Jay's Box of Sci-Fi CardToys | ...stuff hard to find anywhere else

Today I'm a CardToy designer...

I've been collecting free cardmodels from the Internet for the past couple of years, but most of the time couldn't find what I was looking for. Then I stumbled onto the right programs, and now I'm happy to be making my own stuff. I can make just about anything I want now. I hesitate to call them cardmodels though; I'm not really into technical accuracy since it takes too much of my time. I like them easy to build and instantly playable. That's why I call them CardToys instead. Click on the menu on the left if you want one!

Pleasedtomeetcha!

Drop me a line in my Guestbook, or email me at doodler3D@yahoo.ca. (not "com")

The Programs I Use

I use Metasequoia 3D and Pepakura Designer to design the cardtoys. Metasequioa 3D is a simple yet robust 3D modelling program, while Pepakura Designer is a program for unfolding 3d models into 2D paper patterns. .They have very low hardware requirements, take up less than 50 MB of HD space, and are self-contained so they can be carried around in a memory stick. Both are Japanese programs, each available online for only around $40.

I use PaintDotNet and Gadwin Printscreen to draw the textures in JPEG and instruction graphics, and CutePDF to print the patterns out as PDF files . These are freeware programs, and I use them as a matter of preference and ease of use. Any other programs with similar functions will do.

My designs

The apparent crudeness of my designs are deliberate. I am capable of making more accurate and finely scaled 3D models, but it would be too tedious and take out much of the fun for me (not to mention accelerate Repetitive Strain Injury on my hand...it's so hard to draw with a mouse; I've got to get one of those graphic pen tablets.) I take shortcuts, like using boxy octagons and hexagons instead of tubes, or pass on the smaller details and just put them in the texture maps. Keeping the shapes simple helps make the resulting toy easy to build (though you'll still notice in some works it can be unavoidable). These are for casual hobbyists, not hardcore modellers. Maybe in the future I will find the time to do finely detailed and really accurate models... but certainly not today.

Believe it or not...

I'm a lawyer. I live in Quezon City, Philippines, but right now I'm studying for my PhD in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) on a scholarship grant. I've travelled extensively throughout North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and Australia. Next year, I hope to wrap up my doctoral dissertation, and start raising a family.

From the time I was a kid, I've had a doodling habit that I've never shaken off. When I was little I doodled all sorts of spaceships and airplanes, and even made my own comic books out of my dad's legal-size paper. Throughout school, college, and law school, I doodled on the margins of all my notebooks, especially when I got bored. Now, it looks like I am doodling in 3D!