Mario Brothers Papercraft Automaton

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Mario Brothers Papercraft Automaton

One of our crafty makers, Meg Allan Cole, got inspired to try her hand at a papercrafted automaton. Here are her results. -Gareth

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An automaton is a self-moving machine made out of wood, metal, or paper. A paper version is the perfect invitation to a crafter or maker to get down and dirty and build an automaton of your very own! While on my paper art kick, I thought I’d try my hand at building one, and in today’s video, I break it down and show you how to make an old school Nintendo Mario Brothers paper automaton.


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This was my very first automaton and the process was a totally new concept for me. I needed a little guidance and found it in Dug North, an artist expert on all things automata. He sent me this incredibly helpful diagram of all of the names of the parts involved.

You can find the template for more awesome Mario Automatons at NintendoPapercraft.

He also broke down the slightly confusing tenses of the actual word:

Plural: automata or (increasingly acceptable) automatons
Singular: automaton


I loved learning about this fascinating artform and look forward to hopefully even designing my own one day.

10 thoughts on “Mario Brothers Papercraft Automaton

  1. Brian says:

    Pretty cool!

  2. Jamie says:

    How do I print out the bits to cut out? I can’t find a link.

      1. Jamie says:

        Thanks.

        1. austin says:

          it doesnt work why?

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

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