Minor Equidae-related Update

http://www.mediafire.com/?g1lnymoi4qg

Odin's horse, ready to go. This isn't a release, so anyone with the proper authority shouldn't go posting it as one. This is essentially a favor done for the owner of PaperCraftMuseum.com. I said I didn't want to build this thing. He said he did. My blood pressure was raised trying to lay out this horrible mess of a model, and now here it is. Or at least half of it. I'm hoping this will buy me enough time to not have to worry about laying out Odin for a while. Just thought I'd post it here as opposed to e-mailing it to him alone, because there may be someone else insane enough to try it. Or you can just marvel at how terrible it is. Whatever, your call.



Finished getting the last of my old releases in the MediaFire folder, but there were some consequences. While fixing up my first release, the Cardian, I got all nostalgic. Despite the other models I've released (there really aren't that many of them,) I still love the Cardian most. So I've played around with the textures to make one a little more "mine," and I'll probably make him again for fun. And yes I realize black and white with purple accents is super-bland, but it's a good example of the fun you can have playing around with textures to customize. Remember, if you'd like to do the same for any of my models, just send me a message and I'll be happy to send you the necessary files to mod your own.

And with that, I'm going to bed. Good lord, it's nearly 5 AM @_@

On the carving of pumpkins

So, just a bit of housekeeping and pointless posting.

Obviously some changes with the blog, trying to zero in on a look I enjoy. New gadgets, etc. Trying to make this place look decent. Anyway, Halloween's coming up in a few days, and I had a chance to play with some stencils.







Basically just cleaned up a few points along the image. They're all from the "Final Fantasy Elements" font, found over at Dafont.com Can be used for pumpkin carving or just general mischief. Might need to clean them up a bit more if you want to stick them on a pumpkin.



To the person who requested the Ark Angel Mithra axe: I had it laid out the same morning I saw the comment. Just let me know how big you want it, and I'll post. Right now it's at the same scale I'm doing all the Ark Angels, but if you want a stand-alone version, I imagine you want it as close to life size as possible.

Finally got my papercraft folder organized, something I've been meaning to do for a while. The last two models I need to fix up for re-release are the Mini Airship and the Cardian (earliest models need the most work, go figure). I should have them in the shared folder by the end of the week. I'm also intending to get Odin's Horse ready for Haywan. I'll post the PDO for anyone who wants to see how it ends up. He's likely to make some form of instructions on the build, but if I've laid it out right, it really shouldn't need any.



Anyhow, after that, Lady Luck's up to bat. I've already got her broken down the way I like, but I think I'm going to try to make some better parts/instructions PDFs with this one. Expect some Ninjatoes-esque guide work on this one. I'll give it my best shot to produce instructions of his caliber.

Oh right, geez, almost forgot. Check this out:



Obviously very much in the development stages, but that is indeed the field model of Cid from FFVII. So yeah, FFVII's fair game now too. Like I said, ever expanding horizons.

Check back often, yadda yadda, requests always welcome, blah blah, you know the drill.

FFX Pack

Time for an FFX multi-release.



http://rapidshare.com/files/156713240/FFX_Treasure_Chest.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2869015Z
http://www.mediafire.com/?tk5jwlmmzly

First up: treasure chest. Pretty standard, seemed like it would be a fun, easy build. Several sizes and textures, worth spending half an hour on and sticking on a desk somewhere.



http://rapidshare.com/files/156713828/FFX_Monkey.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NHT3D2ZZ
http://www.mediafire.com/?yzvymgjmdln

Next: creepy monkey. As I was building this, a word kept coming to mind. Esoteric. Vivi wanted to see how this would look, but backed out of the build when it became apparent that the thing is way creepier up close than the tiny little versions you see in the game (at various temples). This was my first custom pose for a model, so I wasn't about to just let it get tossed aside. I probably should have though; this thing was a pain to build and eerie to look at. Anyway, yeah, FFX Monkey. Woo.



http://rapidshare.com/files/156714678/Blitzball.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XG0AGOGR
http://www.mediafire.com/?ly2mtn2mmyl

Finally: Blitzball! Made two sizes, surprisingly easy to build. Don't think I need to justify building a blitzball.

However, the blitzball helps me segue into housekeeping matters. I've upgraded to Pepakura Designer 3, and with it Pepakura 3 locked formats. You can always get Viewer 3 from the Pepakura site for free (look to your left), and it functions independantly of Designer and Viewer 2, so it won't overwrite anything. But this draws attention to locked formats. I have no problem releasing unlocked PDOs to people who specifically request them, I'm just not comfortable releasing them en masse. The blitzball would be a great model to customize (like editing the skin to make some manner of fictional team ball? I don't know, whatever). So if you'd like an unlocked version of anything I've released, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail and I'll get you everything you need. You just have to be willing to post your results, like this guy:



http://www.mediafire.com/?yz3m2yn5qfy

This fellow, Whitechronowolf, has put the time in to make a properly life-size Myochin Kabuto. I'm happy to post results for any custom work you'd like to share. Just be sure to include a picture of the finished version, especially if it's as awesome as this one (the facial expression really sells it).

