7FT Gundam - Ultimate Papercraft

After burning my 4FT Freedom Gundam papercraft in 2010 I was determined to create a bigger and better replacement. This 7FT Gundam Mk-2 papercraft became the result of my goal, made up of 1250 parts on 720 pages, for a total paper weight of 10lb (4.5kg).

Using time-lapse photography, video editing and motion graphics, I created this video which shows the entire construction process as it happened over a course of three to four months.


My brother Ivan Lesko and I collaborated on creating a set of fantasy photographs for this project. Read Ivan's thoughts about the photography on his blog and follow him on Twitter.

Here's another time-lapse video which shows our photoshoot.


In this behind the scenes video I talk about my original idea, design process and equipment used for this project.


I launched this teaser video one month prior to revealing this project to the world.



For this and more, visit my website at www.visualspicer.com

Thanks for viewing!

Comments

[0713022031]

what kind of paper to build this gundam? (paper type and gramation (gsm) )

[LaffyDuck187]

i clicked the favourite button on this so hard the instructables servers pooped their pants

[dreamer10]

bro where did you get the mini model

[troy72898]

man this guy has way to much time on his hands. he did amazing though i would love to be able to do a halo armor like he did with the gundam. also was that poop on his printer at 1:15

[neonack]

Pepakura?

[ArtXander]

Great man! Absolutely amazing!

[ladytyty]

Wow, you are very talented Thanks for sharing that with us. Now can you do a female image of a super hero mom? Great work! You will be very successful in your life

[visualspicer]

Now there's an original idea. Thank you. :)

[No-Shi-De]

WOW! this is one of those" bro? why did u make this??? ...... Coz I can. (answered with a dramatic deep voice" moments.... very nice! im looking for one of those rating flag here in instrcutibles but cant... 5 starts man!!!

[lpasion]

WOW!!! i really like it!! hope you can help me build my own replica of gundam exia and gundam wing zero type... ^^

[ZachMaker]

Ok i like it alot, but what happens if it rains

[Farrelbark]

You should make a series of various giant-robot papercrafts.
Possibly starting with a more modern one being the Lagann mini-bot from TTGL.
http://images.wikia.com/gurennlagann/images/2/22/Lagann.gif

[rysjin]

Wow this is awesome what ya do is go buy a gundam plastic model then use pictures to create a 3D model then use peppakura designer for th' papermodel use a plotter ta cut out then use tacky glue ta put it together and foam board as a skeleton there's an insructable ya just have ta listen its' all in th' videos ya can't get mad cause someone doesn't give you their pdo files and you dont have th' skill or creativity ta build something this awesome. Besides Tarras lesko has ben building papercrafts original at that on this scale for a long while this is true art expression ya either can or can't .

[Boppo3]

Here's an idea: Why not you cut up your gundam, then reinforce the insides, while allowing enough space for a guy to be inside ... TA DA! Most epic hallow-ween costume design!

But seriously dude, that's some serious folding there. Nice work.

[daemonkrog]

Okay this is really cool but for this to be an instructable you should be showing us how to build one of our own.

[thegreat58]

Awesome job, that is the work of a true artist. I got my son, who is a Med. student interested in papercraft, gives him something cheap to do for a break from studying. some local guy built a full size Ducati motorcycle out of papercraft, it was at a trade hobby show, but I missed seeing it. again great job.

[visualspicer]

Thank you. I create my papercrafts as a way of expressing myself creatively. I'm glad you see it as art.

[Ladycroft39]

I love paper crafts too especially when I was still working as a teacher. It did helped a lot in expressing creativity as well as teaching the children how to do it.

Do you have a Transformer version like Optimus? I want to make one for my grandson. Thanks.

[visualspicer]

I don't have one, but there are some available at http://paper-replika.com/ if you go into the Transformers section.

[Ladycroft39]

Thank you for the link!

