It’s Pikachu, the cute and loveable electric mouse! I had been meaning to make a Pikachu model for a while now actually but just didn’t have the confidence to pull it off.

I didn’t have much experience designing and building my own models when I first started this. I pretty much only built other people’s designs, like I’m sure most people who get into this hobby do. Eventually, though I felt the desire to explore my own creativity and make my own models.

I initially started with Pokemon because they were shapes and forms that I was very familiar with so I felt it would be easier to replicate and sort of use them as a self-teaching aid. I thought about making Pikachu right after the three Kanto starters but I felt it wouldn’t turn out as nicely, mostly because of the tail. Charmanders flame tail had actually given me some problems when I first made it and that was only the tip of the tail. Pikachus tail is pretty much all really thin so at the time I didn’t feel like it would turn out very well.

My experiences with other models with smaller parts gave me more confidence as I went on though. The Goombas eyebrows were probably the next feature that tested me a little. Then came the Rose which really made me re-think how I approach the smaller thinner bits. So when I finally got around to making Pikachu the tail wasn’t actually that difficult to deal with.

The biggest issue I had actually was simply getting him to stand up! The position of his feet and the lever action of the tail meant that there was pretty much no way for him to stand up on his own. At first, I tried weighing down his feet but it didn’t seem to be enough. I eventually decided to just put him on a little display stand and it work perfectly! In hindsight, I should have anticipated a situation like this and put all the Pokemon on stands to match. There’s nothing to say that I couldn’t make some stands for the existing models though, it really didn’t take that much time haha

This probably won’t be the first time I make a Pikachu either. One thing I have been meaning to improve on and learn is how to make my models in more interesting poses. I’m still learning on the 3D modelling side of things but I feel like I might be getting to the point I that I might need to try and learn some more features and techniques. In addition to that I got some very fun and interesting ideas from some people regarding Pikachu that I’m very tempted to try. That’s all I’m going to say here for now though haha.

Thanks for reading and happy crafting!

The Papercraftsman

Fall is right around the corner so I figured it was time I made one of my favourite things of the season - a pumpkin! Every year, one of my favourite things to do is carve pumpkins for Halloween. It’s something my sisters and I have been doing for about as long as I can remember and I don’t think there has been a year that we didn’t carve any.

For this model, I decided to return to the low-poly style that I used for the Kanto starters a while back. I did this because I felt it would make the pumpkin feel more organic despite being obviously artificial. After all, I don’t think I have ever seen a perfectly symmetrical pumpkin or even one that comes close. That’s also why I made it fairly lop-sided too.

During the build, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went together actually, in the sense that I didn’t have to constantly check where each piece went as I was building it. You see when I first make the models I don’t have instructions, I make them once I am satisfied with the end result and that the assembly process is fairly smooth and not needlessly complex or difficult. Otherwise, I would spend a bunch of time making instructions that I’m just going to have to re-do ‘x’ number of times.

With this pumpkin though I didn’t really have any issues figuring out which piece went where. I think there were only two or three that gave me a little trouble but other than that it was fine. Maybe it was a fluke or maybe I’m getting better at “cutting them up” in ways that make sense. I’m probably not the best judge though and will leave that for you to decide.

As always, thanks for reading and happy crafting!

The Papercraftsman