H Komatsu

1113: Shore Crab

| wonko

When tidying my JOAS Tanteidan Magazines, I discovered a special edition that members used to get – one issue in particular has 2 terrifyingly complicated models I have not (to my surprise) ever tried:

This is Hideo Komatsu’s glorious “Shore Crab”, an amazing but intense design that is described in a fascinating sequence of diagrams. They are involved, number 194, and involved many advanced techniques, and in retrospect I probably looked at it at the time I got it and mentally added it to my “try later” pile.

I started with a 50cm square of crispy Kraft, and adopted my usual fold it until it either fails or finishes.

To my delight, the logical sequence and time to be accurate and careful resulted in a clean fold which I absolutely love. The resultant crab is plucky, has bulk (indeed, most of the paper is folded inside) and is just so anatomically crabby.

It takes great skill to design a model that closely resembles the silhouette of a figurative subject. It takes a special sort of genius in design to ensure that the model looks like the subject all the way around – the underside has all the features of a crab also – just brilliant.

I made a little clear acrylic stand that snugly slots into the crab’s carapace, enabling it to stand up like it is either walking or challenging and, I added some tiny spots of glue to keep seams from gaping all that was necessary to present the fold.

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1029: Hideo Komatsu’s Horse

| wonko

Always on the look out for an elegant depiction of a horse, a contact on Insta posted his fold of this model (a model I had not seen before), and I knew I had to try it:

Hideo Komatsu's Horse

There are many stunning origami horses – my favourite 2 of note are David Brill’s (folded from a triangle) and Satoshi Kamiya’s (which I have yet to fold).

Hideo Komatsu's Horse views

This model has the proportions and majesty of a fine racing horse and the fold sequence is a lot of fun – you have to be accurate and exercise restraint throughout to get an elegant form.

Folded from a 40cm square of Tant (a little heavy for this design, but I liked the colour and texture so persisted), I think I have a new favourite – such a beautiful horse, and lovely internal structure also.

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926: Tiger, tiger, burning bright

| wonko

There are lots of origami tigers – few actually look like tigers – you know, the stripey thing. This model is radically different:

Using a HUGE square (I hand-made a large piece of double tissue – black and yellow), you start with a birdbase, then torture the paper for 2 days to create a pleated ruffle either side of the back ridge that is then zig-zagged to reveal colour slices that become the tiger stripes.

This model is really really intense – it took me ages to even work out what half the folds mean, let alone how to achieve them. Thankfully the double tissue was thin and terrifically strong, so it withstood the torture unscathed. Continue reading →

901: (351/365) Little Bird

| wonko

On my “must fold” for some time has been this design bu Hideo Komatso:

Entitled “little bird”, I folded it in black to make an obese crow. A deliciously complex fold that ends up being a 3d representation of a robin-like bird. Continue reading →

601: (51/365) Hideo Komatsu’s “Rhino”

| wonko

I want to pretend that I have the skill level to master a fold first go, but in truth, sometimes it is not as simple as that:

This Rhino appeared in the current edition of the JOAS magazine Tanteidan and I was determined to try it – an hour or so and it would be done – right? Continue reading →