Crucifix (Design by Quentin Trollip)

This amazing design of The Crucifix has been on my my to-do folding list for quite a while but I kept pushing it away since I thought I’d wait for Good Friday. Being Holy Week, I did attempt folding this model and I did find it quite complex. However, I wasn’t able to finish folding it in one day.

This is a complex model to fold – there are numerous sinks, layers and reverse folds and the model gets quite thick with these incorporated. The designer – Quentin Trollip – did mention that Kami or Foil paper could be used to fold this model and that it is best wet-folded. However, my attempt was with Tant paper and I did not wet fold this model, at all.

I took approx 6 hours spanning 2 days to fold this model and the reason why I couldn’t continue this at one stretch is because I got stuck at many places during the folding sequence. I do follow the practice of ‘giving up’ for a short period of time as I tend to get past the sticky points in the folding sequence much quicker at the second go.

Paper to use:
The designer Quentin Trollip suggests that a paper measuring 35 cms should be chosen and it should be uni colored. I have folded my rendition using 35 cms square of Brown Tant paper which I had purchased from Origami-shop.com – Pack Discovery – 25 squares. This tant paper is colored brown on both sides so it is very convenient.

How to fold the Crucifix:
The diagram to this model is available in Quentin Trollip’s books – #4 Origami Sequence, in Quentin Trollip: Selected Works (BOS Booklet No 67) as well as in a CD-ROM – London Origami.

There are 66 steps as per the diagram in the book and this number does not include the repetitions.

This is my first fold of this model and I am quite pleased with the result. I did not wet-fold this model and have only incorporated minimal shaping.

Happy Easter!

Orangutan (Design by Quentin Trollip)

For this weekend, I went back to selecting a model from Quentin Trollip’s Origami Sequence. I chose the Orangutan, this time, as I still haven’t stocked up on tissue foil paper as yet. I went with Tant, but found out that the paper got too thick to fold in the last 10 steps or so, where the actual shaping is required.

This is a complex model and has around 120 steps in the folding process. To top it all, it has 2 Elias Stretches and at least 2 sinks (Open and Closed variety) which adds to the challenge. I would’ve enjoyed folding it a lot more had I kept to the author’s – Quentin Trollp – suggestion of using foil which would have made it a lot easier to fold towards the end. At least, it would have kept me from worrying about the paper tearing up.

To fold this mode, I used a 35 cm square sheet of duo colored Tant paper (brown on both sides). The pre-creasing is a lot of fun, along with the initial collapsing.

Orangutan 1 (Design by Quentin Trollip)

This model took me a lot of time to fold (much more than the 90 minutes set in the book anyway) because I got stumped numerous times, especially on the Elias stretches involved in the folds. I daresay, it would have been a lot easier and stress free (on the paper) if I had to fold with tissue foil itself.

One thing to be noted is that the overall size of the model when completed is about 5 inches in size (vertical). The book does mention to start off with paper measuring 50 cm in size. But I decided to try with a 35 cm square since I had stock of that variety.

Have a great week ahead…I’m sure most of you are looking forward to the short work week up ahead, with the long Thanksgiving break at the end.

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.

Pig (Quentin Trollip)

Today I decided to fold another one of Quentin Trollip’s designs. I selected tissue foil as my paper choice and spent my morning making duo colored tissue foil. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time wet folding this model even though it is suggested in the diagram that wet folding will give you the best results. Somehow, I could never do that right without my patience giving way towards the end! Tissue foil turned out to be my next best option as it provides the flexibility to shape the paper at will.

Paper to Use:
I have made tissue foil paper duo colored white at home this morning and used it to fold this pig. I daresay I had problems with the placement of the tissue paper hence the air bubbles you see on the texture of the tissue foil. The size of the paper I used was around 30 cms or 12 inches, square shaped. My end result was a pig measuring 5.5 inches in length and 3 inches in height, approx.

How to fold this Pig:
You will be able to find the diagram to folding this pig on Quentin Trollip’s website. It is pretty well explained and even has details on the type of paper to use and final size to paper ratio.

In addition to the diagram, I have also found an instructional video on Youtube.com which I am sure will aid your understanding of the diagram. I am embedding it below for your easy reference.

Manta Ray (Design by Quentin Trollip)

This weekend I chose a Manta Ray to fold, a design by Quentin Trollip, whose work I was trying for the first time. I am quite pleased with the way mine turned out even though I used single side paper, that too wrapping paper

I have been debating whether to fold Quentin Trollip’s Pig or the Manta Ray for quite sometime now, considering I have the diagrams for both. I finally settled with the manta ray.

Paper to use:
I used a 30 cm (or 12 inches) approx single side patterned wrapping paper which I cut down to size. This is a specialty wrapping paper which I found in my local stores which looked pretty and was of a decent thickness. However, I would recommend using duo colored paper for this model so that you won’t have to make a few modifications to cover up the white part. Both sides should be colored the same color for best results.

How to fold this model:
I was able to get the diagram for this model off the Internet, which was posted by Origami Weekly. It is quite easy to follow and the steps are explained pretty well.

You will have to spend sometime shaping the ‘wings’ and the tail of this ray. A bit of shaping will also be required for the ‘body’ of the ray.

Have fun trying out this one!