Friday, March 31, 2017

Bunny Spheres Figure

Perky little buddy for Easter decor 
is constructed of upper & lower "spheres" 
with hexagon support post running up the middle. 
Jaunty ears attach at top, with bend-up feet platform, 
face features and dimensional bow tie 
(can be re-positioned as girl bunny hair bow). 
Measures approx. 8' tall x 4" wide x 3" deep. 

ASSEMBLY: 1. Identify and cut the shapes:
A head sphere upper  B head sphere lower
C body sphere upper
D body sphere lower
E inner support post   
F ears back, inner contrast, front layers
G facial: eyebrows, eyes, nose accent, whiskers
H bow tie base with optional knot accent
I tail large and small discs
J feet main base, accent, overlay shapes
2. Prepare the sphere shapes by bending back
on all the perforation lines for panels, end tabs,
and narrow wedge tabs (take care to crease
these fully into the angle to assist assembly).
Here is the head sphere upper section.
Here is the head sphere lower section
with attached octagon bottom "flap".
Body sphere upper and lower shapes are
similar.
3. Symbols are cut into the similar sphere sections
to help identify them.
Here the 'T' (for 'Top') is cut into the octagon
flap of the HEAD lower section.
The BODY sections have tiny triangle symbols,
single triangle = upper; double triangle = lower.
4. Begin the Head upper section assembly
by bending two adjacent "wedges" together
to bring the bottom segment straight right edge 
to overlap the left tab to perforation line,
and glue together, applying fingertip/thumb pressure
along the seam until secure.
5. Continue bending to align the next edges
and tab perforation lines in the same manner,
and glue in place.
6. Bend edges together to align and join the
final top segment edges to complete the first
seam.
7. Repeat the process to complete the remaining seams
along the head sphere top unit.
NOTE that during the process it is important
to make sure that the ear tab slots in two of
the sections remain open. One way to do this
is to insert the flat blade of a tool such as this
spatula into the slot to adjust the tab underneath
while it is being glued and is still adjustable.
8. Form the upper head unit into a dome
to bring together the final seam segments
and join in the same manner as in previous steps,
this time working from the top outward.
IMPORTANT: work diligently to make sure that
the edge and tab/perf lines are being angled
accurately as this seam is completed.
9. Complete the assembly of the remaining spheres
by aligning and joining the multiple seams of each in
a similar manner.
Shown here is the BODY UPPER section
 (single triangle symbol), which has an upper . . . 
. . . and a lower segment for each of the seams.

(Both the Head Lower and the Body Lower shapes
have upper segments that are "flanges" to allow
for fitting together of the two halves.
These "flanges" DO NOT have tabs to connect
as seams.)
10. After all seams are completed except the final one,
form the sphere half into a dome to bring edges
and tab perforation lines together to
complete the final seam, one segment at a time.
11. Begin preparing the ear unit by bending
forward the bottom tabs - that is, back Ear tabs
bend backward, and front Ear tabs bend forward.
12. Layer the interior contrast ear shape
onto backside of back ear solid shape,
then position and attach the hollowed front ear
shape over the contrast.
Take care that the tabs remain free and unattached.
13. Identify the front of the Head Upper unit
(see notations on the cut file), then orient the ears
unit toward the front, and insert the tab pairs
through the slots near top.
On the inside of the dome, separate the tab pairs,
bend in opposing directions, and glue tabs to
the underside dome surface.
14. Identify the 'T' of the Head Lower unit flap,
bend temporarily into position to identify
the FRONT section of the unit. Then . . . 
. . . apply adhesive to the "flanges" at the edge
of the Head Lower unit all around . . . 
. . . and position the Upper and Lower sections
with fronts aligned. Work quickly to fit 
the Upper edges over the Lower flanges . . . 
. . . and align the Upper straight edge at the
Lower flange perforation line, and centered,
and apply pressure along this segment
until the seam is secure. 
(NOTE that the head bottom flap remains unattached
to allow finger access to seams.)
Move around the equator seam to adjust and
secure each of the remaining 7 seams.
15. Prepare the nose/whiskers shape by bending
slightly at the horizontal center perforation.
Position and attach the nose accent over
the matching base shape . . . 
. . . and bend to match the perforated bend
of the nose/whiskers base.
16. Position the nose unit at the center front
flat panel, aligning bend at the perforation line
just above the straight bottom cut edge
of Head Upper unit.
17. Position and attach eyes and eye brows
above the nose unit.
18. Apply adhesive to bottom tabs, 
then bend the bottom flap into position,
adjusting head shape to align flap edges
with tab perforation lines as accurately
as construction will allow.
19. Assemble the Body halves in similar manner
to the Head halves.
NOTE that the symbols in these sections
also indicate the front of each half, and should
be aligned when the halves are being joined.
20. Bend the body top and bottom flaps into position
and attach in place.
21. Position the Head unit and the Body units
together as shown, taking care that the fronts
of each are lined up with octagon ridges aligned
 (otherwise the post won't
fit through the hexagon opening properly),
and glue the flap surfaces together. 
Recommended: use a quick-grab glue such as 
Fabri-tack or hot glue.
22. Prepare the support post shape by bending
carefully along each of the long perforation lines,
and also bending the bottom tabs outward.
23. Wrap the post shape around a 5/16" dowel
as a forming tool, bringing the straight long edge
to overlap the opposite tab to perforation line . . .
. . . and continuing to push together the post shape
tightly around the dowel, all along the post's length,
until the seam is completely secure.
24. Move the post shape to the top of the dowel,
then insert through the bottom hex opening,
move around until the post/dowel can be
inserted through the head-to-body flaps hexagon
opening, then push completely in, with bottom flaps
stopping at the body bottom flap surface.
25. Bend the bottom tabs outward and glue
to the bottom surface.
26. For extra sturdiness and to add a little weight,
it is recommended to cut a dowel length to size
and re-insert into the pole tube.
To do this, insert the dowel fully, mark the position
of the bottom surface, remove dowel and cut to size.
Re-insert dowel and glue in place.
27. Prepare the foot platform by bending back
the side feet extensions as shown. 
29. Layer the left & right foot shapes over the
contrast accent shapes (slightly smaller than feet)
and attach.
30. Position and attach the corresponding
foot unit over the base's bent-back foot area.
31. Bend back the inner foot tabs . . . 
. . . apply adhesive to the middle area only - 
where the Body bottom and platform will
actually touch . . . 
. . . then place and center the bunny unit over 
the platform . . . 
. . . with the bottom flap octagon edges aligned
with the front angles of the platform as shown.
32. Bend the feet up perpendicular to the base
and attach tabs to body where they touch.
33. Prepare the bow tie by bending back at each
perforation line. 
Add some curl to the center of
each loop by running it over a rod-type tool
such as a spatula handle or a pencil barrel
(think curling ribbon).
34. Without bending the loops, bring one side end
to the center "front" of bow tie, align the partial
and whole punch holes, and glue in place.
Repeat for the second loop end.
35. Bend the knot extension over the glued ends
and end tab around . . . 
. . . to the back, and glue in place.
36. Position and attach the optional knot to front.
37. Position the bow tie between head and
body sphere joint, and glue in place
with quick-grab adhesive.
(NOTE that for a girl bunny, the bow tie
can become a hair bow, positioned and
attach at an angle in front of ears.
To help camouflage the head-to-body joint,
consider wrapping with ribbon or twine, etc.)
38. Position and attach the tail at center back.
Here is the completed Bunny.