But back to business: with Designer 3 I've also started making PDFs at a higher resolution. It's a slight improvement visually, and it makes a noticable difference in the filesize, but I think it's worth it. Regarding file sizes: you may have noticed I've started including MediaFire links. Rapidshare and Megaupload just don't quite get the job done as well as they could, so I'm going to be working on re-releasing everything up to this point and loading them into a shared MediaFire folder (look to your left again), so you can browse the files as a group without having to search all over the blog.

I've also added one of those chat gadgets. Not sure if anyone cares to use it, but if you like, it's there. Shout away, as they say.

This will probably be my last release for a while. I've got a lot of big models on my proverbial plate, and I'd like to get a few of them knocked out without any other distractions. Not to mention my big folder of other people's models I never have time to work on (I'm just as much another builder as contributor). Anyway, figured I'd give you a heads up on what to expect in the next month or so.



I'm working on a layout of FFXI's rendition of Odin for Haywan, the fellow who runs PapercraftMuseum (go sign up at the forums...enough people frequenting them and it could become a mighty nice little papercrafter's hub). What's frightening is, as messy as the horse looks, it's almost ready to go. I just need to finish breaking up the face, then arranging all the pieces on the pages. After that, I'll likely wait a bit to get started on Odin himself.



I've already basically said the Paine version of FFX-2's Lady Luck dresssphere is on the way (and honestly I can't express how much I want to see this model finished). I've had to do some work on the left arm (intersecting faces and whatnot), but she's just about ready to go. More or less the same situation as the horse. Need to break up the face, then arrange it all. And yes, it occurs to me that there's an awful lot of purple on my desktop. But hey, Aristotle said purple was the best color. That's gotta count for something, right?



Finally, Balthier. I know there are plenty of people out there who want to build this as much as I do. He's actually ready to be loaded in Pepakura, but as you can see, he's in a generic model viewer sort of pose. I can't just release something bland like that, so I'm working on giving him bones and a decent pose. I've only been using 3DS Max 9 for about two weeks, so I'm still learning my way around it, but I think he's coming along nicely. Just need to spend a day with the model and make it perfect.



So if you've been thinking about building one of my earlier releases, but haven't gotten around to printing it yet, hold off a few days. I'll have all my old releases loaded into a shared MediaFire folder, as updated as they're ever going to get. It may be a bit before my next release, but I'm always open for requests, suggestions, questions, or even random babble. Drop me a metaphorical line any time.

We'll call this something like a teaser...

Lulu's Moogle

Lulu's Moogle
http://rapidshare.com/files/153496320/Lulu_s_Moogle.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1AHAF1D1

Threw the .PDO together last night, seemed promising, so here it is. Set to two scales, pictured is the larger. Figured it would be just as easy at smaller scale, but in half the number of pages. This is the first non-FFXI model I've released. Seems like it should be a momentous occasion, but the fact that I went from "hey that'd be fun" to "here it is" in under 24 hours leaves it kind of underwhelming. Anyway, Next FFXI related release will likely be more moogles, and of course the big release on the horizon is Lady Luck. Check back soon, etc.

Mandragoras...again

Mandragora
http://rapidshare.com/files/153163877/Mandragora.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RK4GAO2Z

This was originally a follow-up to the Life-size Mandragora. I printed out all three a few months ago, but just kept putting off the build. I figure one's enough for a proof of concept, and I improved the model in the testbuild. Pictured is a Korrigan; the release is all three: Mandragora, Korrigan, and Lycopodium. The idea was to make something a little more reasonably sized, for those who didn't want to waste half a printer cartridge on a single model. This is also the first of my models (I think) that's small enough to fit on a stand, so I took the opportunity to modify the classic Final Fantasy Papercraft stand. Credit to Black Mage 001 for the original design.

As for those Halloween related items I was planning on...well laziness and other projects dictate that they get tossed aside. Sorry if anyone was looking forward to them (honestly, was anyone? pfft, of course not).

In other news, Haywan, over at PapercraftMuseum.com has decided he wants a challenge, and apparently I'm the guy who's gonna deliver. Remember when I said don't hold your breath about seeing models like Odin here? Well, apparently that just sounded like "bring it on." So I'm going to be laying the model out for him over the next week or so, and he's going to take a crack at it and make some instructions (maybe even one of those fancy stop-time animation videos). I'd also like to thank him for posting everything from my blog in his museum (though I would advise everyone to avoid my earlier models, the ones I said were untested. Lord, what a mess.) Anyway, if you haven't checked out his site, it's an excellent repository.

