20min

1119: Pocket Godzilla

| wonko

Leafing through one of the origami books I helped edit, I came across a cutey little “Godzila”esque model I had not folded:

Designed by Oriol Esteve, from his book “Fold with the Flow”, this charming little Chibimonster seems ready to terrorise Tokyo and dodge nukes as the ineffectual army fights back.

I used to watch monster movies with a passion, and the old “guy in a rubber suit” versions were terrifying as a kid, but the whole Godzilla franchise seems to go on and on with re-imaginings and various levels of tech in the VFX often getting in the way of the story, at least these days.

I had a 25cm square of blue metallic paper (I think from a sample pack from Origami-shop) that was light blue on the reverse, so decided to torture it into shape. The book suggests Kami, and thinner paper would have made some of the moves less thick, but I think I like him chunky. It is a fun design, starting with one of Oriol’s much-used bases. I like that both the eyes and the back spikes are colour changed. The proportions are nice and I also like that he free-stands because the centre of gravity has been considered in his pose.

1109: Bảo Long’s Spider

| wonko

Nothing makes you feel old like stumbling across a delicious, simple new design from an 11 year old:

This is Bảo Long’s design, which appeared on one of the Fakebook groups I am a member of (https://www.facebook.com/groups/366246184054415). I am amazed this did not exist before as the separation of legs and abdomen/cephalothorax is so natural.

Folded from a 20cm square of Tuttle indigo duo paper, lovely sequence, terrific and pretty quick also.

EDIT: I just noticed it only has 6 legs (pretty sure I can find more), I guess 11yolds cannot count these days 😛

1081: l’escargot

| wonko

I was doodling with a scrap of 2×1 note paper and arrived at what I think might be an original model:

le escargot

This little snail has a volumetric shell and body, along with some lovely poseable eye stalks.

le escargot views

Originality in Origami is tricksey, as most models recycle techniques from other folds, and the head/eye end uses a fairly standard waterbomb-accordion sink, but I cannot remember seeing it used in this way.

The shell is formed initially by outside reverse-folding the body and as such offers a colour change opportunity if folded with bi-colour paper.

I made a video tutorial if you want to fold it, or read further for a set of photo diagrams.

Continue reading →

1017: Mi Wu’s WTF

| wonko

I recently got a copy of Mi Wu’s new book “Duo Color Origami” and knew there were models I had to try:

Mi Wi WTF

Colour change is a tricky thing, designing to deliberately form patterns with the reverse side of the page is a real skill and Mi Wu seems to have mastered it, his book contains many unique and very challenging models.

Continue reading →

Origami X’s Elephant

| wonko

Cruising fakebook, as one is likely to do when at home unwell, I stumbled across a beautiful little elephant shared as a photo by “Origami X” (sorry, I do not know this users real name).

I asked if diagrams for this new design were likely, and joy of joys was privy to a share of a photo sequence I knew i had to try:

pink elephant

This model is really elephantine, proportions are cute, I love the head assembly and ears/trunk combo – they happen so naturally.

Continue reading →

938: Angelfish by John Montroll

| wonko

As a member of Origami USA, I get access to publications, diagrams and a community of folders world wide. It and JOAS are important communities for folders from Oz as we are so far (physically) from everywhere:

Every year, OUSA decorate a Christmas Tree at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. members are asked to contribute models to hang. Continue reading →

936: Naomiki Sato’s Hummingbirds

| wonko

Cruising around on Fakebook, as one does, I can across a photodiagram series from Naomiki Sato:

Lovely little hummingbirds, folded from 15cm square patterned paper, from bird bases.

I discovered he published a variation also, so thought I could give that a try. I think I like the wider tail one better, but they are both so cute. I have yet to see an actual hummingbird so have no real idea how morphologically accurate this is. Continue reading →

933: David Brill’s “Robin”

| wonko

I have been a fan of David Brill’s designs ever since I read his book “Brilliant Origami”. Such a lovely touch, breathing life into paper:

This Robin is delightful – I saw hand-drawn diagrams on David’s website and then professionally drawn diagrams in the latest Tanteidan Magazine and knew I needed to try it. I particularly like the free-form nature of the hand-drawn version, making it a bit more of an adventure to fold this bird.

The shape, management of colour change and general model stability is wonderful in this model. There is nice sense of volume, beautiful 3D head, and an animated pose. The subtleties in fold here are such that I found all 5 of them (yes, I got a bit carried away) are all slightly different, making almost a family grouping. Continue reading →

932: Clever Girl

| wonko

In a classic scene from the first Jurassic Park movie, a hunter realises he has just been surrounded by hungry, angry velociraptors, and utters the words “clever girl” before being ripped to shreds:

This delightful mode is really simple to fold, and belongs to that stable of models whose proportions are perfect, detail is sufficient, form is elegant and stable as is – a mark of clever design.

There is lots to love about this little snapper – the head, the placement of the haunches, the gentle curve of the tail – fabulous.  Continue reading →

912: (362/365) Abandon Ship!

| wonko

As the year 2017 swiftly comes to an end, after seemingly being in a hurry to do so all year, it is almost time to abandon ship:

Time for one last waltz, one more visit to the buffet, perhaps a cigar on the poop deck then it is lifejackets on and over the side into the icy uncertainty of the new year. Continue reading →

910: (360/365) After Christmas Sales

| wonko

Retailers really have a nerve when you think about it. Right up to Christmas they hike up their prices. We dutiful drones pay top dollar for loot which we wrap and give away. Come “Boxing Day” prices plummet in almost obscene ways and it can get hectic as people clamber for bargains:

We went early, with a list and an idea of what we would regularly pay for the items on that list. In, bought (from the then still full shelves and racks), and out again in an hour and a half – this is the stuff of legends. Continue reading →

892: (342/365) Inflatable Stellated Octahedron

| wonko

I like a model that is a simple variation of the waterbomb and this is such a thing:

Pre-creasing before locking together creates the facets when the solid is inflated. Continue reading →

889: (339/365) Sitting Duck

| wonko

There has been a lot of talk in the media about people demonstrably doing the wrong thing, over a really long period of time. Interesting that one of the defences offered was that they were a “sitting duck” in the post-weinstein era. Regardless, a backyard should be a safe place to play:

This is Henry Pham’s “Little Duck” – a charming model I watched a video about before folding it. Continue reading →

879: (329/365) No Crib for a Bed

| wonko

So, I needed some furniture, and thought of a feed trough, but had to invent one:

Folded from a smallish square, this has trough and some rather nice legs, but does not look very comfortable. Continue reading →

876: (326/365) Angel

| wonko

Cruising around the internet, as one does, I stumbled across a thumbnail graphic of a diagram that appears somewhere else and sort of just worked it out:

This is loosely based on an angel design by Max Hulme. Continue reading →