Daily Archives: 2012-07-01

#59

2012-07

Papercraft alphabet

A complete alphabet where each letter visually represents a word starting with that respective letter. The papercraft alphabet bridges the gap between the visual appearance of letters and their phonetic sounds.

Z is for Zebra

Here it is – the last letter of the alphabet. Congratulations if you made all 26 letters!

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

Y is for Yak

This is basically the single one animal starting with the letter ‘Y’ both in English and German. If you have made all 24 letters coming before this one in the alphabet, you will be relieved to fnd that this one is very easy to make.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

X is for X-ray

This is what it looks like when you x-ray a letter – you did know that they are made of flesh and bones, right?

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

W is for Walrus

Walrus are strange animals, when you look at them closely. Even more so when they are turned into the shape of the letter W.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

V is for Vampire

Vampires seem to be quite en vogue these days. Well, I prefer the old-school ones over their ‘new millenium’ counterparts.

I was slightly tempted to include a bit of blood tripping from one of the canines, but then I didn’t want to have to explain to my five year old daughter about the staple diet of vampires.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

U is for UFO

Turns out there are surprisingly few concrete nouns in English starting with the letter ‘U’. And technically, UFO is not a noun but an acronym. Anyway, I think for the purpose of the papercraft alphabet, this works quite nicely:

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

T is for Tiger

The tiger is again easy to make. I realized soon after having finished the design, that he looks much more clueless and much less fierce than his relative, the lion. Sorry, tiger – you may be in for a redesign in the future.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

S is for Snake

The snake is vaguely modelled after the Garter snake (with different colors, obviously). It is once again somewhat difficult to build, with all the curvatures. Prepare to be patient with this model and glue segment for segment, making sure that each part is solidly sticking before moving on to the next one.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

R is for Rainbow

What better thing to represent the letter ‘R’ than a colorful rainbow? I have to warn you that the ‘R’ is a bit difficult to build, what with the small inner space and the many angles.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file. And here is a tutorial on how to make the letters in general, and the ‘R’ specifically.

Q is for Quetzalcoatl

Ok, I admit it wasn’t easy to come up with something representing the letter Q. Quetzalcoatl is the best I could do.

Quetzalcoatl is a mesoamerican god whose name means ‘feathered serpent’. He is one of the more important Aztec deities.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

P is for Parrot

The parrot is once again an easy template, except maybe for the curvature of the beak. Very importantly, don’t forget to glue a small weight into the base – such as a small coin. Otherwise, the parrot will fall over.

Here is how to make the P (the photos are a slightly updated version from the Alphabeticals book): First, glue a small weight (such as a 1 cent coin) to the back of the parrot, from the inside, near the bottom. This will allow the parrot to stand up and not fall over:

Next, glue the edge faces to one of the two P sides, following the outline:

Finally, close the shape by gluing the remaining P face to the edge.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

O is for Orange

Making the orange ‘O’ is a bit difficult because of the inner ring. I suggest you start with gluing it to one side, then the outer ring to the same side, then cover everything with the other side.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

N is for Ninja

Congratulation: If you made all other letters in alphabetical order, you are now halfway there – this is the 14th of the 26 letters.

In typical ninja fashion, this guy is quite sneaky: If you approach him from the front, he looks just like a plain and inconspicuous letter N. Only if you look at the side, you will notice that this is a fierce ninja ready to jump at you from out of the shadows.

Having the ninja clad in the black signature clothes is actually historically pretty inaccurate. The black ‘uniform’ originates with the Japanese Kabuki theater. However, nobody would recognize a ninja if it weren’t for the black clothes – ironically, as they were supposed to make the stage hands in the Kabuki theater invisible.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

I got a request for a version without sword, suitable for small children – here it is.

M is for Monster

Beware of the fear-inducing monster that is the letter M:

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

L is for Lion

The animal to use for the letter L was obviously quite easy to decide: The majestic lion.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

K is for Kangaroo

Technically, this letter is actually two animals – mother kangaroo and her joey in the pouch.

I should warn you that cutting out and assembling this letter is a bit challenging – the parts around the faces are quite small.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

J is for Jester

The jester is relatively easy to build, however you should take care to glue a small weight (such as a cent coint) inside the base, otherwise he will fall over on his face.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

I is for Indian (or Insect)

Enjoy the easiest to build letter – the Indian. He is wearing a sherwani, in case you were wondering.

Some people are worried about the ethnic / cultural reference, so in case you need to steer clear of such issues, here is an alternative: I for Insect:

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template for the Indian as a PDF file.

And here is the Insect template.

H is for Handshake

Probably the most abstract of the papercraft letters – the handshake:

I only realized after the fact that these guys have but one hand. Well, I think the letter still works as it is, but maybe this is a good candidate for a revised version sometime in the future.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

G is for Gorilla

The papercraft gorilla for the letter G:

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.

F is for Fly

Ok, I admit I had struggled a bit with the animal for the letter F. Flies are not exactly my – or, I imagine, most people’s – favourite pet:

No need to even pretend this is cute, but hey – there aren’t too many animal names starting with the letter F both in English and German.

When you build this, it is very important that glue a small weight – such as a cent coin – into the base, otherwise the center of gravity will be too far to the right and will make the fly fall over.

You will find the other 25 letters of the papercraft alphabet here.

Here is the template as a PDF file.