Paperpede

Pokemon Attempted: Venipede (Whirlipede)
Required Level: Simple

Decided to try out something fairly low ranking that might be useful/worth trading, to give me some idea of how papercraft might be received. The ones I made that are in the Curator Test usually get good scores, despite some flaws people always miss!

Couldn't find a Venipede papercraft to make, and I couldn't find a Venipede 3D model to design my own. So instead, I decided to go with a Whirlipede one I found. Design Credit



More photos available here: Whirlipede - Imgur

Ideally I'd have liked to take this shot at the same angle but outside, on grass, but since it's 10pm I just did it here in my bedroom. Besides, this is Australia - I've found bigger things crawling around inside.

I immediately remembered how much I hate large round papercraft. As frustrating as small things like the toes or claws of other Pokemon may be, a error on a very small piece is a very small error. On larger pieces, being 0.5mm off at one end can result in 2mm or 3mm at the other end.

I find that closing a model is always the hardest part, because you can't get to both sides of the join. It has to be done completely externally. On previous Pokemon I've done, the closing is done on the base of a foot, belly or tail, somewhere hidden and obscured. This model however closed on one of the eyes, as I've shown in the gallery. As a result, if I were to make this again I would hugely deviate from the recommended build order, start with BOTH eyes, and work my way around the circle starting from the back until I meet up there again for the join.

 

Claimed. So you want me to grade it as a venopede? @Monbrey ;

 

Well I was originally going to make Venipede but couldn't find a good starting point, either pre-designed or a model to make my own.

So, its a Whirlipede, but if it's only good enough for Venipede as the case may be, that's the minimum I'm aiming for, yeah.

 

Spoiler

Monbrey's "Paperpede" :544: Min. Score: 45

For starters, I won't bother to talk too much about your whirlepede's anatomy. Seriously, if there were any discrepancies, it wouldn't be your fault anyways. Looking at the whirlipede, though, I'd say it's pretty solid.

The most interesting thing about the work itself is the method in which it was created- paper-craft. My papercrafting nightmare is the glue, and I have to admit, yours has no sign of stray glue anywhere. There are, however, some light edges to it (original paper color), which are especially noticeable when I zoom in. Some of the faces towards the top look a little bit sagged, probably because of the glue.

That's more of a detail, though. Speaking of which, I really love the edges of the antenna and "tail." It is the folds near the center of the body that look a tiny bit sloppier, but that isn't too severe. Of course, it does bother me a little that it isn't an original design- having modeling experience, i'd say a simple venopede in blender shouldn't take too long. Still, I understand if you don't have access to these recourses, so I won't consider that too harshly.

What I do consider a little harsh is that there is little creativity in the piece. It is set in your room, but that didn't stop you from maybe making some tall grass, or a little scene made of paper. Think of it- some simple grass with a printed out sign; "It's a wild Whirlipede!" It's maybe much to ask for the medium tier, although if it were a higher level, I certainly would take that into consideration.

Let's wrap things up. You made a papercraft, and that's pretty much it. It does look good, like well ironed pants.

Your final score is... :mallet: ... 50/100

I thought to myself... hmmm, this seems like just enough, but then again, papercrafting can be very challenging. So, there, I think you did a good show to deserve your pokemon! Take that Whirlipede.

Random Stuff:

Spoiler

Hey, if you ever need a 3d model, feel free to ask! I do commissions on my DA page, and sometimes even giveaways.

 

@Dalek; Thanks for getting that done so quickly.

In regards to the "sagging", it's not exactly glue that's the problem. It's mostly just due to the fact that its round and very hollow. When handling the piece, as I close any small dents become very very difficult to get out. The larger the interior, the harder it is to hold structure.

Compare it to something else I've done:

Spoiler

There are still the white paper edge marks, like you mentioned. But much, much less sagging, as the smaller folds and edges hold a LOT more structure. If anything Zekrom just looks like he's massively muscular (which he totally could be).

I'm normally terrible at backgrounds and scenery, since that usually becomes more drawing and things I'm bad at, but some simply spiky grass I could probably easily model, so thanks for that.

I have used Blender, and 3DS Max, and Lightwave, but I'm not very good at 3D modelling organic shapes at all. And even if I do manage that, I suck at texturing correctly. What I may do at some point is find some higher-grade paper like 150-200gsm (this was standard 80gsm), make a model and print it all white, then paint it afterwards.

Thanks again for the feedback