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121: Lang’s Rabbit

| wonko

“White Rabbits” for this month is provided by Robert Lang:

This beautiful rabbit is my favorite so far because of the shape and detail. This is the Year of the Rabbit also, a happy coincidence.

As a first-fold, I found It torturous to fold – Mr Lang, your instructions 21-24 were baffling, and three times I put the model down, contemplating abandoning it – the left side suffered so much paper fatigue by the time I finally understood where the fold ended up that it was fraying and beginning to give on a major crease (you can see the resultant stress in the middle photo of the dev series below) – luckily in the final model you cannot see this but … gee wiz it was nasty! In retrospect, however, I understand how difficult it would be to diagram and explain, the paper inside the gusset goes to hell and you sort of have to sink-crush-twist to let it sit flat.

I wish I had chosen a larger bit of paper for my first fold – an A4-cut square made this very fiddly and it was a challenge to keep points sharp and creases crisp – especially in the final halving of the model prior to body shaping (I did this very carefully as it looked like it would split along the back (danged copy paper again is an issue).

Very happy with this as a first fold – learnt lots (including a confirmation of the genius that is Robert Lang). Folded from “Origami Zoo”, I will be folding this one again I think as it is a keeper.

120: Joisel’s Goldfish

| wonko

Ending such an EPIC month, I thought it appropriate to try a model from Eric Joisel – this is my first-fold of his Goldfish:

Now I know I could have modelled the body a little more, and Eric himself poses a design challenge to put in a nice Davor Vinco-inspired eye, but I am pretty happy with this as a first fold – I learned a lot by folding this, and next time I would make it smaller and much more 3d

Folded from an A3 cut square, using an odd asymetrical triple preliminary fold out of an eccentric pony base, the model has a certain fluidity to it, and seems to fold itself in places – true genius of design.

I like that the tail, although again asymetrical, is complete both sides, and there is lots of opportunity to pose fins, and shape mouth, nice

You can have a go at this, it is fairly straightforward (apart from when it is not) http://www.ericjoisel.com/ps_assets/pdfs/fish.pdf

118: Grammophone

| wonko

In simpler times, music was encoded onto black plastic discs as bumpy valleys a needle would bounce along to extract the sound. In even simpler times that sound was amplified by a large cone, no electricity involved at all:

These days it is all iPods, mp3s, downloads and stealing music – sometimes the older, simpler times were best – certainly stereo turntables create a lovely chocolatey sound that modern digital sampling techniques have lost.

Why a grammophone? the kids at school perform in the formal concert tonight – the symbol of music for me is “His Master’s Voice” which was a grammophone with a dog looking quizzically at it.

This is an interesting box-pleating exercise that at almost every step looked like it was going to hell in a hand-basket. The final opening of the cone was a revelation.

Amusingly my daughter saw on my screen the words “Pagina precedente” and “Pagina successiva” and immediately assumed I was looking at something naughty – when in fact the instructions were in Italian. Folded in 1/12ths, with an interesting collapse to put the record on the turntable first, I like this a lot and hope you do to.

You can have a go yourself also: http://www.origamidauria.it/diagrammi/diagrammigrammofono/grammofono1.htm

117: Tapir

| wonko

Now I for one am celebrating “World Tapir Day“:

I had to google it, I am sure I have seen them in zoos, but they seem to be an odd combination of pig-elephant-anteater-thing (an odd evolutionary concoction more real than a man-bear-pig), with a lovely temperament apparently (but I am not sure if they taste like chicken though)

An interesting base, tough in the final stages due to all the paper in the middle, but the overall shape in pleasing – this is a Malay Tapir (they vary continent to continent, region to region) designed by Jun Maekawa and is a fitting tribute.

116: Snake Charmer

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I remembered, passing the King Cobra, that Fakirs and other showman use Cobras in ceremonial and entertainment fields, and had a vague memory of a charming little model tucked away in one of my origami books:

Designed by Fred Rhom, folded from “More Origami” by Robert Harbin, this is an action model – you press the apex of the stickey-outey bit and the snake rears up (sort of like it is coming out of a basket).

I modded the snake (to make it cobra-like; there was paper, the hood flattened nicely and I merely hinted at a head, quite an effective alteration I think). This model uses the “simplex” base – a useful one for figures.

I put a Fez on him, not because I think fezzes are cool Doctor, but because by reducing the paper for the hat you increase the paper available for the flute (yes, that is supposed to be a flute, not a nose) – would like to re-think this one as I think it should be a horn but there was never going to be enough paper in there for that. I would have liked to re-think the “basket” end because the original design does not look at all basket-like; providing the spring for the raising snake is however the job of that bit.

Quite a cute model and suitably snakey, nearing the end of the month thank goodness, looking forward to some simpler folds to come (or not).

114: Hatching Chick

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This model is cute – designed by Peter Engel, it is an egg with a chick inside, and is an action model (in that it moves):

The chick’s head peers out of the cracked egg, beak ready to cheep:

This is an easter-inspired fold that is not too difficult – would work well in 2 colour paper as the chick and the egg end up being different colours if folded correctly.

You can try this for yourself – a video of the fold, apparently authorised by the designer is available here.

