RoBeRT J .

LAng

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia,

Robert J. Lang worked as a physicist
and engineer before becoming an
origami artist full time.
Dr. Lang is one of the pioneers of the
cross-disciplinary marriage of origami
with mathematics. He is consulted
on applications of origami to issues
in engineering while being noted for
origami designs of great detail and
realism. His work has been shown
Yellow worldwide, from the Museum of Modern
Jacket
Art in New York to the Nippon Museum
of Origami in Japan.
Dr. Lang lectures widely on origami and
its connection to the world of science
and teaches workshops on both artistic
techniques and applications of folding in
industrial design. A Fellow of the Optical
Society of America, a member of
the IEEE Photonics Society,
and a past Editor-in-Chief of
the IEEE Journal of Quantum
Electronics, he was recently
selected as one of the inaugural Fellows
of the American Mathematical Society.
He is the author or coauthor of 14 books
and numerous articles on origami. He
currently resides in Alamo, California.

162 Origami Masters: Bug Wars

001-184_30780.indd 162 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 162 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 For best results, I recommend
d
folding this from a sheet of size
paper (as thin as you can find), 1
ideally 40 cm or larger (the
photographed piece was from
a 40 cm (16 inches) square).
er
You should start with dry pap
and fold it dry up to the point
that it starts to become 3D. At
that point, I recommend using
a small paintbrush and a dish
YeLLoW of water to selectively dampen
., Fold the paper in half and
legs, wings, body segments, etc
JAcKeT for shaping, taking breaks to let unfold.

one part dry before moving on

to the next.

2 3 4

Bring the bottom right Fold the bottom corner to Fold raw edge to folded
corner to the crease line, the pinch mark. edge. Unfold.
creating a pinch mark by
the edge.

5 6 7

Unfold. Fold the edge to the crease. Fold the folded edge to the
Unfold. crease. Unfold.

Yellow Jacket 163

001-184_30780.indd 163 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 163 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 8 9 10

Fold the edge to the crease. Fold edge to edge. Unfold. Unfold.
Unfold.

11 12 13

Turn over. Fold corner to corner, Fold to the intersection

creating a small pinch only points shown. Unfold.
where indicated (on the
third and fourth creases).

14 15 16

Fold edges to the creases. Fold edges to the creases. Crease as indicated. Note:
Unfold. Unfold. unnecessary pinch marks
are not shown for clarity.

164 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 164 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 164 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 17 18

Crease as indicated. Crease as indicated.

19 20

Crease as indicated. Turn over.

Yellow Jacket 165

001-184_30780.indd 165 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 165 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 21 22

Crease the diagonals as indicated. Repeat next steps

on this corner too.

Next, details of the creases needed for the corner.

Note: steps 23 to 27 should be repeated on the
right corner and side.

23 24
12 12
12 12
10 10
10 10
8 8
8 8
6 6
6 6
4 4
4 4
2 2
2 2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Crease as indicated. Note: the numbers Mountain crease as indicated.

represent the 1/56th divisions for reference.

166 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 166 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 166 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

25 12
12
26 12
12
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

10 10
10 10
8 8
8 8
6 6
6 6
4 4
4 4
2 2
2 2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Fold crease to crease (creases created in the Crease as indicated. Turn back over to the
previous step). Turn over. white side.

27 28

Continue creasing as indicated on the left side.

Additional diagonal creases need to be created.
Aft er creasing the right side, follow the creases
Th e vertical and horizontal creases need to be
indicated for the initial collapse. Th is is a one
reinforced or extended. All creases indicated
indivisible big honkin’ collapse and it needs to be
will be needed for the base or for later steps,
done all at once.
including the ones marked in a fainter color.
Unnecessary creases are not shown for clarity.
Yellow Jacket 167

001-184_30780.indd 167 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 167 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 29

Top view

Collapse the top of the base using the creases

shown. Some of the necessary creases are not
visible in this drawing; the next drawing shows
all of the creases needed on unfolded paper.

Creases used for this step, shown on unfolded paper for clarity.

