Become a Member for free
access to this and other files on the site.See the Membership page for more details.
Already a Member? Log in Here
A poseable apatosaurus to print out and make. the project comes in both camouflaged colour and line only forms so you can add your own colour scheme.
Print out the parts onto thin card (230 micron / 67lb) and follow the instructions to make your own papersaurus.
Carefully cut out all the holes and score along the dotted lines before cutting out the pieces.
Assemble the body as shown in the picture above. The rectangular piece in the middle of the body helps stop the sides from squishing inwards once the model is complete. Leave the two flaps on the base open as shown.
Make up the four legs by folding the pieces in half and gluing them together to make double thickness card. Make sure that the tabs on the back aren't glued down.
Once the glue is dry carefully cut out the legs.
Make up the largest tail piece and the largest neck piece. These two parts are identical.
Fit one to each end of the body. Thread the tabs on the body through the holes. Cover the sides with the appropriate cover piece gluing it so that the tabs are free to rotate. Keep the piece moving as the glue dries to ensure that it doesn't stick into one position.
Thread the legs into the appropriate holes in the body. (Use the picture in the next step as a guide) Glue a circle of scrap card to the tabs on the inside of the body. Move the legs to ensure that the glue doesn't bind them.
With the neck, the tail and the four legs in place the model should look like this.
Close up the base and glue it down.
Starting from the end of the tail, add pieces by threading the tabs through the circular holes in the next size piece then gluing the appropriate cover into place.
Work your way along the tail repeating this process.
Glue the completed tail to the tail stump on the body.
The head is made in basically the same way. Start from the neck and work your way down. Add the eyes to the head.
The completed neck should look like this.
Glue the neck to the neck stump to complete the model.
Make a small herd and see if they can take on your paper T.Rex!
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
I really hate cutting out circular holes. This model has loads of them, I mean loads! Four for each segment. That's four times lots which is, as I say, loads!
So it was with some relief that I put together this draft and saw that it looked good and worked well.
Phew!
The next and tail are fully articulated and the legs are poseable.
It is no match for the fearsome T. Rex though.
#1 Son tells me I should point out that no dinosaurs were hurt in the making of this blog post.
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
Michael42er has created this mashup of the TRex model and the flexible tail then created a stop motion animation that Ray Harruhausen would have been proud of! Fantastic work Michael!
There are more pictures in this comment post.
How did you create the skin texture Michael? It's nice!
Oh, and this is my 801st blog post. Blimey!
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
It's like Jurassic Park here at robives.com hq. Today I've been putting together an apatosaurus using the flexible tails I had designed and built earlier in the week. In fact this prototype, Which is more about judging relative sizes, uses two tails. One at each end.
Once I've added a head it will be easier for the apatosaurus to find its way round.
Both legs, tail and neck of the completed project will be poseable. I'm making a few changes to the positioning and shapes of the legs and adding a head before a print out and complete rebuild.
"Anybody hear that? It's a, um... It's an impact tremor, that's what it is... I'm fairly alarmed here."
<edit> ----------
Now with head, rather than two tails, peering over the basil.
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
Become a Member for free
access to this and other members only projects on the site.See the Membership page for more details.
Already a Member? Log in Here
As promised, if you are a member you can download the parts and try out the poseable dinosaur tail for yourself. There are two slightly different designs, one on each sheet.
It's all pretty self explanatory so I've just done a few pictures and a few words to guide you in the construction.
Print the parts onto thin card, cut out the hole and score the dotted lines before cutting out the pieces.
Flip up the tabs then fold the parts round and glue them together as show above.
All the parts work in basically the same way. The long tabs thread under the next largest section and the short tabs come up through the holes.
Glue a cover onto the tabs. Keep the parts moving as the glue dries so that they don't stick together.
The finished flexible, poseable, tail!
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
As a partner to the T.Rex model I'm planning a new papersaurus project. Not sure what yet, perhaps a sauropod of some sort. (The ones with the long necks and tails) or maybe a stegosaurus. To that end I've been experimenting with jointed tail design. Rather than over complicate things with a collection of two axis joints I wanted to find out if single axis joints along the length of the tail could still make an organic looking design.
I have spilt the tail into five sections. Each section has a horizontal axis joint at one end and a vertical axis joint at the other.
At each joint along the tail the joint will bend first up and down then side to side alternately.
Here are the five sections joined together.
The result, even with these simple joints and only five sections can be shaped into quite natural looking poses.
I'll be putting these parts up for members to try but it might be Tuesday before I do as I'm off to Yorkshire to visit my parents tomorrow.
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
The initial design was three pieces and had no tongue. Now its is a single piece plus a support to hold the new tongue into position.
You can just make out the support piece under the tongue in this picture.
Since the start of the year my father-in-law has been looking after the dog. (Thanks Jack!) I had her today. I don't know how I got anything done in the last two years! Blimey!
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
Visit my FaceBook page and enter the caption competition to win a signed Papersaurus T. Rex!
Did you notice how I resisted the alliterative urge to call this post a posable papersaurus prototype project. I'm quite proud of myself :-)
I've been conducting further pipe based experiments over the weekend but the idea for this fierce fellow was irresistible so I'm treating it as thinking time.
The arms and legs can move independently allowing the T. Tex to be posed.
The upper and lower jaw both rotate about the same point at the top of the body allowing the head to move up and down and the jaws to open.
I've made a few changes to the parts as I put this model together so I'm going to edit the file as appropriate then put together another one to make sure that everything works. Then it'll be time for some colour.
I wonder if T. Rexes whistled, they are related to birds after all.
Keep up to date: Receive the latest blog post by email
Rate this post:
