As most Star Wars enthusiasts will agree, the first season of The Mandalorian was spectacular! Season one embodies a certain "feel" to me that, in my opinion, has been absent in some way from episodes produced since the original trilogy (sans Rogue One, IMHO). The "feel" that I am referring to is something which I believe links back to George Lucas' original vision of the Star Wars saga as a "space opera" - a sequence of short, but focused "cliffhanger"acts set over dramatic music scores that build upon one another and make you yearn for the next act even before you've finished watching the current act completely unfold. If you've seen season one of The Mandalorian, then I suspect you may well agree with my view.It is within in this "cliffhanger" vein that my latest paper craft project came into being - that is my quest for a acquiring a tactile representation of "The Child" or, as some viewers call it, "Baby Yoda" figure. This mysterious, no-name character fits right into the series, unexpectedly appearing as a central theme of the story line early in season one, and the character's appearance immediately links viewers to the legendary Star Wars character, Yoda. It's funny that, up until "The Child" appeared in The Mandalorian, I had not thought much about Yoda's species and origin. "The Child"'s linkage, lack of a specific named character reference in the series, and the relationship to Yoda's mysterious origins is truly brilliant writing, leveraging established Star Wars canon to tightly couple and extend the saga forward.
Like many others, I immediately went online to acquire my very own "Baby Yoda" after seeing the first episode of The Mandalorian . However, I found nothing but a dearth of sources for purchase of figures, even though the 2019 holiday season was just around the corner. Everyone became so infatuated with the character from its first appearance and clamored for a figure to call their own, yet options for purchasing "The Child" merchandise were pretty much non-existent until after the holiday season ended. But then it occurred to me that yet another wise choice had been made regarding The Mandalorian. It turns out that the series creator, Jon Favreau, specifically requested that Disney executives not leak information about the character to toy manufacturers before its initial appearance in the series, which resulted in something that is rare in today's entertainment world - embodiment of "shared discovery" by viewers. This hearkens back to the famous "I am your father." reveal in The Empire Strikes Back which was painstakingly hidden from the film's cast and crew and is regarded as one, if not the greatest reveals in cinema history. I see the effort to keep "The Child" a secret until viewers found out themselves as yet another spectacular move by the producers to embody viewer suspense and shared experience within The Mandalorian series!
My efforts at finding a source to acquire a Baby Yoda of my own fizzled in early December and the upcoming holiday season hustle-bustle soon overtook my spare time. The last episode of the first season of The Mandalorian aired just after Christmas and, for a bit, I was content in waiting for the series eventual return. However, not long into the new year I was overcome with "cliffhanger"-itis and, with the catchy theme music from The Mandalorian playing in my head, I began to look again for a Baby Yoda figure. This time I thought, since I love paper crafting, I would try and find something which I could make from paper. I googled for "baby yoda papercraft" and stumbled upon a YouTube video entitled "Build You Own Paper Baby Yoda" from DT Workshop. I watched the video and decided "This is the way".
I then downloaded the free (yes, you read correctly) kit containing the instructions and parts pages. Note that you have to checkout and "purchase" the kit from the DT Workshop site, but the cost is zero, no credit card information is required, and you are immediately given a download link at the end of the checkout process.
The kit is provided as a zip file which contains five PDF files. The instructions are written in French and English, are very detailed (52 pages - impressive!), and they are clearly laid out with ample assembly diagrams. The other four files in the group contain the parts, with each file representing a different color in the palette: green (three pages), pink/rose (1 page), light tan (2 pages), and medium tan (5 pages). There are a total of 75 parts that make up the kit.
After reviewing the instructions, my next task was to visit my local craft store and obtain the necessary card stock. I noticed in some reference photos shown on the site and YouTube video that the creator used a textured card stock, and I quickly decided to use it also, as I had not built a kit using textured card stock. With phone in-hand, I compared the reference photos to available card stock colors to best match the kit palette.
I then printed the part pages, making sure to print the patterns on the non-textured side of each page. Printing was performed in black, which is new to me, as all prior paper model kits that I had built up until now have required printing the parts page in color onto white card stock.
Next, I extruded the parts. This step took me about two hours to perform. I used an x-acto knife and used the task as an opportunity to work on my freehand cutting techniques.
I then began the assembly process by following the sequence laid out in the instructions. Scoring the backside of each part along the prescribed lines and crisp bending of the folds in the proper direction is key to producing a clean build. Parts are connected via laps that are glued to the adjoining part(s).
The first feature that I assembled was the nose.
The assembly quickly progressed and soon I had completed all of the face and the top part of the head.
Next, the build moved to the ears. Each ear consists of three parts; two outer green ear segments and one pink rose inner ear segment.
Moving around to the back of the head, I realized how cool the inner side of the build looked!
Next, I moved to assembly of the hands. A quick note about scoring and folding: I chose to wait and score the lines and perform bending on each part just before assembling it. This sequence certainly isn't a requirement, as I could have gone ahead and scored and bent all parts right after cutting them out. However, one benefit of waiting to fold each part is being able to more easily collect and store parts if you expect the kit assembly to take more than one session.
The build then moved to the cuffs and sleeves of each arm, the neck collar, and the front of main robe.
The build then moved to the back, going from top to bottom. These parts are larger and assembly quickly progressed Before I knew it, the build was nearly complete! I added the finishing reflective touches to the eyes, which really brought it to life!
I have spoken.