168 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 168 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 168 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 30

Top view

Refi ne the collapse. Some of the necessary

creases are not visible in this drawing;
the next drawing shows all of the creases
needed on unfolded paper. Crease as
indicated in the highlighted region. Note
that the region near the corner is part of a
double layer. Turn over.

31

Cross-section view of the Creases used for this step, on

layers, before and after an unfolded paper.
the reverse fold.

Th ere are two pairs of layers

together in zigzag. Reverse fold
one of each pair so it zigzags twice
as much with half the width,
using the creases indicated in the
highlighted region. Turn over.

Yellow Jacket 169

001-184_30780.indd 169 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 169 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 32

Creases used for this step, on

an unfolded paper.
Refi ne the collapse. Th e next
drawing shows all of the creases
needed on the unfolded paper.
Crease as indicated in the
highlighted region.

33 34
a. b. c.

Creases used for this step,

on an unfolded paper.

Open the layers to work on Asymmetrically spread sink three corners,

the inside of the fl ap. then close them up.

35
View of the pleats
33–34 from the side.

Repeat the
spread sinks on
the other side

170 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 170 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 170 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 36 37 38

Th is is the complete Open out the two pleats Refold with the
collapsed base. Turn over. and stretch. creases indicated.

39 40 The far sink

connects to 41
other folds
at the tops.

Far corner is
closed sink.

Near corner is
open sink.

Bring layers to the front. Sink four edges. Fully Elias-stretch the pleats.

42 43 44

Refold the creases indicated.

Stretch the top apart. It will look like this. Open

out to see the interior.

Yellow Jacket 171

001-184_30780.indd 171 6/25/13 3:49 PM

001-184_30780.indd 171 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 45 You can’t actually open 46 47
this part fully flat.

c.

b.

a.

Refold fl at on the Like so. Reverse fold the Slide an edge out
creases indicated. fl aps that got the three in the sequence indicated:
spread sinks and divide the a, b, and c.
layers at the spread sinks.

48 49 50

Fold through thick layers. Tuck part of the wing Fold the thick corners
corner underneath. underneath.

Legs stick out

51 52 perpendicularly 53
Pleats from
last step

Wings

Abdomen

Precrease the pleats Schematic view Make 3D using the creases indicated.
indicated. Th e legs will from the side. Th is will separate the segments.
become perpendicular. Note: wings omitted for clarity.
View from the side next. Detailed view next.

172 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 172 6/25/13 3:51 PM

001-184_30780.indd 172 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 54 55 Gap
Segment
56

Cross section of
segment

Legs point down

Make a distinct gap Like this. From here forward,

between segments by the body-shaping folds should Schematic cross-section
reverse folding the corners. be soft and not all extend fully view of each segment (legs
to the corners to keep the body point down).
rounded and natural.

57 Legs 58 59

Wings

Abdomen

Schematic view from Details of the head. Crimp antennae to the side.
the side with 3D segments.

60 61 62 63

Narrow antennae. Rabbit-ear to make Bend antennae. Fold edges under.

3D.

Yellow Jacket 173

001-184_30780.indd 173 6/25/13 3:51 PM

001-184_30780.indd 173 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 64 65 66 67

Fold tip under. Fold entire assembly

down at soft right Curve and crimp.
angle. Crimp at base
of antennae. Side view of
abdomen.

Legs Legs
68 69 Legs
Legs Legs Legs
Legs 70 71

It will look like this.

Schematic view from Next, view from Pinch legs, then fold
the side. Fold legs fl at. bottom. out to the sides.

Legs

72 73 74 75

Reverse fold the Finished leg.

toes (tarsae). Continue shaping
legs and position to
match the photo.

Crimp.

Detailed view of a
typical leg next.

174 Origami Masters: Bugs

001-184_30780.indd 174 6/25/13 3:51 PM

001-184_30780.indd 174 6/25/13 3:56 PM
 Folded yellow jacket set against the crease pattern for the model.
View from the underside

Yellow Jacket 175

001-184_30780.indd 175 6/25/13 3:51 PM

001-184_30780.indd 175 6/25/13 3:56 PM