Free Card Kits - over 8 Gigabytes of 'em

[Brooker]

Hi,
If you want free card kits then this is the place to go and get them. Kits advertised are provided by modellers like yourselves who want to offer their creations as freebies to other card modelling enthusiasts.
Generally, the modellers are Japanese, but the quality of the kits is superb and you will find many different subjects here to suit all tastes:
http://www.3dpapermodel.com.tw/freed...nk.asp?ID=free
I suggest you use Flashget, a free download program from: http://www.flashget.com/en/download.htm and copy and paste links into it.
I suggest you get the free Belkasoft Get Links tool: http://www.softpedia.com/downloadBasket/add,26153.html
Belkasoft IE GetLinks is a product for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Belkasoft IE GetLinks allows you to extract all links from a page shown in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Two formats are supported now - plain text format and HTML, then when you go to a web page, you can look at the page in plain text (which is better than HTML) and pick out other card models for download - these are identifiable by PDF icons which are coloured, or links to other web pages..........
When you look at the bottom of each 3dpapermodel web page you will see @1@2@3 and so on. These are page numbers. Just double click on the number to open the next web page and the kits contained therein.
I suggest you surf around the front page of 3dpapermodel to begin with because there are some excellent huge kits to begin with there then you can go to the different categories and select whatever you want from there and then go over to "new" and pick off the rest from there.
Some of the links are obviously out of date, nevertheless you will find in many instances the links are still active, as will the downloads be.
If you want to copy and paste this page into your word processing package, just right click your mouse and drag the icon over this page, then select "save" and copy the content into your word processor and save to whatever file or partition you want on your PC.
You can create a new yellow folder by right clicking your mouse and selecting folder and dragging and dropping the folder from the menu provided.
One thing which is obvious to me, is that no kit is specific to the size of its creation. These kits are flat and in book form. Thus if you want to copy enlarge or copy reduce a kit, you can easily do this on a photocopier.
I suggest the following procedure: Start off with A4 sheets. Photocopy enlarge to A3 each of the parts pages, of the kit.
Take your A3 pages and cut out segments of that sheet and repaste those segments to A4 sheets, filling in the blank areas with more kit parts, but making sure you do not extend the parts to be enlarged past the sides of the A4 sheet. Then take your new A4 sheets back to the photocopier and enlarge them once more to A3.
If you want to enlarge a kit in scale to a larger size, say 1/25 to 1/16 do this: divide 16 by 25 = 0.64 then take the square root of that (a tick with a long bar on the end of it) = 0.8, then set the photocopier to +0.8 and photocopy the first run of A4 sheets at +0.8 and then THAT run of sheets again at +0.8 to get the enlargement to 1/16
I always photocopy enlarge in black and white, because it is cheapest, but also because I like to build big models and to illustrate the parts which are on the outside skin of the photocopy paper, I have to cut these out and glue them in place on the skin, after I have built the model but before I paint it with water based paints purchased in sample tins made up at a computer colour matching service, using the kit as the colour check.
I glue the photocopy sheets to thin card with PVA glue. Enough glue on both surfaces as you would find on the back of a postage stamp. Lay the photocopy onto the card, using a soft cloth to get the bubbles out. Set sheets aside to dry overnight.
Cut the parts out. Cut off all tabs. number the parts on their "back" side. Buy 1/8", 2-3mm Strawboard, backing board from a picture framers or art supply shop. Take the parts and draw around them onto the strawboard sheets. Lightly score all straight lines with your hobby knife as these are bend lines. Assemble the thin parts with PVA glue and edge join to create the shape. Cut out your strawboard parts and try fit inside the back of your thin model structure, cutting off scrap until you have a tight fit. Then PVA glue the strawboard inside your model parts and you will have a robust model to start building on. Remember to "illustrate" the paper skin with doors, window openings and so on, before painting.
I always start with the largest structures and build smaller parts onto them, especially from a very detailed kit in a language I don't understand.
Model ships. I build the hull in 2 parts which come apart at the waterline. I use the waterline stripe (bootmark) as the place to hide the joint, and the model can be water sealed here with rubberised caulk before floating) I build an upper and a lower keel (with space removed from inside the keels structure for r/c later on) out of 2 layers of 4mm strawboard laminated together with PVA glue, cross sections are 4mm thick and trimmed to fit over the 8mm thick centre keels. I build the deck layer of 4mm strawboard, which I glue in place after I have removed 4mm from the upper hull keel structure. I sheet the outside of the lower hull first in thin card, after I have lightly PVA glued it to a chipboard building sheet drawn up with a ruler straight, centre line. Once skinned (roughly) and the PVA has dried, slide a breadknife under the structure to release it from the building board.
Use the lower hull structure as the form to lightly PVA glue the upper hull keel skeleton to (so the parts fit together) then sheet that and gently prise the completed hull parts apart.
Now, use 2mm strawboard to sheet between the 4mm hull ribs and keel and sheet upper and lower hulls, glueing car first one side, then the other to avoid warping, inside. On completion you will have a solid & strong hull structure on which to build the rest of the model.
Small parts, make solid (internally) with card waste PVA glued inside. Always paint completed parts before final assembly. Never use filler or sandpaper on a model construction (shudder). Be precise and compete against yourself for perfection. Experiment, experiment, experiment.
Rivets. Droplets of glue applied with a hypodermic syringe or a pointed stick or piece of card. Windows, after the model is painted - drape a bubble of PVA glue over the opening and allow to dry. PVA glue dries clear. Varnish or Shellac your model after painting and when it is complete and not before, because PVA glue sinks into the pores of the card making a very strong joint (like welding joints). Varnish and shellac also sink into the card, filling the pores and stopping PVA glue from bonding, if this is done before assembly. A model which might get wet or submerged, needs to be waterproofed with varnish or shellac, after painting......... I am contactable at [email protected] but I might be a bit slow in replying.
I have a massive, private collection of plans of mechanisms i.e ships, subs, aircraft, tanks... collected over 25 years and all referenced: air, land, sea & some space from the first built to the 1980's which I am happy to barter with and for. Some originals for sale, but I'm in Aussie so plus postage ?
More hints and tips later on if you want.
BigBenn

[APA-168]

I've just about exhausted the ship section, but just found a very nice model of an Ariane 3 that I have not seen elsewhere. Thanks for the link.

[Phil]

I find it amazing that a website that has been up for five years has FINALLY been discovered!!! (SORRY! I just could not help myself).

Besides, Civi has stopped updating the site over 6 months ago...
For daily updates try HERE.
For an index of the same website try HERE.

And please forgive my horneryness.

[Brooker]

Hi Phil,
I've known about this website for about 5 years. I went to the well years ago and downloaded heaps of card kits from it - until my interests took me elsewhere.
I've only been a member of this forum for a few weeks and all of my efforts to post were thwarted until quite recently. Getting to know the ropes I guess.
Thanks for your updates - all grist to the mill
Brooker

[Phil]

Welcome to the forum Brooker! If you do have any questions, we'd be glad to help.