Believe it or not, the massive seven-foot Gundam you're looking at was mostly constructed out of paper -- 720 sheets, to be exact. The papercraft artist behind the model, Taras Lesko (aka Visual Spicer), began creating it nearly a year ago, and estimates that it took him about 350 hours and four to five months to complete. As explained on his video commentary, the process started with building a store-bought model for photographs, using the shots to render it in 3D on his computer. After that, he created various templates using a variety of programs, which were then printed, cut and assembled into place. Notably, the final product has 1,250 total parts, weighs in at about 10 pounds and packs an internal 12-piece foamboard skeleton to stand. All of that is only the part of the final product, though.

Taking it a few steps further, he created a bevy of "fantasy shots" (like the one above) with his brother, Ivan -- and of course, Photoshop -- and even filmed both endeavors as timelapse videos. According to Taras, the aim was to make something "bigger and better" than the four-foot papercraft Gundam, which he made nearly three years ago and burned to ashes on video prior to this project -- we'd say mission accomplished. You'll find the construction timelapse video after the break, along with more related vids and photos at the source link below.

[Thanks, Christos]

Like my grandmother always says, sometimes the best gadgets are the ones you build yourself -- with kits imported from Japan, purchased at places like Fred Flare. Princeton's Paper Speaker kit comes with a pair of 1W stereo speakers, a USB connection, paste, and a paper template for building a retro desktop sound system. Three designs are available -- take your pick from a cabinet record player, a component stereo system, or an old school boom box. Check 'em out below, and then get yours when it becomes available in early July for ¥1,980 (approximately $21).



[Via Akihabara]