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I recently began an ambitious project to recreate the talking skull from Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. I normally wouldn’t consider tackling something like this, but now I can use my 3D printer to produce parts that I would have had to sculpt by hand (I’m really bad at sculpting).

I started a video series on the Disney Experience, showcasing the entire design process of a new paper model. I thought some people might like to watch how I work.

Here is the first video, of which many others will follow. If you would like to continue watching the series, you can follow them either on the Disney Experience website or on YouTube.

I have been given the task of designing a simpler paper model of Rodriguez Cabrillo’s San Salvador, the first European ship to discover San Diego, California, and the West Coast of the United States.

Roman Detyna’s version, pictured here, is very beautiful and nicely detailed. But, it is aimed at more experienced model builders. The Maritime Museum of San Diego wants to reach a broader audience, aiming for 4th-graders and everyone new to paper models.

Both models will be available for free from the museum’s website. My simple version is expected to be completed by mid/late May, and will also be available for download from Nava Designs. If you’re interested in following my model progress, I may post some images on my Twitter feed since the museum has given me free range to post almost whatever I like.

Photos are now online of the first three Halloween papercrafts. I’ve decided to really run with this new trick-or-treat idea. Each toy is printed on 4×6 sheets, and is both pre-punched & pre-scored. The only tool needed to assemble them is a very small amount of glue.

These treats are packed in resealable polypropylene bags and stiffened with some cardstock. They are free to trick-or-treaters (one per person), and I may offer them as an online purchase in the future (maybe around October).

As Halloween draws near, I am constantly brainstorming for this year’s personal display for the local trick-or-treaters. A few days ago, I overheard some neighborhood children talking about my display and how scary it was. They loved it! I’ll be doing roughly the same thing this year, but with some tweaks and improvements.

One of my main focuses will be on the treats. Instead of candy, I’ve been thinking of giving out small, punch-out papercrafts that the kids can assemble at home. Candy is fine, but it eventually runs out, and all you’re left with is a fading memory of that night.

The papercrafts that I’ve been thinking of are small trinket boxes in the shapes of coffins, tombstones, etcetera. They’re just something simple, something fun, and something that serves some purpose. With around 6 different designs to collect, they can be given out for 2-3 years before designing others.

Nava Designs is now officially up and running! There are a few last-minute things to include, but certainly nothing that would hinder the use of the website.

New to the site is Paper Engineering: Designing a Paper Model. The new section explains what I go through to design a paper model for the masses. It’s still a work-in-progress as I continue to work on the current paper model with the most current techniques. I hope it answers a lot of queries that I’ve gotten over the years. If there are any unanswered questions that anyone has, feel free to contact me.

Speaking of contact, I do have a brand-new email address. If you have the old one in your address book somewhere, toss it out.

Now I need new business cards, stationary, customer invoices . . .

Here’s a new paper model that I’ve been working for the past few weeks. It’s already proving to be a monster with over 109 hours put into it, and plenty of more work to do!