At Long Last

After a couple of months, I'm finally able to fold again. Christmas break began yesterday, so now I have plenty of time - but that doesn't mean that the work has stopped. However, I've been using my time for the past two days as most people would on break. Yesterday morning, I started doodling with Andrew's latest creation in mind. I ended up with something bird-like, and played around with it until I had a little penguin. Here is the CP: The middle point can be open-sinked (open-sunk?) to make feet and the bottom right hand corner makes the color changed belly. The eyes and beak in the top left corner are also color changed, and the wings can be folded however you like. Here id my model. Good luck! I hope to fold something(s) for the holidays.

Fun With Corrugations

I've always liked the look of Ray Schamp's corrugations, but I'd never really thought of making something similar. I was thinking of using more acute angles with the basic waterbomb corrugation (such as on Sipho Mabona's Fugu). Eventually, I tried the same thing with obtuse angles, which lead me to the idea of going from small to big. I didn't that I would be able to fold it flat, but it ended up that it does! The mountain / valley theme of the model lead me to the name Erosion. Here is the CP:


There isn't much to do in the way of details. The CP folds the whole model. Because of the change in angles, the model makes a sort of oval shape when flat. Here are some pictures.

Meeting the Deadline

I have to say, I'm quite happy right now. Eric Madrigal started posting an origami countdown two days ago, making me realize how little time I had left to fold another spectacled bear for the challenge. For the past month, I had been thinking of a better way to fold the eyes, because on my first bear I had them "backwards". My idea was a fold a small 45° color changed triangle for the eyes which I could pinch and round, making it look somewhat like Bernie Peyton's model (from his picture, you can tell that he did something completely different). I tried a few times to make this triangle, but usually ended up with annoying other color changes and upside down triangles. Finally this morning I managed to get it right. It took me 4 tries to get a body that I liked, but the body isn't that important. Here is my CP. The 90° lines in the bottom corner are ninths.


As you can see, all that this CP folds is the color changed triangle. The body can be folded any way you like. I folded the tail end underneath and made the separate legs with diagonals and flattening. For the ears, I used a simple pleat idea which is also used many times for my Samurai Helmet Beetle. The outside part of the ears can only be folded once the model is 3D. After making the model 3D, you can unfold the tail end underneath to make the body closed. Good luck!

Succumbing to Peer Pressure

If you have a flickr account and have many other artists as contacts, you might already know that I've folded a loon from the title. A loon? Of course! There always seem to be a subject that pops up that everyone tries to design. For instance, I folded my poppy design last November, which to lots of designing/redesigning by others. This started with Joseph Wu designing a loon for a request from Eric Gjerde. Soon, I saw three other new loon designs in the contacts display on the flickr homepage. Of course, I had to try it myself. The neat thing is with the spots on the body of the loon, you can interpret it as a lot of things. I tried to capture the light and dark parts with the black and white colors. I don't have a CP, because the model is from a fish base. Many of the folds don't even have references, but I might try diagramming this because of its simplicity. Here is the model that I ended up with:

Taking a Break

I really haven't had that much free time lately, but I was lucky enough to have the cold this weekend, so I finally got around to folding again. At first, I had no idea what to fold, and then I remembered the Models from Triangles challenge. I had thought of folding a tessellation from an equilateral triangle earlier, so thats what I started to do. After folding the grid, I remembered Geoff Mayhew's Tortoise, which had made me want to fold an animal form the same grid. After folding for a while, I ended up with my own simple tortoise, using a small hexagon as the shell. My first model had lots of thinning on the legs, but I decided later that it looked better just to leave the legs pretty much how they come out. Here is the CP. I'm glad I found Inkscape's axonometric grid function a while ago, otherwise it would have taken me a lot longer to draw the CP. The CP ends up with the four legs, large head and a small tail. You can sink and unsink the tail, and fold the legs down and use a couple of pleats on the shell so that it has a more 3D shape. A couple of pleats on the head will do the same thing. I think that I might try diagramming this model.

They can do that?

I only found out yesterday that herons can bend their knees backwards. I guess now that I think of it, other birds (like flamingos) can too. I guess it wasn't something that I really thought about. This month on the english origami forum, the challenge is Models from a triangle. I was thinking tessellation at first and I tried to fold one from a 45-45-90 triangle. Once I figured out that I wasn't going to get anything nice, I tried something more like my usual models. I ended up with long neck, long legs and a fairly small body. With a bit of details, it became a heron! I was just about to fold the final model this morning when I found out that I could open sink the legs back to make the wings go farther back on the body, so I had to go back and refold it some more. Here is the CP that I got after that:


There are quite a few details for this model. The neck can go up with a double rabbit ear, and the legs should be folded thinner and so that they are color changed. Where the wings stick out on the back can be tucked in. two outside reverse folds on the neck can make a curved chape, and then you can fold the head and thin the front to make the beak. Here is what I ended up with:

Photobucket Makes Me Angry

Why? Well, it seems that their former unlimited space for all users is now limited, and they've also decided to get rid of the old uploader function, which was the only one that I could use easily. The files on my camera are .JPGs, whereas photobucket only recognizes .jpgs... And their new uploading window comes up much wider than my screen.

