square

At Loggerheads

| wonko

I have been a little down, sick and my hands are not working as well as they should be so needed something to boost my spirits:

I took a sheet of 35x35cm Olive Tant and decided to try and re-make a model I have only ever achieved once, much much bigger. Logic would suggest, in retrospect, that it should not have been possible – the paper is too small and too thick, but I sort of decided I would stop when I could not fold anymore.

The net result is quite my favourite bit of bent paper at the moment – a lovely little baby Loggerhead Turtle (designed by Satoshi Kamiya), posed with a little MC but she is beautiful. Sure there were things that would have worked out a little better if the paper were thinner, but I am stoked it worked – it is a jewel indeed.

This is not my first fold of this model – I last folded it in 70cm Kraft and that too is a lovely thing, this little treasure however is nicer IWHO.

 

440: Satoshi Kamiya’s Lion

| wonko

I had one last piece of Nicholas terry’s “Tissue Foil” and a little time on my hands so decided to try and nut out Satoshi’s Lion:

This lovely little model is a right pain to fold – some astonishingly complicated twists and turns that are not really well explained in places – some of the odd sinks and manipulations to encourage the body shape were very challenging to understand.

After nearly completing it, I then decided to repeat the process with a piece of mid-tan Tant (newly purchased and arrived) and that also was a challenge – not because I was now unfamiliar with what needed to be done but rather that the paper was so thick that it became very difficult to complete folds.

I amazed myself by completing both – fairly happy with them – I learned lots along the way and, should I fold them again (and yes, I am not against the idea)  I think I can do a lot better, now that I know what goes where. Continue reading →

437: Perambulator

| wonko

When I first saw photos of this model, I could not believe it was folded from a single sheet, without cuts, folds only:

In case you were wondering, this was WTF (What’s That Fold?) # 8. I was determined to give it a go. Noticing it was made from hundreds of pleats, and given the crease pattern folded down to 64ths in places, I upscaled the suggested paper size (to a 70cm square of 80GSM brown Kraft) to allow for my fat, clumsy fingers to make the creases.

Continue reading →

436: Sydney Opera House

| wonko

Anyone who knows me understands my fascination with the Sydney Opera House, as a kid I saw the sails of it being built:

Set magnificently on Bennelong Point right in the heart of the harbour, it together with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (no, do not panic, I am not making that) are quintessential Australian icons.

Googling one day I stumbled across a design idea from Gerwin Sturm (2007) for a box pleated version of my fav building on earth, and some vague explanations of how it “should be possible to collapse and shape based on a 32×32 grid”. Continue reading →

435: Satoshi’s Phoenix 3.5

| wonko

There are a number of models in the origami world I see as “legendary” – the Phoenix (version 3.5) is one of those:

When I bought Satoshi Kamiya’s works book volume 2 I knew I would one day put myself up against this challenge, I also knew it would take me a while to master it.

Continue reading →

434: Sipho Mabona’s African Elephant

| wonko

When I first saw this model, folded with elegance, playfulness (in outrageous colours) and joy by Sipho Mabona, I wanted to try it myself:

Designed recently and soon I hope to be included in a book so I can purchase the diagrams, I stumbled across a video tutorial and had to have a go. Used as WTF#6, I first folded it in white, then decided to give my newly purchased VOG paper a go.

I had a huge piece of burgundy/purple paper, rough texture on both sides and decided to use it for this model – so glad I did. The texture looks a little like craggy elephant skin, the paper holds it’s form and was a delight to fold.

Continue reading →

WTF (What’s That Fold?) #6

| wonko

Ok boys, girls and small green aliens from alpha centauri, I present to you clues for this week’s WTF (What’s That Fold?) also model #434

I start with an enormous square (using a square cut from an a1 ish sheet of litho, no idea if it should be nice side up or down so I just guessed. Using the ourPAD as the repository of instructions and not yet known if I will need anything from my origami toolbox:

Continue reading →

432: Giraffe

| wonko

I have been on the lookout for a nice giraffe for a number of reasons, but stumbled across Hideo Komatsu’s in a JOAS Tanteidan:

This was a fun model to fold – it twists and turns and for most of the journey looks NOTHING like a giraffe.

Continue reading →

430: Lang’s Spider Conch

| wonko

Those of you who were guessers for the WTF (What’s That Fold?) #4 will be interested to know that this model was actually a Spider Conch designed by Robert Lang:

I once taught on Palm Island – which is seaward from Townsville, North Queensland. Whilst there I loved to snorkel the reef nearby. Whilst doing so, I managed to find a pair of “spider shells” that I still have today.

