Medde Pederson's Modular Ring - My Variation

I was fiddling around with Mette Pederson’s Modular ring units today and came up with this design for a ‘tire’ like ring which I think looks pretty nice. This is the first time I have ever modified a design to come up with a variation and I am pretty satisfied with it. I really do not know if diagrams or this design has already been published somewhere. So if in case you do know of any, do let me know and I shall update this post accordingly.

Mette Pederson's Modular Ring Variation

The folding sequence is almost exactly as that of Mette Pederson’s Modular Ring and similar to Paolo Bascetta’s variation of it, too. I have modified the folds in the last step – to form angle bisectors – in order to produce this variation of the model.

This model is 3D, in the sense that it is not thin and flat. However, since the ‘edges’ of the ring are pointed it does not lie on its side very easily. I had to balance it against the wall to take a picture. The side view reminds me of a very popular origami vase design (whose designer I seem to now forget) and the alternate / rear view of this ring / tire is more ‘open’ as compared to the top side – as you can see from the pictures.

Mette Pederson's Modular Ring Variation (Alternate view)

Paper Used:
I have used Kami paper, which is single side colored measuring 3 inches in size. This model also requires 12 sheets to form the tire / ring and is quite easy to fold.

I would like to fold this model again with larger paper so that the assembly will be easier. In this case, since I chose to try out this variation with 3 inch sized paper, it became a bit difficult towards the end – during the assembly. The units kept popping out of their slots since the ‘space’ between / towards the centre of the unit wasn’t much to accomodate movement of the units.

White Rhino 1 (Design by Quentin Trollip)

I received my order of Quentin Trollip’s book – #4 Origami Sequence – this week and was faced with the usual dilemma – what to fold first from it? After a lot of deliberation, I settled for the White Rhino which the last diagram in the book. The fact that I had no good paper for the great color changes which are the hallmark for most of the models in the book was also a big factor

White Rhino 2 (Design by Quentin Trollip)

This model is categorized as complex by the author – Quentin Trollip – and has 86 steps diagrammed to the finished model. The model is best wet folded while foil and Kami will also work. A 35 cm square sheet of paper is suggested for folding this model, colored gray on both sides.

I have used a 35 cm square sheet of Tant paper, colored gray on both sides. I have wet folded it at the end in order to give it the shape and curves. It took me around 3.5 hours to fold this model in total, and I didn’t fold it continuously during this time. This is my first fold of this model. I found the diagrams easy to follow and quite clear.

Western Pond Turtle (Design by Robert J. Lang)

This is yet another model from the book – Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art, by Robert J. Lang – which I have chosen to fold. It uses the technique of pleating to make the “shell” design on the shell of the turtle. It is advisable that a large paper be chosen to fold this model, as the pre-creasing requires a lot of folds and patience.

I started out with a duo-colored tant sheet of paper measuring 35×35 cms which I had purchased on Origami-Shop.com. The first 20 steps of the diagram constitute the pre-creasing and has a lot of small folds to be done. This pre-creasing turned out to be the most irritating part of folding this model.

The Shell - Western Pond Turtle

It took me absolutely ages to fold the pleats! Robert Lang in his book, lists out 2 options for creating the creases:

Option 1 – Folding the complete set of folds in order to pleat the shell. this would mean your paper will have numerous creases which will not be used in the end.

Option 2 – Folding a portion of the set of creases and marking out the rest using a pencil or pen.

Front View - Western Pond Turtle

I went in for option # 2 as I didn’t think I wanted to deal with ‘extra’ creases. I am quite happy with my first attempt at folding Robert Lang’s Western Pond Turtle, even though I can still improve on the limbs of the turtle.

Back View - Western Pond Turtle

I chose this model as I was pretty intrigued with the ‘pleating’ technique used by Robert Lang in folding this model, and I wanted to see if I could fold one which looked half as good as his exquisite version. Hence, I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out in the end and am looking forward to folding more from his book.

Songbird I (Design by Robert J. Lang)

This is a model from the book – Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art, by Robert J. Lang – which I had purchased recently. I found this model quite complicated where the feet of the bird are concerned but managed to fold that part out to near satisfaction.

Songbird I

This model has 56 steps with some of these repeating for the feet. I have used kraft paper measuring approximately 10 inches in size to fold this model. It took me a bit of time to fold this as I used to spend a little time each day on this. But I guess, this model can be folded well within 2 hours of time.

How to fold the model:
Jonakashima has recorded a very good instructional video on folding Songbird I, with the permission of Robert J. Lang. I hope you find it easy to follow.

I am not very pleased with the way the model I have folded has turned out, I think its the kraft paper I used which made the folding of the feet a bit of a problem.

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.