It is Australia Day “down under” on the 26th of January and there are few things more Australian than kangaroos (well, apart from football, meat pies and Holden cars, thongs, budgie smugglers, throwing another prawn on the barbie and getting a day off work):

I have folded a couple of previous versions of this kangaroo, designed by Gen Hagiwara, but never this version (version 2013 featured in Tanteidan Magazine 147). It is somewhat ironic that the very best Australian Kangaroo designs are from a talented Japanese designer – I wonder if it is because us Aussies take these critters for granted whereas they appear fantastical to people who do not see them often?

Structurally it is similar to the kangaroo I left as surprise discoveries in all the places we visited when most recently overseas (a sort of holiday tradition, I take origami paper and fold and hide figures for complete strangers to find later). This version is much more developed and stable – the leg structure and connection to rump/back make the model stable and it stands without splaying oddly.

I was actually wanting to try out some newly arrived “tissue foil” from OrigamiShop.com so this seemed like a good model to rip into.

Australia day here is pretty relaxed – often a chance to slow down, throw some bit of murdered animal on the bbq and socialise.

You should try this model – take care with paper selection, it gets VERY thick, so something thin and strong would work well. there is lots of modelling potential here, lots of posability and a lovely gentle style featuring mother and joey in pouch – genius design that I appreciate the development of (having folded most of the earlier versions of this model, realising this is a great refinement).