Metasequoia
Now that we've got our model ready to be edited and the textures are all set up to our liking, we need to get the model ready to be imported into Pepakura, and yet again this is where Metasequoia comes in. The basic steps are the same, so I won't get into the details for that. But the whole objects thing can be a little tricky. Since we just merged a bunch of models into one, and each little model had several objects in it, we are going to have a whole slew of objects. So let's dive in and see what comes up.
Wow, look at all that! All those objects, what do we do with them? Well, once you save it as a .mqo so you can see the textures, try turning one off. You'll see some of the model disappear. If you fiddle around enough, you will see how that wacky naming system works too. But here's the quick way to figure it out. When we merged all those models, there were several named 'Group 1.' When we import it into Meta, it renames them so it can keep track of them. The first time a name shows up it keeps it's name. If the name shows up again, it adds a 1 to the end of it, so the second 'Group 1' becomes 'Group 11, Group 21, Group 31..' The third would be '12, 22, 32' and so on. This will help you see which objects are grouped together.
So, what I do at this point is hide all the objects but one group and then merge them. So, hide all objects after 'Group 4' and you'll see it's the main body. Now, make sure 'Group 1' is highlighted and click on the 'Misc' button and then 'Merge all visible.' It will ask if we want to merge them into Group 1, so click Yes. Now, since we know it's the main body of the bomber, hit the 'Prop' button and change the name to something easy to identify, oh, like 'main body.' You can also go through and see that Groups 11 and 21 are the details to the main body, so merge them and rename them to body details. Then there are the two pods and the details, and I think you get the idea. And below is my object list once I merged them and renamed them to my liking.
Merged and renamed
Moving and Rotating
Ok, so that was simple, so let's move parts around and rotate them so it's arranged correctly. The easiest way to select a group is to highlight it in the object panel, click 'Misc,' and then 'Select vertices/faces.' It also helps to select all groups that go together, such as 'L pod' and 'L pod details' in this case. Just highlight the next group and select the parts the same way. It will add it to your selection, so it works quite well. Then to easily rotate it, press the 'Rot' button on the left and figure out what axis you want to rotate it about. Once we press the button, we'll see the rotation rings and the colors match up. So since we want to rotate about the green ring, press the Y-axis button. Almost all the parts are off by 90 degrees in one way or another, so type in 90 in the box and press 'OK.' If it went the wrong way, press 'OK' 2 more times it will be all set. Then just click the 'Move' button and move it to where you want it. I usually just pick the arrow heads, since they will only move the object in one dimension. If you pick the yellow box, the part can move in 3 dimensions, and that makes it hard to guess where it will end up. So the picture below is after I've moved the pods into their approximate spots. Starting to look more like a bomber, if you ask me.
All arranged properly
Details
Ok, here's the tricky part of Homeworld 2 models: the details. Yes, all those little boxes in the 'details' objects look cool, but they are a pain to model in paper. So what we need to do it just like we did for modules and the turrets in Homeworld models: add a white back. And the tricky part is some details will overlap so you really need to make sure you pick the correct corners. And to top it all off, some of the faces of the details overlap so badly we won't be able to simply make a model and have it turn out nicely. Look at the two pictures below. Once I hide the highlighted faces you can see that the little details overlap the bigger one. Not good for paper models. So, you have to decide how much detail you want to keep in the model once it's done. If you decide to keep it all, then you need to edit the model so nothing overlaps, and that is beyond the scope of this tutorial. If you want to make life simpler on yourself, delete the smaller details and call it good. That's generally what I do. Sometimes I'll edit the model some, but it's a pain in the rump. Also, some of the details on things like the engines can be rather difficult to make once printed on paper, so think carefully what details you want to keep once the model is done. Sometimes it's better to delete some details so you can make a buildable model. I ended up deleting the little nubs back there, in case you were wondering.
Do we have a problem?
Yes, we do have a problem.
So we need to add backs to all the parts we keep. It's just like in step 5 of the Homeworld Tutorial. Check that out for more info. Also, now's when you want to make your modules, also in step 5. Now, one last step before you finish off your model. Go to the Object menu and pick 'Join closed vertices' once for each object in the Object Panel. When the popup comes up, just click ok. This will join all the faces together. For some reason when we merge objects, the program isn't smart enough to join the vertices for us. That's ok, we'll just do it on our own. You can also do this once you merge a few objects together if you want to. If you forget this step, all your lines in Peparkua will turn up red. You can pick the 'Join Adjacent Isolated Edge' in the 3DModelWindow menu and fix it, but doing this will help you highlight errors earlier on in Pepakura.
One last note: Sometimes when you add backs to the detail parts, you won't be able to make them so they will be flush with the main part of the model when it's assembled. When this happens, I just leave the back off. This usually happens on strangely shaped details, and leaving a few backs off won't ruin our model. It may make it a little harder to assemble, but it will look ok once everything is glued together.
So, from here we go to Pepakura. That step is about exactly the same as in Step 6 of the Homeworld Tutorial. You'll have a hell of a lot more faces, and Pepakura will complain, but it will still work. That is also where I change the textures, unless you just saved over the original .bmp textures and had a colored model in Metasequoia. I like to do it in Pepakura so I can easily change them around later on if I want another color. The next step in this tutorial also has a bunch of extra notes that will help you when you make your model. So, check it out for those few extra tips.