It's about time some one did this and in my opinion it had to be you. I have a good grasp of scaling and have/am helping many in this but now I don't have to try to explain in tells because I have a great video reference to link now. Thank you Dave for not only the useful link but also returning to us after such a long time.
I did a iron man costume for me and a war machine for my son out of card board and some velcro dots. But I used your videos to help. It's amazing mate, cheers!
I just want to say that you are an amazing person. I have watched multiple videos from you now and you make everything SO easy to understand! I have been trying to figure out Pepakura for a long time and I just kept assuming I was too dumb to understand any of it, but you have shown me that it's really simple once you have all of the information. I wish I could meet you in person so I could just give you a big hug. XD
The guys on the 405th forum are reliable, they have good clean files on there. I have never had a problem in the years I've been getting files from there. Good luck.
Of course it will! Just remember to take your time, make it match. People tend to rush through and neglect the importance of the pepping stage. After all... what you pep out will be the shape and look of the final piece. If there are any mistakes or irregularities that you can see prior to hardening, this is the time to take care if it! As it is 10x harder to deal with once it's a solid. Dave/Cereal.
Wow, this really helped me out so much! I have a hard time visualizing things like this, so all of your videos have helped me understand how to actually make things work, thank you!
Thanks for this one Dave. I'm new to Pepakura and would have made some of these rookie mistakes so you have just saved me a lot of time :-) I look forward to the rest of your Halo build.
Dave, thanks for another great video. A few comments. You stated to use the "longest measurement of the piece." In the case of the gauntlets its the width because the model has two gauntlets side by side. Thus, the height of the model is the dimension you're looking for. Since they're pretty close I'd say you got lucky in having your gauntlet fit. (Try pepping using height.)
That is a great tip, thank you! I honestly have never before, used the "measure two points function" in pep designer and applied a real measure to it. I will most certainly be trying this out :)
Great video overall. The only thing I would say is the question about "Can I use regular printer paper?" I realize you work with resined paper and for that you can't, however if you are working with foam, then regular printer paper will work just fine. In that case you are strictly using the paper as a template for the foam, so it really doesn't need any structural strength. Otherwise, nothing to add. Thanks for taking the time to make your videos!
yes you can use regular paper for templates as long as it only for the templates. cardstock is more sturdy for templates, but if you are not wanting to pay for cardstock paper then regular printer paper can work as well. ONLY FOR FOAM!
Just so you know, you're my inspiration for making my costumes, although my work isn't a great standard and I take an extremely long time I always think about what you would say and how you would get round a problem. Stops me from giving up! From me a big thank you!!
The question you're asking is kind of a catch 22. Iron man (I will be doing a build soon!) is tricky, as with the actual costume (used in movie) the helmet is actually a 3 piece setup, allowing it to fit the head symmetrically and scale well. Unless you're ready to go the extra mile and cut the piece up, it will always have to be somewhat over-sized. As far as scaling goes, the above ^ video covers everything you need to know. The piece you are scaling doesn't matter it all crosses over!
There is a utility in Pep designer called - Measure Two Points - This will allow you to choose 2 arbitrary points on a pep file and measure the span between them. (Say, the inside top of the helmet to the lowest point.) What you would do is measure the top of your head to the lowest point where the helmet would fit, convert to -mm- and then scale the piece until that measure is equal to the one you took from your body. (remember to compensate for padding/thickness!)
Great job man, been following your videos for a while, just gotta say miss watching them.. when you gonna finish your armor tutorial? I wanna see how you finish up, cheers
First off I'd like to say that your videos are truly the best. I began watching one and ended up watching them all. Now I'm hyped up and ready to go. I have tried making my own Pep helmet but the sizing was WAY off. You may have already answered this and I am sorry if you have but what is the best way to scale the helmet? I just don't want to Print, cut, and glue all just to discover that my helmet is too big or small. Thanks and please keep the videos coming!
Is this what you do for work? If you do I can see why, you're attention to detail an descriptions are great. You're videos are always great and informative. You have a website yet?
Also, use the "measure two points" feature in Pepakura Designer. The gauntlets have two length rulers for just this purpose. Measure from your wrist to the inside of your forearm where the joint is. Convert to mm. Then use the measurement feature in Pepakura Designer to measure the length of the smaller (inside) ruler. Adjust the model scale until that measurement equals the measurement you took on your body. That's a guaranteed fit.
Hey Abulia, You are absolutely correct!!! What I did when I pepped out my forearms is I separated the left and right pieces into individual files as I had some plans to modify one of the forearms in a specific way. I didn't dawn on me in the video until you brought it up about the two pieces being viewed as a whole,,, My mistake, I apologize!
