Warhammer 40k fan says they made the amazingly detailed papercraft tank in just two weeks, despite blackouts from Russian attacks on Ukrainian power network

Posting on Reddit as bhaaad, Ukrainian model maker Denys Tsokhla shared photographs of an incredibly detailed papercraft Warhammer 40k Land Raider to the r/Warhammer40k and r/PoorHammer boards on December 12. Tsokhla says he made the model in just two weeks from his home in Kyiv, despite the frequent power blackouts caused by Russian military attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Tsokhla is an electrician who has made papercraft models in his spare time for several years. Toskhla makes his models from scratch: he first makes 3d models which he turns into papercraft templates, then builds them from a mixture of “paper and cardboard, some toothpicks, copper wires, and everything I can find in my apartment”. The Land Raider was a relatively quick project in comparison to some of his earlier builds; a Warlord-class Warhammer Titan “took me about one and a half years to finish”, he says.

Tsokhla evacuated Kyiv with his family during the initial Russian assault on the Ukrainian capital in February and March 2022. He’s since returned to the city to work, leaving his family in a safer location. “Now I live alone with my cat”, Tsoklha says, adding that he’s only able to visit his family once every few weeks.

Paper-crafting gives him something to do that does not rely on electricity, so he can continue work on projects even when Russian missile attacks damage power infrastructure and cause widespread blackouts. For now, he’s only building and not painting miniatures, because “It’s barely possible to paint under a headlamp.”

Tsokhla’s initial interest in papercrafting 40k models was purely aesthetic: “I like them because I like making small thing that look like big things”, he says. However, with the ongoing stress of living through an invasion, and the practical hardship caused by frequent blackouts, his hobby has become much more important to him. “Sitting in darkness for 12 hours and doing nothing – that kills me. This hobby saves me.”

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Tim Linward is a Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy fanatic who dabbles in TTRPGs, board games and MTG. He's also written for PCGamesN, and 'Grimdark', his book of essays about Warhammer 40k and Games Workshop, will be published by MIT press when it finally emerges from the warp.