Planar Model - TUVWXYZ Origami Star

Awhile back I showcased an origami model I completed - Five Intersecting Tetrahedra. Today, it's time to take a look at a second origami model - this time a planar model. Essentially, a planar model is a model in which "planes" (i.e. flat sheets of paper) are intertwined in such a way that each sheet of paper remains perfectly flat and intersects all the other sheets of paper. In origami terms, the "sheet" of paper becomes a "color" instead.

A TUVWXYZ planar star means there is a plane for each of the letters in the name, in this case, there are seven planes (represented in the photos by the seven different colors).


The model is from the book linked on the left:

Ornamental Origami - Exploring 3d Geometric Designs
by Meenakshi Mukerji



Model: TUVWXYZ Modular Planar Star







To begin, you need to choose seven colors - each color needs six sheets. After choosing your colors, fold 42 identical modular pieces, six of each of the seven colors. This is the easy step, though it is time consuming!

Once you've folded 42 individual pieces, it's time to put together the TUVWXYZ Star! The best way to start is to organize your pieces by color - you want them all handy while you juggle the partially-finished model and the remaining pieces that need to be added...

Slowly and methodically, you "weave" the different pieces together (of course, never use glue or tape) to complete the star.

Notice how each of the colors appears to be a straight plane - you can easily see the bottom "half" of the orange star intersecting the top "half" of the red star at a nearly 90 degree angle. All of the colors intersect the other colors at one point - the middle of the model!

Finally, here is the completed model. The green star is easiest to pick out but a little searching should allow you to find all seven stars of different colors!

That's all there is to it! The book I linked to above is a relatively new book (published in 2008) but it features a TON of great models. The nice thing about modular origami is that it (usually) requires a person to make a bunch of relatively simple-to-fold "pieces" and the challenge is a puzzle where you try to fit all the pieces together correctly! If you are interested in seeing more origami models, please let me know. I've contemplated starting an origami gallery of pictures on my blog - it'd certainly add some variety to the normal sports content!