[plasticpopcorn4]

THATS RIDICULOUS :D
wonder how many paper cuts there were

[wirenut1980]

Awesome project! It appears that the only people that have complaints on this are those who have not contributed to this site but simply only take ideas from others. Just read through the comments and we can all see that they are the only ones getting upset.

[visualspicer]

Must be their specialty. They should make instructables on complaining. :)

[beackmaniax]

Good Project but you should make and instructable of this... step by step so the community could make one !!!

[REA]

You NEED to make an instructible fo this! I want one for my room.

[chefguru]

@REA - I think you missed the point (apparently, as has everyone else so far)... the advertising videos ARE his Instructable. Apparently, you're supposed to watch the videos he posted, and then magically absorb the knowledge you need to make one of them for yourself, because he obviously has no intention of sharing the files anyone else would need to make one of these for themselves.

[Kiteman]

Dude, there's a "Be Nice" rule here.

_{(And it's a damn sight easier to "absorb the knowledge" from a video on the web than it is to follow the instructions of a prject that has not been published at all.)}

[chefguru]

@Kiteman: If I found some random video reposted online with no way to track the creator, and the video was the ONLY information about the project, that's one thing. When the person posting the video is the actual creator of the project & the video, and has posted (published) the video to the instruction (tutorial) site themselves, and has the project files available on their own computer (which is shown in the video), then your argument loses its validity.

I understand what you mean though, "It's better than nothing", but considering the creator of the project DID choose to publish it here, you can't make that argument.

The fact remains: The author has the files/tools available to make this page a TRUE instructable, but instead, by choosing to only post a video, this post is not really instructing anything, it's just bragging & showing off.

[Kiteman]

Have you even bothered to compare the date the author joined and the date he published this? Three days. This author has contributed more to this site in three days than you have in four years.

How much use do you think the files are without detailed step-by-step instructions? Do you honestly expect him to back and recreate five months work, just because you want him to?

If you had ever published a project of your own, you would know that there is a physical limit on the size of the files that can be uploaded to Instructables.

I understand what you mean though, "It's better than nothing". No, you don't, because the "nothing" refers to your contribution to this site over the four years of your membership.

[visualspicer]

Thank you Kiteman. It's a tough crowd here. It seems that a lot of people have a difficult time with simply absorbing and enjoying the creativity.

[Kiteman]

They aren't a "crowd", they're a very small mob, and far from representative of the proper membership.

_{Interesting to note, of those moaning that you have not shared every detail of your project, not one of them have published a single project, despite being members for some time (in chefguru's case, he's been here almost four years, and posted nothing of any particular worth).}

[REA]

In my defense, I really don't have any good ideas to contribute (or the materials/skills/tools to try some ideas before contributing). Also, I wasn't really "moaning" about it per se, I was just sharing my interest in his project.

[Kiteman]

Relax, I was aiming my comments at chefguru and his ilk, who seem to think that VisualSpicer must recreate five months of work, just because they want to see the files.

[REA]

Ok, for a second I thought I may have said something wrong.

[visualspicer]

Excellent point there Kiteman. Thanks again for your support and congratulations on the impact your work has obviously made on this community. Keep it going.

[Kiteman]

All part of the service.

_{Tips Stetson, rides off into sunset, spurs clinking.}

[Dark-Zero]

man, is Amazing, i like so much the gundams, probably is dificult, but can you send the file whith the 720 pages, because i see here some many people want to make it(i want to), but the real question, can you make another gundam like one of gundam 00??, one like gundam exia or gundam 00Quant, because if you do that i want you pass the pdf file


please please send the pdf file of this one,i realy want to make it, XD

[etopsirhc]

and as the thought popped into your head , trees ever where felt a disturbance in the forest XD

and yes i'm always that bad at puns :P

[dtepper]

I'm at a loss for words at how incredible this is. This is an inspiration for me to try to make time to build the things that I want to build.

[visualspicer]

Thank you. That's what I want people to get out of my work is to be inspired to build something of your own.