Monday, July 14, 2008

How to build the Paladin, or any character models, even Mootkin.

Here's some helping tips:

Create each parts separately before glueing them together. By that I mean;
Make the hands, then bracers and then arms.
Make the legs, cuffs and feet. Glue the sole at last.
Make the body.
Make the head.
Make the skirt (don't close it completly)

When you've built every parts, start putting them together.
Glue the arms to the body.
Glue the head to the body.
Glue the legs to the body.
Glue the skirt around the body.
you can also glue the legs inside the skirt and glue the skirt to the body.

If there's a cape, glue it to the back of the body or leave an opening in the back and glue the cape directly in the body instead of the back parts.
It's a pretty useful trick that you can also use for moonkin's fur.

For the shoulders (the equipment piece, not the body part), you don't see inside them so you dont have to make them perfect.
So don't worry about leaving an opening, you're gonna glue that part to the arms anyway. It's easier to close the shoulder from the inside if you leave it open.

1 comment:

Trimble said...

I've learned a few things..

1) try to identify the hardest parts to finish, and do them first. The inside of mouths of animals, for example are good places to start. Inverted seams tend to he the hardest.

2) Look for logical places to do LAST. On a complex model, it's very important to be able to reach inside until the last minute, so find a spot that's good to leave open, and easy to close up last.

3) Use a sewing needle or pin to score your fold lines before you cut. You can press harder with a pin or needle than you can with a knife and still not risk cutting the fold line.

4) Learn how little glue you can use. I'm down to using teeny dots of glue, and spreading it with my finger. Using the right amount means almost instant drying (with pressure), and less paper warping. I put a tiny amount on the tip of my tiny knife and use that to apply the glue to small tabs.

5) A Swiss Army Classic (the little ones) is a papercrafter's best friend. Tiny (one-hand) sissors, a tiny blade, tweezers, and the metal is polished SO well, glue doesn't stick to it very hard.