Papercraft with Blender

Blender version 2.79 incorporated functionality which enables you to fabricate 3D models by folding paper. I decided to try it out.

Drawing the model

I downloaded a 3D model of a goat and re-meshed it so that it had fewer polygons and it would be easier to assemble. This is how it looks.

Printing the templates

Now it was time to let the Blender plugin do the mathemagic. After some parameter tweaks, this is a sample of what I got printed on a cardboard.

Folding and glueing

I used a mix of glue and paper tape. 

After several hours of folding and pasting, here is the final result:

Conclusion 

Although this is a really time consuming endeavor, it’s a fun way to burn away a whole weekend + you’ll have a lasting reminder that you lived that weekend, as opposed to other weekends in which you just spent the time and got nothing for it. The end results look superb.

Some ideas floating my head:

• What if I would plasma-cut it from a metal sheet with a CNC and tig-weld it? 🤔
• What if I filled the hull with some other material? Would it have any application? 
• How do I make it faster? 

Remember to be nice to goats and other animals, keep them out of your plate.