Cute Animal Papercraft

Here are some super cute papercraft animals by Japanese designer Ryo Tokisato. You gotta love them! In addition to the penguin, shark, chameleon, and rabbit shown here, there are also available a fox, a boar, a sperm whale, mice (in six different colors), and two different cows. The PDF templates for each of these may be downloaded at Tokisato's web page here. Once at the web page, click on the photo of the animal to download the template.

Stalwart Robotic Missile Tank Papercraft

DeviantART artist "Technoscream" specializes in 3D renderings and animations of mechas. This Stalwart Robotic Missile Tank paper model is his first venture into papercraft design. The description of this mecha indicates it is encased in thick armor plating and armed with two missile pods and a hull mounted minigun. The finished papercraft is only around 2 3/4" (7 cm) tall. The template contains five different colored tanks and may downloaded here.

Zombie Prom Queen and King Paper Toys

UK illustrator Adam Steel has created a paper toy template which he calls "Tiny McDoodies". Adam has created several paper toy characters using his template, but my favorites to date are his Zombie Prom Queen and King (perfect for Halloween!) Downloads of the zombie toys are available here. Other paper toys available for download include a roller derby diva and a Russian sailor.

House of Mystery Paper Halloween Diorama

Here is a little something I put together for the 2010 Halloween season. This 3D papercraft diorama was originally printed on the back of the 1973 Halloween edition of DC Comics' House of Mystery comic book. Scans of the diorama parts were posted on The Haunted Closet blog. I downloaded the scans, scaled them, and put them in PDF format to make the table top diorama easier to print and build. The foreground of the diorama shows Cain (the host of the comic book) and his pet gargoyle, Gregory. In the background are some grave diggers and the House of Mystery itself. The style of the artwork may look familiar as it was done by well known comic artist Sergio Aragones of Mad Magazine and Groo the Wanderer fame. I have made my PDF of the diorama available for download here. Happy Halloween!

Gremlins Papercraft: Printable Mask

The comedy horror movie Gremlins gave many a child nightmares in the 80's. Now thanks to UK illustrator Nik Holmes you can make your own cartoonish mask of the movie's troublesome little monsters. The two page printable template for the mask is available at Holmes' blog here. Previous Gremlins Papercraft 3D Glasses Gizmo

RPG Dragon Papercraft

This papercraft dragon was designed by Jordan Peacock, the same designer who brought us the Alice in Wonderland Chess Set. This type of model is what Jordan calls "figure flats" which are simple fold-over paper models meant to serve in the place of the more expensive painted miniatures used in role playing games. In other places I have seen papercraft of this kind referred to as a "2 1/2 D" model, which I think is a good way to describe a 3D paper construction that is built of mostly flat pieces. A PDF template containing five different colored dragons and may be downloaded here, just click on the image near the bottom of the page to the left of the heading that reads: "MORE Sundered Skies Free Figure Flats: Dragon Models".

Nissan Papercraft Bonanza

The official website of Nissan Japan offers downloads of seventeen different paper model vehicles. Residents of the US will be familiar with some of the cars such as the Cube and the Murano (top row in the photo). However, other cars such as the Kix and the Otti (bottom row in the photo) are virtually unknown in the American market. Downloads of all seventeen paper car templates are available here in both PDF and GIF formats. In addition to the cars pictured above, there are also templates available for a Fairlady Z, a Teana, a Skyline, and the unusual Pivo 2 concept car.

Sweet and Sour Grapes Online Comic Paper Toys

Sweet and Sour Grapes is an online comic that tells the story of the friendship between a jungle dwelling girl and the ghost of a engineer from an ancient civilization. Diana Stoneman who produces the comic has created paper toys of several of the comic's characters. The aforementioned jungle girl and ghost are the top two toys in the photo above. To download these cuties and also learn more about Sweet and Sour Grapes take a look here.

Renaissance Crucifix Sundial Card Model

In the archives of the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg there is a Renaissance wood engraving that is thought to be the earliest paper model template ever created. The engraving was produced around 1529 by Georg Hartmann (1489 - 1564), a mathematician and designer of scientific instruments. When the template in the engraving is assembled it becomes a crucifix that also ingeniously functions as a sundial (the shadow in the photo on the right is at 11 o'clock).

There are numerous images on the crucifix. On the front is an engraving of the crucifixion of Christ that is very similar to a 1489 woodcut print by artist Albert Durer (1471 - 1528). Some sources suggest that Hartmann was a pupil of Durer's, which might explain the similarity. On the back of the crucifix is a bronze serpent on a cross and an image of Moses in reference to a miracle performed by Moses in Numbers 21:8-9. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ refers to Moses' miracle as a symbolic foreshadowing of his own crucifixion (John 3:14-15) thus explaining Hartmann's inclusion of the bronze serpent on the crucifix.

As far as I know there are no free papercraft templates of the crucifix, but reproductions may be purchased from several different European sources. One such source is here. Also on the same web page is a photo of the cross unfolded if you are curious.

D&D Egyptian Obelisk Paper Models

Sersa V over at the "SaveVersusDeath" Dungeons and Dragons blog created these Egyptian obelisk paper models for use as props with D&D miniature gaming figures. Officially titled "Obelisks of the Sun Kingdom", these monuments are easy one piece builds. I don't play Dungeons and Dragons so the best I could do for characters in the photo was to throw in some of my D&D version Heroscape figures. The template for the obelisks may be downloaded here.

Doctor Who Papercraft: Comic Strip Dalek

The extraterrestrial race of cyborgs known as the Daleks are considered by many to be Doctor Who's greatest enemy. The Dalek's battle cry of "Ex-ter-min-ate!" has been heard consistently on the good Doctor's sci fi television show since 1963. In the 60's and 70's Doctor Who's adventures appeared in comic strip form as well as on television. Pete D who runs a blog about the old Doctor Who comic strips created this papercraft Dalek based on their appearance in the comics.This particular Dalek is a red domed commander. The two part printable template for the Dalek is located here.

The Last Airbender Papercraft: Blue Spirit Mask

In the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated television show, in an episode entitled "The Blue Spirit", there is a mysterious character who wears a blue mask. This papercraft by deviantART member "Altenatecoppa" is a recreation of that mask. Even though there are some well done shading effects that make it look 3D, the mask is entirely flat except for the nose. A download of the template is available here. The build photo above is by deviantART member "Paperart".

Papercraft Sausage Mobile

This unusual kinetic papercraft meat sculpture is brought to you by the folks at wurstakademie.com, a German website devoted entirely to the subject of sausage. The sausage mobile is billed as a craft project for kids, although adults might have some fun building it as well. A template for the mobile is located here, just right click on the image and save. The mobile as an art form was popularized by American sculptor Alexander Calder, in case you were wondering. ^^

Harry Potter Papercraft: Death Eater Mask #8

Around Halloween last year I released a series of seven papercraft Death Eater masks. I am adding an eighth mask to the set this year as I patiently wait for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie to be released in November. :) As with the previous masks, there are both full size and half size templates available. Both sizes are included in the zip file which can be downloaded here. If you missed the previous Death Eater masks you can take a peek at them here.