animal

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.

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

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)

68: Stegosaurus

| wonko

Looking for something simple for a change, I stumbled across this little stegosaurus:There is much to like about this little fellow – plates across the back, head with enough paper (if the moder were bigger) to get eye expressions, and cutey little feet.

Built like a Sherman tank, these guys sadly had a brain the size of a walnut – I know that feeling sometimes.

You can have a go at this one also: stegosaurus

67: Bloxy

| wonko

Now to celebrate International Women’s Day, I initially decided to make a woman, and stumbled across a model known as “bloxy” because she is a box pleated block-like lego lady.

I like that she has a firm bosom, bangs and is sort of free-standing (although the centre of balance is a little off because of the weight in the head – you get that).

I am hoping my feminist friends will not see this as an objectification of women as that was not intended of this … object … well … umm … Happy(?) IWD anyway.

64: KNL Dragon

| wonko

wow, no again I mean WOW! This little beauty is another elegant example of Robert Lang’s extreme paper torture:

I should have realised it was going to be tough when the head folding required fingernails and a magnifying glass to complete (yes, my A4 -cut square of photocopy paper was much smaller and I think thicker than recommended, but I was determined not to let the media fail this time) – such a nice looking model:

I am so impressed that I actually achieved it, patience and accuracy were important here as details emerged from places unexpected. I like that it has pleated wings (with little claspers at the top – can you see?), a horned and snappy head, twisty tail and is free-standing.

I added feet bends because I thought they looked better, getting the head posture and expression right on such a small scale was interesting to say the least.

Very happy with this as a first-fold, next time I will know what to look out for and I think I will make it with a bigger sheet as the amount of scrunching down made the neck and legs pucker a bit – ingenious nonetheless.

Have a go yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5JhIL-THGU

63: Polar Bear

| wonko

Looking through the British Origami Society website, I stumbled across a simple pattern for a Polar Bear:

Made from 1/2 a square triangle, you fold half the bird base and massage from there – nice little model designed by Max Hulme that uses creases to create a 3d body and hindlegs out of nowhere. As a first fold I am very happy with this one, but would improve the posture and expression next time I folded it now I know what makes what.

Why a Polar Bear? Well a colleague suggested it (thanks Bruce).

You can try it too (diagrams are a little rough and leave a lot open to interpretation): http://www.britishorigami.info/practical/creative/bestof/mh.php

62: Horse

| wonko

I intend to try a few horse models – thought I would start with the least horse-like and work towards something nicer:A tiny-wee model that takes a square from A4 and reduces it to a very tight mass of paper. Not sure that the legs  work very well and the tail is clumsy (partly because of the bulk of paper bent to form it), but it is a start

61: Jack In the Box

| wonko

Wow, no I mean WOW!

This little beauty is a masterpiece of box pleating, designed by Max Hulme.  I was sure it had no chance of working correct as the whole working in 6ths, 12ths and quarters was a real pain on such a small scale. Made from the largest 2×1 rectangle that can be cut from an A4 page, I think next time I make it I will do it bigger and it is really fiddly with such big fingers.

This pattern was given to me by a Year 12 student years back on a Kairos rereat, and one look at it relegated it to the “yeah, maybe later” pile to try – I decided to give it a whirl first-fold today and am totally chuffed it worked.

I am amazed with the intricacy and detail – his face has ears, body is wearing a coat with sleeves, he is sitting on the most torturous but beautiful spring and most magically of all, actually folds up into a tiny neat box so the lid closes – wow!

60: White Rabbit

| wonko

Yes, I know, it is a habit, but a useful one to say “white rabbits” on “The Ides of March”:

A quick, but nicely posed rabbit for the beginning of the third month, hope you like it. I have done other rabbits – notably 32 and 10 but am not sure I can find 12 of the little blighters – we shall see.