Free Animated Mechanical Paper Models + Optical Illusion Paper Toys
Free paper models that are animated or mechanical. These amazing machines are made of paper, gears and mechanics...
Barnacle Press - Mechanical papercraft toy puppets originally from the LA Times, Junior Times section in the 1920s. Oscar the Owl, Rollo the Rookie, Halfback Harry, Tom and Jerry to name just a few.
Bizzarre Stuff - Animation Toys - A simple printable Zoetrope is at the bottom or the page. Also, instructions on how to make a Thaumatrope and Phenakistiscope.
Cardnetics - Very clever devices that are business card size, made from a sturdy card stock. They offer a Cardapult, Penny Shooter, Trebucard, and Iris cards! The designer sells them as unique business cards but he also offers free build your own plans. Choose "Printing info" under the heading "Information" on the right side. Once on the Printing Info page, look for "Outlines" around mid page. You can then select the cardnetics you want and download outlines in multiple choices of graphics formats. Very clever designs!
Canon - In the Toys section there are some very cute: zebra, elephant, frog chorus, a leaping goat, ruminating cow, pop-up grasshopper and a tiger that jumps through a ring of fire, clowns on stilts, and a working carousel. In Science/Universe there is a moving Copernican and a Ptolemaic system. In Toys: a flip animation wheel with changable cards.
Car with People - People in an car that goes up and down, cute.
Conservatory Coffin - Great animated coffin from Disney Worlds The Haunted Mansion.
Gangnam Style Machine - Very cute animated man doing the Gangnam Style dance!
How to Make an Animated Paper Robot - Step by step instructions, by Rob Ives, on how to build a paper robot. Push the robot up and down and he stretches his robot claws.
How to Make A RoomaRang - Indoor roomerang, a simple returning boomerang made out of cardstock. Template is here. There is a template for both a wood boomerang and the cardstock version is at bottom.
How to Make Your Own Pop-Up Creature
Jade the Dragon - Free to download, but it states on the page that it is shareware. Go to Download under Jade Dragon.
Keyboard Cat - Cute cat playing a piano keyboard.
Pop-up World Map by Matthew Reinhart - Click ....more to download free Templates in the paragraph under the video. Great educational and fun project!
Paper Mario Automata - A paper automata of Nintendo's very popular video game character Mario, turn the crank and Mario jumps and hits the gold gift box and coin pops out. There is are others: Paper Mario Hammer, Flying Kirby and Mechanical POW Block, do a site search for "Automata" to bring them all up. fun!
Paper Puzzle Parade - Pneumatic rocket that actually flies and a zoetrope.
Paperpino - There is an clown riding a trike, a jumping sheep, Leonardo’s mechanical hammer, a bird and more. All very cute.
Paper Skull - Cool cube skull that opens and closes it's mouth with the touch of a finger.
Ravensblight Mechanical Bat - Very nice 8 page cam and piston paper model of a bat.
Sasatoku Printing - A mole, woodpecker, horse, seal, monkey and a waving lucky cat. Very nice paper model design work.
Mechanical Models that Really Work - Very nice mechanical paper toys from a software program for the Commodore 64 that was released in the 1980s. There is an Antique Truck, Balancing Jet, Carousel, Helicraft, Jet Dragster, Bank, Catapult, Mercer Raceabout, Pennypower Scale, The Spirit of St. Louis, Starship, Steam Engine, Oil Pump and Table Saw, Tractor Crane and more.
Niklas Roy - There is a fully working maual plotter, a cardboard computer, and other projects. I could not find the templates to construct them, but it is very interesting none the less.
Various Working Paper Model Engines - Amazing!
Walking Mech Warrior - Turn a crank and a Mech Warrior takes a walk! Modeled after the Madcat Timberwolf in popular video games. Very nice!
Optical Illusions
Dragon Optical Illusion - I love this illusion!
Ikemath Illusions - Really cool optical illusions that are like modern art sculptures.
Impossible Motion - Very interesting motion and solid object illusions.
Peter Dahmen - There are lots of fascinating pop-up cards and illusions on his site. There is a magic floating cube, endless love valentine card and flower pop up, just to name a few! Worth a long browse.
Portrait of Lady illusion - The echibit is called Curious. A ladies head follows you as you walk by or move the protrait. Nice effect..
The Moving Sculpture Illusion - It really looks like this skeleton is turning his head to follow you! Easy build, I love this great effect!
Yoda - This was my first illusion model. Yodas' eyes appear to follow you as you walk past him.
Automata - All about paper toy automata. In addition to the history, they discuss mechanisms, designing, tools and construction techniques. And don't forget to check out their gallery. Their art work ranges from card stock and cardboard to wood.
Cabaret Mechanical Theater - For the most part this site is about wooden automata. But most of the ideas translate to paper as well. They do show the motion of the Geneva Mechanism. They also have a very nice wooden prototyping kit for sale.
Cool 4 Cats - There are no free kits but they have videos demostrating all of their automaton kits that you may find entertaining, inspiring or educational.
Mechanical Movements - Some of the illustrations are animated and some are not, they just haven't completed them yet. When looking for ideas for designing animated paper models, this site could be helpful.
Mechanism - I think this is one cool web site. If you want to build any type of paper toy automata, you will want to spend time here. Here you'll find plenty of teacher resources and print outs to help with classroom activites.
Paper Engineer's Workshop - There are no longer any free models or at least I cannot find them. There are some very nice mechanical paper toys and browse the site for some great ideas and amusement.
Paper Mechanics / Automata by Walter Ruffler - A discussion of the principals of paper model mechanics.
Rob Ives - Animated demostrations of all sorts of paper cranks, gears, cams, levers, pistons and lots more.From hand crank mechanisms to pendulum power and even rubber band powered pop-up models. Go to the Workshop Notes on the right to read the blog and gain insights into how paper models are developed. Choose Shop on the right to find the amazing free models. Choose the house shaped icon in the upper right hand corner to get the home page for an overview of what's new. His models are fun to build and educational to play with. Rob Ives is a personal favorite paper model artist of mine. His site is a must see.
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