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How to fold an origami flying fish

Fold a blue strip into a slim fish and split its tail into a fork. Pleat a second strip into a long ribbed wing fin, then fold a wave with a curl of white foam.

You need: A 10 × 22 cm strip of blue paper, a 9 × 15 cm strip of light blue and a 5 × 14 cm strip of teal, all white on the back, scissors, glue and a pen. Hard, 18 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: in half. White side up, strip lying across. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, so it is blue on both sides.
  2. Body: side crease. Fold the top edges down to the bottom fold.
  3. Body: open it. Open that last fold again. The crease is the line along the fish's side.
  4. Body: shape the head. Fold the top left corner behind on a long slant and the bottom left corner behind on a short one, so the head ends in a blunt snout.
  5. Body: slim the tail. Fold the back and the belly behind on long slants from the middle of the fish, so it narrows to 2.3 cm at the tail end.
  6. Body: split the tail. Snip 5 cm along the side crease from the tail end.
  7. Body: fork the tail. Fold the top half of the tail up on a slant from the end of the snip, and the bottom half down the same way. Two sharp lobes spread apart.
  8. The wing. Set the body aside. Take the light blue strip, white side up, rising to the right.
  9. Wing: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, so it is light blue on both sides.
  10. Wing: slant the tip. Fold the bottom right corner behind on a slant, from 4 cm along the bottom fold to 2.25 cm up the end, so the tip sweeps up.
  11. Wing: narrow the root. Fold the bottom left corner behind on a slant, from 4.5 cm along the bottom fold to 2 cm up the end.
  12. Wing: narrow the root again. Fold that corner behind again on a longer slant, from 8 cm along to 3.4 cm up the end. Now the root is narrow.
  13. Wing: pleat. Fold the top edges down on a crease 3.75 cm above the bottom fold, right along the wing.
  14. Wing: pleat back. Fold them back up on a crease 6 mm lower. The ridges are the fin's rays.
  15. The wave. Set the wing aside. Take the teal strip, teal side up, lying across.
  16. Wave: the slope. Fold the top left corner behind on a gentle slant, so the wave rises from left to right.
  17. Wave: curl the crest. Fold the top right corner down and in on a slant, so a white curl of foam tumbles off the crest.
  18. Glue it together. Glue the wing's root onto the body just behind the head, wing rising over the back. Glue the tail onto the wave so the fish leaps up out of it.

Up and away!

Draw a big eye near the snout and a small mouth below it.

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