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Old 04-16-2010, 09:59 AM
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rbeach84 rbeach84 is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA - USA
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Alligator wrestling...

...is what I call it! I completed the head last night and it was a doozy! I will try and figure out how to post pixs over the weekend, and I may also do it again! I learned a lot just from doing it, but the result isn't half bad, just think I can do better. I took Tapcho's advice about building the face and hair together (to a degree) but found that it might be best to do both simultaneously so I can exactly match up the seams between the two main parts of the head. Definitely use standard paper for the head parts, however!

My impression doing the main 'hair' part, which comprises the entire back of the head - and looks like an octopus when cut out (kinda behaves like one, too!) - is that a very specific sequence of gluing would be more successful than any other. I could not really visualize the part until I had nearly completed it. It incorporates a lot of complex curvature including a 'bulge' effect for the hair on the sides of the head. Wonderful!

Essentially, I suspect the hair part is best built from the bottom-up. The bottom is the roughly triangular part that stays basically flat with the 'arms' of the octopus then curling around to meet at a seam that runs up the centerline of the back of the head. Each pair of arms overlaps the previous such that the globe of the head 'stacks' up easier than the reverse (which is what I did, not knowing where to start.) I found that my metal 'puttying tool', which has a tiny spoon shaped end, was invaluable in getting the proper curl induced in the arms (I was able to access the seams from the inside and "curled" as I went...)

I believe I will write up my experiences as a set of "instructions" to share, but for anyone doing this right now, I might recommend that the face and head go like this:

1- Face: set the primary curvature and get the main seam from forehead to chin set so the nose and mouth are formed. The chin will be pretty 'pointy', but leave the jaw and temple/top seams 'open' at this point.

2 - Hair/head part. Start with the triangular segment and then work up from there, curling & gluing each subsequent segment 'pair' up to about the 'halfway' point. Then set the remaining curvature to the central 'ring', taking care where it narrows near the 'top'.

3 - Carefully match the face forehead seams to the corresponding part of the hair ring using the joint 'line' on the hair part as a guide. Keep the 'centerlines' aligned and work top seam, then the side seams of the face, then join the face sides to the hair piece. This will require using a 'curling tool' that can reach inside the head assembly to aid in getting the joints aligned. Do a bit at a time and try and curl the paper to reduce the amount of 'stress' at the joints while the glue sets.

4 - Complete the rest of the head, 'shingling' up to the top. Then close off the 'jawbone' seams.

5 - Lastly, there are three more 'hair' parts, which are best formed and *then* attached to the head. One is the "bun" part, which was straight-forward to form as a 'globe' by starting a seam then alternating from one side of the start to the other, until glued all around. Again, the 'curling' tool is indispensable. The remaining two are 'curved sheet' parts that represent the 'bangs'. The larger is applied over the smaller. On both, close the seams that provide the curvature and then attach to the head. I attached the larger section out of alignment with the smaller - both should align to the same 'hair part line' across the top. Do a 'dry fit' and refer to the pictures of the complete model to get the proper 'lay' on the face - both eyes and eyebrows should be visible and almost all of the face-to-head joint should be covered. Placement of the 'bun' assembly is aided by the centerline seam and the fact that there is a slight "point' on the back of the head that can be covered by the bun. However, looking at the cartoon reference image, it appears the bun should be nearly on the top of the head...?

There are probably other tips, such as I removed the glue tabs from the face part for smoothness but kept the one for the hair (actually introduced a bit of texture...) but I will stop for now. If you are new to paper modeling, this one is a good one to test your skills, since it is one sheet for the parts and a lot of challenging assembly to 'workout' on... more later!
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Regards, Robert
In Work: Uhu02 Tinkerbell - [under Tapcho's thread] Tinkerbell - a fairy with an attitude
Nobi Junkers SRF BETA build - BETA Build: Nobi's Junkers SRF 1:48 scale

Last edited by rbeach84; 04-16-2010 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Added info/comment
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