First off, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to make a tutorial like this, it's helped me understand a lot as well as others I'm sure. I think I only have one question. I'm working on a Mark IV Ironman build, and it's been pretty frustrating so far. Anyways, should I be adding an inch and a half to two inches to everything I measure on myself?
Dude I'm so glad I stumbled among your channel, specially this video since I will be making a Ironman Mark VII suit and had lots of questions about scaling and sizing. Thanks a lot for the tips man! One question though do you know if a regular laser printer and the silhouette Cameo would take 120 lb paper stock?
Good video - really like the picture-in-picture effect, but doesn't work so well when you're pointing and referring to items on the monitor but is covered up by the inset.
I had to sand open the hole until it'd fit. Wearing gloves helps space that out. I had also used an under suit to bulk up the upper body. Which means that proportionally my hand would be smaller in comparison to arm thickness. As for the shins, when you do them, see if you can slide your foot in with the shin backwards and then rotate it around to the correct side. Just trying to give you another option maybe.
That would depend on the piece in question. What model are you pepping? Which component specifically? What is you're scale (in mm)? If it is a larger piece (piece of a torso or thigh) they can get quite large. I'd need more info.
For either piece, you want to use the measurement which has the greatest span. Head = Bottom of chin to top of head (then add 1.5 inches for padding and grace room) Chest = Lowest rib (side) to top of shoulder (add same 1.5 inches) :)
When you scale pep for foam, remember the thickness of the foam plays a big factor in the piece. When pepping with paper that is 1/8 of a mm thick it goes unnoticed. But when using foam that is anywhere from 1/8" ~ 3/8" thick, you have to make sure that you will have enough room inside the piece once it's done. Measure the thickness of your foam, then double it! (eg. 1/4" foam doubled is 1/2") You have to add that extra 1/2 inch as well as your 1" to 1-1/2" breathing room.
Yeah, resins are one of those very foggy and grey areas, you can pay anywhere from $65 ~ $120 per gallon depending on brand/quality. For the application we're using the resins for (costume & props), it doesn't really matter. If you were building a car body or a boat hull.... that's a different story. You can use any brand you wish, the only choice you need to make is weather the resin type will be polyester or epoxy.
I really like your video and it is very informative. Quick question, if I am making something out of foam, is there a setting I can use. I know that almost everything is made for paper and for fiber builds.
Thanks alot for the 'Card Stock' Tip. I was wondering what sort of paper to use and thats a grand answer. I'm now planning to use super glue as the thing to hold the card stock together, I've seen these: Water Clear Casting Resin - 500g with Catalyst 5kg Low Cost General Purpose Resin and Catalyst But im unsure of what a good resin would be ...could you recommend any good resin? Thanks again very informative video.
Some parts are tricky. The biggest problem is that on one person is going to "scale perfectly" I would be measuring and scaling to match the most important dimension of the piece (the palm and length and width) that distance is more important than the depth. The depth will most likely have to be changed on the fly. Meaning increased or decreased in depth once the piece is built. chances are if you scale by depth, the other 2 dimensions will not fit. Then you'll have a mess!
It has been a while. Very nice video editing and awesome tutorial. Do you have any experience with Foam armors. I've never done one, but I assume it's roughly the same thing.
Hi what should I do for measuring helmets, coz my head is bit smaller than other adults, im 1.57 centimeters of hight yeah pretty small for my age and i don't think i get any taller is on my genes. Thank you
Dude this vids have been a HUGE HELP! But just to clarify, The ONLY measurement you change when you are scaling is the longest. measurement? and leave ther others unchanged? another question. You said chest pieces are measured from shoulder to shoulder. Gauntlets from wrist to elbow. What about every other part of ur body? Such as your head,thigh, shin, etc?
I watched your tutorial I understand getting the length and width from the longest and broadest points. My question is on depth, I'm starting on the gloves for my Iron Man Mark VI suit, my question is as for depth do I measure at the deepest point and use that as an input? That point being my lower palm/top front part of my wrist? Let me know when you can, I'm hoping to start this project this weekend, and from what I can tell it is going to be insane alot of parts Thanks and best regards,
Correct! However, for reference I have never had a feed issue with 110 lb paper in any printer, there should be no issues with that. Unless you are using a laser printer that is > 8 years old.
