Structure of the Sun papercraft

Among the free papercraft downloads at Canon's website is this beautiful model of the structure of the sun -- a perfect project for a sunny weekend!

Structure of the Sun (via Make)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

Um, this is really cute but unfortunately it has some sort of Engrish problem. “Radiate” layer should be *Radiative* layer, more commonly called the radiative zone. And “Macula” is a part of your eye that can be burned by staring at the Sun but is, alas, not a feature on the Sun. I think they perhaps meant *facula*, but what they actually have labeled is a sunspot, not faculae (which are bright). Sorry to be such an anal retentive nerd about it, but as an astronomer I don’t want to have to teach the next generation of Astro 101 kids that their parents gave them scientifically incorrect papercraft.
wolfiesma

We did a simple papercraft pinwheel yesterday. I never knew a pinwheel was just a square sheet, with a slit to the center in the middle of each side, then folded over four times.
Trying to attach it in the middle was a little tricky. The instructions said to use a push pin and a straw but that wasn’t strong enough to hold it together. We also used a cork but that kept catching on the back. Better get to the bottom of this before starting in on the structure of the sun…
Shanghai Slim

Card modeling is a terrific hobby that has really taken off since it went digital, with the advent of internet PCs + cheap home inkjet printers. One of the many appeals is the number and variety of models that are free for the downloading. At Canon’s site you can find a wide range of model subjects, many of them are quite nice.

If you want to check out some eye-popping examples of card modeling, or want to learn more about the hobby, the best English-language forum is:

http://www.papermodelers.com
Takuan

perfect for the toddler stage, by late primary school you should be ready for:
http://www.brian-mcdermott.com/brianfusor.htm
kpkpkp

We printed our Sun onto card stock (highly recommended) and assembled it with glue stick. We didn’t do the booklet.

Cutting out took about 2 hours and assembly took about 3 hours. Glue stick allows for even application and faster drying times.

Fine pointed scissors are a must for getting the various glue tabs correct.

It turned out pretty good, but a sphere is a very challenging shape to make from paper. You MUST pay very close attention to the guide-lines if you expect the various pieces to fit together.

Overall it was quite fun!