Paper Universe (Star Trek)

By Andrew Pang

For the cost of nothing more than paper and lots of patience, all the ships that have featured in Star Trek can be yours. The only catch is that you have to learn origami, but Andrew Pang's challenging book is designed for beginners, so go for it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671042157
• ISBN13: 9780671042158
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Star Trek
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book!!

This book is one of a kind, but if you are going to make the ships, use as he recomend: 'a larger piece of paper', because the paper that comes with the book, is good to practice the basic fold and bases. A great book for origami lovers!!

For origami enthusiasts and Trek completists only

If you're an intermediate or advanced fan of origami, you'll enjoy this book. If you're a completist collector who absolutely must have every Trek book published, sure, go ahead, buy it. Aside from that, there's probably not a reason for you to pick up "Star Trek: Paper Universe."It's a clever concept: using origami, create 16 "Star Trek" starships from all the Enterprises to a Klingon cruiser. Ten small sheets of origami paper are included to get you started, and a decent introduction to the basic folds and concepts of paper folding gives you the bare essentials of the craft. The problem is, it really *is* the bare essentials. Even with careful practice, these are complicated and difficult models to make, and may prove frustrating to a beginner. I'm giving this four stars as it's exactly what it promises: a solid and comprehensive guide to creating paper starships. Still, there are a couple minor problems. First, there too few sheets of paper that come with the books, and they're too small to practice on: if you truly wish to make these models (and correctly made, they really are quite impressive!), get yourself a big stack of larger origami paper than comes with the book. A second problem is that even though none of these ship models are beginner-level, some *are* simpler than others. So, rather than dividing the book by theme (Part One is Enterprises, followed by other Federation vessels, followed by alien ships), why not arrange them in order of difficulty? You *should* learn how to make a Borg Cube before attempting an Enterprise-E.

This is our stunning unique review which is from us....

Well.....what struck me is that there is nothing like this in the market...Can't wait till Christmas when I can give a special present that is interesting to both my Star Trek fans & crafty, origami friends. In need of bigger metallic paper for folding - and where is the colour!?....what an amazing idea.... as a fellow trekkie, one wonders how much one will actually get to grip with the folding.... but that's not the point... the point is, that it's just a GREAT idea which takes forward the whole genre.... well done and "make it so... ENGAGE....."

Definitely not for beginners

If there were an entrance exam for this book, one of the questions would be, "Have you ever folded the inflated frog? Out of a piece of paper about the size of your hand?"If your answer to both were "Yes", then you'll love what the author has brought to the world of Origami.If your answer to either was "No", then you'll have a hard time getting any of the 16 folds to look like your favorite ships from the ST Universe (with the exception of the "Borg Cube" - it's the balloon fold squared-up).The Bad: Some diagrams could have been improved by inserting a few more photos in mid-fold, as certain steps are just plain confusing unless you can see what's going on in 3-D. Also, some crease locations are vague, meaning you'll have to fold a few variations before you get them right.The paper included is just too small to use when first learning these complicated and detailed folds. For example, the two Enterprises pictured on the cover (the 1701-E and the 1701) each require the creasing of so many layers and re-tapering of already small and tapered points that it'll take you more than the 10 included sheets to learn how to get things looking the way they should. Go to your local art store, and purchase 100 sheets of 12x12" (31x31cm) or larger to practice with, before wowing your friends with starships made from the included sheets. I suspect the cover folds were made from sheets of paper substantially larger than those included.The Good: Well ... It's Origami Star Trek! Once you get good at the folds, paper starships the size of 2-3 AAA batteries will drop jaws. Also, the fact that Voyager and even the Enterprise-D from ST:TNG are made of one(!) contiguous sheet of paper will amaze all but expert folders.Verdict: DON'T get this book for a first-time folder. DO get it if you want to add to your already impressive paper folding repertoire.

Utterly fascinating

I had been looking for the lost papercraft TOS Enterprise of my youth when I ran across this puppy. It was amazing to see all of the major ships (and shuttlecraft!) of TOS, TNG, DS9, and VGR in this. The Borg cube is something of a joke, but the DS9 turned out better than the show itself!It's helpful to have some origami experience, because some of the convolutions do get tricky, but hey, the results utterly fascinating.