On 14aug13, Larry Wood wrote: There is a video producer in Portland who wants to film several traditional models for the "About.com" website, to be used as teaching videos. ... As to the crane, my question is whether the "flapping crane" falls in the category of "traditional." I will appreciate any thoughts on "traditional" cranes.
----- Here’s what I know about Flapping Cranes & Flapping Birds, since I’ve been looking into this subject recently. I know of five Flapping Bird models. (1) The traditional Flapping Crane, made from the Crane Base (aka Bird Base). It’s a slight modification of the traditional Crane. --> I would think this would be a good candidate for the video Larry asked about. As far as I know, this one is indeed traditional, meaning no one living or published claims it as their original design. (2) New Flapping Bird, diagrammed in “Art of Origami” by Samuel Randlett (1961, pg 126-127). This one is often called Randlett’s Flapping Bird. You start with a Triangle Base (reverse of the Square Base), turn one “arm” to the left so you get 3 “arms” on the left, one on the right, and so on. It requires an unusual squash which makes it hard for beginners, unless you carefully break the maneuver down into small steps. I’ve seen this model so many times, I would think it could be considered to be in the public domain, but of course credit must be given to Mr Randlett (born 1930 per Wikipedia, where is he today?). Is Mr Randlett available to be queried about this? And, I also found a reference to this model being diagrammed in “Story-gami Kit” by LaFosse & Alexander (2010), see origamido.com. (3) Flapping Bird by Arthur C. Smith, diagrammed in the newsletter-compilation-book “The Flapping Bird” by Samuel Randlett (OUSA Source carries this book). This one’s made from a simple diagonal fold, then fold that in half and squash one side, and so on. I plan to teach this (as a “hole-filler”) at PCOC in Albuquerque in Oct. I learned it from Bennett Arnstein at last Saturday’s WCOG meeting in Los Angeles. (Bennett also sent me a copy of the diagram from the book, and I really need to get a copy of that book now that I know about it). The book is reviewed, and the models listed, on Gilad Aharoni’s Website: http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_Flapping.html (4) Flapping Bird by John Smith, diagrammed in “The Flapping Bird” publication mentioned in item (3). I have no picture of this model, so don’t know anything about it, just the listing on Gilad’s review page. (5) Flapping Finch. You do some diagonal-type prefolds, then a collapse, the rest is simple. I learned this model, probably at a WCOG meeting, about 10 years ago. Several years later I found out it was diagrammed in the OUSA Convention Collection for 2002 (still available from OUSA Source). I may have a copy, but can’t find it right now. It’s by Marcia Joy Miller. ..... Chila ---------------------------------------------------------------- Chilagami - I think, therefore I fold; I fold, therefore I am Folding for Fun in the Mojave Desert Southern California, USA www.chilagami.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