(I tried to warn him, but whatever. Not my blood pressure on the line...)

Finally, I just made a massive breakthrough today with a model that...I can't even express how badly I want to see this thing sitting next to my TV. And I'd like to thank Gamerjoy for getting me moving in the right direction to expand my papercraft topic roster (ok, so a jump from one Final Fantasy to another isn't massive, but it's better than the same old nonsense every time.)

I'll just leave this here...

Castigated for Rasterbating

Tangentially related at best, but I figured I'd post it.
I used a large map of Windurst (edited smaller maps I got out of the AltanaView program and stitched them together in PhotoShop) to make a gigantic rasterized poster.



Here's the map if anyone else is interested.



Also did a rasterized version of my character, Kaizo/Oka

If you're unfamiliar, the Rasterbator can be found here:
http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/
I recommend using the standalone version, as it gives you more options, especially in the dot size.
AltanaView's a good program to check out files other than basic models. If you're not familiar, check it out here:
http://longtear.hp.infoseek.co.jp/altanaview_en.html

I've been building a few smaller models to cool down after Carrie, including Ninjatoes' latest, Yuna



Made a mess of the head last night, so I'm gonna give it another shot, hopefully finish tonight.

Paperkraft.net has an article up that got me thinking about Halloween.


So I'm probably going to try to get these models worked out some time this week, just to be festive. Likely going to edit the lantern's texture to get a better shade of orange, and probably get the Hume style pumpkin hat as well.

Next release will be a set of 3 Mandragoras (black, white, and Lycopodium). I've got a Moogle model laid out just the way I want it, but I'm not completely sure about the size. It's just a little smaller than what I figure "life size" should be for a fictional mole-bat.

Finally, and at this point we're beyond tangential, today's my birthday! Woo! etc...
At least I'm not expected to get completely wasted at 22 (seriously, explaining to an Olive Garden waiter last year that 'I don't drink' was almost embarassing...).
Anyway, thought I'd post my giant raster-map and give a heads up on what to expect soon.
And now, back to my mashed potatoes.

Courier Carrie

Courier Carrie
http://rapidshare.com/files/150115838/Courier_Carrie.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KVUO6VPO

I would've had this finished and released a week and a half ago, but I went out of town for the weekend and got swamped with school work on my return. First attempt at my own non-folded model. I'm really pleased with how the finished product turned out. No ugly polygons, nice and smooth.

(This is what my apartment looks like when I'm too busy to clean. 12 pages of written work in about 24 hours counts as busy right?)

I didn't get many responses for my little vote, but they all pointed to working on the hats again. Well, bad news. After working on a test build a bit more, I've determined that making series of life-size wearable hats is simply more effort than I'm willing to put forth. After attempting to dial in on the perfect size with Maat's Cap, I've realized that what fits perfect for me won't be perfect for everyone. Not to mention the various difficulties of floating pieces (armor is riddled with them).

(If they were all the same size, I could have a nice little shell game.)

But the news isn't all bad. Given that the issues I have with making the hats all lie in making them wearable, I'm more than willing to make the sets at a smaller scale, just to be little desk toys. The main problem is that internal sections, which give structure and provide a face for floating pieces to attach to, must be removed in order to be worn. Take out the issue of wearability, and all the problems are solved. I'd love to hear some feedback, and I know there were people who wanted smaller versions in the first place.
I also know that between mine and (especially) GoblinGuy's work, a number of people have started working on their own FFXI models. First off, I'd like to extend my own services to anyone working on their own. I'd love to give advice, and particularly hosting. Contact me any time. Beyond that, as one of my problems with the hats is getting a perfect, personal size, I know many people are willing to do the work to make one perfect for themselves. If you're interested in this, I've thrown together a simple hat stand in Sketchup. I've abandoned making my own full set of life-size since, but if anyone's interested, the final product looks something like this:

(If you do make it, just attach the cylinder to the top plate of the base for stability. Don't bother making the entire box, it's just a hassle. The sphere, as is, is a little large for a head simulate. You may want to cut it up the back and adjust the size how you see fit.)
http://rapidshare.com/files/150126231/Hat_Stand.rar.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FK5OUKPO

I've still got exams going for a while, Disgaea 3 eating away at the back of my mind, and a big file folder full of models I'm ready to build. The next release will almost certainly be three mandragoras set to the same scale as Carrie, but I'm not ready to post them until I've built them for myself. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I'll do next, but I'm leaning toward a very large Goblin related project. I've also been dealing a bit with some other Final Fantasy models, so don't be surprised if I expand my roster soon. I may also have a special surprise coming, so keep an open eye.