2.5D Steampunk Santa Papercraft

This "Steam Santa" papercraft is new from Desktop Gremlins. Here's the back-story to the piece:

"Steam Santa makes gifts for all the good girls and boys, shrinks them down to the size of a spec and carries them in a magical utility belt. He can be seen each December, zooming around the world on a wondrous steam-powered jet pack, delivering holiday joy." 

As with all the delightful creations from Desktop Gremlins, this three piece papercraft is glue-less and easy to build.  The printable template for Steam Santa may be downloaded here.

RPG Papercraft: Blue Dragon

Here's another great miniature gaming papercraft designed by Eddnic. This blue dragon is a good illustration of Eddnic's 2.5D paper model work which is so well developed that it could be considered true 3D papercraft (or at least 2.7D ^^). A download of the blue dragon template is available here.

2.5D Velociraptor Paper Model

Paper models show up in the oddest of places! This 2.5D velociraptor papercraft is a free download at the Spanish language paleontology illustration blog "Las conicas de Pabluratops". The velociraptor (or "raptor" for short) depicted by the paper model is specifically Velociraptor mongoliensis, named for the fact that several fossils of the creature have been found in Mongolia. In the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, raptors are portrayed as cunning and ruthless killers. The four piece template for this raptor papercraft may be found here.
UPDATE 2/18/2012: The rapter template is no longer available. Apparently the entire blog has been removed. :(

2.5D Dragon Paper Model

The term "2.5D" is a very appropriate description for the papercraft figures that are often created for miniature gaming. They are more than just flat 2D paper figures, but something less than a full blown 3D paper model. This red dragon paper model is one of the better examples to be found of the art of 2.5D modeling. Created by ONE-MONK, the PDF template for the dragon may be downloaded here.

High Elf Tower Papercraft

Here is another great papercraft from the world of miniature gaming: a High Elf tower. There are several nice things about this tower model. First, the roof is removable. Next, it is constructed so that the interior has as much color and detail as the outside of the tower. Finally, the window shutters can actually be opened and closed. A free download of the template for the tower is offered by One Monk Miniatures here. There are also some nice 2.5D Elven Alliance military figure flats on the same page.

RPG Dragon Papercraft

This papercraft dragon was designed by Jordan Peacock, the same designer who brought us the Alice in Wonderland Chess Set. This type of model is what Jordan calls "figure flats" which are simple fold-over paper models meant to serve in the place of the more expensive painted miniatures used in role playing games. In other places I have seen papercraft of this kind referred to as a "2 1/2 D" model, which I think is a good way to describe a 3D paper construction that is built of mostly flat pieces. A PDF template containing five different colored dragons and may be downloaded here, just click on the image near the bottom of the page to the left of the heading that reads: "MORE Sundered Skies Free Figure Flats: Dragon Models".

Mr. Rippy Robot Papercraft

This robot papercraft is a little different than most you will see in that it is built almost entirely from flat pieces, but surprisingly it still achieves a good 3D effect. The name of the robot is "Mr. Rippy" . His job is that of an assassin. Mr. Rippy was designed by "Nobody", comes in three colors, and was intended to be used in miniature gaming. A download of the template is available here.

Lovecraft Papercraft: Elder Thing

Well, it's not Cthulhu, but it comes close. Dubbed the "Elder Things" by the Antarctic explorers who found them in H. P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness, these creatures were thought by the explorers to be extraterrestrials who colonized Earth one billion years ago. This papercraft Elder Thing was created by UK artist Wayne Peters for use in 28mm scale role-playing games. The PDF template is located here. [via Propnomicon]

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