Kuchi-san Paper Character

Paper character to download, print out and make. Kuchi is japanese for mouth, san is an honorific suffix, roughly equivalent to mr. So this model is Mr Mouth. Pull up the head, the mouth opens, the tongue pops out and the arms go up.

Kuchi-san is available for members to download at the end of this post. Make sure that you are logged in!

You will need a pair of scissors, some glue and a glue spreader. The best type of glue to use is white school glue  (PVA.)

Print out the parts sheets onto ordinary thin card. Notice that the sheets are marked front and back. Print out the front sheet, flip the card over then print the back sheet. Leave the ink to dry completely before continuing.

Before cutting anything out, score along all the dotted lines. This job is easier to do on full sheets of paper.

Dashed lines are hill folds, dotted lines are valley folds. Cut along the solid lines. Grey areas show where to glue.

Glue together the two parts of the hair to make a double thickness. (1)

Glue the teeth in place to the back of the body (2) Use the grey area on the teeth for alignment.

Fold round and glue the tongue into a tube (3)

Glue the linkage to the grey area on the back of the tongue assembly. (4)

Glue the tongue assembly to the box base so that the front edge lines up with the crease. (5)

Fold up and glue together the box base as shown above. (6 – 7)

The tongue should be free to move back and forth and should just clear the lower lip. Curve it gently if it catches where it shouldn’t.

Fold up and glue together the box base as shown above. (6 – 7)

The tongue should be free to move back and forth and should just clear the lower lip. Curve it gently if it catches where it shouldn’t.

Fold down the lid and glue it into place. (10) Notice that the flap on the back of the box glues to the outside of the box not tucked into the inside. This stops it catching as the model is lifted up and down.

Glue on the eyes, the hands and the hair.

Complete the model by gluing the feet into place.

Once the glue is dry your model is ready to go!

Hold down the feet and pull up the hair, the mouth opens wide and the tongue pops out!

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