Dimorphodon 3D printed model and paper-craft

[Dinoreplicas]

Managed to get the papercraft model document finished (I think), instructions included. Please have a go if you fancy a new challenge. I'm putting this in the 'kits' section because I think it qualifies, It's 46 parts!

Document can be DOWNLOADED HERE



The entry requirements are pretty low, you'll need a printer and some card plus a few basic tools and materials. Basic page size is A4 (sorry non-ISO paper countries) which will make a 44cm wingspan model. Those with access to an A3 printer can scale up 141% for a 62cm monster.

If you know someone who might enjoy making this kit or just dig what I'm doing, please inform, retweet, spread the word. I spent ages on this thing and now I want to share it!

[stargatedalek]

I love it! Can't wait to put one together.

[Dinoreplicas]

I love it! Can't wait to put one together.

Thanks, have fun with it!

[Dinoreplicas]

I've put up a real-time 3D version of the papercraft on P3d.in as a visual aid for anyone building it. You can pan, zoom and generally spin the model around to see what the final shape should approximate, tail bend, wing angles etc.

Papercraft Dimorphodon on P3d.in

Dimorphodon Papercraft(View in 3D)

LMB - rotate
MMB - zoom (or shift-MMB)
RMB - pan

Here's some screengrabs for anyone not using a webGL capable browser.

[Sarapaurolophus]

Amazing! Thank you so much for making this available for free. But you should really think about charging a little for these should you make more. Etsy store?

[Dinoreplicas]

Amazing! Thank you so much for making this available for free.

Thanks @Sarapaurolophus, the couple I've made so far are for some junior family members to hang in their bedrooms, I'm also going to make an enlarged (scaled to A3) version for a friend.

But you should really think about charging a little for these should you make more. Etsy store?

As this is my first papercraft design I definitely wanted it to be free but it's an interesting idea.

I'm curious, are there commercial possibilities for papercraft? Let me know if anyone has any info on this. I'd like to make some income on future models, not to be greedy about it but a little financial return for my work will make me more productive. Of course it would be entirely up to me to make designs that would be worth paying for . If I could go down that route I think I'd probably have a mix of free and commercial designs.

I've made 2 of these so far so I know it's a fiddly but still very build-able model. If anyone has managed to build one yet I'd love to see photos. Also I'm interested in how other's found the construction process, what it was like to build etc.

[stargatedalek]

The easy short term option (especially since you mention wanting to release them as free designs while still make something from them) is a Patreon. Release the files as temporary Patreon exclusives and then later release them publicly for free, which in turn boosts visits and encourages people to donate to get access to the more recent files.

The only more commercial option that is really viable for papercraft is to release them as kits/books. Some people have tried selling the files directly through PayPal etc., but these sorts of sites tend to set off alarm bells for people so I can't imagine they do particularly well.

You might even be able to approach publishers with a library of papercraft designs for them to buy or license from, but this is of course a very long term concept.

[Lanthanotus]

Thanks very much @Dinoreplicas for creating and making available such a beautiful model.... downloaded it, gonna print it on the morrow and maybe the weekend allows it to put it all together. Very exited and it should scale not too bad with my beloved CollectA Dimorphodon.

[Dinoreplicas]

The easy short term option (especially since you mention wanting to release them as free designs while still make something from them) is a Patreon. Release the files as temporary Patreon exclusives and then later release them publicly for free, which in turn boosts visits and encourages people to donate to get access to the more recent files.

Thanks for the input @stargatedalek. Patreon sounds interesting, other than my limited experience with Shapeways I know nothing about selling platforms so I'll have to look into this more.

The only more commercial option that is really viable for papercraft is to release them as kits/books. Some people have tried selling the files directly through PayPal etc., but these sorts of sites tend to set off alarm bells for people so I can't imagine they do particularly well.

I joined a papercraft forum and they don't seem open to any commercialisation of their hobby so I should probably look for other ways of making some pocket money.

You might even be able to approach publishers with a library of papercraft designs for them to buy or license from, but this is of course a very long term concept.

it's a lovely idea, though pretty daunting.

[Dinoreplicas]

Thanks very much @Dinoreplicas for creating and making available such a beautiful model.... downloaded it, gonna print it on the morrow and maybe the weekend allows it to put it all together. Very exited and it should scale not too bad with my beloved CollectA Dimorphodon.

