I have recently begun to design what could be called 'supercomplex' models. These are models which have well over 100 steps to them, and involve lots of difficult sinks, reverse folds and closed unwrap folds, etc. Insects are becoming a favourite of mine, and I am slowly working my way through a Collins Gem book of creepy crawlies. In order to fold these, I have had to use a whole new series of bases, some of which I have borrowed from Robert Lang's Origami insects book, but most I have designed from scratch. Please note that these models will not be diagrammed on this site, as each one would take up way too many pages. However, if ever I write an origami book... Click above to see image Stag Beetle 2006 Another stag beetle, this time folded from an original base. To create the legs, I have used Robert Lang's Reference Finder program to work out how to place two equilateral triangles opposite each other, separated by the length of one of their sides, so that six equal length legs can be created. The rest model fits in nicely around the pre-creasing for this. Click above to see image Stag Beetle I havent experimented with box-pleating very much, so this is an early attempt. By spliting an edge of a square into thirds, the two corners and the two creases were turned into the back four legs, and the rest of the model almost folded itself. I still think further refinement is needed, but the model is getting better with each revision. Click above to see image Samurai Helmet Beetle I tried to design a samurai helmet beetle that was easy to fold, ie complex origami without too many folds or two many difficult steps. A couple of years down the line and several closed sinks and unwraps later, I've produced this model, which fails utterly in the original design plan. It is getting better with each revision, and the three dimentional shape of the body is something that I'm very pleased with. Now, if I can make its horns thinner and longer, I'll be happy. Click above to see image Chaffer Beetle Another attempt at box pleating, with limited success. I like the shape and folding sequence for the front of the body, which has a nice 3-D feel. However, I'm still not satisfied with the back legs. The points are in the right place, but the legs are too thick, and don't seem to come out of the body in an aesthetic fashion. I'll get the hang of it eventually... Click above to see image Atlas Beetle 2004 I have created a novel base for this model which has a nice, efficient folding sequence. I suppose I could make the junction between the thorax and abdomen thinner, or perhaps the abdomen thicker. However, this would greatly increase the number rather low number of steps to fold this beetle, compared to other beetles on this page. Click above to see image Winged Jambar Beetle This started off at an attempt at a winged scarab, folded from a blintzed preliminary base. The flaps for the front legs ended up a lot longer than the others, so I changed the deisgn to a different type of beetle. The paper does get quite thick in places, but the model is still fairly efficient, with long limbs overall. Click above to see image Scarab Beetle Somewhere in the old diagrams section is a 'beetle' model that is folded from a blintzed bird base. This is derived from this design, with a bit of unwrapping and box-pleating thrown in to create a nice little scarab with longer legs than most other scarab designs I've seen. Click above to see image Rhinoceros Beetle 2004 While messing about with a Blintzed frog base, I had a go at splitng the middle point in a similar way to Robert Lang's mantis design in Origami Insects and their Kin. I ended up with this model, which has a nice body shape and fairly long limbs. Click above to see image Praying Mantis 2004 This is a new design only loosely based on the one below. I have developed a new techique of marking out positions for legs and antennae around the edge of a sheet of paper and collapsing parts of the centre. This allows for very long and slender legs and in this models case, a narrow body. For such a complex model, the use of paper is still fairly efficient - a 27 cm square of paper has produced a 13 cm long model. Click above to see image Winged Neptune Beetle This is about as complicated as bases go! Using a base similar to the tarantula below, two long flaps became the wings. The other flaps from the edge of the paper formed the legs and wing casing. The four horns all come from the centre of the paper. The model uses a technique I first tried with the Atlas beetle below, but I have refined the base to get much longer legs. Diagrams would take dozens of pages. However, I may produce a crease pattern at some point... Click above to see image Tarantula This design came from plotting the position of the eight legs and two mandibles on the edges of a sheet of paper and figuring out how to collapse the rest of the paper into the abdomen. This gives the creature quite long legs and a nice round body. Click above to see image Praying Mantis After several disasters, I used a tried and trusted base that worked for the stag beetle. By trisecting some of the angles and repeatedly sinking, I achieved a slim body, without the paper getting too bulky. Click above to see image Bluebottle fly The base for this model was based on Lang's Cicada. I discoved that the flaps created on this model were quite easy to change colour on, and the fly soon started to fold itself. The legs were always a problem. Over the space of about a year, their shape evolved into the one seen above, which works quite well. Click above to see image Poplar leaf bettle This beetle has a bright red shell and black legs and head. I used a similar base to the stag beetle, allowing more room for the body, and made sure I left the raw edges of the paper close enough to the legs and head so that I could achieve this. Click above to see image Stag Beetle By experimenting with the ways angles bisect and trisect each other on a folded square, I created a form of off-set frog base with soon evolved into one of my favourite insect bases. As well as creating six legs, a body and two antenna, it gives a small flap in the middle of the back that forms a simple thorax. This can be seen on the back of this model. Click above to see image Lobster I have not been very adventurous for this model - it uses a blintz-frog base. Although the model provides everything the lobster needs - 10 legs, feelers, claws, eyestalks and scales - the model is rather bulky and gets rather thick in the middle. Click above to see image Devil's Horsecoach beetle This was one of my earlier beetles and uses another useful base, derived from the frog base. This creates a slim body with eight long points that can be used where necessary - in this case, six legs and two antenna. Click above to see image Longhorn beetle This is folded from the waterbomb base. I wanted to make the antenna as long as possible. The WB base allowed me to use two corners to achieve this. Click above to see image Sexton beetle This model is quite similar to the bluebottle, although much more paper is used to create the body. As well as outer wings, I have been able to create a pair of inner wings, which just stick out from under the orange shell. Click above to see image Giant Atlas beetle (winged) Now this was tricky! Having seen some of the winged beetles folded by various japanese grandmasters (see gallery 5) I had a go at designing one of my own. I found a nice picture on a beetle website to get the correct anatomy, devised a base that works to create all the horns, wings and six feet, and several attempts later, came up with the design seen here. Click above to see image Giant Neptune Beetle This huge beetle is part of the family of rhinoceros beetles. I decided to experiment with colour changing to produce a more attractive model. This base ins't particularly inspiring - it is a simple variation of a blintz frog base, but it works quite well with foil backed paper. Click above to see image Rhinoceros Beetle This is another giant tropical scarab beetle. The base is a variation of a blintz bird base, the centre part of the paper ending up and the smaller top horn, unlike the model above.