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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

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

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.

59: Incense Burner

| wonko

Deceptively simple, this exercise in pre-folding followed by a magical collapse results in an interesting box/table/container…thing:

I like the design, geometry, clever self-locking but am not sure a paper container is the best thing to light up incense in.A nice simple model to finish the month with – thanks @ackygirl for the loan of the book this comes from.

58: Rhino-cocerous

| wonko

I was lent a book (thanks @ackygirl, must remember to return it) that contains some designs I have been meaning to try – the Rhino looked impossible:

The head of this beastie has some 15 layers of paper in it, bending it puts stress on photocopy paper (it began to split up neat the ears) but I like the body formation, it has the cutest little hooves and tail. The body armor looks right (as my feeble memory allows me to remember the last one I saw at Western Plains Zoo).

I was mightily pleased when this model worked first-fold, as there is a bit of guesswork needed to get the proportions right – it looks rhino-y tho so I am happy with the first fold.

57: Grasshopper

| wonko

Now I first found a partially incomplete PDF of this model and thought that it, for the most part made sense:

Little did I realise that the important parts (head, legs, abdomen) were not actually explained so I … improvised. It is an ingenious re-working of the frog base – the same one that I taught my tutor group, with some twisting and tweaking to make extra limbs – nice to remember when next I feel inventive.

Mightily pleased with the result but it is some serious paper torture – A4 page twisted, crimped and bent down to make a model that is barely 5cm long – my reference pad (underneath) is sideways to display the model.

I like it – realistic enough to make my daughter jump (she is afraid of them) so that says something at least.

56: Wise Owl

| wonko

I like this fold, the eyes, winds, body shape all work, not bad for a first fold:

Why an Owl? Well, being surrounded by so many wonderful (and wise) QSITE members past, present and future reminded me of the wisdom we all rely on – to me, wisdom is an owl (tissue thin justification I know but there you go). Also, against all wisdom, QSITE have me on their board again, editor of their Journal – silly fools, surely they have learned better by now?

54: Monkey

| wonko

Now according to the design I was working to, this should look a LOT like a monkey:

Sure it has 4 legs, a tail and a curious pot-belly, but it is monkeyish as a biro is blue-whale-ish.

After what seemed like an age, and some serious paper torture, I am not entirely sure this is not almost completely unlike any monkey I have ever seen (and yes, i have been bitten by one in Kuala Lumpur) … anyways, I tried – they cannot all be gems.

Thanks Harry for the suggestion, have a try for yourselves: monkey

53: A Duck

| wonko

I have lots of designs for birds, but up until now not one that I was happy enough to call a duck – this one is lovely:

It has a nice plump (roastable) body, cute tail, nicely mallard-y head and bill.

You can try it too: duck

51: Quentin Trollip’s Pig

| wonko

A pig is such an interesting (and apparently intelligent) animal, pity it exists for nothing else but food. This model, designed by Quentin Trollip (love that name) is adorable:

From shout to tail, all details are there, including beautifully dainty trotters (with cleft hoof, thank you fingernails) and a plump delicious looking hind-leg.

Why a pig? Well, we are having roast pork for dinner, so it only seemed fit to honour the animal whose murdered bits we shall consume later tonight (with gusto and gravy).

You should try this – it is relatively easy (apart from 3 snarly sinks in the head):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEh5jDf0ViA

50: Wheelchair

| wonko

Helping out a mate today, got inspired to try some box pleating to duplicate his mode of transport, relatively happy with the results:The wheels (front and back) worked out fairly nicely, seat is functional (but does not look very comfortable – with some more paper torture I am sure I could pad both) and the handle at the back needs work – not bad for a first fold however

46: Tyrannosaurus Rex

| wonko

…now I was watching a show on SBS2 last night on T-Rex, and there were a bunch of academics arguing whether it was a predator or a scavenger:

It was curious, because they were arguing so passionately about such flimsy incomplete fossil records.

I would like to settle it once and for all: T-Rex was snarly enough to eat WHAT EVER IT WANTED. OK? Scientific communities can now relax, because if the mood takes it it can snap at a passing morsel, but I am sure if it stumbled accross another animals kill no one was going to argue when it pushed to the front of the dinner queue.

I like this model (think Jurassic Park just before the first victim, a lawyer, was taken, angry rexy) – it is fairly simple, but the posture is lovely, and the appendages are in the right place and relatively correct in proportion.You can have a go at it yourself: tyrannosaurus

42: Frog On A Lily Pad

| wonko

…there are lots of patterns for Frogs, most even look frog-like but this one designed by Colin Weber is charmingly sitting atop a lily pad – made with one square of paper you massage enough paper towards a corner to then form the froggy bits – very clever:Frog on a Lily Pad

Why a frog? Well, it is my Sister-in-Law’s Birthday today, she loves all things French (and would move there to live in a flash), so I thought something a little froggy would be appropriate as a present for her – Happy Birthday Sue! It is also my Nephew Andrew’s Birthday, and he is IN Paris atm, so a double froggy celebration for him as well.

You can have a go at making this model yourself: http://dev.origami.com/images_pdf/frogonlilypad.pdf however I think there are a few mistakes in the diagram, I found flaps where there should not be and no flaps where there should have been, thankfully it was possible to get creative and work around if you keep your eye on the final model.

41: Pavlova

| wonko

Now generally my students rock. Often they do really cool things and this bunch of Year 12s seem to enjoy, from time to time, homebake.

I was approached, post Australia Day, and canvassed as to whether it would be ok to bring Pavlova to share in our double IPT … silly question really:We as a group ate dessert in the lab, it was very cool (many thanks James and Joe) – they organised fruit (strawberries, blueberries and passionfruit), cream, the works – wow!

This is my attempt to modify a twist-flower into the swirls of meringue that is a Pavlova – I fully realise I FAILED to recreate the magnificence that was morning tea today – the intention was there however (I have been sick, it was late, I was tired). I sort of thought the things on top would look a little like fruit (strawberries) but there was something lost between idea and realisation – they cannot all be gems I suppose.

Not to put a damper on the gesture – I thought it was awesome, those guys rock! (all of my students do)