papercraft | Paperized Michael Collins papertoy

This is part 1 of 1 in the series Michael Collins papertoys
Paperized Irish Leader Michael Collins (Mícheál Ó Coileáin) paper toy.
Custom model by: kuzzzma
Difficulty / Сложность: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Paper / Бумага: 120gsm or higher
Time / Время: 1 hour / час
How-to assemble: Instructions below.
Links: A03 | Tumblr post | Twitter post

DON’T REPOST PDF, please link with preview only!

Michael Collins / Mícheál Ó Coileáin (Irish leader) papertoy previewIrish Leader Michael Collins papercraft fanart

Michael Collins was an Irish revolutionary, soldier, and politician and a leading figure in the early-20th-century Irish struggle for independence. He participated in Easter Rising of 1916, then he was elected as a Teachta Dála for South Cork in 1918, and was appointed Minister for Finance in the First Dáil. After First Dáil declared the independence of the Irish Republic, Michael Collins served as Director of Organisation and Adjutant General for the Irish Volunteers, and Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. He gained fame as a guerrilla warfare strategist, planning and directing many successful attacks on British forces, such as the “Bloody Sunday” assassinations of key British intelligence agents in November 1920.

Later, he was sent to negotiate a Treaty with UK and following it’s signing became a Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State in January 1922 and served as a country leader until his assassination in an ambush by anti-Treaty forces on 22 August 1922.

Michael Collins / Mícheál Ó Coileáin (Irish leader) papertoy inspirationPhotos used as reference for this Michael Collins paper toy

Irish Leader Michael Collins (Mícheál Ó Coileáin) paper toy

You can choose desired look – with or without overcoat, other accessories are: hat and Irish Republic flags.

Also included is a smiling face – as a reference to the poem “The laughing boy” by Brendan Behan, which was translated into Greek in 1961 by Vasilis Rotas and later made into a song by Mikis Theodorakis “Tο γελαστό παιδί” (“The laughing boy”) using Rotas’ translation. This song was recorded by Maria Farantouri in 1966 on the album “Ένας όμηρος” (“The hostage”) and became an instant success, the song became the song of protest against the dictatorship in Greece (1967–1974) and remains to date one of the most popular songs in Greek popular culture.

Μαρία Φαραντούρη – Το γελαστό παιδί

Download PDF:

Michael Collins / Mícheál Ó Coileáin (Irish leader) papertoy pattern previewTemplate preview of Michael Collins papertoy

Photos:

Some photos of Michael Collins papertoy, build by me.

Michael Collins (Irish leader) papertoy with flagMichael Collins with Irish Republic flag

Michael Collins (Irish leader) papertoy in hatMichael Collins in a hat

More photos of my build – in the Michael Collins papertoy photo album

How-to build this papertoy

Michael Collins papertoy how-topic. 1: Print PDF pattern & assemble tools.

  1. Print your model, usually it takes only 1 or 2 pages of A4 paper (can be printed on legal paper too with some scaling). I prefer paper with thickness of 120gsm, but regular office paper works too (for the info – it’s 80gsm thickness).
  2. Get a good glue. Usually PVA glue is recommended for papercraft, but in some parts of the world getting a decent PVA glue is unexpectedly tricky – a normal liquid clear glue is fine too. Glue in a stick won’t work though – details of paper toys are too small to use it. I prefer to apply glue with wooden toothpicks.
  3. Michael Collins papertoy how-to: score fold linespic. 2: Scoring fold lines

  4. I recommend scoring future fold lines on the uncut page (indicated on how-to pic.3) with pointed but blunt instrument (empty pen, knitting needle…)
  5. Michael Collins / Mícheál Ó Coileáin (Irish leader) papertoy - How-topic. 3: How-to build Michael Collins papertoy – fold lines and zone where to attach hair

  6. Decide what look do you want – with or without overcoat – this means you have to choose what colour hands to use with your papertoy.
  7. Then cut all the details, as some details are small – you may have to use smaller scissors.
  8. Michael Collins papertoy how-to: cut partspic. 4: Cut out all the parts

  9. Fold all pieces.
  10. Michael Collins papertoy how-to: foldpic. 5: Fold along all fold lines

  11. Assemble head, put it aside. You can choose to add an extra smiling face – glue it over “serious” one.
  12. Glue front piece of hair to it’s back part. Back part is made larger intentionally, to allow some margin of error here. Cut excess paper. Put aside.
  13. Assemble main body.
  14. There is an “extra body piece” that goes to close the gap between legs – it can be challenging it glue in (I use pincers to hold it in place), but it can be skipped and your figure will still look great.
  15. Assemble both hands (grey or black), put them aside.
  16. Put together overcoat, if you want to use it.
  17. Assemble hat.
  18. Assemble figure stand.
  19. Michael Collins papertoy how-to: glue partspic. 6: Individual parts are assembled, ready to put it all together.

  20. TIP: If you want your paper toy to look really polished and tidy – carefully color white edges of the papertoy in corresponding colours (or in black). I also color backs of overcoat and jacket. Any paint or marker can be used. This instantly elevates figure and also can be used to hide any build imperfections.
  21. Time to put it all together. Recommended order:
    1. Glue body to figure stand.
    2. Put front parts of jacket on the figure (as indicated by the green arrows on how-to pic.1), if you don’t want to use overcoat – attach grey hands to the body.
    3. Glue in overcoat
    4. Michael Collins papertoy how-to: jacketpic. 7: Attaching jacket and overcoat

    5. Glue in hands to the overcoat. Good position for hands – 0,5cm (0.2 inch) from the neck on the sides of the body.
    6. Glue in head.
    7. Glue in front piece of hair to the head. It’s designed to stand out at the top over the main head piece. Put glue only on the top edges of the face plate (zone indicated in blue on how-to pic.1).
    8. Put on hat.
    9. Assemble flags, if so desired.
  22. All done!

Extra:

Michael Collins papertoy how-to: helpMy cat supported me through this build process and his input deserves to be acknowledged.

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About kuzzzma

Artist, photographer, papercraft designer, doll and action figures collector, traveller. Speaking Russian and English.

One Response to papercraft | Paperized Michael Collins papertoy

  1. Paqtesm says:

    Thank you for sharing this awesome work :) I have printed it out and will be assembling soon!

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