84: Tie Fighter

| wonko

So our school did a fundraiser today – crazy tie day (yeah, I know it sounds a little lame to pay to wear a novelty tie, but it is for charity):

I decided to interpret that non-traditionally, so made a TIE FIGHTER, from Star Wars (cue sfx: pew pew pew!) … well, I thought it was cute anyways.

After looking at reference footage, and the model (which is fairly faithful) I am left wondering how the floop these things were supposed to fly – Science Fiction expects a lot of us sometimes.

You can have a go also: Tie Fighter

83: Much Married Liz

| wonko

Sadly, Elizabeth Taylor passed away today (actually, embarrassingly, I thought she already had):The world is a little less bright without this starlet, they do not make them like her anymore.

I chose rings, she had a huge collection from the many husbands that bejewelled her life.

You can try these also:

82: Scottie Dog

| wonko

Looking for something that was quick, as I was out for most of the day, I came across a rather charming Scottie Dog:

This model by Neil Elias looks more like a pug puppy, but it could have been how I folded it – cute as a puppy, sitting, in profile however.

81: Pelican

| wonko

What a wonderful bird is a Pelican, whose beak can hold more than it’s belly can:

This elegant model by Ligia Montoya comes from “Secrets of Origami” by Robert Harbin. Relatively few folds, indicitave of form, nice and simple.

80: Knut in Memoriam

| wonko

To be honest I am not a great fan of Zoos, but in the case of Knut, a little Polar Bear cub rejected by it’s mother at birth, he would not have had 4 years of life in relative captive comfort.

I have been wanting to try Robert Lang’s Bear, from the book “Origami Zoo” for ages, this seemed appropriate, given the unexpected death of Knut yesterday (News Article). After you get past the odd proportioned rectangle (25cm x 15cm, cut from an A4 page), the actual design is fairly easy.

I really like the head, lovely ears and muzzle, powerful neck and suitably powerful legs (I even sneaked some bear claws in there – Mr Lang, there was paper, why not hey?). Although actually a brown bear, in white he looks suitably polar.

Happy with this model, as a first fold it could not have gone better.

79: Joisel’s Baby Hedgehog

| wonko

Prepare to be AMAZED – even after 3 hours folding I am!

This is a hedgehog, well in truth the “baby hedgehog” – it has 5 rows of spines (as opposed to the “mother” which has 9). I remember seeing hedgehogs in New Zealand (yes, I grew up there for a while) – shy little creatures you only usually met when you ran them over, sadly. This model is not unlike an echidna, and in truth I fashioned a head that was more echidna-like merely because the instructions stopped with a step “make the head” but no ideas as to how.

I have not worked on a model that resolves, on the fiddliest folds to 64ths until now, it is exhausting. I should have realised that it was going to be tricky when Joisel himself stopped explaining a stage (formation of the first row of spines) saying it was difficult but here is what it should look like when you have finished – lol. I also discovered that Joisel’s favourite paper folding tool – a Japanese chopstick, was needed to combat the fat fingers that would otherwise mangle fiddly pleating.

Eric Joisel was a master of paper folding, arguably the worlds most accomplished folder of human characters. Some of his work defies reality and the techniques he pioneered for paper sculpture are forever his legacy to the origami community. I hope he is smiling at this model, I am so chuffed I managed to achieve it.

You can find the instructions for this and 10 other Joisel Models at his tribute website: http://www.ericjoisel.com/ps.html Good luck, you will need it.

You may applaud now.

78: Lang’s Butterfly

| wonko

Although the wing-span of this model is quite large, for an A4 square-based model, the formation of the body using this paper was torturous at best.

I am very happy, as a first-fold, to get something even vaguely butterfly shaped from this complex design. Having folded it once, I think I could do it much better now I know what goes where.

Robert lang is a master, even though I think this butterfly looks more like a moth (particularly the body placement), it has 2 spikey antennae and a meaty body that seem quite natural.

I sat for 1/4 hour just trying to collapse the base, the valley and mountain folds seemed not to make sense until, when ready to hand in the towel and admit defeat it just sort of… worked. Photocopy paper is lousy as a medium for these types of models, it is just too coarse and there were many moments when bending the model that I fully expected the paper to give. Anyway, 78 down, only 287 to go….

77: Robin

| wonko

Robins and Wrens are lovely little birds, stickey-uppey tail, tiny and delicate:

Quite happy with this model, taken from “More Origami” by Robert Harbin, a book I bought years ago.

This is a fairly manageable manipulation of the bird base but the legs are so tortuously thin that I had to help it stand up with a couple of blutac blobs under the feet, soz.

