The Origami Forum

I've assign a task for my college japanese cultural event to fold a real size giraffe, rhino & elephant, tiger, lion, some birds and leopard on a tree... something like a african scene with fake sun and clouds with the environments surrounding like some mountain and rock and stuffs like that... i wonder how big....the paper need to be

ppl have. try e-mailing dr. lang and asking him how he does it (he posts here under "bugfolder," try sending him a PM, i am given to understand he is very generous and helpful). you could also try getting onto flickr and contacting joseph wu, as i believe he has also done some life-sized models for commission. the main trick, i would guess, is supporting the model so that it doesn't collapse under its weight.

That sounds ridiculously complicated but awesome. You'll have to create the giant sheets out of long rolls of paper that you can cut long rectangles out of and connect with tape side-by-side.
I'd probably paint over the sheets myself instead of trying to find one the right color.
If you're serious about life-size giraffes and elephants, you'll need stiff wire and beam supports to hide inside the legs. And lots of glue.
Also, an enormous indoor flat area to fold them in, like a gymnasium, and you'll need the space for weeks to create the paper, make the models, add the support structures, and still be able to get them out the door.
Well... just my ideas.

Check out the work of Gerard Ty Sovann as well.
He has a lot of pictures of life size models on his webpage:
http://www.gerardty.net/

As I posted in another topic, My friend and I folded a large version of Nguyen Hung Cuong's Eagle from 12 foot square paper. We needed to build a frame out of sheet aluminum to slip into the wings in order to help the model retain it's shape. It ended up being a fairly complicated, but enjoyable project.

Lafosse folds them by wet folding watercolor paper, which comes in large rolls!

I don't know about life size elephants but I have folded a 8 foot Kade Chan Dragon for a homecoming parade before....
I used kraft paper that my art teacher had. Really durable, foldable (thickness of...tant I think) stuff, that comes in rather large rolls that can make large sheets (4x4 feet I believe? Maybe 5?) and a variety of colours. I just used tape and rubber cement to hold the whole model together (and the multiple sheets to make the square, of course), plus some chicken wire and spray paint. Try folding something that doesn't have a lot of sinks if you're folding it by yourself (like I did), because you might not be able to lift and sink the paper with just two hands!

Good luck! And post a picture if you can!

This is pretty big.

-Watches Video-

Wow.....just wow. I wish I had a ton of helpers like that. I would make huge stuff everyday....(quickly takes that back after remembering sore arms).

Is that spinosaurus the one by Shuki Kato?

EDIT: I learned on another topic that this is the one by Kazuya Matsumoto. Sorry!

On Japanese Origami Tv Champions 2010 Satoshi Kamiya was asked to fold natural scale animals, he folded Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe, Plesiosaurus and Rabbit.
Rabbit - 0,8m x 0,8m
Elephant - 7,5m x 7,5m
Lion - 6m x 6m
Giraffe - 7,5m x 7,5m
Rhino - probably 6m x 6m but it wasn't shown exactly
Plesiosaurus - 9m x 9m

Bald Eagle - philiporigami
8 by 8 foot square

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM53ViImpb8
Picture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkuhns/524 ... otostream/