Two cranes in flight

Today we have two cranes in flight, modeled here by the amazing Alex and Jason.

The orange crane on the left is a clever model from the "technical school", based on John Montroll's "five-sided square". (Best name ever.) It is essentially a five-limbed version of the traditional flapping bird, with some extra shaping and detailing. And yes, it flaps.

The purple crane on the right is belongs to the more "traditional school", and is incredibly elegant and fun to fold. Whereas the orange crane has two distinct, defined legs, the purple crane has a single rear flap, folded in such a way to suggest the existence of two separate legs. I find this very clever and aesthetically pleasing.

The orange crane was folded from a 9-3/4" square of standard origami paper. It measures 5-5/8" from beak to foot. The model was designed by Robert J. Lang, and folding instructions may be found in his book Origami in Action. The purple crane was folded from a 5-7/8" square of standard origami paper and measures 5" from beak to foot. This crane was designed by Kunihiko Kasahara, and folding instructions may be found in his book Origami Omnibus.

Pteranodon

It's a lovely day in the Mesozoic Era. The sun is shining... it's a beautiful day... and then all of a sudden... pterodactyl attack!


Caw!

This Pteranodon, photographed soaring above the coniferous forests of the late Cretaceous Period, is actually a sophisticated adaptation of the traditional flapping bird model, as featured in last week's post. The wings of the traditional model are reshaped; the tail and head are split into feet, beak, and crest, and voila! Although the modifications might seem severe, they don't alter the underlying structure of the model. Thus, the flapping action is preserved; tugging the beastie's feet produces a terrific prehistoric flap.


This model was designed by Robert J. Lang and folded from a 7" square of standard origami paper. It measures 3-1/4" from snout to rump, with a 5-3/8" wingspan. Folding instructions may be found in Lang's excellent book Origami Design Secrets.

Valentine

I found my ruler. Specifically, I found it under my foot, in two pieces. Ah, well.

This week's model is a little somethin'-somethin' for the lovers. Aw, yeah.


This Valentine was a pretty fun model to make. It actually starts life as a traditional (but versatile) bird base. Two flaps become the top of the heart (front and back), and two flaps become the arrow. The flaps are largely consumed by the folding. My first attempt at this model was with a standard 5-7/8" square of origami paper. It very quickly became too small to fold.

This model was folded from a 13-3/4" square of red origami paper. The completed Valentine is almost 9-1/2" from arrow tip to arrow tail. (I made a new ruler!) The model was designed by Robert J. Lang. Folding instructions may be found in his book Origami Design Secrets.

KNL Dragon

RUUUOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRGH!

This happy fellow is the Kasahara-Neale-Lang Dragon. We see him in his native habitat, hunting for prey along the fertile plains beneath the majestic Orange Couch Mountains.

This beast is an adaptation of dragons by Kunihiko Kasahara and Robert Neale by Robert J. Lang. In Lang's own words:

...some years ago a composite (multisheet) origami model had become quite popular by combining the head from a dragon by Kunihiko Kasahara (itself a three-piece composite model) with the body, wings, legs, and tail of a simple one-sheet dragon by Robert Neale.... The combination became known as the Kasahara-Neale Dragon.

Lang uses a technique called grafting to create the critter with a single sheet of paper. Essentially, a large bird base and a small bird base are embedded in a larger square of paper, such that both bird bases touch at one point. The extra paper is used to give the dragon larger wings that the original. Unfortunately, it also produces a strange two-toned effect, but with the right paper, this isn't a problem.

This model was created from a square of 13 3/4" standard origami paper. The completed model is 8" from snout to tail, with a wingspan of 6". Diagrams and folding directions may be found in Origami Design Secrets by Robert J. Lang.