It’s Pikachu, the cute and loveable electric mouse! I had been meaning to make a Pikachu model for a while now actually but just didn’t have the confidence to pull it off.
I didn’t have much experience designing and building my own models when I first started this. I pretty much only built other people’s designs, like I’m sure most people who get into this hobby do. Eventually, though I felt the desire to explore my own creativity and make my own models.
I initially started with Pokemon because they were shapes and forms that I was very familiar with so I felt it would be easier to replicate and sort of use them as a self-teaching aid. I thought about making Pikachu right after the three Kanto starters but I felt it wouldn’t turn out as nicely, mostly because of the tail. Charmanders flame tail had actually given me some problems when I first made it and that was only the tip of the tail. Pikachus tail is pretty much all really thin so at the time I didn’t feel like it would turn out very well.
My experiences with other models with smaller parts gave me more confidence as I went on though. The Goombas eyebrows were probably the next feature that tested me a little. Then came the Rose which really made me re-think how I approach the smaller thinner bits. So when I finally got around to making Pikachu the tail wasn’t actually that difficult to deal with.
The biggest issue I had actually was simply getting him to stand up! The position of his feet and the lever action of the tail meant that there was pretty much no way for him to stand up on his own. At first, I tried weighing down his feet but it didn’t seem to be enough. I eventually decided to just put him on a little display stand and it work perfectly! In hindsight, I should have anticipated a situation like this and put all the Pokemon on stands to match. There’s nothing to say that I couldn’t make some stands for the existing models though, it really didn’t take that much time haha
This probably won’t be the first time I make a Pikachu either. One thing I have been meaning to improve on and learn is how to make my models in more interesting poses. I’m still learning on the 3D modelling side of things but I feel like I might be getting to the point I that I might need to try and learn some more features and techniques. In addition to that I got some very fun and interesting ideas from some people regarding Pikachu that I’m very tempted to try. That’s all I’m going to say here for now though haha.
Thanks for reading and happy crafting!
The Papercraftsman