Design a Papercraft Model
Interested in making an inexpensive and distinctive toy for your comic? In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make a 3D model into a downloadable papercraft toy for your readers to construct at home. We'll use Google Sketchup and Flattery, a plugin my talented husband made.
First some tips for model designing:
- Watch the video tutorials for Sketchup so you'll know your way around the program.
- Set Sketchup's template preferences to work in centimeters or inches, whichever you prefer. You'll need to pay attention to the actual size of your model as you build it.
- Convex shapes are easier to flatten. You will probably need separate cutouts for concave areas.
- Work with components to stay organized and also for easier start overs.
Got a model split into components and ready to go? Let's flatten it!
Step 1: Index
Anytime you change the number of faces or how they're connected in the model, you'll want to redo this step.
Step 2: Explode model
This ensures you have a pristine backup copy when something doesn't go well. Keeping an intact model on the field also helps you visualize where you are during confusing unfolds.
Step 3: Unfold
This is a lot like peeling a banana. You can hold down the shift key to select multiple faces to unfold. When deciding where to unfold from, remember that the first place you unfold is often the last place you glue down and plan accordingly. As Flattery unfolds, it puts the faces into a group. To continue the following steps you will need to double-click it to enter the group.
Step 4: Reunite (optional)
If you decide the model needs to be laid out differently from how you originally unfolded it, maybe so it fits on a printed page better, you can rearrange it with the reunite tool. You will probably need to play around with this one to really understand what it's capable of.
Step 5: Tabs
If you double click an edge, it will automatically make you a 1/4 inch tab. I recommend keeping tabs off of the final flap to fold down for an easier model to assemble.
As you use the reunite tool and the tab tool, you may notice that hovering over edges on your unfolded model highlights the same edge in any copies of your model on the stage. This works in reverse too and is useful if you get confused over where a certain edge is in the big picture.
Step 6: Export
This picky tool requires you to put everything into one group and then get out of the group before exporting. The group needs to be selected but not open. (Review Sketchup groups by scrolling down a little here.)
It's tempting to immediately start coloring in surface detail on the model, but be sure to cut it out and test it first. Are the tabs in an intuitive place? Think about how your audience will feel if it's too challenging to assemble. It usually takes me a couple tries to get it right.
Step 7: Color
Open the svg file in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape and go from there to color.
Here are the files I used in this tutorial if you'd like a closer look at anything:
SketchupKaga.skp
IllustratorKaga.ai
ReadytoPrintKaga.pdf
Let's Review
Index, explode,
Before you unfold.
A pure copy stays separate.
Reunite if you need to,
Add tabs, then proceed to,
Export it, test and then color it.
There are a lot of steps to this method but your perseverance will be rewarded. It is extremely satisfying to hold one your creations in the palm of your hand. A fabulous download for your website is just icing on the cake. You could also hand out patterns at conventions, organize a photo contest featuring your models, or create an elaborate photo comic.
Happy Papercrafting!