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How to fold an origami cassowary

A black rectangle folded in half and arched into a dome by two tapered pleats. A blue neck is slimmed and reverse-folded into a head with a tall casque; red wattles and legs are folded strips.

You need: A black 14 × 13 cm rectangle and a blue 14 cm square, white on the back; a red strip 0.7 × 3.6 cm; a grey strip 2 × 15 cm; glue, white pen. Hard, 22 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. Black rectangle, black side up, long sides level. Fold the top half down behind, so the fold along the top is the back.
  2. Front pleat in. Fold the right end over to the left on a crease from the top fold 2.8 cm right of the middle, leaning in a little at the bottom.
  3. Front pleat out. Fold it back out on a crease from the same point on top, 2 cm further in at the bottom. The front end tips down.
  4. Back pleat in. Fold the left end over to the right on a crease from the top fold 2.8 cm left of the middle, leaning in a little at the bottom.
  5. Back pleat out. Fold the left end back out on a crease from the same point on top, 2 cm further in at the bottom, so the rump tips down too.
  6. Round the ends. Fold the four corners of the ends behind, 1.6 cm along each edge, so the body is a round black mound.
  7. Neck: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the blue square, white side up, turned like a diamond, and crease it from left corner to right corner.
  8. Neck: kite. Fold the two lower edges in to the centre crease.
  9. Neck: long diamond. Fold the two upper edges in to the centre crease too.
  10. Neck: slimmer. Fold the two upper edges in to the centre crease once more, so the top half is a long thin point.
  11. Neck: in half. Mountain-fold the right half behind along the centre crease. The fold on the right is the front of the neck.
  12. Neck: shorten. Fold the bottom 6 cm of the wide end up behind, so the neck is short enough to hide its end behind the body.
  13. Head. 4.8 cm below the top, outside-reverse-fold the top point forward, a little down: the head and bill.
  14. Casque. 2.2 cm along the top of the head, outside-reverse-fold the rest of the point up and back over the head: the tall casque.
  15. Wattles: new sheet. Set the neck aside. Take the red strip, standing tall.
  16. Wattles: in half. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, so it is red on both sides.
  17. Two wattles. Fold the top half down over the bottom half on a slanted crease, so the two ends hang side by side like two red lobes.
  18. Legs: new sheet. Set the wattles aside. Take the grey strip, standing tall.
  19. Fold the strip. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge, so it is coloured on both sides.
  20. Two legs. Fold the top half down on a slanted crease across the middle, so it swings out ahead: one leg stepping forward.
  21. Feet. Fold the last 1.4 cm of each leg forward along the ground.
  22. Put it together. Glue the legs behind the belly. Glue the neck behind the chest so it rises from the front, and the wattles at its throat.

Boom, cassowary!

Draw a dark eye with a white glint under the casque.

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