The Origami Forum

I'm making Takashi's Icarus, and it's going quite well. Being the over-achiever I am, and partially crazy, I'm debating making one that's life sized. Should I spend weeks taping the paper and folding to make one about 5'-5.5' tall, or will that just result in disaster?

I haven't folded a large sized Icarus, but have some experience with oversized models and they turn bad even at smaller scales that the one you are planning to tackle. The weight of the paper makes models not to stand and they collapse badly. Maybe if you use some wire supports and maybe some other help it could work.

lol then i guess not. I don't have sturdy wire to hold it, as awesome as it probably would have been. 'course, i'm not quite as ambitious as a group was in Japan. Yes, group. they all banded together to make a friggin' HUGE dinosaur of paper! They had ta hold it up with a bunch of machinery, but it was huge!! (lol, that's what she said) See for yourself!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6wzyVc- ... ature=fvwp

I say do it! My friend and I folded Nguyen Hung Cuong's Eagle out of 12 foot square paper for display at our University. You have to plan it well, and decide where it will need reinforcement using the small scale model. we used a combination of wire and thin aluminum to support it. It took at least 36 hours, but was well worth it. We used three 4 foot by 12 foot strips taped using packing tape into a square. The paper we used was a thin craft-like paper from a 50 foot roll that is often used at schools etc. it cost $25 for the roll. It was truly a great experience.

Hope this helps you make up your mind,

Andrew

What do you guys think I should fold mega scale?
Im intriguied by this stuff.
Its like a big FUUU- YOU to physics, in a way.

Rdude wrote:I say do it! My friend and I folded Nguyen Hung Cuong's Eagle out of 12 foot square paper for display at our University. You have to plan it well, and decide where it will need reinforcement using the small scale model. we used a combination of wire and thin aluminum to support it. It took at least 36 hours, but was well worth it. We used three 4 foot by 12 foot strips taped using packing tape into a square. The paper we used was a thin craft-like paper from a 50 foot roll that is often used at schools etc. it cost $25 for the roll. It was truly a great experience.

Hope this helps you make up your mind,

Andrew

Haha when I go out ta college this August, I could make a big-a$$ eagle too!! The college's mascot is an eagle, so what better to make than an eagle?!

redheadorigami wrote:What do you guys think I should fold mega scale?
Im intriguied by this stuff.
Its like a big FUUU- YOU to physics, in a way.

Lol make Kamiya's Ancient Dragon to the scale most people think of dragons!! Yeah, that's realistic. Um, so far the biggest thing I've folded was a polar bear (forget the author, too lazy ta look it up) from a 4' square, and it ended up being about 1' high by 18" long by a little less than 1' wide. I guess it all really depends on your skill level and confidence, really. You could do Kirschenbaum's skeleton, making it lifesize (wait, I remember doing that for my aunt & uncle one halloween, but some jerk came and stole it off their porch. From an 8' square, it ended up about short of 5.5'. You'll need good supports, though, if you want it to stand up, and not do what they did and have it in a chair.)

Thanks!
Hows this, a 20 by 20 metre square?

redheadorigami wrote:Thanks!
Hows this, a 20 by 20 metre square?

How's about a couple of beers and razor blades!! Wait, is that how big the square was? Well, if you manage to actually fold some GIANT origami from said square, more power to ya!! And if you'd be near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I could help if you wanted!! (Or near Harrisburg if before September)

*EDIT*.
Just looked at the video again, and in the description it said 5m*5m

The largest thing I've folded was a ~7ft tall Floderer style mushroom, from an 18ft by 18ft piece of paper (school craft paper, 6 pieces 3ftx18ft attached together by masking tape). It was this past month for an "Alice in Wonderland" Prom. I had planned to do a giant multi-piece Jabberwocky, but didn't have the time :S.

Some tips:

-Might take you multiple people to help you fold the model well, and might be hard to describe it to non origami folks (putting together the paper sheet neatly may also require multiple helpers).

-Air tends to get trapped in the layers of folds, at least in some steps.

-Make sure the folding area is clean. We had to fold this in a Gymnaseum, and constantly had to sweep debris off of it.

-You or someone else will likely have to walk on the sheet. I'd suggest wearing socks, and I've also seen Robert Lang fold large pieces while wearing foam knee padding, similar to what roofers wear (not only to protect the paper I'd guess, folding large scale pieces are like a workout and can be rough on the knees and back). Joseph Wu may also have some suggestions, hes folded some large scale pieces too.

-As mentioned, most models need support. Most of mine end up suspended, using fishing line and micro binder clips.

Good luck! I'd like to see more giant origami. (I think this would also be an interesting convention cooperation competition).