Introduction: How to Make a Papercraft 1990 LEGO Set 6592 Weekend Cottage in 7 Easy Steps Xop

By Ninjatoes' papercraft webpage
About: Download the parts and instructions to build my papercraft models yourself! ;o)

I made a lot of papercrafts before this, usually characters from video games or movies, but also quite a few LEGO minifigures already. This is the first time I made a complete LEGO set though.

Well half a complete LEGO set really; this is such a big project that I'm saving the little garden and barbecue for a later time. ;o)

In fact: it is SUCH a big papercraft project that I decided to use a cutting machine (Silhouette Cameo) to do the cutting for the first time! :o)

Step 1: Modelling the Bricks

I used an older version of SketchUp to model the Bricks I needed for this papercraft project. Most LEGO Bricks have pretty simple shapes that are very easy to make in SketchUp. I use a special plugin that works with the free version I have to export the Bricks to a *.dxf file because I want to clean up the Bricks a bit more before I unfold them to papercraft parts.

Step 2: Cleaning Up the Models in Metasequoia

You could unfold models directly from a SketchUp format, but sometimes you run into problems where you might have modelled some things in a way that Pepakura Designer (which I use to unfold the models) doesn't like.

That's why I use Metasequoia, which gives that bit more control that I want. It's a (relatively ;o) simple but quite powerful 3D program perfect for making models for papercrafts, and is perfectly compatible with Pepakura Designer (they even recommend it on their website! :o)

Step 3: Unfolding the 3D Bricks Into 2D Papercraft Parts

Now that the 3D Brick models are cleaned up in Metasequoia, I can be sure I will have no problems unfolding them into 2D papercraft parts using Pepakura Designer. It is very easy to use, but if you want to save your work you will have to buy a registration key.

For me that's totally worth it of course, but if you want you can try out the software for free and even print your papercraft creations - even into a PDF file so you can 'save' (an un-editable) version of it. ;o)

Step 4: Making Vector Sheets and Adding Layers and Colors in AutoCAD LT

Now this is a step I don't usually do to make my papercrafts (only once before when I made my papercraft Royal Netherlands Navy Walrus class submarine), but I needed a way to:

  1. Keep the papercraft parts as vector information
  2. Add layers / colors to the papercraft parts

Since I have access to AutoCAD LT, that's what I used after exporting the papercraft parts to a *.dxf file format from Pepakura Designer. :o)

AutoCAD (even the LT version) is a very expensive software though, so you might want to look for a cheap/free alternative...!

Step 5: Creating PDF Files for Sharing

As you know, I like to share my papercraft works with others, so I 'printed' the templates I made in AutoCAD LT to PDF files, making sure they retained the layer information.

That way, even people that don't own a cutting machine can still print the paper Bricks and build them - but they will have to do *a lot* of cutting... And people that do have a cutting machine, can use the vector information from the PDF files.

Step 6: Importing the PDF File Into Silhouette Studio and Have It Cut the Parts! :o)

Well, at least... There is one big side note, though: I found that the free version of Silhouette Studio for the Silhouette Cameo cutting machine does not retain the layer information when you import a file with layers. In fact you can't even import PDF files in the Standard Edition...

Which is understandably quite a downer; I'm afraid I can't tell if it's the same for other cutting machines and their software like the Cricut or a Brother ScanNCut...?

This was critical for me though, so I paid for the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition. That way I could use the layer information very easily to assign the right cut settings to all the lines and have control of the cutting order:

  • 01_MountainFold - blue lines; I gave the mountain folds and valley folds different colors so that if you can check with the PDF file which way you should fold the pieces. These lines should be scored, NOT cut all the way through the paper!
  • 02_Valleyfold - magenta lines; You can switch these with the mountain fold lines, because the scoring order doesn't really matter (but again, change the settings on your cutting machine so it does NOT cut all the way through the paper!)
  • 03_CutFirst - red lines; There are a lot of slits and holes that need to be cut from the papercraft bricks. Even though you should have a sticky cutting mat, I like to do this before cutting the parts loose from the paper to avoid them shifting on me.
  • 04_CutSecond - Black lines; Once you've cut cut all the slits and holes, you can have the cutting machine cut the parts loose from the paper.
  • 05_DontCutDontFold - green lines; these are just explanatory notes, and you can turn off this layer in Silhouette Studio so they don't get cut.

Besides these settings, you also have to make sure you are using the right scoring and cut settings for the material you're using of course! Some parts need to be cut from colored paper (I used 160 gsm paper and it worked very well), others from colored transparancies (clear and yellow in this case), some from both, and there's even a sticker part that you should cut from a glossy sticker sheet! ;o)

Step 7: Build the Papercraft LEGO Weekend Cottage Set! :o)

Now all you need besides your cutting machine is a folding and glueing machine! ;o)

Unfortunately, I don't think there is such a thing yet... So that's still a lot of manual labor. But trust me, it saves a lot of time to have the cutting machine cut and score the 215 (!) sheets for you with perfect precision, even if you still do have to fold and glue them manually. ;o)

Once you're done building the bricks, they do fit together so you can actually use them to build the papercraft LEGO Weekend Cottage set! :o)

...be aware though, that these are paper parts, so it is quite a bit trickier to actually build with the Bricks. The smaller bricks and plates are fine and don't cause much problems, if you take care assembling them. But LEGO bricks have tubes/pins on the underside that align with the studs on on other bricks. On the paper parts they are flexible and move around when you're trying to put two bricks together.

For the 1 x 6 Bricks it's especially tricky because there are 5 of those pins on the underside that all have to align perfectly with the studs on the opposite Brick (or Baseplate) when you try to put them together of course. Be patient, or try making the 1 x 6 Bricks without the pins (although it's cooler with them of course ;o)

And that's that; seven "simple steps" to make a papercraft LEGO set! ;o)

I'll put my version up on my free papercraft webpage: http://www.ninjatoes.wordpress.com/ once I got everything organized the way I want to of course, and you can stay up to date with the progress of that (and any new papercraft projects of mine or neat papercrafts I find for free online! :o) on my papercraft weblog: https://ninjatoes.blogspot.com/

But I also hope you're up to the challenge and maybe want to try making your own! (or a completely different papercraft of course ;o)

Have fun!

Step 8:

Update:

I finally finished making all the instructions, and I uploaded them together with the PDF and Silhouette Cameo cutfiles to make your own free papercraft LEGO 6592 Vacation Hideaway set to my papercraft webpage:

https://ninjatoes.wordpress.com/category/lego/

Have fun papercrafting! :o)