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Michael LaFosse - American Alligator

Posted: September 8th, 2009, 3:29 pm
by PauliusOrigami
Image
Still Folding...

And i am confused how short front legs are... Has anybody folded this alligator too?
I tried to fold the this crocodilian without using grit, first, and the result was the same - front legs seems to be too short . Anyway I'll try to do sth with them...
And please tell me if you had or not, this problem.

Posted: September 8th, 2009, 4:53 pm
by Adam
I remember folding this alligator from plain square sheet, without the scales. In my final result the front legs were indeed rather short compared to the rest of the body. Perhaps I didn't shape it properly, but I guess I had a similar problem.

The only thing I can think of is that you have to spend lots of time shaping the model to make the front legs look larger. LaFosse probably intended them to be so short, but he still found a way to make it look good.

Posted: September 8th, 2009, 8:52 pm
by Diopside
This sounds interesting! Which book is the cp or diagram in, or either on the net?

Posted: September 8th, 2009, 9:18 pm
by Adam
I don't know where to find a crease pattern for it, but the diagrams can be found in Michael LaFosse's "Origami Art", along with some other great models.

Posted: November 15th, 2009, 6:07 pm
by origamifreak_1.6180339889
hey everybody. i got origami art for my birthday and my friend at my party made a bet with me that i couldnt make the american alligator. he said that he'd give me 10 dollars just to make it by dec. 18th he said-
-it has to be the size of a school desk (2 feet long)
-it needs to have just as many scales as in the picture. im not sure that the diagrams have that many scales. i heard somewhere that you have to divide the paper into 236's.
i need to know what size of paper i need to make this and how much i need to divide it. please. thanks in advance

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 7:18 am
by WhisperPuffin
As it says at the beginning of the diagrams, you divide it into 128ths. Also, you'll need a square of at least 70cm, larger if possible. Make sur the paper is really thin and holds it's shape, tissue foil or double tissue would work if you don't have any flashy expensive paper.

EDIT: If it has to be 2 feet long, You'll need something like 2 metre (6 foot 7 inch) paper XD

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 12:27 pm
by origamifreak_1.6180339889
thanks whisperpuffin. i was planning on using tissue foil. and i thought that there were 2 different versions of it. the 128th version http://www.morikami.org/index.php?src=g ... y=Exhibits
and the 236th version http://www.flickr.com/photos/11721579@N00/941544187/
i could be wrong though

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 1:01 pm
by Falcifer
I haven't folded this, so I'm not certain about this...

However, those two images seem to have the same number of "sections" between the forelegs and rear legs. I count about 10 pleats.

The "128ths" version looks like the pleats are facing forwards, though. And the other version seems to have some extra stuff, most notably the "spine".
It's probably due to differences in folding and the paper/technique used to do the folding.

Again, I haven't folded this, so I don't know if it's actually feasible, but if the model is based on a 128 grid, then it might be possible to make smaller scales by creasing halfway between the 128, but that would lead to 256ths, rather than 236ths. But this would only be possible if the folding sequence allows it.

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 2:06 pm
by Adam
Yeah, folding it using 256ths is indeed possible. It also makes the precreasing horribly more tedious. Having taken a look at the pictures from the book and comparing it to my own alligator, I'm still not sure whether Michael LaFosse divided it into 256ths or 128ths. My gut tells me it's 128ths though.

By the way, make sure you use thin and strong paper for this model. I tried it with a 1m² sheet of kraft, and it was nearly impossible to even mountain fold the model in half. Don't make the same mistake I did!

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 4:35 pm
by origamifreak_1.6180339889
well, i just sent an email to micheal asking him about it. hopefully he'll reply by dec. 18

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 4:38 pm
by Adam
Michael's a great guy. I've mailed with him recently as well ( also regarding the alligator ), and he usually responds pretty soon.

However, I am relatively confident that the way he folded it he used a division into 128ths. Why else would he diagram it like that, if the end result is completely different from what he shows?

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 4:57 pm
by origamifreak_1.6180339889
but if you look at step 6 and compare it to the picture, the one that micheals folding looks like it has twice as many pleats.

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 6:49 pm
by Jonnycakes
The model clearly works with both 128ths and 256ths, so he probably diagrammed 128ths because more people would try it. It is easy to make the change to 256ths, so those willing to face the extra challenge can easily do so.

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 7:47 pm
by origamifreak_1.6180339889
i agree with johnnycakes, but i really need to know what the grid that michael used was. i found this picture while looking for an answer http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadechan/3868684873/ this ones based on 256th's

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 11:09 pm
by insaneorigami
Adam wrote:Michael's a great guy. I've mailed with him recently as well ( also regarding the alligator ), and he usually responds pretty soon.
I e-mailed Michael regarding paper, and he replied several hours later. I don't think you'll have any trouble getting a response by the 18 :)