"Hellooo,
I'm doing an A-Level project on paper automata, and was wondering what you would consider the key aspects of a paper model.  The visual output is not particularly important, I need to know the key aspects you would expect from any model.

Thanks very much!
TLear. "

This question was posted on the forum. I've moved it onto the blog where there is more traffic and am opening it up to everyone for their opinions.

I have a couple of initial thoughts; slightly disjointed but its been a long day: A question that has come up a couple of times in the past is just how pure you should be with your paper modeling. For example, I often use coins to give weight to my models but turn my nose up at cocktail sticks or bits of string. Thoughts?

Secondly: I always thought that an automata should tell as story, no matter how short. but does it really need too? Perhaps Kuchi-san here isn't an automata but just an animated model.

One other point. Automata should be in two parts. Box, with mechanism, preferably visible to the curious user, and scene on top of the box separated from the mechanism.

Over to you. I'm off for a glass of red 🙂