I like a model that is a simple variation of the waterbomb and this is such a thing:
Pre-creasing before locking together creates the facets when the solid is inflated. Continue reading
891: (341/365) Drop Box
Apparently there is a lolly in Holland called “Drop” – it is most likely a salted licorice, must look that up. This box is designed to gift “drop” to friends:
When I first saw the model I was sure it was a bomb … I mean, look at it! Continue reading
890: (340/365) Arches Tessellation
David Huffman is a bit of an origami enigma it seems – he pioneered a bunch of tessellations and surface corrugations and seems to be one of the first to explore curved creases and their bizarre effects on flat sheets:
This is is “Arches” tessellation, an intriguing offset brick valley folded grid that then has parabolic mountain folds at each intersection. The resultant sheet is really hard to tidily collapse (in my experience) – perhaps it was the paper or the scoring technique I used to form the parabolas, or perhaps it was the parabola itself – with no guidelines I just sort of guessed a curve.
You get a sort of waterbomb base forcing one trough deep into the arch of an adjacent fold – when it is tidied up it is fascinating – I could see uses for this as an interesting textural pattern or ambient light panel as it makes funky patterns when backlit. Continue reading
889: (339/365) Sitting Duck
There has been a lot of talk in the media about people demonstrably doing the wrong thing, over a really long period of time. Interesting that one of the defences offered was that they were a “sitting duck” in the post-weinstein era. Regardless, a backyard should be a safe place to play:
This is Henry Pham’s “Little Duck” – a charming model I watched a video about before folding it. Continue reading
888: (338/365) Cubo Twist
This charming 6-piece modular cube is designed by Francesco Mancini and is included in his booklet “Mancinerie”, which I think I purchased from the BOS shop online:
Each face is a twisted square. Folded from A5 sheets, the pre-creasing is pretty easy and the twist is satisfying. Continue reading
887: (337/365) Tree Topper
Always looking for a nice Xmas tree topper, this little angel is designed by Leonardo Pulido Martinez and was presented in one of my BOS journals:
Had accuracy (and my Spanish) been better, I would also have hands (fingers) on this little model but I started with an almost square and crease drift occurred towards the end. Continue reading
886: (336/365) Second-Level Octospiral
Paper fractals are fascinating self-repeating/reducing designs that are relatively new in the origami world:
This 2nd-level “Octospiral” is a model I saw in one of my last BOS journals before my membership lapsed. Designed and modified by Roman Diaz, Endre Somos and Meenakshi Mukerji, it is a delightfully dense spiral that, theoretically, could keep reducing inside itself indefinitely. Continue reading
885: (335/365) Trefoil Knot
In topology, a branch of mathematics, the trefoil knot is the simplest example of a nontrivial knot:
This is Kevin Hutson’s design, well CP really, that I sort of just nutted out after mis-folding it 4 times and uttering some bad words (sorry Mum). The observant amongst you will notice that it starts and finishes at the same point – like a mobiius strip on acid. Continue reading
884: (334/365) Pegasus
In my list of “models to try someday” was this model designed by Takashi Hojyo:
A complex management of points, this lovely rendition of a Pegasus has much to love. The wings, legs and general morphology are very pleasing to the eye but not easy to achieve as a fold. Continue reading
883: (333/365) Cake Tin Liners
…then my wife casually asked if I could line some cake tins:
A simple fold, unequalled as a way of protecting a fruit cake from extended baking – the outer layer is 35cm square kraft paper, inner is 25cm greaseproof paper, they fit snugly in the tins. Later they will protect the maturing cake as it regularly bathes in rum. Continue reading
882: (332/365) Brian Chan’s Fiddler Crab
…yes, I know I am behind, but I have been busy and my brain is fairly broken. As part of the cleanse I took a 35cm sheet of washi and decided to try Brian Chan’s Super-complex “Fiddler Crab” model, never entertaining the notion that I would achieve the model, but rather just to fold for the love of it:
My fold-philosophy on this gig was to faithfully (well, as faithfully as I could) follow the hideously complex fold sequence and sort of just stop when I could go no further. Step 53 alone took me over an hour and a half to achieve – I just could not get my head around what was happening in the sparsely diagrammed model. Continue reading
881: (331/365) Nativity Scene
People I work with know my OCD tendencies. When it was casually suggested that I might consider folding a Nativity scene for the end of year celebrations, it was a forgone conclusion that I would:
The assembled figures (each nearly 30cm tall) form quite a striking display – hopefully one that works for the display space – we shall see. Clearly Christmas is just around the corner, with this scene, it is beginning to look a lot like … well … christmas.
We have on the left, 3 kings, bringing gifts (bronze waterbombs are quite the thing this year). Centre there is an angel, looking over a mother, father and child. Bringing up the rear is a random shepherd … because … the scene needed balance.
880: (330/365) Seated Mother
So the challenge to render a more feminine figure, seated, as if tending something was on:
Using a variation of the generic judaian I managed to change the head, add knees and change the posture so sitting is suggested. Continue reading
879: (329/365) No Crib for a Bed
So, I needed some furniture, and thought of a feed trough, but had to invent one:
Folded from a smallish square, this has trough and some rather nice legs, but does not look very comfortable. Continue reading
878: (328/365) Holy Infant
So the next challenge was to render a babe, in swaddling clothes:
Using principles garnered from an adult fold, I sort of MacGuivered a larger-proportion head, wrapped the body and presto. Continue reading