Papercraft?


  • Last year while paying another visit to the closest Costco shop, I came across a huge pallet of model kits in paper for Harry Potter and Starwars; going to talk about the HP stuff later since it is a fantasy related model and it is still NIB to focus on Starwars ones. 

    Like most of you, my dear friends, I used plastic scifi toys to depicting vehicles and spaceships to liven terrains up, mostly converted Kenner' stuff (like the Falcon or the Imperial attack base for instance) and/or model kits.  But moving from one side of the Atlantic to another was impossible for them and so I sold them all before leaving Euroland. Ever since I was looking for something way lighter than hard plastic to replace them ... finally thanks to some OldHammer blog, I learnt about papercraft models.. and I have to admit I love that idea: lightweight models, easy to move around .. but a bit fragile -as casual plastic kits by the way.

    (Received most of the SW range as Xmas and birthday gifts (*joy*) from wife, friends and relatives - and still waiting for one last model still in transit somewhere.)

    All models are in good quality cardboard with very fragile, if not flimsy, elements. Assembly manuals are good but sometime one will need to think twice before gluing parts; even if elements are commutable most of times.

    Scale is 1/64.. and frankly suiting my OOP 28mm Armageddon minis.

    Jawas' Sandcrwaler is 1/78 and my OOP Ork raiders do already adopt it as their mobile base -need to customize it with more orkish stuff.

     

    Slave I is 1-60... and could be used as an Eldar Corsair ship...

    The Imperial Light Destroyer (still WIP) is 1/492... could fit easily with 15mm minis or 28mm ones after some serious work onto details like bridge. Adding a new cockpit and more weapon ports to turn it into some interceptor for example.

    X-wing is 1-35, Millenium Falcon 1/72, AT-AT 1/61, AT-ST 1/55 and Snowspeeder 1/42... all those are WIP

    [edit]Blog I was talking about is the excellent https://www.thetartarusrim.com/

     



  • Interesting.  Makes me think of the old paperhammer stuff.  I'll have to see if I can dig up some of the old links.


  • @Forrest Wentworth 

    Quite a good idea, I will be quite pleased to take a look at some... especially about vehicles. I found out a blog https://papermau.blogspot.com/ with litteraly tons of stuff and a rpg/wargame section.. 


  • Another impressive website dedicated to (scifi) paper model kits: http://www.genetmodels.com/free-stuff/

    Have fun while looking at its vast free download section. 


  • And I just totally forgot talking about the price, mea cupla. A set is about 28$CAN (without taxes) on Costco canadian website (don't know about its US counterpart), quite a good price-quality ratio especially when compared with Amazon prices for instance. Cheaphammer all the way I think. 

    Oh and before I forgot about: two versions of the Razor Crest are available; the one I posted above -the grounded model and another one sold as a standalone flying model. 


  • Those look nice, and scale wise the fit at least on the photos.

    I remember Paper/Plascad Hammer, I think  I stilll a Tank laying around, but the trouble always was that it takes a lot of time to make them good enough to fit with plastic models


  • In my experience, papercraft isn't as cost-effective as I thought it would be, and it's because of one thing: INK.  There's a video on YouTube that lays out how nefarious printer manufacturers are with their ink cartridges; it's infuriating, don't get me started!  Printer ink is so expensive that any perceived savings go right out the window if you plan on printing anything other than small scatter terrain.

    Papercraft is fun to build, don't get me wrong, and pre-made paper/cardstock terrain is fine and good, but just don't expect to save tons of money with print-and-cut.


  • @Benjamin Hayward 

    Indeed, Ink is one of my main problem actually. I think I found out a solution: using Staples/Bureau en Gros' printer service on demand. But I still do need to ask for informations about actually. 

    And I agree with you: pre-made ships/terrain elements -like the ones I posted above, or from old WH regular or special issues (like the mythical Warhammer Townscape)- are still the best and cheapest option around. 


  • Papercraft seems to me an economical and sadly under-appreciated option.

