PaperHammer 40k

This article was last updated on: 08/29/2008
Updates at the end of the article, before the download section.

In the beginning, when the Emperor was young, Warhammer 40kwas known as Rogues Trader and Games Workshop actually encourage hobbyist to make their own models... PaperHammer was born!

Basically, PaperHammer (as it was later known) was the use of paper proxies (either picture cards or crude drawings) so players could enjoy a nice game of Warhammer. This would create 2D Models that players could use instead of the metal/plastic miniatures. Many of the now common models were not available back then, and players were encourage to improvise. Even GW produced and made available cardboard cut-outs in their White Dwarf Magazine. Players today use this kind of 2D models, mainly to try new armies and/or tactics before buying the actual models. Personally, I think is a good idea to try an army, but I enjoy too much assembling and painting  Warhammer 40k models to really commit the time to photograph an existing army, printing, gluing to cardboard, cutting and basing the models. In the insert you can see a 2D model of a Tyrant with a Venom Cannon wit his Guard retinue. Below is an amazing 2D PaperHammer 40k Tyranid Army.

Players, never being satisfied, pushed the envelope of the paper proxy concept. Many started using common household materials such as paper, cardboard and plastic. Also hobbyists started using foam cup, tin cans and even deodorant plastic containers to start they models. As a matter of fact, a 'roll-on deodorant' space ship was what got my attention to WH40k! 

Few of the most dedicated and talented hobbyists (with way too much time on their hands) created templates so others could create their own 3D paper models to use, not as a proxy, but as the real thing. Eventually, these templates became very complete and almost indistinguishable from the plastic kits. This is more than just adding bits to customize your model... this is the next step; creating a model of your very own from the ground up! Here I present some examples of work done by hobbyist around the world. Like always, click on the images to enlarge. I don't have enough space to put all the pictures I have found... but I'm sure you will order your Servitor to type 'scratch vehicle warhammer 40k' in the Holy Search Engine. Don't forget to recite the litany 'Goggleth, appease our curiosity to learn more about the Spirit of the Machine'!

This Baneblade is made from cardboard, plasticard, copper and aluminum. The details are exquisite, and it evens puts the Forge World model to shame. Marvelous work done by a great hobbyist in Spain. The painted result is just amazing!

The model below is a Titan Chaos Warhound. Inspired by the old Epic 40k models, this beauty is a labor of love. It is made out of carboard, foam, plasticard and wire. Please note the size comparison of this Titan with the poor Guardsman at its feet! WOW... someone will have to scrape him of the Warhound's foot like gum from a shoe!

For a more practical approach, check out this Marine Drop Pod and Dreadnought. The Drop Pod is 100% functional [NO! It does NOT fly!] with hinged bay doors. The Dreadnought, at first impression will trick the observer... but it is not the 'real' thing! Notice the vehicular exhausts are solid pipes (instead with holes), the front of the sarcophagus does not have any insignia and the feet are kindda weird. Just FYI, all of this 'issues' can be 'fixed' with exhaust bitz, a Dreadnought front plate and a Dreadnought base. You could get the plate and the base from Forge World, and have the cooles Dreadnought in miles for less than $10!

Of course, no mention of scratch build modeling is complete without honoring the grand-daddy of all models: The Space Marine Thunderhawk. The model shown below WAS built from scratch even before Forge World had one available back in Spring 2001. It is bigger, meaner and more detailed than ANY of the Forge World model EVER available! It is jaw-dropping! You MUST visit the creator's website, and marvel at all its detail. Please follow the link here.

Scratch building was invented by Orks... so here is an example of an Orc Dreadnought (Ork Deff Dread). Again, the creator made it slightly bigger and meaner! 

EDIT: Thanks to our friends at Santa Cruz Warhammer (Mike and John) for the guide on building this model! Read our review on their site (here) and then visit their place.

Here I present a Necron Monolith. It is a wondrous warmachine! This one is build from cardboard (from cereal boxes!), green-stuff and plastic GW bits. Don't fret, that was the creator's personal choice... I have seen some 100% made out of cardboard and plasticard down to the gem!

On recent times, PaperHammer has become a lost & dying part of the hobby. New players are encouraged by almost everyone to purchase models. Many because they don't know they can build their own models, and others because they are too lazy to build them! While there is no denying that the plastic kits produced by GW are very nice and Forge World's resin models are superb, there is no denying either that they can be expensive. Also, there is certain charm in building your own Rhino from scratch. In Spain, it continues to be all the rage!

