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How to fold an origami big robot

A real build. Fold a blue body with a white control-panel window, a grey head with a cut visor, brow and pleated jaw, a red antenna and heart, two claw arms, two legs with knees and boots, and an orange jetpack with two rocket cones. Glue it all together and stand your robot up on its boots.

You need: 11 pieces: 15 cm blue, 12 cm grey and orange, two 7.5 cm grey, four dark grey, two small red (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pen.. Challenge, 51 steps, about 50 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: top edge down. Start with the body: a 15 cm blue square, white side up. Fold the top edge down about 2.5 cm.
  2. Body: bottom edge up. Fold the bottom edge up the same amount.
  3. Body: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in by 2 cm. The white window left in the middle is the robot's control panel.
  4. Heart: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take a 3.5 cm red square, coloured side up.
  5. Heart: fold in half. Fold the left edge over to the right edge.
  6. Heart: cut half a heart. Holding the fold on the left, cut from its bottom end up to the right edge, round over the top and back down to the fold a little below the top.
  7. Heart: open it. Open the fold again: a whole red heart.
  8. Head: new sheet. Now the head, the tricky part. Set the heart aside and take a 12 cm grey square, white side up.
  9. Head: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  10. Head: cut the front layer. Cut a 3.3 cm strip off the top of the front layer only, straight across. The white back layer shows above it.
  11. Head: fold the brow down. Fold the back layer's top edge down 1.2 cm over the white. A white slit about 1 cm tall is left between the brow and the front: the visor.
  12. Head: chin up. Fold the bottom edge up by 9 mm.
  13. Head: pleat the chin. Fold that strip back down, creasing half way up it. The step it leaves is the robot's jaw.
  14. Head: sides behind. Fold the left and right sides behind by 2.6 cm, so the head is a box a little wider than tall.
  15. Head: snip the corners. Snip a small slant off both top corners, through all the layers.
  16. Antenna: new sheet. Set the head aside. Take a 4 cm red square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  17. Antenna: make a kite. Fold the two edges by the bottom corner in, so they meet along the middle.
  18. Antenna: narrow it. Fold the slanted edges to the middle again, making a long thin point.
  19. Antenna: blunt the top. Fold the top corner behind, about a fifth of the way down.
  20. Left arm: new sheet. Set the antenna aside. Take a 7.5 cm grey square, white side up.
  21. Left arm: sides to the middle. Fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle.
  22. Left arm: fold in half. Fold the left half over onto the right half.
  23. Left arm: cut the claw. At the bottom, cut a slant off the folded corner, 2 cm up the fold, and a small one off the outer corner. Round the top outer corner too.
  24. Left arm: open it. Open the last fold. The V cut in the middle splits the end into a pincer claw.
  25. Right arm: new sheet. Set it aside and take the second 7.5 cm grey square, white side up.
  26. Right arm: sides to the middle. Fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle.
  27. Right arm: fold in half. Fold the left half over onto the right half.
  28. Right arm: cut the claw. Cut the claw notch, claw tip and shoulder just like the left arm.
  29. Right arm: open it. Open it out: a second claw arm.
  30. Left leg: new sheet. Set the arm aside. Take a 6 x 8 cm dark grey rectangle, white side up, long sides left and right.
  31. Left leg: sides to the middle. Fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle.
  32. Left leg: knee up. Fold the bottom half up, creasing just below the middle.
  33. Left leg: pleat the knee. Fold it back down, creasing 7 mm above the first fold. The little step is the knee.
  34. Right leg: new sheet. Set it aside and take the second 6 x 8 cm dark grey rectangle.
  35. Right leg: sides to the middle. Fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle.
  36. Right leg: knee up. Fold the bottom half up just below the middle, like the left leg.
  37. Right leg: pleat the knee. Fold it back down 7 mm higher, making the knee step.
  38. Left boot: new sheet. Set the leg aside. Take a 5 cm dark grey square, white side up.
  39. Left boot: fold it up. Fold the bottom edge up until it stops 6 mm short of the top. The white strip will be the sole.
  40. Left boot: round the toes. Snip a slant off both corners of the folded edge, through both layers. Later the boot goes on upside down: rounded top, white sole.
  41. Right boot: new sheet. Set it aside and take the second 5 cm dark grey square.
  42. Right boot: fold it up. Fold the bottom edge up, 6 mm short of the top.
  43. Right boot: round the toes. Snip both folded corners off the same way.
  44. Jetpack: new sheet. Last part. Set the boot aside and take a 12 cm orange square, white side up.
  45. Jetpack: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  46. Jetpack: in half again. Fold the left edge over to the right edge.
  47. Jetpack: cut the cones. Cut a long slant from the fold 2.6 cm down up to the top edge 4.6 cm out, then a short slant down from there to the side. Both layers, all at once.
  48. Jetpack: open it. Unfold the last fold: two rocket cones side by side.
  49. Jetpack: white noses. Fold the tips of the front layer down, about 1 cm. White shows at both tips: the rockets' nose cones.
  50. Build the robot. Lay the body on the jetpack, cones by its shoulders. Glue on the heart, head and arms; antenna behind the head, legs behind the body, boots over the leg ends.
  51. Stand it up. Fold both boots forward at the ankles and stand the robot on them. Bend the arms forward a little at the shoulders, ready for a hug.

Beep boop, hello!

Draw eyes in the visor, a smile and cheek bolts, buttons and sliders on the control panel, and white bolts on the body and knees.

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