Origami Plesiosaurus

Donya Quick

Difficulty: intermediate.
Recommended paper: any thin or medium thickness paper.

The main points of difficulty for this design are the lack of guides for some folds, namely
those in steps 3, 4, and 6. This design will work with most papers as long as they are not
thick enough to risk splitting when the model is folded in half.

Steps 1 – 3 (4 folds): fold and unfold along both diagonals. Fold the left corner into the
center line. Fold and unfold the tip at a 45° angle.

Steps 4 – 6 (3 folds): fold along a line parallel to the long edge, ensuring that the circled
point and edge line up. Perform two asymmetrical squash folds.

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Step 7 (4 folds): repeat steps 3 – 6 on the other side. To maintain symmetry, it is easiest
to fold the model in half, white side out, and use the left side as a guide to line up the
right side’s points.

Steps 8 – 9 (2 folds): Fold the left side in to the center line. Fold back out so that the
circled point and edge line up. The exact angle of this fold determines the relative sizes of
the front and hind flippers.

Steps 10 – 11 (4 folds): fold the lower left side in a small amount. Repeat steps 8-10 on
the right side.

Steps 12 – 13 (2 folds): rabbit-ear fold the bottom up, then squash fold the tip over.

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Steps 14 – 15 (2 folds): fold the left flap (which will become the hind flipper) over as far
as it will go. Fold back again so that the circled point lines up with the circled edge.

Steps 16 – 17 (3 folds): repeat steps 14 – 15 on the right side then fold the model in half.

Steps 18 – 20 (3 folds): inside reverse fold three times to define the back, neck and head.

Steps 21 – 22 (3 folds): on both sides, pull out some paper from inside the head to make it
3-D. Fold the tip of the nose in.

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