Tube Buddy: Shark Pup

A chibi baby shark, 3½ in tall, made from one paper tube: a little one in a shark hoodie peeks out of a mouth with white teeth. A dorsal fin on top, a tail at the back, and little fins at the sides instead of arms. The hood corners form on their own — you push the top of the tube in at the back and front.

• Easy
• 1 tube
• 4 fins
• 2 Letter sheets

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 1496

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• 2 Letter sheets — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Sturdy sheet from two. Apply glue stick over the whole surface of a sheet of printer paper, press a second sheet onto it, and smooth with your palm from the middle to the edges. You'll get a thick sheet — work on that one. Put it back in the same spot, edge to edge; don't move the phone.
2. Strip: outline. Trace the strip with the tab above the middle in a solid line — you’ll cut along this line.
3. Strip: corner arcs. The dashed arcs at the top are the folds of the hood corners. Trace them pressing hard: the top will then fold evenly along the scored line. Don’t cut along them.
4. Strip: drawing. Trace in thin lines: the face with bangs and a little star, the eyes, the mouth, the edge of the jaws, the little teeth around the face, the shark’s eyes, the gills, the hood edge, the boots, and the hoodie hem. Don’t draw on the white margin at the left — it goes under the seam.
5. Small parts: outlines. Trace the dorsal fin, the tail with its tabs, and the two pectoral fins in a solid line.
6. Small parts: fold lines. Don't cut the fold lines. A dashed line is a mountain fold (away from you), a dash-dot line is a valley fold (toward you): draw them as they look on the screen.
7. Small parts: drawing. Each fin and the tail has one fold line.

Color

8. Color: strip. The hood above its edge — gray-blue, all the way to the top edge, and the tab too: above the arcs is the crown, and it shows from above. The gums around the face and the mouth — pink; bangs — brown; eyes — blue; the little star and boots — yellow; the shark’s eyes — black. The face, teeth, and hoodie hem stay white. Leave a narrow white stripe along the dashed arcs, and outline the contours, pupils, and lashes in black.
9. Color: small parts. Fins and tail — gray-blue, and the dorsal fin tabs too, but leave the tail tab white: it will lie on the white back. Outlines — black.

Cut

10. Cut out: strip. Cut out the strip together with the tab above the face. Cut into the corners by the tab from both sides.
11. Cut out: small pieces — 4 pcs. Cut out the fins and the tail together with their tabs. Make a cut in the middle of the dorsal fin’s tab, up to the dashed line.
12. Backs. Flip the fins and tail and color the backs gray-blue: they show from both sides.

Roll

13. Roll the tube. Apply glue to the white area on the left. Roll the strip with the drawing facing out and lay the right edge over that area, up to the line. Press the seam for 10 seconds.

Fold

14. Corners: top at the back. Turn the tube with the seam facing you. Press your finger on the top edge above the seam: it will dent inward along the scored arc, and the hood corners will pop up at the sides.
15. Corners: top at the front. Turn the baby shark to face you. Apply glue to the tab above the face, on its back side, inside the tube, and push in the front of the top the same way: the tab will lie on top of the back half.

Assemble

16. Dorsal fin. Fold the two halves of the tab in opposite directions along the dashed line, apply glue to their undersides, and set the fin in the groove on top of the head: tip pointing back, with the tabs on the slopes of the groove.
17. Tail. Fold the tail tab toward you along the dash-dot line, apply glue to its back, and glue it to the back, right at the bottom, along the seam. The big lobe points up.
18. Pectoral fins. Apply glue to the back of the fin only at the base, about a finger’s width. Glue the fins to the sides under the gills, tips pointing down and forward, and bend the tips away from the body.

Check

19. Stand it on the table. Stand the baby shark on the table: it stays up on its own. Turn it all the way around: the fin on top stands straight, the tail is at the back, and the hood corners are sharp.

Done. Shark Pup is done. Let the glue dry for 10 minutes — then you can put it on a shelf.

Make it with your phone camera

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