How to fold an origami clanky robot
Narrow the head and free the legs of one steel strip with snips and swung flaps, bend white boots out, then add an arm strip whose elbows and claws are outside-reverse-folded.
You need: Grey paper 8 × 19.5 cm, a grey strip 23 × 5 cm, scissors, glue and a black pen. Hard, 16 steps, about 30 minutes.
Steps
- Leg creases. Grey side up. Fold both long sides in 2.5 cm and crease well.
- Open them. Open them out again.
- Head down. Fold the top end down 4.5 cm. That's the head.
- Snip the neck. Snip along the head's fold from each side, 1.5 cm in.
- Slim the head. Fold the sides of the head in to the ends of the snips.
- Head up. Fold the head back up. Now it is narrower than the body, with its sides tucked behind.
- Snip the legs. Snip up both creases from the bottom edge to 8.5 cm from it, where the hips are.
- Chest panel. Fold the middle flap between the legs up over the body at the hips. The side strips hang down as legs.
- Panel top. Fold the top of the panel back down, so just a white strip shows on the chest.
- Boots. Fold the bottom of each leg out sideways on a 45° slant down from its inner edge, so a white boot points out.
- Arms: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the grey strip, white side up.
- Arms: edges in. Fold the top and bottom edges in to meet along the middle.
- Arms: in half. Fold it in half along the middle, top half behind, for a thick grey strip.
- Elbows. Outside-reverse-fold both ends straight up, on 45° creases from the bottom edge, wrapping each round the strip.
- Claws. Outside-reverse-fold the tip of each forearm outwards, so the hands point away from the head.
- Build the robot. Glue the arms across the back of the body, just under the head.
Beep beep!
Draw two eyes and a mouth grille on the head and three buttons on the chest. Make it march across the table!