How to Make a 3D Low-poly Paper Horse

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Hello everyone,
In this instructable I'll show you how to make a very beautiful horse using only paper, scissors and glue.

I'm hospitalized for a long-term illness and I'm trying to keep myself busy and to develop my creativity.

I don't have a lot of tools, only the basics, that is, paper, scissors, and glue. I also have my computer with which I created the template. Besides, all I used is very cheap and easy to get in any general store and you probably already have it at home.

I really enjoyed to do and create this project. I thought it was very relaxing to create it, it makes a change from coloring or making cards, things that you can find on the internet or in many books and it's very original.

You don't need any special creativity skills, you need only to cut following the lines and to fold and glue paper. That's it.

So, let's move on to the practical side.

Note : I'm from France, so I'm sorry for the mistakes I did in English, but I think it is understandable even so.

Step 1: What You Need

-scissors

-glue stick

-a cardboad (60cm x 42cm)

-paint (I used gray but it's up to you) and paint brush (a large one)

-sheets of paper (I used very the cheaper ones 80g/m2 but you can also use thicker ones)

optional:

-a Bonefolder : it is an essential tool for all folders. With it, you can precisely fold the sheet and its tip marks the crease to help folding.

Step 2: Print the Template

The first step is to print the model joined in pdf.

This model is made to be printed in A4 and will give a horse that is 30 cm x 42.5cm x 1.5cm in size.

Of course, if you have a bigger printer you can also print it on larger paper format to get a bigger horse.

However, do nor print it smaller than A4 paper , there are small pieces that would be too difficult to fold if they are even smaller.

Step 3: Cut

Cut out all pieces along the black, solid lines.

Step 4: Fold and Glue

If you followed all the instructions I gave, you printed the template on the paper you want to build with so we want the printed marks on the inside of each polygons.

So most of the folds will be valley-folds. On the template these are marked with a dot-dashed line ( - . - . - . - )

The dashed lines ( - - - - ) are the remaining mountain-folds.

You can see numbers on each flaps. All you have to do is to pair them up and glue them together with a glue stick.
So 1 and 1 go together and so on. The glue must be applied on the face of the flap that is not printed so that the flap is hidden in the inside of the polyhedron.

Step 5: Do the Jigsaw Puzzle

Now that you have all your pieces, it's time to assemble them to make the horse shape.

It's a kind of puzzle, so I would say, have fun !

I used a cardstock to set down the different pieces together, but don't glue it now ! You may need to move them a little bit afterwards

I advise you to help you with the image of the model.

Step 6: Paint the Cardboard

The next step is to fix the horse on the cardboad so that you will be able to put your work on a wall.

For that, you need a support large enough to glue the whole horse.

A cardboard of 60cm x 42cm is perfect.

You can use an old wall calendar for example.

Start by painting it. I used shinny dark grey paintings but you can use the color you want. I recommend you to use a dark color if you used white paper for the horse.

I painted two coats of paint so that we can't see the cardboard underneath.

Step 7: The Last Step : Glue All Pieces on the Painted Cardboard

You're almost done !

Now that all the pieces are put right and well arranged, you have to move the whole horse, piece by piece on the painted cardboard and glue them on it with liquid glue. For that, you should start by the centerpiece, one of the bigger pieces that is in the middle of the horse. And then, add the neighbouring pieces to it one by one until the horse is complete.

You may want to cut out the edges of the cardboard, it's, one more time, totally up to you, according what you think is the most beautiful.

Good job ! You can be proud of you :D