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Hi all, thought it was about time I got another quick post up and running. Not so great at writing this kind of thing but here goes.

Having had a nice long break from papercrafting various space marines, bolters and chainswords here and concentrating on getting a Salamanders company painted as fast as possible, (well 3 1/2 squads complete at least) a friend introduced me to the fantasy side of warhammer. So after searching through the various armies I decided to get a healthy High Elf army together but before I could even start painting the papercraft itch started again.

With the itch becoming semi unbearable I decided to have a go at a custom papercraft version of the Swordmasters famous great sword. This is the biggest custom paper model I've made to date which will be around 5' long and 12" wide once finished. If anyone is interested in building their own feel free to message me and I'll email over the pepakura file.

Starting with a pic from the GW website of the new Swordmaster champion from the Island Of Blood set I tidied up the image to show only the sword on a horizontal alignment to use as a background image in 3DsMax asa template.



Once the basic 3d model was made I used Google Sketchup to tidy up the some of the unwanted node points and edges leaving a workable model, below.


This model was then unfolded using the amazing Pepakura programme and spent a good few evenings tidying up the pattern to fit onto standard A3 card. A total of 7 pretty packed pages needed all in all for this one. (Once assembled it'll be around 5' long from tip to pommel.)


Once the printer had a small fit rolling out 7 pages worth of patterns the fun could really start, cutting out all the pieces.


I found that building smaller sub assemblies was the best way to go with this pattern as it blade alone was having trouble supporting its own weight.



After all the sub assemblies were finished it was obvious that the card I used wasn't going to be strong enough to support its own structure so I decided to make up a quick internal timber support frame from a short length of broom handle, (should be fun when my wife finds out our broom handle is 2' shorter ) and a length of MDF.


Final bit of assembly and a quick measure up to see if all has come out as predicted...and yep, 5'1" from tip to pommel


Hope this has all made sense and inspired even just a few people to have a go at something similar. They make a great addition to a hobby room or gaming club and definitely give hours of fun making them.

Certainly looks involved and complicated. I have to say, the end result looks pretty damn impressive.

I would hate to see your printer ink bill though!

I jest, of course. Wonderful stuff!

Very nice!! You sir are in need of an airbrush!!

filbert wrote:Certainly looks involved and complicated. I have to say, the end result looks pretty damn impressive.

I would hate to see your printer ink bill though!

I jest, of course. Wonderful stuff!

Thanks muchly, printer bills arn't too bad as I'm a graphic designer by trade and have various accounts with suppliers which help to haggle over a discount Great fun to build, thinking about starting a bolt thrower to add to the collection


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Leptosoma09 wrote:Very nice!! You sir are in need of an airbrush!!

Thanks again, I know what you mean about the airbrush instead of printing as I tried this idea with the space marine helmet, (pics about half way down page) a while back, only problem I found doing it that way was that everything took so much longer as the card needed a fibre glass gel coat before painting else the paint just made the card really soggy and made the structure collapse. :( Maybe it just needs a bit more practise

This is simply awesome! The possibilities of what you could do like this are endless.

aerethan wrote:This is simply awesome! The possibilities of what you could do like this are endless.

Thanks muchly, yep there really is no end to what you can do, with something as simple as Google Sketchup and Pepakura, if you can model something you can make a paper pattern for it :d

Salamanders Flamer and a High Elf longbow next I think Unless anyone can think of anything better of course

I love the idea of doing collections of weapons. So perhaps do a Phoenix Guard Halberd, a Dragon Prince Lance, a Warriors Spear, a White Lion Axe etc.

Then also do a collection of weapons for your salamanders as well. Flamers, heavy weapons etc.