559: (9/365) Shuki Kato’s Western Dragon V3.1w

| wonko

In a true testament to sheer bloody-mindedness and perseverance, I present to you for my self-satisfaction my first SUCCESSFUL attempt at Shuki Kato’s “Western Dragon”:

Some explanation: This is a western dragon because it has wings (westerners reason that to fly it needs wings). Potter nerds would naturally recognise that this is a “Hungarian Horntail“. It is version 3.1w because I used the “modified” instructions for v3 and then added some of my own variations to improve the model (I closed the breast and used the otherwise wasted flap as a bottom jaw allowing me to model a tongue).


Continue reading →

Oh No, Not Again!

| wonko

So I have more or less committed to another 365 Origami challenge. This is not a decision I have taken lightly (unlike the last time, in 2011, where I had NO IDEA what I was getting into).

For those unfamiliar with the concept (as I see it), I will endeavour to fold a different Origami Model every day this year – 2017. As in 2011 I will ensure that the models are things I have NEVER folded before.

Some models will be simple, some less so and others far from it. Time permitting I will do a mix. Check the tags for the designer, sheet shape, base (if any) and the duration of the fold.

My nomenclature this time around is complex. I was up to novel model 550, so the current 365 series will look a little like 551 (1/365), 562 (12/365) and so on – keeping track of both numbering systems is a pain I know but…reasons. It will also seamlessly allow me to continue folding and blogging after the challenge with continuity. Remember, only models I have never folded before get a number, so from time to time there will also be un-numbered posts.

This blog posts automatically to Fakebook so friends get a headsup when the day’s model is up. I am trying to be strategic also this time around, and have a number of models in reserve, folded and ready to go for those times when it gets busy, or I am away, or whatever.

Last time, in 2011, the journey was interesting, I learned a lot and the business helped me be more productive in other areas of my life – I am hoping for similar flow-on benefits, along with a further growth in my skills.

Please feel free to leave comments. I will probably also Auction off selections of this catalogue for charity as I did last time around – we shall see.

558: (8/365) Mike Case’s Campfire CP

| wonko

Now I am not really new to the whole “fold from a CP” approach to origami, but I am not consistently good at it either, many models have just baffled me. Initially this CP was beyond my understanding also but you know, when you keep at something eventually something gives and it can make sense:

This is Mike case’s “Campfire” – a devilishly clever use of a colour change, box pleat and concertina folding that results quite magically in a set of pointy flames and 6 modellable stickey-outey things that become the logs. Continue reading →

557: (7/365) Jun Maekawa’s Borromean Cube

| wonko

Most Tanteidan magazines start with a section that deals with modular folding. I was surprised to find a modular cube designed by Jun Maekawa, along with a bunch of variations.

With cursory research, it appears “borromean” relates to interlocking shapes, and this cube has “ribbons” of colour that weave in among each other in an interesting way. Continue reading →

556: (6/365) Tiny Cobra

| wonko

In exploring the “Tiny Snek” interwebs phenomenon, I stumbled across a money fold that resulted in a simple cobra:

This is a variation on Vu Dung’s Cobra, folded from a 2×1 rectangle. Although relatively simple it was made more difficult by the size of the fold – this is tiny but still has a recognisable hood and lovely mouth/set of fangs. Continue reading →

555: (5/365) Maple Leaf Bookmark

| wonko

Naturally, I blame Canada, as any good Southparkian would:

This is Inayoshi Hidehisa’s Maple Leaf chopstick holder but I rather think it works (at this scale at least) much better as a bookmark. Continue reading →

554: (4/365) Shuki Kato’s Simple Dragon

| wonko

There are many subjects for origami models that are sort of a “holy grail” of folding, dragons are one such thing:

This is Shuki Kato’s “Simple” Dragon – the term simple is a relative term, naturally, as most of Shuki’s models are not for beginners and this little charmer is no exception.