I have seen vehicles built from paper, cardboard and plasticard and detailed (doors, windows, weapons) with GW 'standard' items... and even FW's resin bits. I have seen Rhinos, Vindicators, Whirlwinds, Hammerheads and much more. All have one thing in common... they are cheap to build (compare $50 for a scratch built Warhound vs $575 for the Forge World resin model) and they take a true dedicated hobbyist (with plenty of time) to complete. It is not difficult, but it is time consuming! If created correctly, there is no difference in the look of the model... except that it weights a great deal less! For official tournaments, GW states that:

If the model is a vehicle then participants will be allowed to scratch build the vehicle. A scratch built vehicle will either be a heavily modified current model, or a model that is built from the ground up. The scratch built model must represent the vehicle with all options. Judges will be the ultimate authority if a scratch build will be usable.  (LINK)

There was an old rule that stated that scratch build vehicles should contain at least 15% of GW bits to be counted as legal. Of course, the templates I provide here are superb and with few bits you can have a near-perfect model! The point of PaperHammer is not to divert the WH40k player from buying plastic and resin models. Far from it; this is encouragement to turn a WH40k player into a hobbyist! Getting to feel the satisfaction of building your own model has to be even superior than making your own conversion (which it is awesome!)

Below you will find links to The Golden Bolter Society's PaperHammer 40k Collection, as well as individual categories. I'm not the creator of ANY of these templates. My respect and admiration to everyone of them! I'm posting the information without permission, in an attempt to preserve this dying art. If you are one of the authors and want your work removed, please send our Servitor an email and we will comply to your request. All the templates here provided are free for the taking, and you are NOT authorized to sell them - shame on you! Hopefully the Inquisition will have a 'chat' with you. If you build anything, please send us your pictures and we will post them with pride!

Well... I feel like I discovered dirt! Probably most of you already know all of this; but for those of you that do not... welcome to the next level of the Warhammer 40k hobby... PaperHammer 40k. 

08/29/2008 UPDATE: MORE LINKS TO ALTERNATIVE MODELING!

I got a message from Sleppy, who wrote a nice article regarding "Exact Paper Proxies" (EPP). Find all about 2D Modeling on his site, Intelligent Gamer.

Also, to makes matter even more interesting... check out Lego Meets Blood Bowl on this site! I tell you... there are some creative people out there.

08/20/2008 UPDATE: SPECIAL EDITORIAL NOTE

While it has been mentioned several times in the article, please bear in mind that our intention is to promote scratch-building! If you are the author of any of the items here showcased, PLEASE email our Servitor. Not only we will give credit, but we will link to your place!

05/22/2008 UPDATE: AUTHORS & CREATORS

I want to thank the following members (in no particular order) of the Yahoo Discussion Group BWC-Archive (LINK) for some great comments, direction and support: Armor Bimbo, greatereldanesh, J. T., Mike T., Robert M. and Steve D. Thanks guys... keep on modeling! Feel free to visit their group and share with all its member. Send my love to Jimbo... great modeler, living encyclopedia on all that is paper modeling and all around fuzzy guy! When I grow up, I definitely want to be like him!

Since the original publishing, I have learned about ChapaBowl (Bottle-Cap Bowl in English).. Find the Spanish site here. It is basically Blood Bowl using bottle caps with model pictures on them. Variations like Lego Bowl can be found. Funny stuff! Also, I found a quiet group that have several images of WH40k Armies for you to print and play 2D PaperHammer 40k. Link. Of course, the principal concepts of their work can be applied legally... but you know those crazy gamers from Spain are pretty cool... crazy, creative and dedicated bunch! Like they say themselves; Los Españoles somos un coñazo!

Last but not least, the down-loadable files below have been changed! Some files have been removed while some others have been added! Several authors have reached me to express all kinds of opinions. From simple 'thanks', elaborate 'way to go' and 'host my files' to complete disagreement on the way that the article and the offering of the files was done. Everyone has a right to their opinions, and as I stated above the creator's wishes have been respected (by the addition or removal of files.)  Please update your files with the ones below.

Download Section: Templates and more!
Click on the Title to Download a compressed file.

PaperHammer 40k Collection - [61.8 MB] All available templates, organized by army types, in one convenient compressed file. Includes free viewer software. NOTE: If you download this file, you do NOT need to download anything else. Please be kind to 4shared's bandwidth. I now they say unlimited, but let's not be abusive!

• Buildings -  [19.2 MB] This is a terrain builder's dream! Templates and guides on how to build many cool structures. This file contains the following models:
  Anti-Tank Barriers, Basilica Administratum (B&W), Basilica Administratum (Color), Basilica Administratum II, Battle Bunker I, Battle Bunker II, Battle Bunker III, Battle Bunker IV, Battle Bunker V, Battle Bunker VI, Battle Bunker VII - DOW, Boxes, Communication Station, Control Tower, Fire Base Bunker, Fire-Point Defence, Fortification, Generic Building, Iron Bridge, Missile Silo, Outpost IX, Pipes, Platform, Ruins 01 - Gothic, Ruins 02 - City, Signs, Storage Tanks, Strong Point, Turbolaser Battery
  UPDATE: Certain files removed at request of authors.
  
