Totoro Papercraft

Here is another another papercraft from the ever popular Studio Ghibli animated movie, My Neighbor Totoro. In the movie two young Japanese girls encounter three "forest spirits" known as Totoros. This papercraft is of the largest Totoro of the three. DeviantART member Studioofmm created this papercraft in 2010. A copy of the four page template for the Totoro is posted here.

The Last Airbender Papercraft: Aang

Illustrator Keith Allen calls his paper model of Aang the Last Airbender a "paper sculpture". The unique thing about this particular papercraft is it built from a single piece of paper (i.e. the template has only one part). Aang, of course, is the main character in the animated television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. A copy of the template in .png format is posted 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".

Transformers Papercraft: Teletraan I Computer

The original Transformers animated television show ran from 1984 to 1987. In the show, the Autobots' base of operations was a massive spaceship known as the Ark. The Ark was operated by a semi-sentient computer named Teletraan I. Mandingo Rex of the Tformers forum has created a detailed papercraft version of Teletraan I for use as a prop with Transformer toys. A download of the Teletraan template is available here. Also available are printable sheets of wall and floor panels to build a diorama of the interior of the Ark.

Reborn! Anime Papercraft: Box Weapons & Rings

The Reborn! anime series follows the trials of an Italian mafia family by the name "Vongola". In the show, Tsuna, the last male heir of the Vongola family, is trained by an infant assassin so he may one day take his place as the boss of the family. The mafia assassins in the show make use of "box weapons" that may only be activated by using a corresponding ring. These papercraft versions of the weapons are the work of deviantART member "Desubunny". The box weapon templates may be found here, while the ring templates are available here.

Naruto Papercraft: Sage Mode Jiraiya

This Sage Mode Jiraiya paper model is an outstanding example of Korean papercraft. Jiraiya is a character in the Naruto animated television show which is based on a popular Japanese manga. Jiraiya is a Toad Sage, that is he has been trained by toads in the use of their secret arts. In battle, just before entering the altered state of Sage Mode, Jiraiya summons two elder toads to assist him with their abilities. The elder toads on Jiraiya's shoulders are my two favorite parts of this model. ^^ The template for this model includes the amazingly realistic rocky base shown in the photo. To download the template go here and click on the two red links just below the photo. I would give credit to this talented designer, but unfortunately I am unable to translate the Korean. :(

Pokemon Papercraft: Boxy Pikachu

Here's a simple one piece Pikachu papercraft by Lee Urn Lun of Malaysia. As everyone knows, Pikachu is one of the main characters in the Pokemon video games and the Pokemon animated television show. This papercraft is a modification by Lun of his paper model bunny template. A download of the Pikuchu template is available here. The model in the photograph above was built by my young daughter. ^^

Saint Seiya Papercraft #2: Athena Statue

Here is another papercraft by Moustagua. Once again based on the Saint Seiya anime series, this is a papercraft statue of the Greek goddess Athena. In the series, Athena is assisted by warrior "saints" in her struggles against the other gods. This papercraft model appears to be heavily based on the real life gold and ivory statue of Athena that once stood inside the Parthenon in Athens. On the column is the traditional Greek winged symbol of victory and behind Athena's shield is a snake which is a symbol of Erichthonius, who legend has it was one of the early rulers of Athens. A PDF template of the statue may be downloaded here.

Saint Seiya Papercraft #1: Odin Statue

The Saint Seiya anime television series was popular around the world in the late 80's but wasn't aired in the US until 2003. Based on a Japanese manga series, the storyline of the show follows the exploits of mystical warriors called "saints" who fight for the goddess Athena in her struggle to protect Earth from other gods in the Greek pantheon. In the "Asgard" story arc of the show the saints encounter characters from Norse mythology. This papercraft Odin statue by French papercrafter, Moustagua, is presumably based on an image from this particular story arc. Odin is king of the Norse gods much like Zeus is in the Greek pantheon. With instructions in French, the PDF template may be downloaded at the bottom of Moustagua's page here.

Dragon Ball Z Papercraft: Scouter

A scouter is a device commonly worn by soldiers in the Dragon Ball Z animated series. Scouters perform numerous functions including power level readings of opponents and interstellar communication. The papercraft scouter pictured above is a modification by deviantART member Ryo007 of a template located here. Ryo007's version has a larger lens than the original and may be downloaded here.

Digimon Papercraft: Guilmon and Pegasusmon

With all the Pokemon papercraft around I have always wondered why there wasn't more Digimon papercraft. Things are looking up for Digimon fans though now that POdragon (one of the Paperpokes team) has ventured into creating some papercraft of Digimon characters. Finished so far (from left to right) are Guilmon and Pegasusmon. The Guilmon model is nice in that it comes in a optional black version and is also designed in such a way that the finished pose of the model is customisable. Template downloads of each of these are available from POdragon's deviantART site here and here.

