How to Make the Rotating Pepakura Gear Heart

4 votes

When love is in the air you know your gifts have to be special. Thoughtful, passionate, and clearly showing that you care a whole lot about this special person.

Of course, you could just use our  Romantic tag and pick a great present for your significant other in a matter of minutes, but... Sometimes a gift you make with your own hands is worth so much more. Today we're going to have a good look at one of the best DIY romantic gifts ever: the Rotating Pepakura Gear Heart.


What is Pepakura?

Pepakura is the art and activity of crafting paper models using printed designs. The name itself comes from a computer program that creates 2D printable models from 3D digital sources. The whole beauty of it is that it can be done with a household printer using standard A4 paper or cardstock. After that, you just follow the provided instructions to cut, fold, and glue the pieces together to make some seriously amazing stuff!

 
 
 

(click to enlarge)

Pepakura is especially popular among cosplayers and geeks since it allows to make models of armor, helmets, and weapons from famous video games, TV shows, and movies. After the paper prototype is ready, it can be made stronger using special techniques and then painted for that recognizable look.

But, in reality, pepakura is a universal thing, pretty much suitable for anything that your imagination can come up with. A rotating gear heart, for example. :)


How to make the pepakura rotating gear heart

This fabulous paper model was created by Haruki Nakamura (check out his personal website for more amazing stuff), who included a detailed free guide on how to make this beauty. Although the English in the manual is a bit strange at times, the amazing amount of high-quality pictures illustrating the process really makes everything as clear as possible.

After finishing the project, most people affirm that it takes about 40 hours end to end, but this greatly depends on your skills and previous experience with papercrafts. In other words, it's clearly not a last-minute romantic gift for your significant other: it takes a whole lot of time and patience. On the other hand, the impact will be nothing short of unforgettable.

Click here to download the free instructions on how to make the rotating gear heart!

And here's a fast-forward video of the whole process:


So, have you tried it out? How did it go?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments, or even better - show off your gear hearts! :)

Tags