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Anonymous
so, which is preferred when creating a papercraft? if you have two parts that are connecting together, is it better to have a hole in which you stick flaps through and spread out and glue, or is it better to fold the flaps in and glue to the other piece? pic is attempt to illustrate what i mean. over 9000 nanoseconds in paint.
>> GoblinGuy
I can't draw for crap, so no illustration, but I prefer to where the cylinder has flaps on it, and you stick the flaps on the opposite side of the piece with the hole in it. Like in the bottom-right of yours. This method is prevalent in the Howl's Moving Castle papercraft.
>> tl;dr Anonymous
Depends. If it's a thin cylinder, the tabs will have to be very small to fold them "in", else they will stick out. And if it's a small cylinder, you won't have much glueing surface. This gets better if it's over a cm in diameter or something like that, but it's still not very strong, if it's sticking out like that, it can easily come off. It's easier to make, though, and less work (no cutting a hole).

The second method is a little stronger: you can't just "tear it off", like in method 1, you'd have to also tear the tabs "through" the other part, or rip off the tabs (but the tension in that direction is stronger than sideways like in method 1).
It is a bit more difficult to make: it's simple enough to cut a hole stick a cylinder in there and fold back the tabs, but if the hole isn't exactly the size it needs to be, you'll either have trouble putting the cylinder on, or you'll have a small ugly gap. It also needs more design planning: you can't make this the last part: you need to be able to reach inside to apply pressure to the tabs.
Tl;dr so you can't really say: which method is better, 1 or 2? Check which situation you're in, and see which method fits that situation best. ;)
>> PMF
for me it's a tie.
i like top one since it's easier to glue together, but the second one is much more stronger and, most of the time, give better result.
>> DocD
In general I'd go with the top and just advise people to use superglue or something equally strong. Only if it's a large part that really needs the additional support would I suggest the bottom method.
>> Anonymous
I like the bottom one more, its more stable.

But if the thing is like arms, its absolutely necessary to tell the users to attach the arms and THEN assemble the body, or else there will be fury.