76: Shamrock (Four Leafed Clover)

| wonko

The luck of the Irish be with you:

A four leafed clover I thought was appropriate for St Patrick’s Day – pity it is not green, could do with a pint of Guinness right about now, or maybe that is just a load of blarney.

This cute model is actually in 2 pieces – the clover leaf and a stand that tucks into it’s underside – I like it.

You can try to make one for yourself – all simple folds: shamrock

75: Knight In Armor

| wonko

Now Jo is researching Castles, we aim to stay in one when in England next year (for my Long Service Leave) and it occurred to me that a knight in armor was possible:I would like to pretend this was my first-fold – in truth however, it is the first SUCCESSFUL attempt after long abandoning it as a younger Origamist. I have less than fond memories of this model – it is from the book “More Origami” by Robert Harbin, a fold I never prior was able to achieve – I had given it up as “too hard”. Interestingly, when I tried it today it seemed easy – my skill level must have improved I guess.

I admire this model, a Neil Elias classic, because the arms seemingly come out of nowhere, you crimp a flat flap and suddenly you have elbows, arms and hands – neat. It is also free-standing also which is nice.

74: Carp

| wonko

I realised I have not done many fish as of yet, so this little beauty will suffice as a piscean addition to the growing collection:

It is a Carp, but has shark-like lines also – good strong pectoral fins, delicious looking dorsal fin and strong tail flukes, with a little more paper mangling I am sure I could craft a lovely wobbeygong or gummy shark. I am happy with my first fold however.

With all that is going on around us – CARPe-Deium 😛

You can have a try for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgeD2uGQqPA

73: Panzer Tank

| wonko

I was leafing through a Robert Harbin book “Introduction to Origami 4” and stumbled across a lovely little box-pleating exercise:

This tank, designed by Laurie Bisman is neat, it is 3d, has a turret, caterpillar tracks and a mobile gun – I wedged a paper shim under it to keep it upright for the photo.

I am actually amazed it worked given the 3×1 rectangle I started with was not entirely straight when I cut it. there are many junctures in the model where there are no measurements and, given pre-folding experience I would have done differently – I un-folded and re-folded the turret 4 times before I was happy with it’s dimensions for instance. Happy with the result in the end – first-fold can be like that.

72: A Load of Old Bull

| wonko

Unusually for me, I have not featured cow-like models yet. This is strange given my predilection for all things that MOO, so to redress this, I have started with the least cow-like models I have:

I am really happy with the head of this model – nice and 3d, horns, big soft nose, the ears are a little low but overall the head is a highlight – this is a particular miracle as the instructions are most unclear how to form it, so I sort of improvised.

The body is clumsy, sadly, the legs thick and stocky and the body out of proportion, nevertheless it is cow-ish and a suitable first moo.

You too can have a go at this model – see if you can improve upon it: bull

71: Oarsome Eight

| wonko

Now I have nothing but respect for rowers (and their poor exhausted parents) and this weekend is the annual “Head of the River” regatta, battling for a shiny thing, so I thought I would do a rower. Our rowers (like many Brisbane-based rowing clubs) have had a really broken season – their shed was destroyed by the floods, they were banned from the river because of water contamination. They did all sorts of non rowing exercises to keep in shape for when they were able to get back on the water, albeit in another school’s shed (many thanks go to Lourdes Hill here). Win or lose, they have already overcome enormous obstacles to even make it to the race.

In first-fold tradition I initially worked on a model by Neil Elias called “Hiawatha in a canoe” but modified the boat, the indian (gave him a cap instead of a feather and made him look like a schoolboy) and the oar. Quite happy with a “single scull”, I realised that he only has ONE oar, and that would result in him going around in circles I began bending and torturing it further.

It occurred to me that a modular (multi-part linked together model) might be possible based on this figure, as there was some symmetry and I could determine which side the oar was formed, so set about making eight. Because each was folded separately, they all have slightly different postures, I like that. On the back end, I sort of bent a “cox” but there was not much paper so he is a little wee fellow (which coxes are apparently).

I tried to work out a way of joining them into one shell – really I did. I have to admit to cheating (a little) – I used some staples to keep the model together, it is as long as my keyboard and totally unstable without being fixed, so I hope my faithful following (lol) will forgive this transgression because it is so oaresome.

70: Wild Boar

| wonko

Apparently it is “Bacon Week” – why was I not told? I find out on Thursday that it has been bacon week and all this time I could have been celebrating bacon-goodness

This is a little wild boar – I quite like the stance, the ears and the fact it also has tusks – it came from one of my Japanese origami books so do not know the designer, sorry.

I have a bunch of other pigs, more some other month.

(I made it to 70, yay me)