
jstarne1
Hey guys I'm always learning cool new stuff and this is one I think is valuable honestly because very few people have a 3d printer but most people have access to paper , a printer , scissors and glue :). While I was at the Dragoncon convention I saw all kinds of costumes , robotic animation of characters for sci do stuff , and more. I had to ask them how they did it and most use the Pepakuru or Papercraft method. Pepakuru is a Japanese word for papercraft but many people call it that because it's origin is Japanese.
I will update this first post periodically if newer better option come to my attention but this is a start.
Pepakura Designer
http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
Pepakura Viewer
http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/download/viewer.html
There are a lot of replica props and costumes discussed on www.TheRPF.com, I am part way through making a full Iron Man suit, I have been since around this time last year, so far I have got the helmet done but still not satisfied with the results.
Not only do you need to cut out and stick hundreds or thousands of small paper/card/foam pieces together but you also need to strengthen them with fibre glass, smooth them with filler, sand, rinse and repeat.
Yeah you could rush them like some people on the rpf do, you can tell though, they are not even close to a standard I would find acceptable.
James over at xrobot.co.uk uses (or did use) pep to make his ironman armour but it took a long time and has since been improved using other methods (side note, check his site, he has some really awesome projects).
Here's a mask my buddy threw together for a mortal kombat costume , I think it took 4 hours or so.
He managed to do a few ironman arm pieces Sunday which looks pretty cool. Both he and I are proficient in fiberglassing and mold making so that's the easy part. We are doing a this mk6 suit for him them motorizing it , helmet lifting , plates moving ect. I think due to my size a hulkbuster suite would be appropriate for me and that suite has tons of lighting ezb could control as well as servos ect.
Your right it's time consuming but when we are talking about building a custom robot outside of just clicking some premade parts together there is no way to avoid work. It's not for everyone that's why ezbits exist but for those like me who love to add detail and personality fabrication is always useful.
Pepakura Designer is the full version but costs $38 for a licence.
I have the full version but to be honest the viewer would have done what I needed it for just fine. If you are going to use it to make your own designs then go for the full version, if you only want to use what's readily available at places like The RPF have a play with the viewer only
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~taishi/page/kamirobo.html
Robodojo paper robot bodies, just at resin to harden
http://www.telerover.com/robotdojo/RD_models.htm