What on earth is Pepakura I hear you ask… Well it is the name given to software that allows you to print models that you cut out and glue together to make models.
I first starting using Pepakura on my Iron-man costume. You use the excellent Pepakura Designer http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/. You need to scour the internet for digital models then with this software you can print off plans which when cut out are folded and glued. This leaves you with a real world model of what is inside the computer.
There are many decent tutorials kicking about on the net. I am not going to try and better them, I suggest you have a quick look on YouTube and do a few Google searches.
Where to start ?
You first need the pepakura models, or if you have skills you can make them youself. Once you have the models you just need to print and fold them into the complicated shapes of the armour. By using Pepakura you can sculpt card into almost any shape, providing you can find the model that is. You can find many models on-line by searching via Google or looking on forums like http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/ and http://www.therpf.com/
Pepakura is easy!
I say easy, it does take a bit of skill with card, scalpel, scissors, PVA and a metal ruler. Also you must have lots of time and patience! By the time I had constructed the helmet I had enough skill to make anything using pepakura. Once you have you card model the next the step is to make it solid so you can use it, again there are many techniques to do this. The best and cheapest method I have found is using a mixture of PVA and cornflour, its a mash up of techniques I found on various sites, I have written a basic strengthening Pepakura guide here. It sounds bonkers but it goes as hard as fibre glass if you do it right.
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