Thursday, May 5, 2016

A Summer Hobby That Will Keep You Up All Night

Are you bummed out playing with best all-purpose glue and other art materials this summer? Hey, we’re not saying that summer craft projects should be boring. At least, you’re doing something productive than swipe, tap, pinch or shake your good ‘ole touchscreen device. One of the popular and easy pastimes you can tinker with this summer is arts and crafts. Especially, if you’re doing something cool—err--cute like this:


Source: paper-replika.com

 The image above is what they call a ‘papercraft.’ It takes serious dedication, imagination and patience to be able to finish a single project. The previous example is only the beginner’s level. Are you not convinced? Take a look at these examples:

 

Source: papercraftmuseum.com


This is a life-sized character from Zelda. Gnarly, right? Well, we’re just starting.

          A Transformers Dark of the Moon Bumblebee model kit in Amazon costs $109.95. But, if you resort to a cheaper alternative, you just need 25 A4s and a printer. The final product is this:

 
Source: paperinside.com
 It has 1,150 parts and stands 45 cm tall.  Is it easy to assemble? It may be small compared to the life-sized papercraft above but a comment at PaperCraftMuseum can make us think twice. Haywan said, “To my knowledge, this is the hardest papercraft model in the world, because it is not only has incredible detail, the joints (including the knuckles) are movable!” If it is moveable, then its difficulty level is negotiable.

Another example of movable papercraft is Howl’s Moving Castle. You may watch how it was assembled below:


This is the ‘Seahorse’ by Hazel Bryce and she spent six years to complete it. Imagine how many gallons of best all-purpose glue she used for it. Of course, a mixture of water and flour is a cheaper substitute.

Source: recyclart.org
How about this one? Is this Tree Troll the largest papercraft out there?

 

Source: pinterest.com

          Well, it is up to you to decide. You can always try to outdo these dudes.      
  
It is also possible to have a papercraft of your favorite celebrity or yourself in 3D. Below is an example from Bert Simons. It is a self-portrait papercraft.

Source: amusingplanet.com
   What is a papercraft? According to HubPages, it is the “art of cutting, folding, and gluing paper to make intricate 3D models of anything from cards to boats, from people and animals, and from video game characters to model weapons.” All you need is construction paper, printer, hobby knife, scoring tool, cutting mat and the best all-purpose glue you can find. Let us dissect the function of the materials we’ve mentioned:
  • Hobby knife – since a pair of scissors will make this task more impossible, a hobby knife is more convenient to use. Expect to cut intricate patterns but you’ll get used to it over time.
  •   Cutting mat – this is to protect your table and yourself when doing series of difficult cutting.
  • Scoring tool – folding is taxing, especially if it is a centimeter thin. This tool makes folding such widths like a pro.
  • Best all-purpose glue – you may use white glue, but a hobbyist from HubPages suggested using wood glue because it’s sets stronger than ordinary glue.

It might be easier if we have a 3D printer because it is just a click away but where is the challenge with that? 

This article was brought to you by: Polymer Products Inc. 
         

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