En Guarde!

[DAVESTAR]

Project: En Garde!
Designed by: Chan See Lik Paul - EPSON
Pages: 4
Why: My son is taking lessons
Changes: Changed the uniform to be all white, the shoes to all black, the lettering on the back and also double-sided the hands. (Using Photoshop Elements 11)

Materials:
Elmer's Craft-Bond Paper Craft Glue Gel
Kodak Photo Paper (kinda glossy - the cheap thin one - good for buttons)
Scissors and an X-acto if needed
Foam board, hot wire foam cutter

I started this one by altering the PDF so the entire suit was white and changed the lettering on the back to replicate my son’s real uniform. Also printed an un-altered version for comparison and sure enough the altered version is distorted when comparing the sizes of the parts – they are a little shorter. I plan to build both to see the difference.

We’ll start with the altered version.

Here the individual parts are completed.


Assembly in progress - some parts would not fit due either to the size distortion or incorrect positioning or assembly order on my part. Some parts I had to wrap around them selves “tighter” to make them fit.


Here the sword is drying and the angle of the figure is so it will dry straight with the arm.


Completed (1/3/2014)


I was going to replace the paper sword with a long needle - may be if I make another one.

Errors:
The sword is straight with the arm but the arm is pointing down so he is aiming low – I did take time while putting the arm together to ensure a level “point” – I guess not enough time… Also the arm is pointing out and not parallel with the forward leg – this is hidden in the final picture by the angle of the picture.

Some parts did not fit well, should have cut inside the lines so the cut lines would not show on a pure white suit.

The hand holding the sword should be white as my son wears a white glove on that hand.

On to the original:
I stopped at the head as I only wanted to compare the size difference.
As you can see the original would be taller.


Lesson Learned
Still don’t know how to alter a PDF without distorting the printed result.
Any suggestions on how to do this?

Thanks for following along!

 

[bgt01]

That's cool, Dave. You should take a picture of your son in his suit and Photoshop them together in a sparring session.

About the PDFs. Their quality all depends on how they were originally made, but regardless if you open them in Photoshop or a Photoshop-like program it converts it to a rastered image - which is a way of saying it turns the image into pixels. Pixels are square and that's why a PDF built as a vector (line art) with nice, straight lines will look fuzzy when you open it in Photoshop. There's no way around that. You just have to start out with the best image you can find and do your best.

 

[DAVESTAR]

Thanks bgt01, and that is a great idea.
What if I print out the PDF, then scan it in, then modify it and print it - would that keep the same size?

 

[DAVESTAR]

Well, I couldn't leave well enough alone, just not happy with the way it turned out - especially since the model is left handed instead of right and the markings on the uniform are not correct - plus the size distortion due to my color modifications and the sword is pointing out and down. So I experimented and fixed all the problems and made a second model. Creating a picture with my son and the model side by side really made me look at it closer. (I removed that picture by the way because while at the time I thought it was funny, it really wasn't and in creating the second one my son preferred the over the shoulder look - you'll see at the end). This is fencing after all.

1. Size distortion - trick appears to be keeping everything in pdf format - it prints the same size as the original now. (Everything at 360)

2. Modified the helmet coloring, added three gray and one blue "patch" and a white glove for the sword hand (ok, just colored the hand white). Change the floor trim coloring from green to brown - really needed to be a lighter brown to match the floor where he practices.

3. Made the model right handed by mirroring (flip horizontal) the entire image on all pages. This made assembly a little weird as the part numbers were backwards and "L" now really meant "R" and vice-versa. It helped to have the other already assembled model as a reference.

4. Used a needle for the sword. (Double Point Knitting Needle Sock Set - no I don't knit - just saw them in the store and said "bingo!") This is what I wanted to use for the first model but did not find them in time. The needle is barely secured with regular Elmer's glue and a few paper strip "band-aids". It is not strong so definitely won't be picking up the model by the sword (or stabbing anything). It is the same length as the paper version would be - very close to the width too.


Here you can see the sword/needle at the top of the image. I had to bend the end of the needle that went inside the body so the outer end could be tilted toward the left. Attached the arm after the needle was in place and dry - this made it easier to glue the needle.


Here it is completed. First attempt is in the background.


Side by side with the first attempt.


Per original suggestion: Revised Photoshop image.
My son is on the far left with his "double". Is two against one fair?


Ok, finally got that out my system. Thanks for reading.
Now, what to do next...

 

[Behzad]

cool man.....

 

[DAVESTAR]

Thanks