How to fold an origami harbour tug
Fold one long red strip, pleat a fender into its stern and reverse-fold the front end up, back and down into a raked bow with a wheelhouse on top. Add a folded black funnel.
You need: Red paper 35 × 10 cm, a black rectangle 3 × 6.5 cm, glue and a white pen. Hard, 12 steps, about 30 minutes.
Steps
- Edges to the middle. Start white side up. Fold the top and bottom edges in to meet along the middle.
- Fold in half. Mountain-fold it in half along the middle, so the top half goes behind. Now it is a long thick strip, red on both sides.
- Fender: fold over. Fold the short back end over to the right, front layer forward and back layer behind, a thumb's width from the end.
- Fender: fold back. Fold it straight back out a little further right, leaving a narrow pleat across the hull. That's the stern fender.
- Stern. Fold the bottom corner of the back end behind on a slant, all layers together, so the stern slopes in.
- Bow. Outside-reverse-fold the long front end straight up, on a 45° crease from the bottom edge. The slanted fold is the bow; the upright part is the wheelhouse front.
- Wheelhouse roof. High up, fold the upright part back towards the stern on a slant, all layers together. It runs along as the roof.
- Wheelhouse back. Fold the roof's end straight down on a slant, so it lands on the deck and leaves a big open window. Glue it there.
- Funnel: new sheet. Set the tug aside. Take the black rectangle, black side up, short edge at the top.
- Funnel: band. Fold the top edge down a little, so a white band shows across the top.
- Funnel: slim it. Fold both long sides behind, so the funnel is half as wide.
- Build the tug. Glue the tug over the funnel's foot, so the funnel stands up behind the wheelhouse.
Toot toot!
Draw white portholes along the hull. Push the big ships into the harbour!