krakus and the coastal freighter Emiliana Torrine with lots of advanced tips and tricks by Mike Edwards, which while about earth bound ships is very useful nonetheless.

Last but not least, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH SHARP BLADES!

Can I make my own?

Yes, but you will need more of those special skills dismissed earlier. Some basic shapes can be tackled with some trigonometry and good scale 3 view drawings of the subject on graph paper. It also comes more easily if you are the type that could easily do those SAT folding shape problems. More complicated subjects require more math and are more easily tackled with specialized software.

    If you know how to use 3D modeling software such as Blender or Metasequoia there is Pepakura Designer (Tama Software). Pepakura Designer unfolds 3D models generated by 3D modeling software such as Metasequoia. It will generate tabbed parts to build the physical model. The generated file format requires their free viewer (.pdo). Unfortunately it only works on Microsoft platforms. Blender, a freeware 3D modeling software package, also has an unfolding tool which can be installed as a plug-in. Google SketchUp is also being used as unfolding plug-ins are also being written for it (see ss42.com's Miscellaneous page).

    You will also need a relatively capable image editor and drawing tool such as Adobe Photoshop or Gimp for either painting the “skin” or customizing downloaded models. In fact, repainting by itself is also a popular aspect of the hobby since it creates an easy way for groups of modelers to add to the fleet. Angel Guzman (PixelOz) provides a free e-book Fundamentals of Paper Model Design available at deviantart.com. I personally have found even a scanner useful for scanning in parts I manually fitted to a surface.

Where can I find more information?

There isn’t enough space to provide all the possibilities, but start by using the links pages from many of the sites you will find from the initial set of links here. You can also get help from many discussion groups out there such as Papermodels at  Google groups or the Space-Paper-Models and SciFpapermodels groups at yahoo.groups. There is also a card modeling group at the zealot.com hobby forum. The starshipmodeler.net discussion forum also maintains a card modeling section, but the whole forum, as well as its associated web site (starshipmodeler.com), is an excellent resource for sci-fi and real space subjects. As mentioned earlier, searching for paper or card models will yield many sites and files. As for discussion groups, many will require membership to download files or even to see or participate in discussions (a no lurkers policy). Some of the groups will have only limited activity or are perhaps focused on topics that won't interest you such as HO scale buildings.

In conclusion all I can say is try it out. It really isn't that hard, and they are easier to hang up on your ceiling (unless you build that 3 foot Serenity model that is out there somewhere).

(Part I)

Mod Monday: Arisia 2011 Workshop - Paper Starships

Arisia 2011 – Scale Paper Modeling Workshop - Saturday, Jan 15 at 5:00PM

Part 1: Where Mr. Zubie introduces the topic and gives some additional information
followed by Part 2: Where he gives some more practical information like instructions
The 2 page handout (abridged from here) is available from my Google Docs storage

Regarding small scale Sci-Fi Modeling and the merits of paper

The craft of creating realistic scaled versions of thoroughly unreal things can be

practiced without requiring any particularly great skill in sculpture, sewing, makeup, portraiture, engineering, or biology. I mention this perhaps as a result of an inferiority complex when looking at all the costumes and artwork and the technical level of the hard sf panels. Still, while recreating some fantastic miniatures of sf, real science, or fantasy subjects does require some of the skills mentioned, I stand by the notion that they are not absolutely necessary if you want one.

(Pictured at left are paper models clockwise top Gary Pilsworth's Orion, Michael Urban's Mercury-Redstone, uhu02's Proteus from Fantastic Voyage, Ralph Currell's Space Ship One, Ron Caudillo's ENT-TOS bridge, U-Don's Lunar Module)

    If all you want is a fantastic miniature of something like Harper Goff's Nautilus for the Disney production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, what you need is a generous pocketbook. The kind of prices collected from the Star Trek prop auctions as well as custom made studio scale models also illustrate the point. There are also commercially available plastic kits, for which some art skills are handy. Even though these kits are meant for the general consumer, plastic kits can still be surprisingly pricey, particularly if you are affected by advanced modeler syndrome. Brass detailling sheets, customized decals, and accuratized resin parts (as well as entire resin kits) can easily turn a $20 or $30 kit (which is what many retail for as new, if not more) into a $100+ project. If you absolutely, positively want a release that you remember as only six dollars 20 or 30 years ago (or more) be prepared to pay collector's prices now.
    Paper or card modeling is by comparison a dirt-cheap method of indulging in the pastime of miniature recreations and generating some fairly impressive stuff. Why so? Well for starters, most of the models I'm talking about are designed for printing on your own personal printers using your own paper (here you have to do your own calculations per sheet, but I believe at the time of writing it is between 15 to 20 cents per sheet for inkjet and less than a nickel for laser). Canon's web site even promotes it.When assembled you will have a fully painted and detailed miniature, and all you did was cut and glue. Moreover, if you mess it up, you can just reprint it and start over. If you want a squadron, just print more.
    Paper modeling has been around for a very long time, but for the most part was limited to paper dolls and stuff on the back of a cereal box. In other parts of the world, however, it has proved more popular. The Internet and home publishing and photo editing software have made created a wave of available models. The level of difficulty and detail can vary quite widely. Some projects are simple (such as the one I'm planning to use at Arisia) and are good beginner projects. Often the level of detail drawn on the skin can veil the actual simplicity of the model itself by giving the illusion of texture and "greeblies" to your subject much like it does on digital models seen in film and computer games (It's perhaps this last aspect of the hobby that ticks off traditional modelers the most). On the other hand, some of these models are quite elaborate with movable or poseable parts (this Tyderium shuttle is a good example)

Where can I get these models?

They are available all over the Internet and many are free. Perhaps the best starting point is SpaceStation42.com’s links page. They maintain links on a variety of paper model websites with specific link pages for different subjects such as boats or cartoon characters. They have two specific pages for sci-fi and real-space models. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, this site is worth exploring backwards in time by using the wayback machine at the web archive. Of course there are other link sites and sites of interest. Some kits are available at discussion group sites such as Space-Paper-Models group at Yahoo! Groups through their archived documents or files. There are also many papercraft blogs such as PapercraftParadise, Paperkraft.net at that keep track of new stuff that shows up or are used by authors to post their work.
You can also search for them using the terms paper model or card model or even papercraft in English, although the last term will get you scrap bookers and origami as well. There are also foreign terms such as recortables in Spanish, karton modelbau in German, maquettes en carton/papier in French, or pepakura in Japanese. Pepakura is also the name of software that helps design these kits so many post these as pepakura formatted files (.pdo) which is currently only windows compatible.
    Commercially published kits, many from European publishers, can be purchased online from Amazon.com, or dedicated sellers such as Paper Models International (papermodels.net), or directly from authors such as Delta 7 studios. Some maybe available through your local bookshop, such as the recently published Clone Wars kits (ISBN 0448450046) or the Unseen University Cut Out Book (ISBN 0385609442).
    A final note that bears mentioning, particularly on downloaded models, is that of pirated kits. Since all you need to copy a printed kit is a scanner, and a digital kit only needs a drag and drop, there are many pirated kits out there. Production of kits is not easy and one should respect the wishes of commercial kitters to make a profit from their work. Also, many pirated models sold through sites like eBay are actually free to start with, so in a sense you are getting cheated in the process as well.

Now on to Part 2, where I shall go over what you need to build this stuff, and some general tips and pointers.