Alec McKay: Pepakura

Concept: I was inspired by some of the other figures I've seen in the ATEC building, so I decided that I wanted to do a figure. However, to do a full figure the way I would want to would end up well over 300 polygons, so I decided to do one that is just the torso, as I have seen done in a few different Greek marble statues and other sculptural work. I also wanted my figure to have a more dynamic pose than just standing straight up and down, so I adjusted the torso after modeling it to give it more of a pose.

Technique: I modeled the torso in Maya, beginning with a cube and a few reference images of a male torso. I added more edge loops and moved points around gradually until the torso began to take shape. Initially I modeled a figure with arms, legs, and a basic, featureless head, until I decided to stop trying to lower the density of my model further and just remove those extra parts. Once that was done, I used bend and twist deformers to pose the figure. From there, I converted the model to an .obj and went about the process of unwrapping it, placing the seams in rings around the torso, and then moved the 2D images to rhino to be cut. Once I got my pieces back, I started from the top and worked my way down, since the legs were where I would have a base with a hole. I also covered all of my edges with white tape.

Materials: For the physical sculpture, I decided to go with Professor Scott's suggestion of the E-Flute cardboard, because it is a thin cardboard that is sturdy enough to hold its shape but thin enough to fold well. The bottom plane of the sculpture is cut from 2-ply cardboard, for a sturdier base. I also used a white tape to cover my edges for a more finished looking product. There are also weights placed in the legs so that his leaning pose doesn't cause him to fall over. In my KeyShot renderings, I decided to make my model out of stone, to see what it would look like as a stone statue.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the physical work of putting the pieces together. I actually tried a small scale pepakura work once before when I was in high school, with less success. The larger scale made it easier to put together. This was one of my favorite projects, and I look forward to doing more projects with the laser cutter while I'm still at school.