What is the Origami Ryujin?
The origami ryujin is a representation of a ryujin, or dragon god, in Japanese mythology. The ryujin is a symbol of the power and majesty of the ocean, and is often depicted as a serpentine creature with scales, horns, whiskers and claws. The origami ryujin captures these features in great detail, using a single sheet of paper and no cuts or glue. The origami ryujin has a long body with intricate scales, a fierce head with horns and teeth, four legs with claws and a tail with spikes. The origami ryujin also has a mane of hair that runs along its back and neck, which can be shaped in different ways.
How to Fold an Origami Ryujin: Step-by-Step Diagrams and Instructions
How to Fold the Origami Ryujin?
The origami ryujin is one of the most challenging origami models ever designed, and there are no official diagrams or instructions for it. The only way to fold it is by following the crease pattern (CP), which is a diagram that shows all the folds and their directions on a flat sheet of paper. The CP does not show how to collapse or shape the model, so you need to figure that out by yourself or by looking at pictures or videos of other folders works.
The CP for the origami ryujin has been published by Satoshi Kamiya on his website and in his book World of Super Complex Origami. There are different versions of the CP, corresponding to different versions of the model. The first version was Ryujin 1.0, which was folded from a 2-meter square paper and took Satoshi two months to complete. He later improved the design and created Ryujin 2.0, Ryujin 2.1, Ryujin 3.0 and Ryujin 3.5. Each version has more details and complexity than the previous one, and requires larger paper and more time to fold.
If you want to fold the origami ryujin, you need to prepare a large sheet of paper that is thin, strong and flexible. You can use tissue foil, which is made by gluing tissue paper and aluminum foil together, or other types of paper that are suitable for complex origami. You also need to print or draw the CP on the paper, using a ruler and a pencil or pen. You can find some PDF files of the CP online, but make sure they are scaled correctly to fit your paper size.
Once you have your paper ready, you need to pre-crease all the lines on the CP, following their directions (mountain or valley). This can take several hours or days, depending on your speed and accuracy. You also need to mark some reference points on the paper that will help you collapse and shape the model later. After pre-creasing, you need to collapse the paper along the creases, forming a base that has all the parts of the model in place. This can be very tricky and frustrating, as you need to manipulate a large and thick paper without tearing or misaligning it. You may need to use clips or pins to hold some parts together while collapsing others.
After collapsing the base, you need to shape the model by adding curves, angles and details to each part. This can also take a lot of time and effort, as you need to adjust each scale, horn, claw and spike individually. You can use wet-folding techniques, which involve moistening the paper slightly and molding it with your fingers or tools. You can also use wires or threads to reinforce some parts or create curves that are difficult to achieve with paper alone 04f6b60f66