Hyoi Pear Link & Seagull

We all know the best part of the Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker was Link’s facial expressions. His exaggerated actions and reactions gave the game a wonderful comedic tint. One of my favourites is this: When Link places a Hyoi pear on his head as bait for the seagulls. How do the gulls even eat the pears? Swallowed whole?

The papercraft looks pretty simple but it’s also quite small scale. I tried to make the hands as simple as possible while still capturing their shape, but they can still be a little fiddly. Attaching the body to the legs will require some force. Push the legs in nice and tight and this will help secure them in place as the glue dries. The seagull is optional. You can have it permanently fixed to Link’s head or try to make it detachable using magnets (note: Link will struggle to stay upright with the gull attached).

Approximate Dimensions:

Height: 20cm
Width: 15cm
Depth: 12cm

Pages: 2 for Link, 2 for seagull
Parts: 63
Difficulty: Medium (3/5)

Terrako (Egg Guardian)

Introduced in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Terrako is a diminutive egg-shaped guardian that travels back in time to rescue Zelda, causing a split timeline with the events that lead to Breath of the Wild. He seems to have a strong connection to the Princess…

This papercraft features a moving antenna piece on top of his head. Like in the game, it can bounce up and down. This mechanism is completely optional though, and if you don’t want it to move you can just stick one the pale pieces straight on.

The craft is rated 2/5 for difficulty as although it looks very simple, there are a couple of places that will be tricky for complete beginners. Installing the mechanism can be a little difficult, and making the narrow legs can be hard if approached in the wrong way. Check out the video for my recommended technique on this.

Approximate Dimensions:

Height: 9cm
Width: 14cm
Depth: 15cm

Pages: 2
Parts: 29
Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Carlov & Nintendo Gallery Diorama

In The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker, Carlov runs a semi-secret members-only ‘club’ called the Nintendo Gallery. Members of the club provide Carlov with pictographs of enemies or NPCs and the master sculptor Carlov will craft a figurine of them. Figurines can be viewed in the gallery which is under a hatch in the Forest Haven.

This papercraft features Carlov, the sculptor himself anda little diorama inspired by his desk and workstation in the Nintendo Gallery. His room in the game is so large that only a tiny selection of objects can fit in this paper rendition! This papercraft can be a little fiddly in places, so if you’re not super confident there’s a version of the desk that removes the finer details. There’s also a slightly larger version of Carlov, but be warned this version won’t fit inside the diorama.

Approximate Dimensions (Carlov Only):

Height: 18cm
Width: 9cm
Depth: 9cm

Pages: 4
Parts: 73

Approximate Dimensions (Desk):

Height: 26cm
Width: 24cm
Depth: 22cm

Pages: 17
Parts: 65

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Rotating Tingle Tower ft. Tiniest Tingle

In The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker, Tingle lives in the eponymous Tingle Tower. The tower was actually built by Tingle’s younger brother Ankle, who has a somewhat strained relationship with his siblings.

The papercraft features a fully rotating head, just like in the game. Unfortunately though, unless you have some lackeys handy you’ll have to turn it yourself! The tower has a hand carved feel so it’s not rotationally symmetrical. This means it really matters which pieces attach to other similar pieces. Check the pdo to make sure!

Also included is a tiny little Tingle craft to sit in the tower. This one is really small so make sure you’ve got tweezers ready and take your time.

Approximate Dimensions:

Height: 35cm
Width: 20cm
Depth: 17cm

Pages: 10 (1 for Tingle)
Parts: 152 (6 for Tingle)
Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Link's Awakening Link

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening first released on the original Nintendo Gameboy in 1996. The game was Link’s first outing on Gameboy and takes place when Link washes ashore on a mysterious island after a shipwreck. Link must journey across and escape the island, but this may involve some sacrifice along the way…

In 1998 Link’s Awakening was re-released in full colour on the Gameboy Colour with an extra colour themed dungeon. In 2019, Link’s Awakening returned in HD with a brand new cute 3D art style on Switch. Now Link can wake up on your desktop in miniature form. Just download the free template, print and glue the pieces together and maybe Link will find himself trapped in your world.

Approximate Dimensions:

Height: 15cm
Width: 12cm
Depth: 13cm

Pages: 3
Parts: 32
Difficulty: Easy

Simple Zant

If you play The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess it seems like Zant, a power obsessed usurper, is the main villain. But anyone who knows Zelda might have a suspicion that darker forces are at work… Later in the game Zant sheds his creepy helmet and reveals his creepier face, as well as his more eccentric and lively personality.

If you can cast your mind back to the simpler year of 2015, it’s possible (although very unlikely) that you might remember this little papercraft. That craft featured Zant with all (or most) of his intricacies and tiny details. It was also a little tricky - I rated it hard, the highest of five difficulty ratings. This new craft takes Zant and reduces him to nearly a third of the pieces but keeps features like the removable helmet. Simplified and streamlined, Zant is now easier and quicker to recreate in paper form.