Thanks @Lanthanotus, good luck with the build. I reserved a bit more time when I built the second one and it was a more enjoyable experience.

[Lanthanotus]

I hope you don`t mind

But yes, I`ll also print it out another time on a bit heavier paper and maybe a tad bit larger. However, usual printing paper, despite lightweight, supports the wings perfectly without the inner layers. You did a really great job constructing those

[Dinoreplicas]

Wow wasn't expecting this! Thanks @Lanthanotus, That's a very kind review you gave me. You did a great job on the build, I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the thinner paper held up. I intended to paint the pteroid into the texture similar to the 5th toe but I obviously forgot to do it . I might add it to the PDF in the future for completeness.

Lovely writing on the review, you covered the details perfectly. I really like that you talked about the build experience, I think that's a big feature of paper models and where much of the fun is at.

[Lanthanotus]

Your welcome, and as said in the review, thanks very much for providing such a great model. Yes, the building experience is a major part on paper models (or resin kits or so), some like it this way, others don`t, but I do and while some builds are challenging, the final result isn`t that great (for example the Canon Apatosaurus or Allosaurus imo, their Seismosaurus is great though, despite cartoonish is style - pun intended ). So it is even nicer to see a model that is great as a final result and also a great experience in building it up.

How long did it take to be modelled and calculated?

[Dinoreplicas]

Thanks again @Lanthanotus, I'm not yet familiar with other prehistoric themed papercraft, I should really check them out.

How long did it take to be modelled and calculated?

As you're probably aware, the card model is an offshoot of the sculpted Dimorphodon model for 3D-print I started messing about with back in Late October 2019.

Checking the thread entries here on the Dinosaur Toy Forum I see the first papercraft related post was May 1st and I think I started experimenting around the last half of April. So on and off, it seems to have took me about 5 to 7 weeks to get the card model to a finished stage.

I got a 3D-print painted up last week but I never put a model on Shapeways until I get some photography completed for it, hopefully that will be soon. The papercraft part has been a weird, but thoroughly enjoyable tangent from the main project. Really glad that I went down that route and I'd love to try more.

[Lanthanotus]

Certainly need to follow your progress there @Dinoreplicas, would be very interested to add another Dimoprphodon to my collection.... vertical pose maybe... the sketches look great.

[Dinoreplicas]

Certainly need to follow your progress there @Dinoreplicas, would be very interested to add another Dimoprphodon to my collection.... vertical pose maybe... the sketches look great.

Due to breaking news of a new fossil find that happened while I was completing the Dimo sculpt, I decided to restrict the 3D print (and the papercraft) to just the flying pose. The details are in post #21 of the WIP.

On a different note, an idea I had is to do a blank (un-textured) version as an alternative to the pre-coloured dimorphodon, released for free of course. This is for someone who'd prefer to add their own colour design. Of course anyone building the un-textured version would have to manually colour it up, art markers, coloured pencils and watercolours seem decent choices for this. Anyway it was just a thought, let me know if anyone thinks this is worth doing.

[Dinoreplicas]

Zealot.com forum member- micahrogers made this nice build log for the paper-card Dimorphodon.

Good reference for anyone attempting a build.

[Dinoreplicas]

Finally got the 3D printed Dimorphodon model on Shapeways.
Available in 4 scales- 1:4, 1:5, 1:6 and 1:10.

Shapeways link - Dimorphodon model by DinoReplicas

This is the 1/5th scale version, finished with Vallejo model color. Size of this one is 215mm (wingtip to wingtip).







Optional stand available here



I'll have a few more photos to add later when I'm less busy.

[Halichoeres]

Must have felt good to have it in your hands It looks amazing!

[Dinoreplicas]

Must have felt good to have it in your hands It looks amazing!

Thanks @Halichoeres, I'm hoping a few people like it enough to buy it. There's great model painters out there (some get on this forum of course) and I'd love to see some colour designs that are very different to mine.

Got a few more pics, this first one is probably my favourite from the photos



Just in case anyone was wondering what I did with the underside



Looking pretty much straight down



Close-up on the tail. My brush strokes are quite visible when zoomed in.