Dragon hp

From a technical standpoint, this design utilizes 3 techniques beyond basic hp (which is by no means "basic") that makes it stand out. First, it uses hp ridge squashes to create the horizontal scale pleats; then it uses complex level shifters to create the vertical scale pleats, that together form the grid of scales. Both of these techniques are much more efficient than what bp designs usually use to create scales--they are also arguably easier to fold, as you can collapse the base first and then construct the scales. And third, this design does not shape the scales but rather leaves them as intersecting pleats, which if you carefully distort, you can use to control the 3d curvature of the body (ie, bulges and saddle points).

This was my first real foray into axial hex pleating (the rattlesnake, mermaid, and baby elephant were all a bit different) and therefore was quite a roller coaster in a way that I had never experienced with any previous design. As I told/vented to my friends throughout these two weeks of design/folding grind, I had never felt as frustrated by origami as I felt some days trying to wrestle with these 60 degree structures--on other days, I had never felt so excited when things clicked, nor as hopeful for the future of what hex pleating has in store for the origami world.