Out of This Wall: Patterned Edition

I recently came across kamibox's Out of This Wall Instructable. I've done a few other similar paper craft projects and got the idea of using patterned paper. I thought that combining the idea of a person busting out of a wall with crazy patterned geometric shapes would work well and it totally did!

My 3d model is more complicated than the original in terms of where pieces fit together and the detail in the face. This made the assembly more complicated than the original looked, but I think the results were well worth the effort.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools

• x-acto knives with a few spare blades
• Cutting mat
• Straight edge to help fold (I use a metal ruler)

Materials

• 7mm double sided tape (I've had great success using the sookwang brand)
• A bunch of cool patterned or colored cardstock
• Medium chipboard for the back support
• Super glue

Design files

I've created the design files for 6x12", letter, and A4 sized paper. Depending on the size of your paper, you can choose whatever files fit for you. The *.pdo files are the files used by the papercraft design software that I used, Pepakura (more on this later...).

Step 2: Choosing Your Paper

This is where you can take this idea and really make it your own way! The craft store near me had tons of really cool twelve by twelve inch patterned cardstock paper. They also had packets of letter-sized paper in themed color palettes. Go check out your local craft store (or favorite online shop) and find some paper that you think looks cool. Just make sure that you get cardstock paper that is strong enough to hold some weight -- regular printer paper won't cut it!

I intentionally laid out the pieces to be scattered all around different sheets in the design. This will make the final product have lots of random looking patches and shapes if you use different colored paper.

Step 3: Preparing Your Paper (optional)

If you are using similar 12x12" patterned paper as me, you'll need to cut your paper down to size for printing. My printer can't go wider than 8.5 inches, so I made the design for 6x12 inch sheets and cut all of my paper in half.

If you are using Letter or A4 size paper, you can skip this step! I've attached PDFs for those paper sizes.

Step 4: Printing

There are a few important things to make sure of before starting to print your paper.

You need to make sure that your printer can handle the heavy paper that you're using. Your paper might have a weight (specified in some weight per area unit) that you can compare to your printer's specs. If your printer has a special feed tray for thick paper, use that. If your printer jams up, you can always find a local print shop that will print your paper for a small fee.

Another thing you want to double check before printing all of your paper is that you are printing on the correct side of the paper. Some colored and patterned paper have different things on each side. If you have certain colors or patterns you want to be visible, the cut and fold lines need to be on the back of the paper. It is a good idea to send a test sheet of paper through with something written on one side so that you know which side of the paper your printer prints on.

Once you've worked these details out, shuffle up your paper and send it through the printer. Randomizing what colors you use for each part is a fun way to make your creation one of a kind!

Step 5: General Assembly Info & Tips

Staying Organized

I usually only cut pieces out as I need them instead of cutting and folding every single piece. I also recommend downloading Pepakura and using it to figure out what sheet of paper a piece is on. It also really helps to see the 3d model when deciding what piece to do next. The free version of Pepakura should allow you to view the model and see what sheet a piece is on.

If you are on a Mac or Linux machine, look into installing wine (the software, not the drink!) on your machine. I was able to get Pepakura to run on my Macbook with wine.

Cutting

When cutting out your pieces, only cut along solid lines.

The cutting blades will dull out throughout the project, and having a sharp blade makes the process much quicker and easier. I recommend having some spare blades to swap out as you progress through the project.

Folding

Dashed lines are valley folds. Dash-dot lines are mountain folds. (See the above photo if you aren't sure which is which).

Using a straight edge to help with getting precise fold lines is a must. I've heard of some people useing the back of their xacto knife to help score the fold lines. I didn't do this, but you can give it a try to see if it helps for you.

Taping

Try to assemble the small intricate edges before doing big, easy ones. It sucks when you need to get to a small flap, but your piece is locked in by another taped flap that prevents you from easily maneuvering around.

Work your way from the front to the back on each body part. If something is a bit misaligned, you'd rather have a gap facing the wall where no one will see it.

Step 6: Assembling the Torso

When doing these kinds of paper craft projects, you always want to work your way from the closed end to the open end. In this case, that would be fingers, then hands, then arms, etc.

I recommend you start with the torso if you haven't done any papercraft projects before. The hands are much more complicated to assemble than the torso. Once you've finished the torso, you'll have a pretty good idea of how to go about cutting and folding the more complicated parts.

Step 7: Left Hand & Arm

The fingers were some of the hardest parts of the whole assembly. Be extra careful with lining up your folds and taping the pieces together.

I used a chopstick and fork to get into small areas and apply pressure to the taped parts.

Step 8: Right Hand & Arm

Follow the same process as the left hand and arm: fingers, hand, forearm, elbow, etc.

Step 9: Head

Seeing the face come together was one of the most exciting parts during this build. Start with the face and work towards the back of the head.

Step 10: Bringing It All Together

Attaching all of the parts together was nerve-wracking. I was afraid that I would mess something up after putting so much time into it. Fortunately, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I started by attaching the head to the front of the torso and worked around to doing each arm. Having the 3d model open in Pepakura helped immensely during this part.

Don't put too much pressure on your taped flaps until you're sure everything is lined up correctly. Once you're confident in how things look, you can go and squeeze the flaps into the tape to lock everything in.

Step 11: Adding the Back Support

The back support was just slightly too big for the letter sized chipboard that I have, so I cut out two copies of it, with each seam going in the opposite direction.

After gluing the two together, cut out a section in the middle so that you can get inside to help attach the final flaps.

Be sure to put extra pressure on the tape in these flaps since this will be what is holding the entire structure up. You can also use some glue to help make sure nothing goes anywhere.

Step 12: Mounting on the Wall

Finally! All of your hard work can be displayed to the world (or your living room).

Measure out six inches on the back of the support to make holes for your mounting nails. I used a drill to put the holes in, but you could also spin the tip of an xacto knife on the markings if you don't have a drill.

Do the same thing on the wall where you would like to mount your sculpture, and tap in a few finishing nails. Don't drive your nails in all the way, or else they won't be able to go all the way into the holes you made on the chipboard support.

I had a friend help figure out what looked level and used a bubble level to mark out the line on the back support and the line on the wall.