I decided to try it on 50cm Daiso origami paper, fully expecting the paper to fail (as it is fairly ordinary wood-pulp paper) but I managed to coax it into a relatively huge dragon that has simple features but recognizably dragony morphology. Continue reading →

553: (3/365) Yamaguchi’s Giant Panda

| wonko

Apparently Pandas are endangered – seems they have lost their mojo (or are perhaps shy and do not like being observed so closely by people):

This is Makoto Yamaguchi’s Giant Panda – a lovely 2 part model made for bi-colour origami paper, folded from one of my Tanteidan Magazines. In deciding whether I would attempt another 365, I began looking through my stack of JOAS and BOS magazines and found dozens of un-attempted models – that sort of greenlighted the project to an extent. Continue reading →

552: (2/365) Tiny Snek

| wonko

…so apparently, like, on the internets and stuff, Tiny Sneks are a thing, right:

This is Gen Hagiwara’s cartoon snake, a cute little model with lovely googly eyes and a smile.

I made it tiny… because. Continue reading →

551: (1/365) Mummy Star

| wonko

When my sister in law went to Nepal, she found some rather charming Lokta paper, hand-made with block printed gold floral designs. She carefully transported it back with her for me to wrangle. I had a modular in mind and the orange Lokta seemed the obvious choice:

This is Miyuki Kawamura’s Mummy Star, a startlingly complicated modular in 30 pieces. The technique of folding splayed fans, then folding them back on themselves gives the appearance of “wrapping” or bandages I suppose (think Mummy Movie). Continue reading →

No Dragon, Just Head

| wonko

Determined not to let Shuki Kato’s “Western Dragon” beat me, I decided to isolate the part of the model that I had failed on each of the 4 times I have attempted this nightmare of bent paper – the head:

Using the crease pattern, I isolated the corner that is the head and made that section HUGE, then ignoring the rest of the model (that I have successfully folded twice) I only did instructions that effected the bit of the crease pattern that I had on my 60cm square section.

Yee gods! Continue reading →

No, They Do Not All Workout As Planned.

| wonko

I _want_ to pretend that every bit of paper I touch turns into a magnificent model that everyone gasps at, but that is FAR from the truth. This is my FOURTH attempt at Shuki Kato’s “Western Dragon”. It joins a LARGE collection of landfill (discarded unsuccessful models) and was responsible for many BAD WORDS but I have just about calmed down and will lick my wounds before re-engaging with the demon paper.

This is a western dragon because, apparently, people in the west need “wings” to make a flying dinosaur make sense. In the East, wings are not necessary because they just fly – humans do not need to wonder how.

This is the furthest I have gotten with this model, and managed to wrangle all parts of the model (first attempt 2 years ago) but I did not achieve the head – it is supposed to be a glorious 12-horned snarling grimace (as opposed to the crumpled mess I made). Continue reading →

Orchid Shadowbox

| wonko

I love models by Robert Lang, I find I fold them when I need order, therapy, calm. This is a collection of his Orchids, described in his book “Origami Design Secrets”. Something about the mathematical elegance of this flower lends itself to careful modelling and pretty staging. I had a bunch of opalescent 6″ squares in delicate pastel colours so originally folded separate flowers and tried to attach them in a sort of free-form montage.camille

They look better on a stem, so re-thought the mounting, used florist’s wire and tape to build a plausible “spray” and (shhh) used some craft glue to affix the flowers to the ends of each stickey-outey bit.

Working to the diagonal here, with an odd number of blooms works quite nicely I think, coupled with the corrugated (I folded a fan) hand-made gold-flecked tissue the total scene is quite pleasing. Continue reading →

550: Multi-Stage Clover Tessellation

| wonko

This torturous little bugger of a tessellation seemed to eat paper like nothing else:550multistageclover

Shuzo Fujimoto’s design of a clover-like tessellation that spreads from a central point is an interesting exercise in layer rearrangement, resulting in a lovely eye-popping pyramid-like structure that has dimensionality. The resultant folded form is much less than a 1/4 the size of the original sheet and is very dense in places and is naturally concave on the underside. Continue reading →

549: Fluffy the Cerberus

| wonko

Fans of Harry Potter will recognised “Fluffy” the 3-headed dog, Hagrid’s pet (oops, just outed myself as a Potter nerd).549cerberus

This is Satoshi Kamiya’s “Cerberus”, a rendition of a mythical beast that is an amazing design that in the end is really really fiddly.

Continue reading →