Coraline Papercraft: Seeing Stone

I finally saw Coraline last weekend and was inspired to do a papercraft of the "seeing stone" from the movie. The stone is given to Coraline by two elderly ladies after she asks their help in finding her lost parents. Later Coraline finds that when she looks through the hole in the stone the world appears black and white while whatever object she is seeking glows red. I am happy with how sturdy the final model turned out. Except for the gluing flaps, there are no folds. I instead curved the paper for a more rounded look. Here are the specifics of the template:

Scale: 1:1
Finished Size: 3.5" (8.9 cm) x 3.5" (8.9 cm) x 0.75" (1.9 cm)
Number of sheets: 1
Number of parts: 6
Difficulty: 3/5
Download

Other papercraft of mystic artifacts:
Headpiece to the Staff of Ra
Eye of Agamotto
Masonic Medallion
Phial of Galadriel

Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Paper Model

This 2" (5 cm) long Scooby Doo Mystery Machine van and ruined castle wall backdrop were created by Gary Williams and Craig Griswold in 2002 for use with the D6 Role-Playing Game System by West End Games. Included in the same PDF template as the van and the wall are cutouts of all the Scooby Doo characters. The PDF may be downloaded here. Also available are templates of an uncolored haunted bungalow model and a 3D interior of Doctor Who's TARDIS.

Studio Ghibli Papercraft: Flapter

This papercraft comes from the 1986 animated movie Castle in the Sky, the first official movie release from Studio Ghibli. The flapter is a machine that flies by means of four vibrating insect-like wings. In the movie two young characters, Pazu and Sheeta, make use of the flapter in their adventures which eventually lead them to a legendary flying castle in the clouds. This papercraft was designed by "Orca", Japan, 2005. The template may be found here, while instructions in Japanese are located here. The wings may be built with either cardstock or clear plastic (as is shown in the photos).

Looney Tunes Martian Maggot Papercraft

The personal spaceship of the Looney Tunes character Marvin Martian was first introduced in the 1953 animated short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century. In the cartoon, Marvin lands his ship, the Martian Maggot, on Planet X to claim its "Illudium Phosdex" resources in the name of Mars. This 7.5" (19 cm) long paper model of the Martian Maggot was created by Mike Hungerford, USA in 2004 and is available for download at his website here.

Spirited Away Papercraft - Kaonashi Mask

I have finally finished another papercraft design: a full size Kaonashi mask. Kaonashi (a.k.a. No Face) is a masked, cloaked spirit who feeds on the emotions of others in Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 animated film, Spirited Away...

Template Info
Scale: 1:1 (approximately)
Finished Size: 6"(15.2 cm) x 9.75"(24.8 cm) x 1.5"(3.8 cm)
Number of sheets: 2
Number of parts: 13
Difficulty: 3/5
Download: Here

I tried to keep the joints and fold lines to a minimum which can make fitting the parts together tricky if you are not careful with the accuracy of your build. For best results start building from the center and work your way outward.

Phial of Galadriel Papercraft

Twenty three years before Peter Jackson created his version, Rankin/Bass produced their 1980 made-for-televison, animated version of Tolkien's Return of the King. This papercraft is my rendition of the "Phial of Galadriel" as it appears in the Rankin/Bass version of the story. The Phial of Galadriel is a small bottle which the Elf queen Galadriel gives to the Hobbit Frodo Baggins to assist him in his quest. The phial is capable of magically emitting a bright star-like light. Galadriel describes the phial as "a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out." Here is a rather long video clip which at the beginning shows the phial being used in the hands of Frodo's companion Sam...

Template Info
Scale: 1:1
Finished Size: 4 1/2" (11.4 cm)
Number of sheets: 1
Number of parts: 9
Difficulty: 4/5
Download: Here

Retro Cartoon Robot Papercraft

There are two things that always make me smile: monkeys and robots. So you can expect to see builds of both in the future. :) Today the post goes to robots.

On the left is Rosie the robot maid from the early 60's American television cartoon The Jetsons . The model may look simple but it actually took some time to complete. The original template is very small, without instructions, and was not designed with any gluing tabs. I enlarged the template almost 100% and improvised my own gluing tabs to make it easier to build. The original template was designed by Phil Shore, USA, 2008 and can be found here.

On the right is H.E.R.B.I.E (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics) from the 1978 Saturday morning cartoon The Fantastic Four which was based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name. The H.E.R.B.I.E character was designed by none other than comic book legend Jack Kirby who was working as a story board artist for the show at the time. After the show was canceled, H.E.R.B.I.E eventually began making appearances in the FF comic books themselves. The template for this papercraft was designed by Sean Kleefeld, USA, 1998 as part of a "fun pack" which is offered on his Fantastic Four fan site here. The original template was designed to be assembled without glue but I improvised some gluing tabs on the head and body to help the model hold its shape better.

UPDATE 05.27.2009: Unfortunately the link to H.E.R.B.I.E seems to be permanently dead. I don't think Mr. Kleefeld would mind if I posted an image of the template so that others can continue to enjoy building his creation, so here it is: