(no subject)
First up! A box-type thing. I tried to make these units into polyhedra, but they were grieviously fiddly to assemble and unstable once you got them together. They work a bit better as a box.
Rainbow hexagonal box
(Not a great picture. It looks more rainbow-y in real life.) Might be a nice gift box for something small.
Twelve units on the left, thirty units on the right
Both of these units are okay on aesthetic grounds, but they don't happily make anything other than those polyhedra, which bothers me because I love flexibility. Next!.
Twelve, twelve, six and twelve
The two on top are minor variations of the same thing. Reasonably stable, constrained to cubic vertices, I prefer the one on the right, but they aren't really my cup of tea. That green thing under them is pretty, I think, but that seems to be the only form of it that works. And the twelve-unit one lurking darkly in the corner is from years ago and is time-consuming and tricky to fold. It does have a satisfyingly complicated texture, though, and probably deserves a better photo. Next!
Thirty, twelve and twenty four
Now we're starting to get somewhere. Simple enough to fold, only a little inclined to fall apart, and fairly flexible. They like making things with triangular faces best, but they'll take other arrangements too. The only complaint I really have is that the triangular peaks are free to flop around and look messy. Next!
Twenty four, twelve and thirty
Oh, now we are getting somewhere! These are easy as pie to fold and assemble, and stable to boot. That red and white one there is a stellated cuboctahedron, which looks exactly like an octahedron with a smaller pyramid on each face. The smooth, clean lines here appeal to me. The simplicity makes me suspect that they must have been discovered already by someone else.
So there we are. If you fancy a diagram or crease pattern for anything, just yell!
Rainbow hexagonal box
(Not a great picture. It looks more rainbow-y in real life.) Might be a nice gift box for something small.
Twelve units on the left, thirty units on the right
Both of these units are okay on aesthetic grounds, but they don't happily make anything other than those polyhedra, which bothers me because I love flexibility. Next!.
Twelve, twelve, six and twelve
The two on top are minor variations of the same thing. Reasonably stable, constrained to cubic vertices, I prefer the one on the right, but they aren't really my cup of tea. That green thing under them is pretty, I think, but that seems to be the only form of it that works. And the twelve-unit one lurking darkly in the corner is from years ago and is time-consuming and tricky to fold. It does have a satisfyingly complicated texture, though, and probably deserves a better photo. Next!
Thirty, twelve and twenty four
Now we're starting to get somewhere. Simple enough to fold, only a little inclined to fall apart, and fairly flexible. They like making things with triangular faces best, but they'll take other arrangements too. The only complaint I really have is that the triangular peaks are free to flop around and look messy. Next!
Twenty four, twelve and thirty
Oh, now we are getting somewhere! These are easy as pie to fold and assemble, and stable to boot. That red and white one there is a stellated cuboctahedron, which looks exactly like an octahedron with a smaller pyramid on each face. The smooth, clean lines here appeal to me. The simplicity makes me suspect that they must have been discovered already by someone else.
So there we are. If you fancy a diagram or crease pattern for anything, just yell!