Height: 30cm
Width: 29cm
Depth: 12cm

Pages: 8
Parts: 42
Difficulty: Easy/Medium

3D NES Ganon Voxel

We all know Ganon - he’s the big bad in one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. It all began in 1986 when Ganon unleashed his pixel-y goodness (or badness) on the world in The Legend of Zelda for NES. This papercraft is based on that incarnation and takes his 2D sprites into a third dimension.

After the mega project that was ridiculous Ganon there was only one way to go with Ganon papercrafts: more ridiculous. At 58 sheets of paper and nearly 300 pieces this Ganon is a huge time commitment. Check out the building video, where about 100 hours of footage was condensed at 3000% to a video that is still easily the length of a feature film. One thing’s for certain: this papercraft project is not for the faint of heart.

Approximate dimensions:

Height: 32cm
Width: 32cm
Depth: 32cm

Pages: 58
Parts: 295
DIfficulty: Hard

Hyrule Warriors Bombchu

Here's a fairly simple papercraft for you. It's quite large, but so are the pieces (for the most part), so it's not too fiddly. Bombchus made a return in Hyrule Warriors as gigantic mechanical bombs, with a much more detailed design than ever before. If you let one explode in one of your keeps, you'll lose it immediately, so be careful and destroy them before they can explode!

Dimensions:

Height: 11cm
Width: 18cm
Depth: 30cm

Pages: 5
Parts: 51
DIfficulty: Easy/Medium

Valoo

Valoo is a character from the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. He lives atop Dragon Roost Island and protects the Rito tribe that also resides there. When a Rito comes of age, they travel to the top of Dragon Roost to receive a scale from Valoo that enables them to grow their wings. When Link first travels to the island a monster is torturing Valoo, preventing young Rito from getting their wings. Link must defeat the monster using Valoo’s tail in the very first boss battle of the game.

The papercraft stands at about 12cm tall, depending on how high up you position the head. It wasn’t created in Pepakura, so unfortunately there is no .pdo to help with construction, but for help there are full diagram instructions with the recommended build order, and check out the finished build picture for the positioning of parts.

Pipit

Pipit is a Zelda character who made an appearance in Skyward Sword. He is a graduate of the Knight Academy in Skyloft, the winner of the Wing Ceremony the year before Link. He lives in Skyloft with his mother, Mallara, and can be found patrolling around the Academy at night. The papercraft is fairly complex, so make sure you have some papercraft experience before attempting it. Once you’ve done the first two pages though, it is a pretty straightforward build. The base is entirely optional, he will stand up without it or weights.

Dimensions:

Height: 35cm
Width: 12cm
Depth: 13cm

Pages: 7
Parts: 67
Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Usurper King Zant

This papercraft features Zant, a character from the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The self-proclaimed King of Twilight, he overthrows Midna and tries to invade Hyrule and conquer the world of light, aided by Ganondorf. The final two pages (making up the helmet) are a little trickier and are optional. If you decide to make the helmet, it is fully removable and just sits on Zant’s shoulders.

Dimensions:

Height: 40cm
Width: 39cm
Depth: 16cm

Pages: 11
Parts: 124
Difficulty: Hard

Goddess Cube Chest

The Goddess Cubes and Chests are new items to the Zelda series introduced in Skyward Sword. When Link activates a cube with a Skyward Strike, the corresponding chest in the sky will activate and light up, allowing Link to open it.

Tips: build the top of the chest first, then add the bottom piece by piece. The finished chest should just sit on the four legs, or you can glue them down. Remember, you can refer to the .pdo file for help.

Dimensions:

Height: 8cm
Width: 10cm
Depth: 7cm

Pages: 2
Parts: 28
Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Wind Waker Wizzrobe (V3)

The Red Wizzrobe is a Mini Boss of the Wind Temple in Wind Waker. It is more powerful than regular Wizzrobes, and can summon other enemies to help in the fight.

Tips: A folder of picture and text instructions is included with the download, just view them one after the other in the order of the file name. 

Dimensions:

Height: 19cm
Width: 16cm
Depth: 25cm

Pages: 5
Parts: 47
Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Hook Beetle

The Beetle is a new Zelda item, introduced in Skyward Sword. The first upgrade your Beetle gets turns it into the Hook Beetle, which has the ability to grab items like bombs and drop them nearby. 

Download pack includes a lined and lineless version.

Dimensions:

Height: 15cm
Width: 28cm
Depth: 25cm

Pages: 5
Parts: 62
Difficulty: Medium

Wind Waker Pigs

Pigs played a similar role to cuccos in the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. They will run away when chased, but are easy to catch if you sneak up behind them. When fed bait, they will dig in the ground and might uncover something interesting.

Tips: Follow the build order on the templates. the lettered parts are legs and ears, and there are corresponding letters next to the holes they should fit into.

Dimensions:

Height: 9cm
Width: 7cm
Depth: 11cm

Pages: 1
Parts: 18
Difficulty: Easy