First, could you tell us about yourself?

I fell into the Warcraft universe with Orcs & Humans, the first game of the series. So I have been a Warcraft and Diablo fan for quite a long time. The gameplay, but also the lore and atmosphere of these games deeply impressed me.

However, I must confess that I only started playing World of Warcraft one year after its release, because of my studies. I tried several classes over the years. I mostly focused on both my priest and my rogue. Horde of course! I created a Papercraft of my druid in its moonkin form and of one my former characters (my tauren warrior). But, I have not worked on my priest yet, he is undead and I do not have the patience to assemble a pile of bones!

As a kid, I did some origami, but I only started creating papercrafts a year ago. I stumbled upon Papercraft by chance as I was searching on forums for examples of papertoys (funny little Papercraft) and I immediately fell in love with the concept. Despite the existing demand, there were almost no creations dedicated to World of Warcraft. With my basic knowledge in graphics and 3D creation, I realized that it might be really great to work on my own models inspired by this universe. I published my creations on forums and since the feedback was positive, I decided to start my own blog.

The first prototypes were basic, such as the mailbox or the famous Bad Mojo Mask. It is only after the turtle and the baby panda that I felt like jumping to more complicated and sophisticated models and also to design my own paper characters. The World of Warcraft universe is so rich that one can find every kind of subject, therefore it is a very good source of inspiration if you are looking for models, starting from the modest Christmas socks and going as far as the mythical 8-armed monster.

I must confess that this hobby can be surprising, as it is not common. But it is getting more and more popular in the last years, with the expansion of the internet and all the tips that can be found there. This hobby is widespread in Asia, where one can read magazines dedicated to Papercraft or find models in shops inspired by famous anime. This phenomenon is not new, I am sure some of you remember getting some Papercraft in youth magazines.

The community is also very creative, open-minded and cosmopolitan. Every kind of model can be easily found and people from all over the world get to meet each other, as they all share the same passion for Papercraft. There are also several websites gathering the latest creations and most of them are open access; people can chat and exchange with others on forums and also find rare patterns and models there.

First, the choice of the topic and in my case, it usually comes from my gaming experience. I see an item, a room or a weapon and I start telling myself “this could make a nice model!”. Other creations are orders or logical choices (Thrall, Kael’thas, Anzu, Frostsaber, Frostmourne, etc.).

Next, there’s the creation of the model in 3D. Because I want my model to look as much as possible like its in-game equivalent, I focus heavily on this item. So, I launch my 3D modeling software and I create a second model, simpler and easier to build with paper. I must, at this step, find the balance between something simple to construct (having the least steps possible) while keeping as true as possible to the in-game item.

When the 3D-model looks perfect, I move to another program specifically designed for the creation of Papercrafts. It creates a 2D pattern from a 3D model as it divides every side into printable pieces. Then I rework these pieces to make sure that they will be easily assembled, I order them in a coherent way and I add some instructions. Then all you have to do is print it and build it!

For the more advanced models, I first build a prototype to make sure it will be easy to build. If I find some issues, I correct them and start again. I seldom make such prototypes for the easiest models, so they end up faster on the website.

Magtheridon, definitely! I am still at the model/prototype creation stage and I announced it six months ago on the blog. I must say that I lost the model files twice as well as the instructions for the first prototype. It seems that this one does not want to be built.
Of all the finished models, the Green Dragon Eranikus was the hardest to construct. There are 43 pages and around 300 pieces to assemble; I suggest you do not go for this one as your first creation. Nor your twentieth…

I am really fond of both the moonkin and the abomination. These are not too difficult to handle and have interesting graphics, the one with its feathers, and the other one with its exposed bowels. I also like the Hood of the Malefic, it seems to be one of favorites of visitors. It’s life size and you can actually weart it! The most downloaded by the way is the Treasure Chest. I am quite proud of that one, as this model can be easily built and works as a real chest. As for the models I have not designed myself, I do like Thrall and the Pandaren.