The knight is the most awkward of the court pieces at times, with it’s trademark “L” shaped move:
I play reverse chess with a mate (*waves to Winston O’Boogie*) – the aim of reverse chess is to LOSE everything but the king. I find the Knight useful in this game indeed. Continue reading
Continuing the exploration of court pieces, we move on from the Pawn to the Rook or Castle:
I like this series – there is a visual similarity with the bases on all of these pieces and the tops are fairly easy to recognise. this one has a simple geometric turret atop the pillar. Continue reading
We begin another Chess set, this time designed by Mark Kirschenbaum. This is his Pawn:
A lovely little figurative foot soldier, lovely circular base and an interesting fold. Continue reading
I once had a friend that could comfort me when I was sad, that I told all my secrets to, that kept me company when the lights went out, that never complained or criticised me, that joined in on all my adventures, that I loved completely and unconditionally. This is Ted, my bear:
So a friend of my wife is having a baby – what better to welcome the little one into the world than a bear:
So I have had this design for ages and wanted to try it out. Scale was important, as I was going to mount it on cardstock with some double-sided tape, the height is 1/3 the original square size, so … easy. After performing my “first fold” on an A3 cut square of copy paper, I then fashioned a 26cm square out of brown paper from the baking drawer in our kitchen for his little brown brother.
A fairly difficult fold to complete with copy paper – thicknesses make subtle details clumsy. Surprisingly, brown paper (you know, the stuff you line cake tins with) folds beautifully – is strong and thin, must remember that.
I like how the finished model has character – I have now folded a few of these and each one has it’s own unique posture and facial expression – a lot like real teddy bears I think.
You may collectively go awwwwwww now 😛
Now I had relegated this model in to the “yeah, prolly not” pile but on a whim this morning thought I would give it a whirl:
The detail here is amazing – propeller, landing gear, double wings with strut to keep them apart, tail, engine, reasonably shaped fuselage
I would like to pretend this model came easily – it did not – so many obscure instructions, torturous collapses and closed sinks (often only to discover they were inside the body of the model and would not be seen anyway). It is a paper engineering marvel that I nearly gave up on 4 times.
In the end, an A3-cut square collapsed down to a tiny plane that is 10cm long and has a wingspan of 12cm – wow! Accuracy was a real problem as the model is so oddly shaped getting corners sharp on deeply fatigued paper was tough – copy paper is NOT the ideal medium for this model, still remarkably it held up (with some very gentle coaxing towards the end).
I am very happy with this, the first fold. Should I decide to fold it again I would do it much smarter. I will, however, accept discrete applause now, thank you.
Achtung!
Jetzt wir singen zusammen die Geschichte
Über den schweinköpfigen Hund
Und den lieben Red BaronAfter the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder men have never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war birdEins, zwei, drei, vier ….
Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Richthofen was his name
Eighty men tried and eighty men died
Now they’re buried together on the countrysideTen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of GermanyLeft, two, three, four ….
In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny-lookin’ dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down “Curses, foiled again!”Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of GermanyNow, Snoopy had sworn that he’d get that man
So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan
He challenged the German to a real dogfight
While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sightThat Bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He’d tried everything, but he’d run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once and he fired twice
And that Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sightTen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of GermanyWell, ten, twenty ….
