Where to start, where to start, well, this was inspired mostly by 's attempt using a Half-Life 1 headcrab model (this project was conducted with permission!). Also, at the time I had just discovered the web-series Freeman's Mind. I know it's a few years old, but I hadn't seen it prior to this, and it helped push this project into motion; I think I found it through someone's journal... can't quite remember who at the moment though.

The hardest part of this design was compensating for the wearer's head. It seems like headcrabs must crush their victims head a bit, or at the least break their neck. This is what the victims actually look like when you shoot the headcrab off; the victim's head is smooshed downwards so the mesh of the headcrab fits on-top without the human's head poking through the top. To compensate, I had to scale the headcrab up a little bit, and stretch it vertically. As it is, the inside of the top just rests on the wearer's head. All considered though, it's still pretty close to the original. Do note that there are no eye-holes or anything for the wearer to see through, so it's not really a practical mask for cosplay or what have you (aside from how fragile it is, being made of paper and all).

Overall I'm very happy with how it came out. The scale didn't turn out to be much of a problem, and it fits me pretty nicely. It's not actually that difficult of a model to assemble, though admittedly it is lengthy. Maybe not so much as the Needler’s 31 pages, but it’s still not a model for anyone with a tight ink budget. The worst part was the mandibles on the front; they take a good bit of patience to get right. Oh, and the legs didn’t end up riding against my chest and back as tightly as I had hoped, but what are you gonna do.

The final build comes to ~1'6" (~46cm) long, ~1'3" (~37.5cm) wide, and ~1'8.5" (~52cm) tall ~1'7.5" (~49.5cm) long, ~1'2" (~35.5cm) wide, and ~1'4.5" (~42cm) tall (original dimensions came from PePaKuRa, I forgot to update them with the measured ones after I completed it; also, the height and length got switched), with an incomplete^* hole size of ~26" (~65cm). Took maybe... 40hrs to finish?, and I even plan to get a Styrofoam mannequin head to use as a stand for it.

^* I ended up having to leave off a few pieces around the edge of the hole to leave it wide enough to fit my head easily. I'd estimate it to be about 3" (7cm) smaller if you include those pieces (there is a note about it in the PDF).
_{In hindsight I realize I forgot to cut out the extra tabs around the neck hole before I took these shots... oh well.}

Also! If you plan on your model seeing a lot of use, I'd recommend some sort of reinforcement around the neck opening; maybe use cardstock for those loop pieces around the hole's edge. I didn't end up doing anything like this before I finished building it since mine was going to be mainly aesthetic, probably only worn a few times for demonstration and the "Assembled Image" picture. But in any case, keep this in mind.




PDF of Pieces

PePaKuRa PDO's






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Have you built this or one of my other models? Feel free to let me know how hard you thought they were!