Dinosaurs & Dragons – Origamiancy

Fiery Dragon (Design by Kade Chan)

Its been a long time since I folded dragons and this time I have attempted Kade Chan’s Fiery Dragon. This is my first attempt and I am quite pleased with it. I plan to fold my second rendition with metallic tissue paper so that it gives a better look when finished.

This model depends a lot on the shaping you do at the end of the folding sequence along with the kind of paper you use to achieve this. Starting with a larger sized paper is always helpful since the folds become a lot easier especially when sinks and rabbit folds are involved.

Paper to Use:
It is best to use pliable, easy to shape paper such as Tissue-Foil paper or Washi which can be easily shaped and bent to give form to the finished model. For my first attempt, I used the commonly found Tracing paper which made folding easier but shaping would be a lot better had I used Washi or tissue-foil paper. The size of the paper was a 26″ square – tracing paper which is very fine, allows for complicated folds without having to worry about the paper tearing off at stress points in the model.

How to Fold the Fiery Dragon:
Kade Chan has a wonderful blog, where he shares diagrams, tips as well as instructional videos (of his designs) made by origami enthusiasts all over the world, who have sought his permission for the instructional videos, of course. On his blog, he has shared the photo-diagrams of the finished model, clear diagrams of the folding sequence as well as multiple Instructional videos to help with folding this amazing model.

This model is a lot of fun to fold and is definitely worth the time. It took me 3 days with 3 hours spent per day to finish folding this model.

Unicorn (Design by Román Díaz)

This is one model which has been lying unfinished for months… so this weekend I thought I’d finish the folding sequence and see how my rendition would come out. I found this model a bit difficult to fold, to tell you honestly, and I had to thrice re-open the model entirely during my folding!

What drew me to fold this model in the first place is the mane – I really liked the way the mane of the unicorn is shaped to give it a majestic look. I wanted to fold this model in white paper to maintain the ‘pure’ look a unicorn has, hence the selection of white duo-colored tant paper.

This design has a lot of sinks, rabbit ears and an unheard of (at least for me) – a hidden ‘gusset’ which had me looking up the meaning and technique online. With 81 steps in all, this model is complex and is meant for experienced folders. The shaping of the mane, tail and the body requires wet folding and a lot of patience. 🙂

Paper to use:
I have folded my rendition of the model in Tant paper measuring 35 cms in size – square, colored white on both sides. This model is complex by nature and requires shaping – especially for the mane. The folds involved in folding this model are sinks, reverse folds, rabbit ears and a hidden gusset.

How to fold this model:
The diagrams to this model are available in Román Díaz’s book – #3 Origami Essence – which is available at Nicolas Terry’s Origami Shop. This book has a lot of models which are really pretty and varied and a lot of them have color changes incorporated which makes it looks really great.

This is my first fold of this model and I am quite content with the result especially since I got stuck in the course of the folding sequence many times.

Stegosaurus (Design by John Montroll)

This particular model has been on my to-do list for quite a while, now. It is from the book – Prehistoric Origami: Dinosaurs and Other Creatures, by John Montroll. It is one of the 2 models demarcated as ‘very complex’ by the author, in this book. I started folding this model during the Thanksgiving holidays but never got around to finishing it until now.

It is a very challenging design especially with the level of detail incorporated. John Montroll’s book clearly depicts the steps in the folding process and makes it easy to follow. One thing is for sure though, that this model should not be attempted by a beginner in origami. It will do well to have some experience in folding intermediate models prior to folding such a model.

Paper to use:
I have used a 9 inch square sheet of single side colored origami paper. i found it pretty flexible and easy to fold the steps detailed for this model. Another option you can try out is tissue foil or simple foil paper which you might get in the local stores.

How to fold the Stegosaurus:

In case you do not have Jon Montroll’s book with you, you can refer to Sara Adams’ helpful 3-part instructional video detailing the folding process. She has explained the steps really well and has also given a few tips in between on folding. Her pre-creases are somewhat different (in the beginning) as compared to the book, but I definitely prefer her folds at the beginning, because it does not require a lot of creases 😀

But it does not really matter whether you follow the initial steps from the book or from her video; the end result is the same. Only the method of pre-creasing differs – that too only a teeny weeny bit.

I struggled a lot with the head and tail bit for some reason even though I found the rest of the model pretty much alright to fold. I found out I mixed up the folds for the head and tail section and therefore had to redo most of it. But overall I am pretty pleased with my first fold of this model.

Origami Pegasus (Design by J. Anibal Voyer)

This is my first attempt at one of J. Anibal Voyer’s models and I was really worried that it would end up looking like a lump of paper in the end. 😀

I found this one really complex to fold and I would recommend this model to people who have considerable experience in folding. Most of the folds are really tricky and it takes a bit of time to get around to completing it.

Paper to use:
For this particular model, I used tissue foil paper which I had prepared recently. So my Pegasus ends up being red in color 😉 You can also try using mulberry paper or other such kind.

I folded this model from a square sheet of paper measuring approx 10 inches in size. I used tissue paper on both sides of the foil for this. It is advisable to start from a decently large sized sheet of paper to avoid running into trouble with the intricate folds.

How to Fold:

I found a detailed diagram for Voyer’s Pegasus through the Origami Database. However, certain steps are quite complicated in that, so I started to hunt for instructional videos on YouTube.com; I was lucky enough to find a good instructional video series. 🙂

YouTube.com Instructional Videos: Part I; Part II; Part III; Part IV; Part V

If you end up like me…irritated and ready to crumple your half finished model into a paper ball, when you reach step 53 in the diagram, stop! Take a deep breath….and take a look at this other video which details out that ‘oh! so irritating’ step 53.

I hope you find this instructional video series clear to follow. You can use it as a guide to the diagram which is available.

Have a good week ahead!

Dragon in Flight (Design by Charles Esseltine)

This weekend, I thought I’d try making homemade tissue foil paper for a change. Along with this, I thought I’d give Charles Esseltine’s Dragon In Flight a try, too. This particular dragon design is something which has been on my ‘To Do’ list for quite sometime, but the intricate folds in certain steps always got me thinking twice. This time however, I thought I’d give it a shot, for sure. I first started with making tissue foil in order to fold the dragon. This was done using the common kitchen aluminium foil and tissue paper which you get in your local gift stores which is used for gift wrapping.

How to make Tissue foil:

Sara Adams, once again has recorded a great video on this paper making process. 🙂 It is very easy to follow and most of the items required can be bought from your usual hardware store or craft shop. I myself used liquid glue used for common crafts and to spread the glue around the foil, I used a cotton ball; and these worked out fine for me.

You can view the YouTube video here – Making Tissue Foil

The most tricky part is placing the tissue paper over the foil (after spreading the glue) so as to not have any “air bubbles” between the layers. I did have to ‘undo’ some portions of the tissue foil and re-stick them. All in all, it takes a bit of patience in sticking the sheets and you got to be careful. My final tissue foil did have some air bubbles between the layers, but I used the final sheet anyway! 😀

How to fold the ‘Dragon In Flight’:

I used a square sheet of tissue foil paper measuring approx 12 inches in size. This was prepared with red tissue on both sides of the foil. I had come across this Dragon in Flight PDF diagram sometime ago and had included it in my Diagrams list which I have updated recently. Do take a peek at that page.

I also found this YouTube instructional video which shows how to fold this dragon. Its pretty easy to follow and if you use the PDF diagram along with this video, it becomes quite easy.