This Week's Project: Buildin' A Sentry!

So far, there have been two papercraft Team Fortress 2 sentry gun models. However, both are level 1 sentries. highwaychile.net's model can be found floating around other sites. raven-age.org's can be found here.

EDIT: highwaychile.net's model is no longer available. -J.Norad


I'll be using both as a reference for the support structure for my level 3 sentry gun model. In theory, it's merely an addition to the pre-existing models, so it'll be easy, no?

I personally liked highwaychile's version more, but both are quite lacking in the extra legs department. For reference, I'm making them in 1:6 scale to the best of my ability, and the other two can be used at 1:6 scale if scaled to 119% of the original size.

For this attempt, I'll be using my staple, the Magic: the Gathering card. I'm attempting some new methods this time that I'd like to comment on. Typically, I've been cutting and gluing each layer one at a time for the sole reason of not being able to cut through eight layers of cards glued together with the consistency of a thin wood board. However, I now have a Dremel rotary cutting tool.

My experiences have mixed results. Using a Dremel's circular cutting disc on a laminated stack of cards causes two severe health hazards. It first off, burns part of the card, creating some smoke and fumes. Second, paper is made from wood, and well, cutting wood makes a lot of sawdust. I ended up with a nice cloud of brown powder everywhere. Cutting the cards works best on the max setting, otherwise, the cutting disc grabs onto the material and starts slowing down.

Finer details were also problematic. I don't have the luxury of having the 1/4" drill accessory, so I had to improvise using the 1/8" drill bit, an X-acto knife, and a lot of stabbing. However, after about eight hours of apathy, here's the results.

Eight layers of Magic cards creates a thickness of roughly 3mm, a fact that I will exploit in designing and constructing individual elements. More progress pictures as they come, and eventually the diagrams for each part will follow.