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How to fold an origami speedboat

Fold a red strip into a hull with a slanting white stripe and cut a sharp bow. Snip a folded strip into a spiky spray, pleat a blue strip into waves and glue it all together.

You need: Red paper 22 × 10 cm, a light blue strip 10 × 6 cm, a pale blue scrap, blue paper 34 × 7 cm, scissors and glue. Hard, 17 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. Start white side up. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The fold along the bottom is the keel.
  2. Racing stripe. Fold the top edge of the front layer down on a slant, 2 cm at the back and 0.5 cm at the front. Fold the back layer the same way behind.
  3. Cut the hull. Cut from the keel, a little past the middle, in a long slant up to the top front corner for a sharp bow. Trim the back end on a slight slant.
  4. Windscreen: new sheet. Set the hull aside. Take the pale blue scrap for the windscreen.
  5. Windscreen: shape it. Cut both short sides on a slant, leaning back, so the top is shorter than the bottom.
  6. Spray: new sheet. Set the windscreen aside. Take the light blue strip, long side across.
  7. Spray: in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  8. Spray: in half again. Fold the right edges back over onto the left fold.
  9. Spray: and again. Fold it in half once more the same way, into a narrow stack. Crease it hard.
  10. Spray: snip. Cut through the whole stack on a slant, from the top left corner down to 2 cm below the top on the right.
  11. Spray: open it. Unfold the last fold.
  12. Spray: open again. Unfold the next fold.
  13. Spray: open flat. Unfold the first fold too. The top is now a row of sharp splashes.
  14. Waves: new sheet. Set the spray aside. Take the long blue strip, blue side up.
  15. Waves: fold up. Fold the bottom edge up, creasing 3.5 cm below the top edge.
  16. Waves: fold back down. Fold it back down on a crease 1 cm higher, making a pleat. The ledge looks like a rolling wave.
  17. Launch it. Glue the hull behind the top of the waves, the windscreen behind the deck, and the spray behind the back of the boat.

Zoom!

Draw white foam curls along the top of the waves. Then hold the waves and zoom the boat across the table. Full speed ahead!

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