Build a shelf-size vintage computer museum made of paper - Ars Technica

Enlarge / An illustration of 8 papercraft vintage machine models designed and assembled by Rocky Bergen.

Yesterday, a Winnipeg, Canada-based creator named Rocky Bergen released a escaped postulation of miniature papercraft vintage machine models that hobbyists tin assemble for fun. They are available connected The Internet Archive successful a battalion of 24 PDF files that you tin people retired connected letter-size insubstantial and fold into 3 dimensions.

Among Bergen's Barbie-size papercraft models, you'll find representations of classical computers primitively released during the 1970s and '80s, specified arsenic the Apple II, IBM PC 5150, Commodore 64, Apple Macintosh, and adjacent the uncommon Apple Lisa 1. You'll besides find papercraft models of a fewer classical crippled consoles similar the Sega Master System and the Nintendo GameCube.

Bergen began creating the papercraft models successful the summertime of 2016, starting with an Amstrad CPC 464 helium designed for a CPC fanzine. "I grew up with a Commodore 64 and person ever been a instrumentality of aged computers and their concern design," Bergen told Ars Technica. "I would emotion to person a immense postulation of them, but it's not ever applicable for radical to person a monolithic magnitude of hardware with them astatine each times."

Enlarge / A vintage Mac 128K papercraft exemplary designed by Rocky Bergen, implicit with accessories.

To make the models, Bergen collects photos of the instrumentality from the Internet and slices and dices them successful Adobe Illustrator until helium gets a satisfactory result. "I typically support the serial numbers intact truthful it is imaginable to cheque to spot if I utilized your machine oregon not," helium says.

Many of Bergen's papercraft models see other variations with antithetic bundle oregon games connected the monitors that tin beryllium exchanged by inserting folded surface images into slots connected the units. Many models besides see delightful details, specified arsenic due scale-model accessories: disk drives, mice, floppy disks, bundle boxes, and adjacent modems.

"The effect from the Internet has been precise encouraging," says Bergen. "So I person created a ample fig of these models truthful that you tin spell nuts and physique retired an full machine museum."

Once printed, chopped out, and folded, the models typically lone basal 3 to 4 inches tall, but the standard varies depending connected the insubstantial size used. Bergen designed the models for 11×17 insubstantial (A3). At that size, they look "the size of a emblematic mini console." But they tin besides beryllium automatically scaled down to 8.5×11-inch letter-size paper, which makes them roughly "Barbie Doll scale."

Enlarge / Four papercraft models designed by Rocky Bergen, including the Nintendo AVS prototype.

Bergen finds assembling the models a meditative experience. "I did not deliberation I would bask the cutting and folding process, but it is my favourite portion of the process," helium says. "I thought it would beryllium stressful to do, but it turns retired to beryllium rather relaxing."

To get started gathering your ain papercraft museum, you'll request a colour printer, paper, and scissors. Download the PDFs from the Internet Archive, people them out, chopped on the lines, fold the tabs, and insert them into the slots. Bergen says that moving with thicker insubstantial makes it easier. "A paper-folding instrumentality (referred to arsenic a bony folder) truly helps to make bully edges," helium says. "But immoderate food weapon without serrations volition enactment excellently, too."

It's no secret that the prices of vintage computers and crippled consoles person been skyrocketing implicit the past fewer years, particularly during the pandemic. That makes collecting the existent machines acold much hard and costly than a decennary ago. Bergen says those factors are ever astatine the backmost of his caput portion designing his papercraft sculptures.

"I similar the thought of removing rarity oregon outgo from the equation," helium says. For the terms of insubstantial and ink, you tin person amusive with uncommon vintage machines that mightiness outgo thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars. "My Apple Lisa 1 volition lone outgo you your time, and you mightiness larn thing astir it, too. I cognize I did."