Smart Waterbomb (Design by Philip Chapman-Bell)

I find the models on the blog – The Fitful Flog – really intriguing and pretty. Most of the models are based on tessellations and can be folded with common printer paper or construction / kraft paper. The ideas in this blog are ingenious and the blogger even provides links to PDF downloads of diagrams to most of the models presented on the site.

I have never tried folding any design from here coz I am not good at CPs at all and unfortunately, almost all of the diagrams on the site are CPs with some being accompanied by worded instructions which always get me confused.

However, this time, I found this particular model which is pretty easy to construct but a tad tricky to fold. Oschene as the blogger is known has even gone to the extent of recording an instructional video on this model and posting it on his site. I hope you find it easy to follow.

Instructions to folding the Smart Waterbomb:

All you need is a circular piece of paper. My advice would be to start off with a fairly large circle measuring 8 to 10 inches in diameter. You can use common printer paper or even wrapping paper for this model. However, it should not be flimsy or thin as the model will not “stay” very well. This is the instructional video from the post by Philip Chapman-Bell.

Oveja / Sheep (Design by Roman Diaz)

This is a real cute model designed by none other than Román Díaz which he has kindly shared in an online Origami Journal – 4 Esquinas (4 Corners).

The design is pretty much simple and the diagram very easy to follow. There are 21 steps in all and the model itself can be categorized as simple. This publication is planned on a quarterly format and an online version will be made available only, for now. It invites contributions from all its viewers and followers and is a Spanish language publication. All articles and diagrams if contributed in English or non-Spanish, will be translated into Spanish language and published, if chosen.

This is the first Publication which has been published and is available for a download on their blog. It contains crease patterns, articles, reports and diagrams. I am sure you will like to follow this blog!

Paper to use for this model – Oveja / Sheep:
For my model, I have chosen tissue fur which I purchased from Origami-Shop. Its a duo-colored black paper which I am trying out for the first time.

If you do not have this kind of paper, you can also use kraft paper, kami / common origami paper which is single side colored so as to give the look of a white sheep with pink ears. I decided to make mine the black sheep

How to fold this model:
Román Díaz has generously shared the diagrams to this model in this quarter’s publication of 4 Esquinas, which you will be able to download here.

I hope you enjoy folding this model.

Vixen (Roman Diaz)

This is yet another model from the book – Origami Essence, by Román Díaz; the finished model is absolutely great, and the expression on the Vixen’s face is priceless. Very few Origami designs have such an outcome. This book has a lot of interesting models to choose from and with the right kind of paper will make a great result.

'Vixen' from the book - Origami Essence

This model is categorized as Level 3 in the book, with Level 1 being the least complicated and Level 5, highly complex. The suggested paper to use for this model is Tant paper, painted red on a side and white on the other to take advantage of the color changing involved. You can also use Kami paper of as in my case, tissue foil for this model. As per the book, the size of the final model is around 0.4 of the size of the paper you have started with.

This model makes used of the duo-colored paper to form the color changing face, chest and tail.

Paper to use:
I made use of a 20 cm square sheet of tissue foil paper which I bought from the Origami-Shop.com site. The book suggests a paper size of 25 cm to start off with.

How to fold this model:
Sara Adams has recorded a great instructional video on folding this particular model. For your easy reference, I am also embedding the video below:

If you do like this model and enjoy Román Díaz’s work, please do buy the book – Origami Essence – I am sure you will like it a lot and will enjoy folding the models in it. This has certainly become one of my favorite books now and am looking forward to folding more models from it.

Icosahedron

This is a modular design I came across on the Internet recently which is not really Origami but is nonetheless very pretty. It follows the same principle of putting together units to form a modular model but the similarity with Origami ends here. This model requires the use of scissors and glue and patience, of course.

The blog, Jeweled Platypus, has a post dedicated to this pretty model and I was quite taken with the photographs of the model. It makes use of commonly found printer paper and there is also a ready-made template which is available on this said post.

Instructions to make this model:
The blog post also details out the instructions to fold this model and the number of units (20 units) required. 10 copies of the PDF template are required, with each sheet having cut outs of 2 units. I am pasting an excerpt of the instructions from the said post here for your easy reference:

If you’d like to make your own icosahedron (the more elaborate one of those two), download this template (PDF) and print out ten copies of it. Here is what you do:

1. Cut out one figure along the bold lines.

2. Score all its curved dotted lines with a dead ballpoint pen or the tip of a lead-less mechanical pencil or something like that. Fold the tabs back and forth to make sure they’re flexible. Pinch gently along the scored curves to begin to form the curved module shape, with the dashes on the inside.

3. Apply white glue or a glue stick to one of the module’s small tabs and connect it to its neighboring bit of paper.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the rest of the modules (twenty modules in total).

5. Glue modules together on the large tabs. Be sure to have five modules around each corner, i.e. flowers always have five petals. When you have a few modules together, you can insert a pencil or straightened paperclip through the holes to push tabs with glue together to make sure they stick.

I think this model looks really pretty and will make a wonderful hanging in the home! One can try folding this model in colored paper using the template cut outs as a stencil to make the units.

Wild Boar (Design by Roman Diaz)

This is the second model I have chosen to fold from Roman Diaz’s Origami Essence. This is my first fold from Tant paper. I like the overall ‘feel’ the model has due to the inherent texture of this paper. I have actually gone ahead and ordered a larger pack of this type of paper as I really liked it.

Paper used:
I have used a 6 inch square sheet of Tant paper, in this case. You can also give it a try with traditional Kami or kraft paper, too. In the book, it has been suggested that a paper size of 22 cm be used for this model. Also, the finished model will end up being 0.33 the size of the paper size you started out with. This is designated as a Level 3 model in the scale of complexity in this book with Level 5 being the most complex. Ideally, the paper used should be colored white on one side in order to give the ‘tusks’ of the boar a color change (white). However, I did not have this paper available, so I have a uniform colored model.

How to fold this model:
There is no instructional video available for this model, as I write this post. However, the instructions are available in the book Origami Essence, by Roman Diaz. There are 57 steps involved in folding this model, and this includes the touch up for shaping.