Koi Origami

These koi fish by origami artist Sipho Mabona have lots of decorative possibilities. In the photo, several different colors of the koi are suspended from wires to give them the appearance of swimming in a pond. Folding the koi is relatively easy. An excellent stop motion video here by Mabona shows how the origami fish are each folded from a single square of paper.

Papercraft Wetland Animals

As a way of educating the public about wetland habitats, Ducks Unlimited Canada offers ten free 3D paper models of wetland animals. Pictured above is a painted turtle, a leopard frog, a largemouth bass and a yellow spotted salamander. Also available are models of a mallard duck, a great blue heron, a great horned owl, a beaver, a red fox, and a dragonfly. Templates for each of the animals are available here.

Karatsu Kunchi Parade Float Paper Models

Karatsu Kunchi is a three day festival that takes place each November on the Japanese island of Kyushu. Each day of the festival there is a parade in which large floats are drawn through the streets by families who live on the island. Each of the floats was originally built in the 1800's. Pictured above are papercraft models of three of the floats. From left to right are a red lion, a green lion and a red bream fish. Templates and instructions for each of these paper models may be downloaded at the bottom of the page here.

Japanese Deep Sea Papercraft

From the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) comes a nice assortment of deep sea papercraft. In addition to eight sea creature papercraft there are papercraft of two submarines, a ship and an oceanographic buoy. My favorite is the manta ray. PDF templates for each of these may be found at the JAMSTEC Papercraft website. Just click on the photos once you are there.