On a related note, I am finding it really difficult to decide if resources I find on the net are authorised, or pirate copies of copyrighted works that appear in pay-for publications. I am TRYING to do the right thing here but the interweb is not helping as so many legit resources turn out to be copyright theft. Indeed, I am beginning to wonder if publishing my “development” shots might also be breaching copyright laws – I will seek advice from the British Origami Society on this one I think.

112: Bunny Box

| wonko

Now all responsible adults are prepping the the imminent visit of the Easter Bunny. This little box is perfect for collecting the spoils of an easter egg hunt (so should be made in advance to avoid disappointment):

Clever use of paper, pockets, easy to fold and actually very bunny-like. A square cut from an A4 page makes a box big enough for the largest haul of mini eggs – an A3 square would make slipper-sized boxes (an idea for “fluffy bunny slippers”?).

Designed by Jacky Chan (do not think it is the kung fu chappie tho it would be cool if it was) as my “white rabbits” for this month (given the “rock” displaced it in it’s rightful place.

You should totally fold some of these for kids you know – easy and quick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9zwCP7dg5o

111: Wisdom Tooth

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My son gets his wisdom teeth out today – they were growing sideways and apparently that is not a good thing:

So I began a mission to fold a molar, and struggled to find anything similar, eventually settling on an idea based on a hungarian folder Somoskoi Zsuzsanna that more or less looked toothlike.

Not entirely happy with it but it will do – hope you get well soon Matty.

You can have a go (beware, the instructions are in Hungarian): http://origami.homoludens.hu/sites/default/files/ori_szs_fog_phase.jpg

110: Neelix the Cat

| wonko

Tuesday evenings I watch telly and be silly with a mate. An occasional visitor is the neighbors cat called Neelix:

He is siamese, breezes in looking for whatever he want at that moment (cats are like that) – food, a lap, a scratch; then he disappears just as silently as he arrived.

A nice, simple model (for a change) that is figurative of the aloofness that cats carry themselves with.

It is said that dogs have masters and cats have servants – this is certainly true of Neelix – he has us well trained.

You can have a go at this one yourself: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21751431/Intermediate-a-15cm-6-Inch-Square-Makes-a-7-5cm-3

108: David Brill’s Bolt

| wonko

When I first saw this model I thought it was not possible, but thought I would give it a whirl anyway:

This is a bolt, box pleated to have a functional thread and a beautiful hexagonal do-uppy endy thing (sorry, no idea what you call the end you use a spanner on).

It was a fascinating exercise in crimping and pleating that did not come easily – the pattern of valleys and mountains was challenging to fold in pre-crease stage and more torturous to collapse. I found it difficult to reach inside the tube during the early collapse stage (fingers were not long enough to reach) and resorted to using the bone folder to help out the first few crimps.

This was folded from the appropriately named “Brilliant Origami” by David Brill. It has an accompanying model (the “nut”) that I shall try for tomorrow – they form a pair – could be interesting.

107: David Brill’s Book

| wonko

This model answers the simple question – can you take an A3 sheet and turn it into a book:

Yes, yes you can. I am so glad I decided to go large with the paper on this model – an A4 square would have been very difficult indeed – the result is delightful, spine, hard cover and numerous pages – brill-iant indeed.

There is much to admire about this model. From a paper engineering perspective it cleverly folds away most of the sheet, locking the pages in place and forming a nice stiff “hardback” cover. If you use paper coloured differently on both sides, the cover is one colour and the pages the other – very clever indeed (a little difficult to demonstrate on a white-only fold).

Folded from the appropriately named “Brilliant Origami” by David Brill.

106: Liz’s Elephant

| wonko

21 years ago, my adorable squealing little girl was born. As soon as she could recognize an elephant, she was fascinated by them – Happy Birthday Liz:

So I decided it was appropriate to make Liz an Elephant for her 21st Birthday – they say an Elephant never forgets (not sure why, I am sure they have just as faulty memories as the rest of us).

First fold was small and it was difficult to get the pose right without stiffness in the paper, second fold (the birthday present) was folded from light card (reminiscent of elephant hide I thought) and seemed to work better, or maybe it was because I knew what I was doing second time through.

Lovely model, cute expression on it’s face, beautiful trunk and ears, nice stocky, elephantine body.

You can have a go at this yourself, only the side sinks are difficult, everything else is fairly easy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKbQR4mnim8

105: Klingon War Bird

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About time I did something for the trekkers out there – this torturous model is a Klingon War Bird:

Instructions, in German, suggested size paper makes a microscopic fold, very tough on the paper (thank heavens for fingernails).

I like that the model is at least true to shape – knowing how the fold works now I would use a much bigger piece of paper should I fold this again as some of the detail is lost because of the thicknesses of the fold.

Still, boldly go, hey 🙂 You can have a go yourself: http://www.papierfalten.de/documents/faltanleitungen/bird_of_prey.pdf

104: Baby Rhino

| wonko

News.com carried a story yesterday about the birth of a baby Rhino at Australia Zoo. Naturally I thought it appropriate to celebrate this with a model:

I have a few Rhino designs – some very detailed, some figurative like this one – I like this one however for a bunch of reasons – the proportions seem right, it hints at a tough hide and stocky body, lovely mouth, has simle horns and ears and abounds in rhinocity.

Used my “bone folder” for the first time on this model, lovely creases