SnipFold

Faceted Elephant

Original dimensional elephant with an octagonal body, four closed load-bearing legs, broad hinged ears and a hollow hooked trunk.

Materials

  • 200-220 gsm cardstock
  • Scissors or craft knife
  • Ruler and scoring tool
  • PVA paper glue

Finished size: 156 x 100 x 105 mm (length x ear span x height)

Steps

CutValley foldMountain foldGlue area

  1. Make the faceted body

    Print at 100%; check the 50 mm ruler. Cut all outlines and score marked folds. B wraps run rear to front for 80 mm; their cross-section starts with the 48 mm belly, then 11.66 mm bevel, 28 mm side, 17.20 mm shoulder, 40 mm back and matching opposite faces. Fold convex wrap creases until both end profiles fit. Join W1 to W2 and W2 back to W1 using the 4 mm end laps, inside the following panel. Fold cap tabs inward 90 degrees and glue inside the wrap, C1 at rear x=-40 and C2 at front x=40. Use the cap outlines as angle jigs; the 48 mm belly must be horizontal. Let dry.

  2. Build four load-bearing legs

    Each L1-L4 is a 14 x 14 x 40 mm square tube. Fold wrap creases 90 degrees, glue its 4 mm lap inside the first panel, then fold both cap tab sets inward 90 degrees and glue inside the tube. C1 is the closed sole; C2 is the closed top. Dry all four on a flat surface before loading.

  3. Attach the four legs

    Set B belly-down, back ridge uppermost. Glue the entire outside of each leg C2 to the belly. Leg centers are 14 mm from the front/rear ends and 15 mm either side of the belly centerline (52 mm front-to-rear, 30 mm left-to-right). L1/L2 rear, L3/L4 front. Each top occupies a 14 mm square, leaving 2 mm to the belly side edge. Hold all four soles level while drying; the feet define a 66 x 44 mm support rectangle.

  4. Build and mount the head

    Wrap H around its matching caps, with the 32 mm chin lowest and 24 mm crown highest. Glue 4 mm wrap lap inside the first face. Fold cap tabs inward 90 degrees and close both ends. H-C1 is rear, H-C2 front, 24 mm apart. Glue the marked 20 x 15 mm rear patch to B-C2, centered left/right; head chin is 24 mm above the body belly. Head crown is 104 mm above the feet. Hold until dry before adding the trunk.

  5. Assemble the hollow bent trunk

    T-C1 and T-C2 are the two identical bent silhouettes, spaced 14 mm apart. Fold their tabs toward each other by 90 degrees. Join wrap strips in numerical order with 4 mm laps inside the next face, closing the last onto the first. Fit each wrap panel to the matching silhouette edge; valley creases mark re-entrant bends. Glue cap tabs inside the wrap a few at a time, using the caps as exact angle jigs. The short 14 mm vertical root is at x=64, z=74 to 88; the hooked tip is at x=108, z=34. Do not smooth or curl these rigid facets.

  6. Mount the trunk

    Glue the outside of the dotted 14 x 14 mm root wall to the center of H-C2. Root bottom is 10 mm above the head chin, centered across its width. The long trunk descends, then bends forward and up, remaining at least 20 mm above the table. Support gently until the root bond is dry.

  7. Spread the broad ears

    Glue each 6 x 18 mm ear flap to the flat 20 mm-high side of H, flap front edge 8 mm behind H-C2, lower edge 11 mm above the chin. Crease the blade outward and backward: its top-view direction is 6 mm rearward per 8 mm outward (126.87 degree turn from the flat flap continuation). Mirror left and right; widest points are 100 mm apart. Keep the ear blades planar; only the root hinge folds.

  8. Add the tail

    Glue the 5 x 8 mm root flap to the rear body cap, centered across the width, its top 78 mm above the feet (14 mm below the back). At the first crease angle the 22 mm tail section rearward by 21.32 degrees from vertical; fold the last 10 mm back to vertical. No wire or hidden support is used.

  9. Finish and let dry

    Glue both 4 mm faceted eye disks to H-C2, centers 12 mm left/right of center and 30 mm above the chin. Let every joint dry completely with all four soles level. The head and trunk are cantilevered from the broad four-foot stance; this is a lightweight display sculpture, not a toy. Physical printing and assembly remain pending.

Notes

The 3D model shows each piece in its finished, idealized shape; the exploded view only spreads the pieces apart. It is not a paper-physics simulation: curved shapes are forming guides, not exact physical folding or proof of developability, and intermediate fold shapes are not supplied.