Continue reading →

WTF (What’s That Fold?) #4

| wonko

Ok kids, this week’s WTF (What’s That Fold?) #4 is a doozie, it is from a fairly old publication and is NOT land-based (that is what is called a hint people).

Step 1 (the fish/camel base) looks like this:

Continue reading →

429: Satoshi Kamiya’s Lyrebird

| wonko

You may have guessed I am a bit of a fanboi when it comes to the works of Satoshi  Kamiya:

As previously stated, my wife and I spent some time in a rainforest cabin and that inspired me to have a go at his Lyrbird – a deliciously complicated crumple that needs to result in a characteristic fan tail, 2 side tail things, wings, legs, body and head.

Continue reading →

428: Hibiscus Flower

| wonko

My wife and I spent some time in a rainforest cabin – whilst there I folded this week’s WTF#3:

On a tropical theme, I left the model for the cabin owner as a thank you for a lovely time away.

A simple, slightly asymmetric fold that teases an odd number of petals, stamen and stem, cleverly managing the layers so the flower face and stamen would be one colour, stem another if I used duo paper.

I was looking for a simple fold and amongst my Tanteidan magazines I spied this figure, designed by Yamaguchi Makoto – must try it with colourful paper.

No one was able to discern it was even a flower – very disappointing people!

WTF (What’s That Fold) #3

| wonko

So I hope you are getting the hang of this, follows is this week’s WTF (what’s that fold):

the successful guesser can have the model if they assist me with the postage (if necessary), so put your best thinking caps on and begin guessing.

After some clever asymmetric bending, you get this at step 9:

After some inside reverse folds and assorted bending, you get this:

With a few swivels and a bit more bending, you get this:

…this is your LAST CLUE – any closer to guessing?

Give up? CHECK OUT THE ANSWER – no guesser this week – get your act together people!

427: Geiger’s Xenomorph

| wonko

Anyone who knows me realises I am a huge fan of the Alien movies, the first one is, for me, close to perfect science fiction horror:

I had been aware of Kade Chan’s Alien design for ages, had the crease pattern and wrestled many times trying to make it with no luck. I had relegated this to the “give up on it” pile – there are a few that have just beaten me for the moment.

Kade posted a near complete video tutorial, suddenly this model was back on the radar. The video is pretty clear – you should have a go – it is NOT a beginners model but the techniques for forming the main features are pretty clear.

So I set about a test fold, in Litho paper – the paper gave up half way through, splitting on most major creases, but I learned the basic collapse and some of the featuring before it gave up so resolved to fold it with something more durable.

I cut a 55cm square of Kraft paper off the roll and, very carefully, began folding. This, like most models, relies on accuracy for things to work out – a part of a mm out here and it compounds when you do accordion pleating, and this model has so many layers because of the amount of the sheet that is hidden.

I like that most surfaces provide layers that you can then texture in the modelling, sculpting them in graded steps to create carapace, armour and small beautiful details like the rib cage and prehensile tail.

The alien as envisaged by the movie franchise took on shape and general morphology from the host it bursts through the chest of – this one is fairly certainly humanoid and so posing it I found myself anthropomorphising its stance a little. I used a little MC to ensure the pose was rigid, clamped details in place until the paper was dry, then mounted him on a textured circular base and am quite chuffed with the result.

This was WTF (What’s That Fold) #2 – stay tuned for more paper bending

WTF (What’s That Fold) #2

| wonko

So, last week’s fold became obvious, I gave LOTS of clues and many guessed not only what the model was but also the designer and the book it features in – nice work.

On a different tack this week, I present the first clue in WTF#2:

Take guesses as to what this will become (assuming I can achieve the model and it does not end up a scrunched up mess in the bin).

Depending on how it turns out, you can win either this actual model or a refold of it (the refold will be tidier I suspect).

Thinking caps on, suggest away (and expect less clues this time)

After Step 25, the model looks like this:

And a little later, it looks like this:

After a LOT of open/close sinks, it looks like this:

And with some nifty wrangling, it looks like this:

Follow that up with some shaping and modelling and you have this:

A critter only a mother could love – a Xenomorph that is fairly faithful to the HR Geiger original – Alien, designed by Kade Chan and wrangled to it’s final shape by me.

I have yet to apply MC to stabilise and pose this chap, but already I like him a lot – the paper is so very thick in many places (my prototype fold actually disintegrated in my hands as I was folding it – litho paper fell apart at important creases) – I had to get creative with the shaping as, although the video instructions are great at getting the base, the modelling and shaping is not covered well at all.