Back To The Drawing Board

Logos:

Since I'm stuck with a few obstacles to sort out right now, I decided it's a good time to step back and jump  on the computer and do a little designing again. Picking out a few good Gundam Strike Freedom logos and some randomly generic "Caution" icons to cover the costume.

Found a few images online, but they're too low res. And my costume is super large scale, chances of finding 'decals' to fit my scale are next to none. So, I'd have to recreate them all. Part of the fun!

A couple of work-in-progress logos.

Design: Shoulders, Arms, and Chest

And to continue the costume build past the helmet, here I start to see how the next stage would be. The shoulders, arms, and torso. 

I always said that if I can't get the proportions to work for my body, I wouldn't continue with the costume.  Do it right or don't do it at all. My goal from the beginning was always to make a "chibi" version of Gundam. Specifically, the FW Converge series of Gundams. (Pictured top right)

Roughing in the initial sketches over my body, I maybe able to get the shoulders and arms right. But, unfortunately, the torso isn't looking good. I just don't have a skinny waist to pull it off. So, it seems the costume will end there. Well, I still can get the chest finished.

I think that's good enough. It'll have all the elements I want in the costume. Building the legs would just restrict my movements anyways.

Pepa... PRINT!

Ok, now that I've got all the shapes unfolded and laid out as best I could. It's time to turn these pixels into reality! Exciting.

The paper. To be more accurate... 110lbs. card stock from Staples (cost me $13 for 250 sheets) It's plenty for this project. This weight should be tested on your printer first. You never know if the thickness would jam the printer or not.

57 printed pages! 

(I was running out of ink on my printer so I printed these pages at 50% transparency to save ink)

I did not print the horns. The 4 antennae looking things (2 white ones and 2 yellow ones) jutting out from the forehead. Not going to make them out of paper. Going a different route with them... plastic! I wanted something more durable. I foresee these things being banged around and broken off easily. So, I'm going to make them out of something a bit more durable. Something that can take a bit more beating. Then I'll have to come up with a way that it could 'break off' and attached again without trouble. I had imagine walking through a doorway. Since I'll have extremely limited vision, I would break the horns off right away. I'm thinking .. velcro or magnets. But, we'll see when I get to them later.

Once you're ready for the cutting board, grab the hobby knife with a fresh blade. Don't use those utility knives with break-away blades. They suck.. and are actually dangerous for this. You need precision cuts. Big handle will make your life easier. You're gonna be cutting a LOT. Bigger handle would easier on the fatigue. Similar with a rubber grip. Don't forget a good cutting matte! Don't use cardboard underneath. They cause a mess and ruin your precision cuts. You can get cheap healing cutting mattes for $2 at Dollarama or Daiso. (Internet high-5s for us cheap-Os!)

Here's the face all printed and cut.

Notice the curl on the pages? That's because they went through my printer. No biggie.

The lines printed by Pepakura are pretty easy to understand. There are only 3 types of lines to look out for.

1) Solid lines = CUT

2) Dotted lines = Mountain fold

3) Broken up dotted lines = Valley fold

Here is a typical Pepakura shape. Lines and dotted lines with numbers everywhere. Every number has a corresponding number to merge the edges. With a tab to use to glue them together.

*TIP: Pepakura prints the tabs really big. Too big for my taste. Whenever I see a tab to cut.. I just cut them shorter. It makes it a bit easier to work with later. Less surface area to glue too. The big tabs can get in the way sometimes, going past a few shapes.

*TIP: I use my knife to score ALL the dotted lines. Just a little pressure, making sure not to cut all the way through. The score would make it easier for me to fold later. It also gives me a nice crisp straight fold.

*TIP: If you're rich, I'd recommend getting a Silhouette Cameo cutting printer! It'll save you LOADS of time cutting all the pieces manually. Man, wish I was rich.

The face all scored and folded. Ready for glue!