This massive Space Marine dreadnought is made almost entirely from craft paper and wooden dowel, and is the work of Brazil-based Warhammer 40,000 fan Haron_fine. “Due to import tax it is very expensive to find items related to Warhammer” in Brazil, Haron_fine explains, so he “decided to use what I have”.
Haron_fine – who prefers to be known by his Reddit handle – says he had heard about Warhammer 40k in the gaming community, and “even played Space Marine on the XBox 360”, but he only really got into it in earnest when he saw a “video explaining the history of the Horus Heresy”. “Before I knew it I was hooked!” he says.
Between import tax and the fact “there are not many players” in Brazil, collecting Warhammer 40k factions the traditional way wasn’t really an option. Instead, Haron_fine dedicated two months to creating a custom papercraft Dreadnought, which he says he has made “as close to the Codex as possible”. He shared his handiwork on Reddit early in June.
Haron_fine used diagrams he found online to guide the build: “the Codex diagrams helped a lot with the details”. Making the model “strong and durable” involved layers of “craft paper glued together with super glue” – similar to the ancient process of creating armor from layered paper or linen and shellac resin.
Though he initially attempted to make a model about the same size as the official miniature, he realised “considering the details it wouldn’t look good with craft paper”. So he upscaled it. The final model “is 7.9 inches (20 cm) high and 7.5 inches (19 cm) wide”.
Bending curves into the model was particularly challenging. “I had to make small cuts and glue each cut to create the curves with precision”, Haron_fine explains. He adds that, remarkably, the finished model is articulated.
“I thought it would look a bit weird, a crude version of the original”, he says, “But over time it took on a shape I hadn’t imagined”. In the end “When I glued the legs, arms, and details together, I was really proud of the result”.
He’s not done here. “I have several projects in mind”, Haron_fine says, “I’m already making an Armiger Warglaive that has been on hold for a few months, but I want to make many others”.
If you’re inspired by this papercraft goliath, check out the work of Denys Tsiokhla, who we’ve featured before. He has crafted some truly remarkable papercraft tanks and even papercraft Titans.