Designing Paper Models
Ok, you've downloaded a few paper models. You've made some rockets, planes, space ships, and whatever. But you want to make a model of a starship from a game that you really like. You can't find it anywhere but you figure 'if they can do it, so can I!" And you are right, you can. It's not difficult. But it does require some guidance. You can't just 'cut and paste' from a game to a paper model file. I had to read a few tutorials, find some programs, try a few things, make a few mistakes, and waste a few sheets of paper. But I don't want you to do that. It's frustrating, and time consuming, and just a general pain in the ass to learn how to do it. So I've done my best to make a step by step process that will guide you through the creation of a new paper model. It's not prefect, and if you have any tips, please tell me. I don't know all the answers, and if you know something I don't, tell me. I'll post it on here and hopefully we can make this process so simple, anyone can do it. So let's get started.
We are going to make a Kushan Attack Bomber from Homeworld. There wasn't a model available of this when I made it, so it will be a completely new model. We are going to touch on a couple techniques to make the model easier to build, as how to change the default colors. As you make know by now, I make all my models with Pepakura Designer so anyone can print it up and edit it if they like. But getting it from the game to Pepakura isn't a one step process. You will need is some programs to do all that. You will need one to extract the compressed data in the homeworld.big file, one to convert the Homeworld Geometry file ".peo" file to a True Space ".cob" file, another to edit the .cob and save it in a format that will work in Pepakura Designer. And while we are at it, we want to change the default colors that they textures have, so we will need a couple programs for that too. So that's 6 programs in all. Some are freeware, and some are shareware. But fortunately for you, I've included either a link to the program, or the actually program right here!
What you need to get:
- Homeworld big file Viewer V 3.0: used to open and extract the files from homeworld.big.
Located here. - Deep Exploration: Shareware, used to convert ".peo" to ".cob" format.
Located here. - Lif2Psd: Freeware, used to convert the .lif textures to Photoshop format.
Located here. - Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop: Shareware, used to edit the texture file.
Here or here. - Metasequoia: Shareware or Freeware (LE), used to edit the ".cob" and save as a ".mqo" file.
Located here. - Pepakura Designer: Used to unfold the 3D model and make a printable model.
Located here.
Now, as you can see some of these programs are quite expensive. The good side is that all will allow you to use them with full functionality until your trial expires. And you can always go to eBay to try to get older versions of the more expensive ones like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop. I bought them all since I can afford it and I use them a lot. All but Metasequoia since I can't pay for it yet, but I will once there is a way to do it. And the LE version works just fine if you go that route. And as a final note, be safe and scan for any viruses before you run an executable (.exe) downloaded from a questionable source (i.e. here). Some places aren't as nice as others and there's no need to screw yourself because you really needed a program. To the best of my knowledge the two zip files from here are clean, but it's always smart to be safe.
Now, a few words on what I am going to do. We'll walk through the whole process from getting a model out of the game to actually printing one up. The basic idea can be used for any 3d models, but getting a model out of other games may require different steps. And this step by step guide is by no means complete. Feel free to experiment and try things on your own. Just remember, you can always save a file to a different name and you won't have to worry about messing up the 'good' file. So, let's download those programs and get to work!