How to fold an origami hovercraft
Cut a red hull with a sloping cabin, fold a black square into a fan ring, pleat and round a puffy black skirt, and pleat blue waves to glide over.
You need: Red paper 24 × 14 cm, a 13 cm black square, a black strip 31.5 × 9 cm, blue paper 35 × 6.5 cm, scissors, glue and a white pen. Hard, 15 steps, about 35 minutes.
Steps
- Hull: fold in half. Start white side up. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge, so the hull is red on both sides with the fold along the top.
- Hull: cabin. Cut from the top, a little right of the middle, down on a slant to the front. Cut the back the same way, in a longer slant, so a cabin rises in the middle.
- Fan: new sheet. Set the hull aside. Take the black square, white side up.
- Fan: corners in. Fold all four corners in to meet in the middle.
- Fan: middle. Fold each point back out a little, so a small white square shows in the middle for the hub.
- Fan: round it. Fold the four points of the square behind, so the fan ring is round.
- Waves: new sheet. Set the fan aside. Take the long blue strip, blue side up.
- Waves: fold up. Fold the bottom edge up, creasing 3 cm above it.
- Waves: pleat. Fold it back down on a crease 8 mm higher. The pleat leaves a ledge like a rolling wave.
- Skirt: new sheet. Set the waves aside. Take the long black strip, black side up.
- Skirt: in half. Fold the bottom half behind, the long way.
- Skirt: pleat. Fold each end over towards the middle on an upright crease about 7 cm from it.
- Skirt: pleat back. Fold each end back out on a crease 8 mm nearer the end. The pleats split the skirt into puffy sections.
- Skirt: puff it. Cut all four corners round in small snips, so the skirt looks like a puffy cushion.
- Build the hovercraft. Glue the hull on top of the skirt and the fan ring at the back of the hull. Glue the skirt onto the waves so it just touches the water.
Whoosh!
Draw the cabin windows, a white stripe, a white ring and fan blades, and foam on the waves. Blow on the fan and whoosh it over the water!