1043: Lee Jae Gu’s “Basset Hound”

Mum had Basset hounds when we were kids – wondrously preposterous dogs with twice as much skin as any dog needs, rediculously long ears and a bark straight from the bowels of hell. We loved the “girls”; they were very intelligent, active and protective (and seemed to delight in sneaking up behind us and barking deeply once, for the effect – I am sure it amused them):

Lee Jae Gu's "Basset Hound"

This model is as close to the actual basset hound shape as I have found folded from paper, and the colour changes make this model actually closely resemble one of our bassetts named “Cleo” – lovely dog. The stance is really typical and the placement/proportion of the ears and head are spot on.

Lee Jae Gu's "Basset Hound" views

Folded from white/natural duo Ikea Kraft, it is a challenging model because of a number of judgement fold steps and some tricky shaping, but i am happy with the result (and hope mum likes it, a gift for her).

1042: Starsea Kusudama

Keeping my fingers buys, I had it suggested (on Redit) that I should try Tomoko Fuse’s ‘Starsea Kusudama”:

Tomoko Fuse's Starsea Kusudama

I had not seen this before, the unit is complex and folding it on a 1/4 6″ square was, in retrospect, probably a mistake but I like a challenge.

30 modules later, the construction was fiddly but the locked shape is really sturdy and there is no need for glue – tabs are buried deep in pockets. The last few units are really hard to seat (I needed tweezers to ease them into place) but paper tension causes the ball to become regular.

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1038: Eastern Dragon

Francesco Massimo shared his design for a cutie little “Eastern Dragon” on social media, and I knew I had to try it:

Massimo's Eastern Dragon

Folded from a 35cm square of Daiso green Washi, this little critter comes in at about 17cm nose to tail tip – a very efficient design.

Massimo's Eastern Dragon Views

Fairly simple folding, lots of half fish bases and some accordion sinks to hide away most off the paper while still leaving flaps for legs, horns and head – clever designing.

Massimo's Dragon - scale

This was a welcome distraction from marking and I will probably re-fold him using duo paper as there are clever colour changes exposing the belly and other details.

1011: Foschi’s “Gecko”

I had a 12cm square of thin crisp Kraft and decided to try the Riccardo Foschi CP for his gecko. This required a 32 square grid, making resultant pleats 4mm or less each:

Riccardo Foschi's Gecko

I figured this was a good test of my accuracy, and found it quite relaxing but fiddly with my nerve-damaged hands. I am working on my CP deciphering skills, and this seemed quite straight forward.

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1004: Baby Yoda

I, like many of you eagerly awaited the Disney “Star Wars Story” The Mandalorian.

Andrés Lozano's Baby Yoda

WARNING – SACRILEGE: It started as an off-planet spaghetti western (faithful right down to the soundtrack), but quickly (for me at least) degenerated into the “baby yoda show”, garnished with some impenetrable Mando law and totally impractical helmet decisions.

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Another Brick In The Wall

I vaguely remember folding lego in my original 365 journey back in 2011 and I am sure I remember following a set of diagrams. Looking back, the resource moved and has degenerated into low res Crease patterns:

Lego development

Un-flummoxed, I set about re-acquainting myself with the fold – an intense little 12×14 grid, special collapses for pegs and pits.

blocks

Having folded one, by gridding a square cut from an A3 sheet, initially 16×16 (because that division is easy) then slicing off 2 and 4 units from adjacent sides to get to 12×14. the resultant block was fiddly, but I got back into “the zone” and the collapses were tidy.

collection

I then realised that I could waste less paper by dividing the short side of an A3 in 3rds, then 6ths, then 12ths, when squaring along the long side I had to remove only a small sliver off the end (quite efficient use of the sheet) – the resultant grid made a much more satisfying sized block.

building blocks

I set about making a few different colours, because.

another brick in the wall

All in all, they are just another brick in the wall. Mother, did it have to be so high?

1001: “Have the Lambs Stopped Screaming, Clarice?”

I have been a fan of the Hannibal Lecter thing since that was possible. Books, movies, series, love it all, but few things are more chilling than the original “Silence of the Lambs” movie. One of the central images of that movie, and a delicious cover art of the original book features the Deaths-head Hawkwing Moth (Acherontia atropos):

This model, designed and shared by Sebastian Limet, requires thin bi-colour paper. I had some duo paper that was strangely thick, but managed to work the design and surface the details that make this mode so striking.