Anyways, enough of that. I did manage top upload the pictures of my latest model, a fiddler crab, based on Brian Chan's model. Yes, another submission for the Complex model in less than 30 steps challenge. It seems that I had missed something in the rules, and step doesn't mean step for this challenge, so I had to withdraw my Ryuzin. Anyways, this abides by the rules and I based the legs on the legs of another contestant's scorpion. It actually doesn't have legs, just a supporting strip where the legs would be. Here is my CP:


The claw section is pretty straight forward, all it needs is a bit of thinning and shaping. For the body, you can fold out the flaps on either side underneath and then shorten the length to make the legs. A bit of rounding a a pleat to make it a bit more 3D, and you end up with this:

Squashed Like a Bug

As mentioned in the previous post, the challenge this month is to fold a complex model in less than 30 steps. For my next model, I chose to try and fold a Samurai Helmet Beetle, based on the many models of the beetle that have been folded. I used Robert Lang's model for reference. My ideas started off with some simple pleats to make the elytra and the scutellum (the triangle) on the abdomen. After that, I figured out how to make the small and large horns, and up to that point the model was all flat. I figured that I would make it 3D when I added the legs, but I found a way to make the legs flat. I liked the result quite a bit, despite it not being how I intended it to be. Here the is the somewhat complicated CP:


From the CP, you can see where the abdomen, thorax and horns come from. The smaller horns are just above the middle of the square. When you fold back the edges to make the two points, you can squash the underside part and then open it up to get eyes. You can sort of see them in the picture. The legs come from folding out the visible pleats. The forelegs are just valley folds, but the hind legs are each pleats, starting from under the body. The large horns are fairly easy to fold into shape, just by flattening the very top middle section, then thinning the long connector between the horns and the body. After you're done with the details, its best to fold the side and top edges behind to lock the pleats for the legs and horns. Also, where the pleats and on the bottom edge can be locked with small 45° angle folds.

Based On...

I found the challenge this month on the english origami forum very interesting. This month, the challenge is Complex model in less than 30 steps. That means pick any model such as one by Kamiya, Lang or Takashi and fold an interpretation of it in 30 steps. I chose 3 models to try out, and the first with a result was Ryuzin, based on Kamiya Satoshi's Ryuzin 3.5. I wanted a lot of details, and just ended up with a really thick model. Here is the CP, which gives you an idea of the thickness of the middle.


It can be diagrammed in 30 steps or under, what with all of the repetitions. To start off, pleat the corners into the middle so that the paper is a quarter of the width (diagonally). You can see that the outside parts are just repeated. Fold the CP for the middle. For the feet, pleat them into the middle. The head and tail details are fairly straightforward, and you can choose to make a tongue, too.

Three Rivers

I've been thinking of folding this for a while, but didn't really know where to start. It turned out to be really simple! I decided while I was there to fold the Trois-Rivières seal, which is quite simply three rivers going into water. I would have liked to have folded every part of the symbol, but I'm still happy with what I got. Here is what I mean:


As compared to the actual seal:


Theres quite a bit of difference, but thats okay. To fold it, start with a preliminary base with the open corner facing top left. Fold one edge to the top right-hand corner, and then fold the two of the edges from the top right into the shape of the rivers. It should take up about a quarter of the space on the preliminary base. Fold the colorchanges, and then refold the rivers. Fold the excess paper behind, and you should end up with a seal! Good luck!

5 weeks of fun

I was sitting in someones room and I asked one of my friends what I should fold, and thats what they asked for. It worked out well, because I came up with the basic design in about 30 seconds. I ended up using a really simple CP, that looks something like this: As you can see, it is very simple and I guarantee that I have seen the CP somewhere before. After folding the base, thin the entire sections on either side of the arms with rabbit-ear folds. Shorten the tail and inside reverse fold it, and then just add the details. The kangaroo should end up something like this one:

Apish

Every year, there is a design challenge at the OUSA annual convention. This year, the subject is nonhuman great apes, so everyone is busy folding gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos. I originally wanted to fold a bonobo because of there unique look, and almost achieved folding one. However, I ended up folding a gorilla instead. The base is quite nice and can be folded out of this CP: I'm quite happy with how the gorilla ended up seeing as it was meant to be a completely different ape. The collapsed based already looks apish, and could probably be used to make a chimp or bonobo. To make a gorilla, you just need to move the legs so that they're facing down, and then shape the face and body and add details such as hands and feet. Here is what you can end up with:

