Star Wars Origami

Lack of proper CSS processing will cause this site to display very oddly. Try a condensed version.

display issues?
  1. Why can't I make the TIE interceptor right?
  2. How do you do this origami?
  3. Why don't the diagrams print on a page?
  4. The text is overlapping or hidden! Why doesn't your site display right?
  5. Can you make XXXX next? Will you diagram the YYYY?
  6. How did you come up with your origami?
  7. What are you, some kind of Star Wars freak?
  8. Anything else you want to tell me?
  9. What is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?
Why can't I make the TIE interceptor right?
Too many people have complained about this. I'm betting you're stuck at step 14. Am I right? It's 14, isn't it.
Well, it isn't. I left something out. Go back to 12. You're right at the part where the model becomes 3-D, which is always a pain to draw, so I can understand if my drawings aren't clear enough. (Co-incidentally, steps 11 and 12 on the TIE Fighter are basically the same move, broken into two steps. I realize I'm inconsistent in my diagramming, I haven't figured out how much detail is necessary. Okay, enough stalling.)
Broken down: The Colored Center of the cockpit is facing up. 
          *__________ A
                    /        Some visual aids. . .
           ________/ 
                    B,C
1. Inside Reverse Fold Points A down. 
          *___  
              \
           ____\ B,C
             | / 
             |/
             A
2. Open the end, so point B is folded towards you, sticking right out of the page, and C is away from you, pointing at the back of your monitor. It's now a three dimensional T shape (H if you did it to the Left end of the paper too.) 
         *____
             /\ 
          _B/  \ C
            \  /      
             \/          
              A
3. Now in step 13, I cheated, and rotated the model without telling you. The color changed center is no longer on top. It's pointed to the left. The diamond shape shown there is the wing we just opened. Points A are now to the right, C is up, and B is down. The body of the ship SHOULD be pointing toward the back of your monitor, but I got clever and was trying to draw a 3-D perspective type thing. 
               C
              /\    
          *>-<  >A  
              \/      
               B
4. To be honest, step 14 is just a modified petal fold (like the one used to make the crane)
How do you do this origami?
'It's always best to begin at the beginning.' Be sure to look at the Basics page for some hints. Unfortunately, Dr. O'Hanlon's excellent tutorial is often over-bandwidth. Try it during the beginning of the month.
As I am a horrible teacher, I will once again send you elsewhere: Excellent Origami sites.
Why don't the diagrams print on a page?
For most models, there are two sizes of diagrams. Most of the smaller/Printable diagrams should fit on one page. Some browsers have Shrink to fit as an option, whereas others may need to have the print margins minimized.
If this does not work, you will have to right-click on the diagrams to save them. Try opening them in a different graphics program and resize them to fit on one page.
The text is overlapping or hidden! Why doesn't it display right?
I'm slowly attempting to update this site to XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS. While the overall look of the site may not look like a major change, but the behind-the-scenes is annoyingly tricky. One of the biggest problems is different browsers don't all treat it the same. Everything should fail as gracefully as possible; you can still read it even without JS or StyleSheets. However, I only have proofed the site in IE6 and Mozilla 1.4; I especially apologize to anyone using NN4 or WebTV. Short of the condescending advice of "Upgrade your browser" I don't have much to say here. Please feel free to complain. It'll probably make you feel better, and I might actually get around to fixing the problem.

If everything is completely unreadable, try a condensed version.

Can you make XXXX next? Will you diagram the YYYY?
Ummm, don't hold your breath. This is a hobby for me, and hobbies should be a least a little fun. Designing new models can sometimes be very seridipitous, but usually it's a slow process. Diagramming is even more tedious. I do love to show off in this sea of anonymity, so I'll get around to it eventually. Why not check the links and find some new models available online, right at this very second?
How did you come up with your origami?
Couple of books influenced me in the beginning:Origami Omnibus by Kunihiko Kasahara, and Origami from Angelfish to Zen by Peter Engel. They both do more then just show you diagrams. They give puzzles, and challenge you to think about the theory and math behind it. It inspired me to start looking for shapes in the paper, like a whittler will 'bring out the shape within' from a piece of wood.
The X-wing flowed almost immediately from the frog base, and so I stuck with that theme. Basically, I had a three month burst of frenetic creativity, discovering many designs. Since then, I still create new models, but it is much more sedate process.
At this moment in time, there is a new book Origami Design Secrets, by Robert Lang, that has been getting great press. Don't have it yet, but the word is it is extrememly helpful in understanding origami design.
What are you, some kind of Star Wars freak?
I wanted to start this answer with that quote where an Imperial officer is insulting Darth Vader by mocking him as some pathetic practitioner of an ancient religion, at which point Vader calmly responds by choking the living crap out of him. That would have been a perfect answer, but I'm too lazy to go find the quote.
So, in a way, that answers the question: Yes, I have obsessed over Star Wars, but no, not to the freaky level of being able to shoot off any quotes that I please.

Another reason I focused on spaceships, is they tend to be angular and not to have lots of arms and legs, which I never can seem to make enough of. It's a niche appeal that has served me well. Do you have any idea how many origami elephants there are?
Anything else you want to tell me?

I mainly use Notepad and HTMLtool for coding. Most of the site is written in HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, and Cascading StyleSheets. Nothing on this site validates, because I use a hodgepodge of code in an attempt to have everything fail gracefully. Turned off JS because you hate pop-ups? Alrighty, it will take you to a separate page than the JS users.

Diagrams were drawn in CorelDraw. Originally in a obsolete Win3.11 version (which explains the archaic 8.3 naming convention), I've 'upgraded' to CorelDraw 5, which is still out-of-date. Unfortunately, converting them somehow lost some data, so I'm afraid to update again and have redraw from scratch.

Pictures were originally due to the kindness of family, who either took photographs or bought us a scanner for the said photos. Finally, we got a Sony Mavica digital camera. Whoo!
For other graphics, I also use Photoshop Elements 2, which is a stripped down version of Adobe Photoshop. It's still pretty powerful; the only things I miss are CMYK color support, vector line drawing ability. PSE does have masking, despite the fact that they don't want you to know that.

What is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?

42.

"I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."