Deaths-head Hawkwing Moth

Folded from a 40cm square of black/white duo unryu, I have enjoyed following a fold sequence that started at the Waterbomb base and goes sideways from there.

Concentrating on the important details here – wings, skull, abdomen and antennae, this relatively simple model is all style, genius design typical of the brilliance of Sebl designs.

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988: Ramen

Sometimes, just sometimes, it has to be noodles – rice or wheat, in broth, that are schlurped while way too hot, because … reasons:

Ramen bowl

I saw a crease pattern (CP) by Jinjang on an origami Discord I frequent and (in the season of justifiable procrastination) had to fold it.

Ramen CP

I think there are errors on the CP, as I found I needed to adjust crease lines to properly form the bowl, and would probably manage the colour of the lip differently next time, but as a first fold this was a really interesting exercise.

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980: Lioness

Exploring the theme of “Pride” some more, the lioness is the worker of the group, mother, hunter, general all purpose carer:

lioness

Lionel Albertino’s Lioness is an interesting fold, made from the same base as the Lion, you manage the head completely differently. I like the strong haunches, shoulders and noble head. The tail structure is fun and there is some pose-ability about the body. She looks like she is ready for anything.

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979: Lion

Folding feline shapes is hard work, making them look realistic is harder. This is the first of a series of Lion studies, designed by Lionel Albertino from his book “Safari Origami”:

lion

Colour management here is lovely – folded from natural/black Ikea Kraft, hiding away the black except for the mane and tip of tail is hard work. When I close up the seams and pose it he will be tidier, but “folds only” it is a stable, self-standing model.

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977: Fantastic Mr Fox

I have been looking for foxes, long story. I stumbled across Roman Diaz’s Fox from “Origami Essence” and thought I should give it a try:

Mr fox

This is a lovely stylised model, careful management of colour, nice big tail and some solidity to the body.

In many ways it feels like an “old school” model – flat, angular and difficult to balance the curved folds that define the face with the otherwise flat structure. I was also surprised it stands, but hte weight balance is good, he stands regal and magnificent.

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Tetsuya Gotani’s Elephant

In need of an elephantine fold, I remembered proof-reading a diagram set from Tetsuya Gotani’s latest book “Origamix”, and remember a test fold that went awry, so decided to try again:

Gotani Elephant

What a lovely sequence – some complex layer manipulation and need for accuracy early on pays off later when shaping.

There is lots to love about this model – lovely big ears (an African elephant then?), trunk and tusks, lovely bum and fabulous sturdy legs. A test of a model is how it is with folds only – you can see an inherent elephantine shape that is stable and free-standing.

Gotani Elephant scale

I will do some posing, and tidy up some gaping seams, otherwise there is little to do to make this a presentation fold. I really like this model – my pick of elephants (perhaps even ahead of Sipho Mabona’s) so far, and I have folded LOTS of them.

975: Ten to Fifteen Flushes

A certain orange cretin recently said that one of the most important issues in his dangerous foreign land was water usage due to low flow, causing it’s people to need to flush 10 or 15 times instead of just once:

fernando Gilgado's Pensive Man

I for one am worried for him – one has to be concerned about a diet that creates such a terminally un-flushable turd like him.

scale of pensive man

This is Fernando Gilgado’s “Pensador” (or pensive man, I think) – the loo is the best place to contemplate life, the universe and everything … and TWEET about it (which is where I think he generates his content) – hence requiring 10-15 flushes to get rid of it.

965: Baguette

Cruising Reddit, I came across a CP and photodiagram describing a fold designed by Lysiuk Dzmitry:

baguette

Being a breadmaker, I was drawn to the lovely little loaf – razor marks in the crust and nice squared ends.

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959: Jackson’s Goblin Mask

Continuing my quest to master the face, I decided to explore the facial widgets of CP#15, one of many generous public designs by Flynn Jackson:

Goblin - black and white

From a single uncut square, emerges the angular features of a lovely goblin.

goblin - scale

I am particularly interested in the formation of the nose, and it’s linkage to the nose bridge – something I want to master for another long-term project.

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