Terry Tissue Foil

[dinogami]

Hi All! - Starting a new topic here, even though I've seen this topic covered briefly in other threads; I wasn't able to find a thread dedicated to this (if I missed it, please feel free to move this as necessary!). I bought some of Terry's tissue foil a few months ago, and just had an opportunity to pull some out (green, 60 x 60 cm) and try it, with Kamiya's "Ancient Dragon" (I've seen pictures of it folded with this foil on this forum). Based on what I'd read about it here, I expected phenomenal things! Sadly, I was deeply disappointed. During even the initial few dozen pre-creasing steps, the paper began to split at intersections of several creases; by the time I hit the toes-generating steps (51–59), the tips of all the toes began to split open, and in a few cases along the vertical folds pulled out in step 54. It became more or less unsalvageable after that.

Now, I'm fully prepared to accept that perhaps I did something wrong, or even than I got a bad batch or something (I read bethnor's review of the paper and understand that it varies a lot between colors). But I thought I'd run it by y'all for some comparison and advice. Here was my basic process:

* dry folding
* no MC on the non-shiny side
* making long creases initially by fingernail, and following up with a bone folder for sharp, crisp creases
* after the first few splits during pre-creasing, I put small pieces of Scotch tape over the splits and creased through them, which seemed to help

Should I have MC'd the non-shiny side first? I'm thinking of trying that with another sheet, although I've seen others on this forum explicitly state not to (or that it's unnecessary). Continually taping the splits further into the model seems unfeasible, too, and counterproductive.

Any advice, or comparative experiences, would be welcomed!

[origami_8]

That's very interesting. I've folded several complex models with tissue foil paper and never had it ripping on me even though I always make very sharp creases. I don't remember having used the green so far (Edit: I did for Kamiya's Tree Frog), but even though there are big differences between the individual colours I can not imagine them that big.
I'm sorry you made so bad experiences with this paper because I really like it, especially the copper one.

[bethnor]

i hate to sound like a broken record... but terry tissue foil is another example of paper that looks great but is "just okay" in the end.

i visited the paper tree in san francisco, and they had a kamiya ancient dragon and cerberus on display, both folded by kamiya himself, out of this tissue foil. both were in extremely bad shape, splaying apart. you would never have guessed it was done by the designer himself.

probably like any other paper, to judge it fairly, one has to have the right project in mind. and the reality is, for super complex models, it appears that this paper is "just okay." to get a great final result, one probably has to "cheat" a little. even in the sample pictures on origami-shop, it is evident it is too thick to allow you to do the fine shaping of the dragon's horns and claws.

also, jerry, terry warns that the green is "softer" than the other metallic tones. you may have more success with those.

[gordigami]

I have found that there are extraordinary differences between some of the " old " tissue foil, and the "new" tissue foil .
Visually, I like the old for the texture appearances. However , some colors are soft, possibly a bit weak.
Most of the " new" tissue-foils seem to be more crisp, and do seem to be stronger.
Therefore, I generally don't use the " old " anymore.
Please note that this is simply a subjective observation, hardly backed up by disciplined experimentation.

The best analysis of papers that I have seen, would be from Ilan Garibi & Gadi Visne on The Fold, at Origami USA.
https://origamiusa.org/thefold/article/ ... issue-foil

I have found that Nicolas Terry himself has a great deal of experience with both folding & paper qualities, so he may be able to offer you some honest insight.

Other persons, who may offer additional insight, would be Michael Lafosse and Robert Lang.

Overall, when I need a strong paper, I use elephant hide .

[dinogami]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments! Points well taken about the hype and the variation (including the green, although I admit some confusion about how application of what I presume is a different dye to the paper than other colors would create such weaknesses... But then again, I know little of the paper-making process, either!). I've since tried again with a red sheet, and it did indeed perform much better, although it has split in a couple of inconspicuous places. And I think I can now vouch for bethnor's point about it being too thick for a complex model, such as the "Ancient Dragon"--I'm not finished with it, but can already see that the thickness will be an issue.

Well, I bought the paper largely to have the experience with it; I didn't have particular projects in mind when I bought it (and I was curious how it differed from traditional tissue foil). Down the line, I think I'll try some less complex, or at least less layer-stacked, models with it.

I wish I could afford to play with more Origamido or O-gami paper (and that the latter came in larger sheets)! And still trying to find some adequate, and hopefully somewhat less pricey, substitutes that are very thin but very strong!

[Branzila]

I've made this with regular printer paper. didn't came out that good...