Do people like me usually have to adhere the pieces to the underarmour in some way? to prevent slipping and rotating. The forearm for instance, How do you keep it from sliding down or turning around when you don't have enough meat underneath it to fill it out? In other words, would padding it suffice or would it require some sort of Velcro under every piece to keep it from moving.
i need help, ive desined a chest piece in BLENDER , set the scal to millimetres then scaled the part to the correct size for my body, i export to pepakura and the size is wildly smaller... any help for me here ? how to i set the scale correctly as my "depth" section seems to actul be the width (from shoulder to shoulder
Being that I have no idea of your overall height, I can't really say right or wrong. But to put things into perspective, I'm 6' tall and have a very tall upper body. The Height of my chest piece is 444mm. So if you are between the height range of 5'0" ~ 5'6", 309 in height sounds like it could be correct. :)
Correct! The biggest differences are: - Save your work - Exporting features - Possibly measure 2 points feature (not too sure on that one thought as I use the designer version)
Thank you for this video. I understand more about pepakura. This is my first time attempting anything like this. I have downloaded to pepkura designer 3, and I have a Pdo file for an ebony skyrim helmet. What measurements do I need to take for a helmet? What is considered the length, width and depth. Still a little confused about this. If you have any suggestions please help!
The measurement that I would begin with would be the longest. (top of the head, and down to the lowest part of the helmet) to that measurement I would add an 1-1/4", No more. This extra is only to compensate for the thickness of the piece as well as any padding you put on the inside. As far as re-attaching the 3 pieces together, being that the jaw piece is relatively light and small, I would use Velcro strips. Same deal for the face plate as I am assuming you would like it to be removable.
love your work, when you said measure from shoulder to shoulder, in pepakura do you just put that measurement for width then the rest will fill in? ive got the itch for pep. thank you sir.
Hey Cereal. Great video! Quick question. What do you do about the excess residue of glue on your pep once you stick it? Or am I just using to much glue :/?
I appreciate the depth and detail. I seem to be having an unusual situation. Regardless what i have tried I simply don't have nor can i find a way to add PDF to the drop print menu. I have my personal printers showing with no problems.. It seems to allow saving as most anything and everything else associated as a valid file format. I actually updated my PDF today for that matter that issues did nothing to change my print functions in my licensed version of Pepakura 3. I have even looked at the free viewer and the High Definition ver. none of the 3 versions of Pepakura have any option i can find to allow PDF printing.. Quite puzzled any ideas as to where my issue is. I'm Using Windows 7 if that helps. Thank you.
What I would do is print out one finger. Move all of the pieces that make 1 finger onto 1 sheet and print them out. Assemble it and put it on. That's the best way to go about it, everyone's fingers from joint to joint are different lengths and thicknesses. Because of the small spaces between each joint and that there is little room for error, this is how I would approach it.
I think that the mesuring of pepakura files are still realy confusing for chest and helmets .. Would be great to do a new tutorial about scaling and also show us how you do it ! And also would it be possible to show is what you do when a pieces is to big for one sheet? Thank you
I desperatly need help with the chest piece. Im 5'2'' weigh 104 pounds very thinand im having trouble scaling the torso!! PM me if you can and keep up the amazing work!
Ok so question, got the main part of the hands palms and knuckles printed they look great, I'm onto the fingers now... as for length do i measure from the tip of a finger just below my main hand knuckle? Or am I supposed to just measure tip to first knuckle joint as the Iron Man gloves are separated into 3 separate knuckle parts? I'm working on the Zabana gloves modified by darskside501st on therpf
So what about foam? I make foam pep iron man armor and it took so long to make the helmet because I had to make it so many times. How much extra would you recommend I add so that the parts fit the first time?
You really are a great help. My son wanted to be a halo guy for halloween so here I am night after night working on his pep costume. 1 Question what to do when the pieces dont fit on a4 card stock do you just glue the pieces together and then cut then out also I scaled his chest piece should the helmet be the same scale? Thanxs a million for helping us that are new to this myself and my son say U R The Man
Do you have to have the 3D program installed along the side with Pepakura in order for the 3D files to open in Pepakura or can I open the 3d files alone with just Pep? I have a MAC and Pepakura only works on Windows, but I was thinking of transferring and importing my C4D files from my MAC over to my PC with Pep installed on it. Not sure if this is doable or not...
Finally, some models have a scale of "82" in them, representing the height of the Master Chief in inches. If your model has a scale of "82" then you can, typically, take your height in inches, add 1-2 for padding, and adjust the scale to your height. For example, I am 5'9" and adjusting to from "82" to "71" gets me a piece that fits pretty close. Note, this trick doesn't work on all models, only those that have a default scale of "82." Finally, pep low def models for testing purposes.
Hey i have a question, when i go to print preview, it asks me if i wanna rescale and I say Yes, which is fine, but the Numbers for the Tabs are not there, How can i get the numbers to show up on the tabs?