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How to fold an origami hammerhead shark

A kite folded in half into a slim shark. Lift and split the tail into a crescent, then glue on the hammer, a tall back fin and a side fin.

You need: A 15 cm square, a 3 × 8 cm strip, a 6 cm and a 5 cm square, grey on one side and white on the other, scissors, glue and a pen. Hard, 17 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
  2. Fold in the head. Fold the left corner in to the middle of the paper.
  3. Make a kite. Fold the two right-hand edges in toward the middle crease, stopping short so a white wedge shows down the middle.
  4. Fold in half. Fold the bottom half behind along the middle crease. The fold is the white belly, the blunt head points left.
  5. Fold the back down. Fold the top of the back down through all layers on a level crease 3 cm above the belly.
  6. Lift the tail. Fold the tail up on a crease 6 cm before its tip, slanting up toward the tip, so the tail rises.
  7. Snip the tail. Snip 3 cm along the tail's folded edge from the tip, so its front and back layers come apart.
  8. Make a crescent. Fold the front tip down and back from the end of the snip. The back tip stays up, so the tail is a crescent with a long top lobe.
  9. The hammer. Set the shark aside. Take the 3 × 8 cm strip, white side up, standing upright.
  10. Hammer: fold in half. Fold the strip in half the long way, right edge over to the left, so it's grey on both sides.
  11. Hammer: round the ends. Snip the four corners off the strip so both ends are round.
  12. The tall fin. Set the hammer aside too. Take the 6 cm square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  13. Fin: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up onto the top corner to make a grey triangle.
  14. Fin: and in half again. Fold the right half over onto the left half, so the fin has a slanted front edge and an upright back edge.
  15. The side fin. Set the tall fin aside. Take the 5 cm square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  16. Side fin: fold in half. Fold the top corner down onto the bottom corner to make a grey triangle.
  17. Glue it together. Glue the hammer upright across the front of the head. Glue the tall fin behind the middle of the back and the side fin behind the belly.

Hammer time!

Draw a big eye at each end of the hammer and a few gill lines behind the head.

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