    That AT-AT and AT-ST sound like they're in a perfect scale for use alongside 28mm minis, and would be far cheaper in a papercraft format than any plastic or MDF option surely would be, while being a sight easier to work with than a scratch-built option.  For what it's worth, I think Wargames Atlantic's IronCore Eisenkerne soldiers would work great as proxies for imperial stormtroopers to go with those imperial walkers!

    The Jawa Sandcrawler looks exciting as well - it seems to me that some of Games Workshop's (sadly overpriced) Grot/Night Goblin Shootas/Stabbas would make fine proxies for Jawas, and would look right at home in that Sandcrawler....

    The Razor Crest looks like it'll make a great generic sci-fi dropship!  The more I think of it, the more it looks like it could be perfect for the not-Firefly/Serenity Stargrave concept I've been considering for a while now!

     

    As you noted, I think the biggest issues might be in how structurally sound even heavy paper is as a crafting material - it's a fairly flimsy material!  I bet that there might be some ways to toughen these models up a bit by using acrylic sheets to support key elements of the construction - hulls, legs, ramps - but that does add some complexity and expense to the construction as an inevitable trade-off for the improved stability....


  • @Yronimos Whateley 

    Utterly my mind, O Fire of Unknown Origin.. 

    Those model sets are fairly way economical than ones you could download from Genet -excepted the landspeeder or any other less complex models

    The Hoth diorama set could effectively be used with Eisenkerne depicting Snowtroopers.

    1. AT-ATs, once assembled will be 32cms tall, 14cms wide and 43cms long. 1/61 scale
    2. AT-STs, will be 13cms tall, 8cms wide and 6cms long. 1/55 scale
    3. the snowspeeder will be 8.4cms tall -base included I suppose-, 12.6cms wide and 12cms long. 1/42 scale

    Raumjager could be converted into Rebel troopers in Hoth outfit with a bit of Green stuff. Quite a good alternative to the expensive Star Wars Legions minis.

    I was planning to use my Beyond the Gates of Antares' Rebel Ghars to stand as Jawas. Ghars are lovely little rascals that work perfectly as proxies for both Jawas and GW Gretchins as I planned to use them in my current campaign. I will start assembling another Sandcrawler anytime soon, and I think I could even park a converted RT rhino inside it. 

    The Razor is the main reason I do ask for such sets: It does fit perfectly as dropship -as depicted on my picture above- or as the central piece of some scenario: theft , sabotage, scavenger hunt, whatever you name it.

    I think I managed to find out a clever solution to add more strenght to the kit without making it too weighty -even if they are scenery elements. Recycling the assemblage sheets, they are as sturdy as most of the biggest elements. Alas some parts like the Razor's engines could not be strenghted since they are quite complex to build, the sole way I found out was the addition of Scotch Tape.


  • I'd forgotten all about the snow speeder - seems like it would absolutely make a generic space-army's attack or fighter-bomber, scout craft, escape pod, target for sabotage/theft, etc.!

    I keep wondering what the chances might be for, say, PVA or CA glue to strengthen the paper, without curling it. 

    In my limited papercraft experience though, the smaller parts of the kits are often the sturdiest.  Not sure about these specific kits, but maybe reinforcing the larger walls, wings, and so on will go a long way toward shoring up the mre compact items that reinforce themselves to an extent.  A little scotch tape might go a long way as you mention, though.

    I hadn't thought of recycling the assemblage sheets - great idea.  Waste not, want not!

    Altogether, these kits look great!  What a great find!

     

    Now that I've gotten curious enough to look, there's a free (if you have your own printer, ink, and paper!) 1/32 scale classic '70s style Battlestar Galactica Viper Mk.2 - a little big for 28mm purposes as-is, but I'm sure someone can work out the math to resize the print for ~1/56 scale.  Those Eisenkerne also make somedecent not-Cylons!  I'm sure a Colonial human faction might be easy enough to cook up somehow, perhaps by kitbashing some sci-fi bits and some historical figures.  (Too bad I can't find any classic '70s style papercraft Cylon raiders - the same site that has the Viper has a reboot-style Cylon ship, but I really always preferred the original ships to the reboot's!)

