I have begun the (some say perilous) journey to realise Satoshi Kamiya’s Ryu Jin 2.1. I have previously achieved the head of this model, and there is more work to do to become familiar with the other components, but this is a nice next step:

The tail of the 2.1 is different to the 1.2 and the 3.5 in that it is more of a fan blade, to get there, you need to fold a small section of the scale field, and pack away a bunch of the paper inside the body.

The pre-creasing took most of the morning, but the collapse is a lovely sequence – I had forgotten how beautiful it is to have a tangle of creases collapse on itself and fold flat into a series of tessellated scales amidst another tangle of pleats that also folds flat – just genius.

Unlike the 3.5, a 2.1 has no scale shaping – I am being goaded to shape these as well, but will see if I have the skill and patience (it is an exercise in managed misery).

Folding in Ikea duo (red/natural) Kraft is interesting – it takes the folds well and I am contemplating using it for the final fold also – again we shall see. I nearly bought some Whenzou Rice paper (apparently a fold favourite for this series) but … meh.