Aromatic ⌬⏣

Benzene is a pretty important compound in the study of organic chemistry, but you shouldn't drink it. However, you can fold it if you like, which is exactly what I did. I wanted to fold some more chemistry related origami, so I decided to try benzene. I started off by making a hexagon and making a hexagon twist in the center to make the circle that represents the modern delocalized view that we have thanks to Kathleen Lonsdale. Here is what I ended up with:


No CP, because the explanation is all that you should need. It was free-folded anyway, so theres no real measurements.
Next, I decided to try the older structure of benzene with alternating double and triple bonds. This was Kekulé's structure, and is still commonly used for many drawings of compounds. On the BKChem program on my computer, this is the structure used when drawing an aromatic compound. I folded 3 sets of pleats from the center and then folded at the edge in those three spots to make a line. This might be a little harder to understand, but the picture should help.


Hopefully I'll be able to use these to make other origami structures in the future.

All Wet

I've wanted to fold a molecule for quite some time because I love chemistry so much. At first, I was thinking of folding something like Asprin or methane, but decided on something much simpler to start with: water. Its not often you see water as the subject for a model. I have seen it as a background and many things that come from and live in water.
Here is the CP that I used. It is fairly simple to fold, but don't get the order of the folds mixed up.


To start off, you have to fold the model in half horizontally and then fold up two corners for color changes. After that you can make the other folds to get to the base. The details are quite simple because you just have to round the "spheres" until you get something like the common Van der Waals spheres models of water. Here is what I mean:

Too slow

Just yesterday, I figured out that this months challenge on the french forum is Windmill base models. I started folding something right away. At first, I was trying to get a bird of some sort, and then I was just doodling. Eventually, I ended up with a bird that has no name other than "Bird". Because the final CP isn't really based on the windmill base, I've decided that it can't be part of the challenge (deadlines are a bit less important on the french forum). Here is the CP that I ended up with:


You can see that there is quite a bit to the model. The middle of the model is crimped at 45° angles and the bottom section forms the feet and tail. The top is the two wings and the head. After folding the base, you can do a lot with the head, such as make it into a beak or funny crest. It may take a while to fold from the CP, but hopefully it is still possible!

Another Spiky Animal

I'm not really sure how I came up with the idea for this. I guess I was thinking about the different hexpleated model that I had seen, and I started to wonder about octpleating. It turns out that octpleating really is possible, but isn't very practical if too much is used. The CP below is probably as far as you should go, unless you want something like a sea urchin (which are actually folded way too often, I find). After spending quite a lot of time trying to collapse the model, I finally figured it out. The way that it collapses ends up with two legs and a whole bunch of points. I turned the two points in the center into a head, and the rest became spikes. Here is the octpleated CP that I was talking about:


It isn't too impressive, but its a pain to collapse. Precreasing isn't too hard if you fold 22.5° radially from each center point. When collapsing, you have to collapse it all at once, slowly. Eventually (with a bit of trial and error), it should fold flat to the size of the center section. Thats the magic of crease patterns.

Spiky Rabbit

Back when I originally folded this, about a month ago, Ubuntu 9.04 had just been released. As always, there is a animal name to go with the new version: Jaunty Jackalope. I'm not sure why, but that made me want to fold one. I couldn't / didn't have the time to fold a full jackalope, so I just folded the head. Anyway, since then I haven't got to refold it and take a picture until this week. Here is the CP that I used for the jackalope head: It isn't much, so it shouldn't be too hard to collapse. The top section of the CP make the antlers, and the bottom part is the head including ears. The antlers can be color changed, but you have to be careful not to rip the paper. Good luck!

A Pleasant Surprise

Some designs can really be surprising, sometimes in a good way. That would be when they end up better than you intended them to. I was trying a think of something to fold when I came up with the idea of folding a simple pureland stegosaurus. This turned out to be harder than I thought it would, so I decided to go without the pureland. I folded a square section with 1/8 diagonal lines just to test whether I could make the plates from it much from it, in the same way as Joseph Wu's One-fold Stegosaurus. This test turned out as a full model with a strange CP. Heres what I mean:


Some of the details from the base aren't very obvious. The scales are there, as are the head and tail. Theres also these two other flaps that make up the legs. They have to be folded down with a rabbit ear fold and then shaped. On one side, the back leg part has to be stretched so that the legs will match up. The tail just needs some small folds to get the spikes up, while the eye parts of the head need to be squashed.