The Edge Unit A is the first of the modular origami designs from Tomoko Fuse's 'Unit Origami Wonderland'. The edges form a 90 degree angle on either side.

I have folded the cube, made from 12 such modules. The model is quite firm and assembly was not too much of a challenge either. Overall, a pleasing modular to work on.

Model Details:

Model: Cube from Edge Unit A 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami Wonderland
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches side

Modules: 12

A modular origami, made from 30 modules, from Tomoko Fuse's 'Unit Origami Fantasy'. I apologise for the quality of the picture. It was just one of those days when no picture came out well! And the poor quality of the paper didn't help.

But to move on to the model, this is a continuation of one of my previous posts, way back in 2014. I got a sudden hankering to make the 30 unit model and voila, here it is! The modules are folded in the same way and assembly was fairly easy.

Model Details:

Model: 30-Unit Modular 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami Fantasy
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~5 inches

Modules: 30

While I love folding origami kusudamas, over the past few years, I find it more pleasing to fold geometric modular shapes. And for those who are interested in polyhedral origami, Tomoko Fuse's book 'Unit Origami Essence' is an absolute treasure trove! As is the case with most of her other books, this book too is entirely in Japanese. But that is no hindrance, since the pictorial steps are very clear and fairly easy to follow. And in the few places that one might get stuck, Google Translate comes to the rescue.

One of the drawbacks of using a Japanese books is that I was not able to figure out the names of each of the models. The book is divided into 4 chapters. The first chapter is on cubes. The second chapter deals with solids made from triangular bases, the third - solids made from pentagonal bases and finally, the fourth deals with solids from star-shaped bases.

My first attempt from the book was from the Cubes section. I tried out pretty much all the cube models. The individual modules are pretty easy to fold. The second of the models (in brown and yellow in the pic) was very unique - made from boat-shaped units, 4 units in all. Most of the other cubes were from 6 modules. A couple of the cubes were pretty nice variations.

All the models have a recommended size listed. For all the cubes I had tried, it was given as 15 cms * 15 cms (6 inches * 6 inches). But I had used 9 cms * 9 cms (3.5 inches * 3.5 inches) squares and didn't have much difficulty folding or assembling the pieces.

Model Details:

Model: Various Cubes

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami Essence

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~1.4 inches side

Number of Modules: 3 to 6

Tomoko Fuse's book 'Unit Origami Fantasy' is in Japanese, so I am not able to find the name of this model! Hence the generic title for the post :) Do leave a comment if you are aware of the name of the model. Though the book is in Japanese, the detailed step-by-step instructions are more than enough to complete the models.

As far as the model goes, this is a simple model, made from a windmill base. I used printer paper (80 gsm) for the units, which turned out pretty good for this model. I think if I had used regular 60 gsm origami paper, the model might not have been as sturdy. For a sturdier model, thicker paper such as scrapbooking paper should work well, given the simplicity of the folds and the assembly.

In general, for modular origami, I tend to go for the icosahedron assembly (30 unit assembly). But for a change, I tried the cube assembly (12 unit assembly). Each face is made from 4 modules and there are a total of 6 faces to the cube.

Model Details:

Model: Cube Modular 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami Fantasy
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches

Modules: 6

I love folding spirals and I think the queen of origami spirals would be Tomoko Fuse! So since it has been a long time since I folded boxes with spirals, I tried out this little 4-sided box, from her book 'Let's Fold Spirals'. This box is the second of the 2 square boxes and is a pleasure to fold. It took me about 15 minutes to complete the full box, pretty fast I think.

I had used fairly sturdy paper (4*4 memo paper) to fold it, so the end box was also quite sturdy. I like the shape - the height is greater than the usual origami boxes. The spiral also gives the impression of an even taller box. And the slanting lines add a great touch.

Altogether a delightful box to fold :)

Model Details:

Model: Square Spiral Box

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Let's Fold Spirals

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~2.5 inches tall (the spiral adds half an inch) and 2 inches wide

Number of Modules: 4

I still am fascinated with shells and spirals and Tomoko Fuse's shell/nautilus (am not really sure of the difference between the two!) from her book on spirals (Let's Fold Spirals) is a good place to start.

The spiral sea shell A which I tried, turned out to be an interesting origami to fold. The diagram is clear and makes the folding quite easy. The shell is quite realistic if done in the right colours.

Model Details:

Model: Shell/Nautilus 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Let's Fold Spirals

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches 

To tell the truth, I am not sure of the name of these spirals, since the book from which I followed instructions is in Japanese. But since the spirals have a square shape, I ended up calling them Square Spirals!

Tomoko Fuse's book on spirals 'Origami Spirals' contains instructions for making a lot of different spiral ornaments. Ornaments from both squares and triangles (half a square, cut on the diagonal) are both easy to make and the end result is intricate looking. I tried out both the square and triangle spirals, but unfortunately was not able to photograph the triangular ones. The spirals from the square paper are made of 4 modules and the ones from the triangular paper are made from 3 modules.

I liked the colour combination of red and white that I had used and am quite happy with how it came out.

Model Details:

Model: Spirals

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Origami Spirals

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper size: 5 inches

Number of Modules: 4

Tomoko Fuse's spirals and shells are elegant looking pieces that look very complicated but are in fact, not all that difficult to make. This design can be found in her book 'Let's Fold Spirals'. The book is in Japanese but the instructions are pretty much self-explanatory. And in case one gets bogged down by any of the steps, there are a number of tutorials on Youtube, which will provide adequate support.

In this post, I have posted 2 different spirals and each of them is made from 4 modules that are twisted into the spiral shapes.

Model Details:

Model: Origami Spirals

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Let's Fold Spirals

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Number of Modules: 4

Tutorial: Youtube