    The same site has a great Galileo 5 shuttlecraft from Star Trek (I didn't calculate the scale).  Looks fine for a retro-sci-fi human faction cargo/passenger shuttle/dropship to me.  I'm sure someone can come up with some equivalent to a badguy dropship - I'm sure a Star Wars Imperial shuttle would work great, if nothing else!

    Looks like there are also some great papercraft ground vehicles out there as well - modern APCs (and an Aliens style APC!), and modern hmmvees, tanks, and artillery, for examples.  Most are 1/32, it seems, but they can surely be resized to print in 28mm scale.

    I've been trying to find some plastic versions, but in the end, I might just go with papercraft as being more available, convenient, and economical than options like plastic, resin, MDF, and so on....


  • @Yronimos Whateley 

    Going to try adding the Imperial Guard pilot from the 80s IG landspeeder , since I recovered a couple of that vintage vehicle, stripped and dissassembled in some long forgotten bitsbox.

    In fact, the "eco glue" provided with kits is as useful as any cheap counterparts from Dollar/Quid/Euro store. It takes days to cure and it is not efficient at all, unlike the Green Gorilla Super Glue Gel ... and some mere elastics to help with complex elements like engines of Razor Crest or Imperial Light Destroyer. Scotch Tape must be used wisely to reinforce some sections of the kits, but with a bit of patience -a lot for the very armature and motor section of the Sandcrawler.. and the engines of Razor Crest, one could add some unusual textures to the kit. 

    Funny fact is I planned to reuse assemblage sheets as stencils, to add more details to my ongoing buildings project: a small section of astroport, with warehouses and/or containers and neighbouring habs. Going to use trash scavenged from Green dumpsters -mine and neighbours'. Cheaphammer all the way.

    Want Vipers and Raptors? Just check here or here

    Want various Vehicles -from Walkers to Speedbike, you name it? here or here or here 

    Just check that page from the Oldhammer blog mentionned above : Papercrafted Galactica Shuttle for 40k. (Genet is maybe the best wargames related papercraft site around ...)

    I think I could even be add more details like additional pipes, armour plates and so forth made from trash.


  • Not papercraft related but cheaphammer.

    I am waiting for that particular kit , a Meng model unavailable here in Canada -at least from my retailers- for about a couple of years now. As seen there, it could fit any scifi/post-apo tabletop without any problem. It do seem to be scalewise enough to be played alongside 28mm models -Eisenkerne for instance. Comes out at 11 cms, versus Rhino and Chimera at 11.5 cm, so not a big deal. 

    Model kit seems to be available thru' ebay directly from China, but since I did quit buying from that plateform ages ago, it is up to you. Be aware there is another model, a diecast one from Floz.. not the same pricetag. 

    Meng Wartoon models are: cheap and quite scalewise... especially the World War Toons - Soviet Heavy Tank KV-2 , could be a perfect addition to any Retro Orks cohort. Still way cheaper than GW and Kromlech.


  • Received the other Razor Crest model kit, same scale as the previous one... so 1/64. 

    Have fun assembling the Snowspeeder without using glue... and it is not working at all. Going to dissassemble it to reassemble it with. The model is scalewise regarding 28mm models... 

    Going to assemble some AT-STs, but when looking at the assemblage sheet, they are more closer to an IG Sentinel than a true Imperial Walker. 


  • Starwars model kits are no longer available at Costco... I missed the clearance sale with quite a low pricetag -about 10$CAN a kit- thanks to our last vacations. I saw a couple of them while visiting my closest Model shop... at 45$CAN a set. 

     

     


  • If you like paper check out Peter Dennis' Paperboys too


  • @Hudson Adams 

    Already part of my huge favourite Chrome papercraft dedicated folder.. thanks Master Adams 👍


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