The Origami Forum

Hi guys! I know there are other topics about shaping but the question I have is extremely specific. How do you shape mantis legs? I've tried straight up gluing them (didn't like the result) and then moved on to wrapping the legs with wet paper towels and after a few hours removing them, putting the final posing and waiting. Here was my result.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/136853475 ... ed-friend/
But its still not good enough for me. I want a result like this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/o-ri-ga-m ... ateposted/
but I can't seem to get the shaping perfect. How do you shape Mantis legs?

Couldn't you try using wire?

I did consider it for a while, but in the end i decided against it, because even the super thin kinds of wire would make the leg thicker, which is not my goal and increases the possibility I will rip the paper as I soak it in water for a more permanent shape.
I have no problem getting the legs to stay in position either. I'm just trying see if there are any better ways to shape mantis legs

This is the reason I stopped folding insects. Mine looked like yours instead of like kota imai. So I'm sorry I got no real advice. Maybe your paper is too thick to begin with? I'm curious how people like kota and ataman make such high detailed insects.

I think I read somewhere that Kota rolls the paper around something (maybe a wire) to round it and then glues it in place.
I tried asking him about his paper choice a while ago and never got a response..

wire, on its surface, seems like the correct solution, but it is not always straightforward in the case of praying mantises. you have to find the right layer to hide the wire in. furthermore, the layer has to communicate with the body in some way; otherwise, while you can bend the legs to a desired angle, holding the legs away from the body still poses a problem. lastly, with double tissue, it's very easy for the wire to pierce through the layers.

AFAIK, you're gonna be stuck using wet folding and rags as described by peyton and diaz. an alternative is wet folding with some mc and using a blow dryer while you hold the appendages at the desired angle. this is still tricky, and is actually best accomplished with two pairs of hands.

Thanks guys! I'll try both of the wire approaches. I guess Roodborst is right; double tissue may be way to thick for reasonable results on mantises. Also to Baltorigamist, I'm pretty sure he uses single tissue for his mantises. Their is no way you can get that thin with double tissue as I learned. I still need to figure out how he manages to get single tissue to hold up the weight of the model. Even with glue and water I feel like they might cave. I'll post on my experience with it if I try single tissue on a refold.

I finished the one I was working on! This is how it came out:
Mantis-Kota Imai by Anugrah C, on Flickr

This is the original.
Mantis (refold) by Kôta Imai, on Flickr

Mine didn't come out as awesome as his, but it came out really nice despite not being single tissue.I made a really stupid mistake in the collapse which lead to some problems ( I didn't notice it until the end). Now it suffers from a overly long prothorax.