• Chaos Space Marines - [1.6 MB] Don't get too exited... this templates are not that good (compared to others), but there will be Wows and Ahhhs after they see your models. This file contains the following models: Brass Scorpion, Hellblade
• Dark Eldar - [0.6 MB] Wow! This templates are of superior quality. If you are into tiny spikes and S&M, get your hands on these! This file contains the following models:
  Raider, Raven, Reaver, Skyboard
• Decals - [10.2 MB] Create your own decals... I may remove this from this section and make a tutorial on how to do them at a later time. Meanwhile, get them! This file contains the following: alpha legion logo sheet, death guard logo sheet, emperors children logo sheet, Imperial badges, iron warriors logo sheet, luna wolves logo sheet, sons of horus logo sheet, thousand sons logo sheet, word bearers logo sheet, world eaters logo sheet
  
• Eldar - [0.4 MB] One template... not very detailed. Sorry. On the bright side, the tutorial is very good, so it seems that a detailed template is over rated! Also, you can build variations very easily. This file contains the following models: Wave Serpent
  
• Imperial Guard - [11.9 MB] This is the cream-de-la-crop! WOW! The templates are superb and the tutorial second to none! Just looking at them almost makes me wanna get an IG army... ALMOST! Hey, what can I say, I'm a Xeno-philic guy! [fear] Hope the Inquisition didn't hear that! [/fear] This file contains the following models:
  Baneblade, Basilisk, Chimera, Griffon, Gunship, Hover Tank, Imperial Truck, Leman Russ I, Leman Russ II, Light Tactical Transport, Lightning, Malcador, One Man Transport, Sentinel, Shadowsword, Staff Car, Stormblade, Thunderbolt, Thunderhawk, Vulture
  UPDATE: Certain files added at request of authors.
  
• Necrons - [0.3 MB] This templates are the maximum expression of PaperHammer! They are detailed to the extreme! They are done in such a way that you can print them right out the document get some scissors and glue yourself some Necronic Love! My 1st project will be a Pylon! The author is simply a genius! Even if you do not play Necrons, you need to see the templates. Yes, they are that good! This file contains the following models: Monolith, Pylon
• Orks -  [5.1 MB] Ok... at 1st impression seems stupid to have templates for Orkish machines! I though that... then I remembered I'm not an Ork, so I would need some guidance. I imagine you will need some too! The templates will allow you to build the core structure (so it looks like a freaking Fighta) and then you can let your 3 year old child... err... your orkish decorator to put in the details. This file contains the following models:
  Bomma, Bonecruncha, Braincrusha, DethKopta, Fighta, Gobsmasha, Killa Kanz, Lungbursta, Trukk - Kamion (Spanish)
  UPDATE: Certain files added, without permission of authors.
  
• Space Hulk Cutouts - [2.4 MB]  This don't really belong here... but I had it, so you have it! Considered an old-school bonus. I may later write a Space Hulk section. This file contains the following models: Space Hulk Hallways
  UPDATE: Removed.
  
• Space Marines -  [3.5 MB] Ahhh the beloved Marines! This templates are a mixed bag... some are very good, others are a WTF!?! No matter, you will love them all! In my opinion, building an Attack Bike won't save you any time or money, but you will indeed turn heads! On terms of other vehicles, build the cores out of foam and cover with cardboard or plasticard. Then get GW bits (doors, windows, gunners, weapons) or FW Kits... you get a cool vehicle, and save at least $30 a model! This file contains the following models:
  Attack Bike, Bolter, Dreadnought, Drop Pod Style 01, Drop Pod Style 02, Drop Pod Style 03, Land Raider MK I, Land Raider MK II, Land Speeder, Predator Mk II, Rhino Mk I 01, Rhino Mk II 01, Rhino Mk II 02, Rhino Mk II 03 - Sisters Of Battle, Rhino Mk II 04,
  Vindicator, Whirlwind
• Tau -  [0.8 MB] If you build Drones... you MUST send me a picture! The templates look like they were designed by a structural engineer, so after you finish don't be surprised if that thing becomes operational and self-aware! This file contains the following models:
  Broadside Battle Suit, Devilfish, Gun Drone
  UPDATE: Certain files added, without permission of authors.
  
• Titans - [11.2 MB] The ULTIMATE in scratch building! I do NOT recommend to take this as your first project! While the Templates and instructions are VERY detailed (I had to edit the text on some to include pictures) and will allow you to create your Warmachine with relative ease, is best if you get used to working with materials first. I would suggest building something smaller (anything is smaller, but don't pick up a Thunderhawk!) like a Rhino or a Drop Pod. A suggestion not on any of the instructions... GET EARTH MAGNETS! Yes, get the big ones! The ones that will make your grandpa's pacemaker stop. Magnetize the joints! Not only it will allow you easy transport (can un-assemble and assemble the model for traveling) but you can pose it. After this, I expect to see a stop-motion video of your Titan in YouTube! This file contains the following models:
  Crusader, Crusader - Blockhead AddOn, Gabriel Knight Paladin, Reaver 01 - Large Model, Reaver 02 - Small Model, Reaver 03, Warhound 01, Warhound 02
  UPDATE: Certain files added at request of authors.
  

If you have any PaperHammer 40k Templates that I'm missing, please be so kind and email the Servitor. Would love to add it to our collection!