My first puppets

Wiltons World

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Hello,

These are two puppets I built this past year for a project that my kids are developing. I did a lot of online research and looked at some helpful tutorials, but most of it was trial and error. Thankfully, not too many errors. These are mostly shots of the second puppet, Leaf, that I created. Unfortunately, I didn't take any under-construction shots of Wilton, the very first puppet I built last year, because I was basically clueless as to what I was doing. Wilton can be seen with Leaf in the very last photo. I'm pretty happy with how they both turned out. Any comments and/or criticisms are welcome. Please let me know what you think.


Handmade eyes constructed from wooden balls. I dremeled a small crater into the side of the ball, painted the eye details inside, and then filled it with clear resin.


All foam head and mouth-plate construction as I wanted the face have the ability to to be very scrunchy and expressive, as seen here. Had a little trouble refining the exact shape I wanted so the head took on a slight Frankenstein's-Monster look at this stage due to a lot of cutting, re-cutting, gluing, and re-gluing.


Face, eyebrows (not yet applied), and stomach is purple curly-shag fur. Top/scalp and back of head, as well as body and arms, are curly-shag camel color fur.




An all foam mouth-plate covered with felt. A hand-carved foam tongue and teeth carved from makeup sponges.





Leaf, a hand-rod style puppet, before wardrobe shopping.


Wilton & Leaf.
Wilton is a glove-arm style puppet.
Leaf is a hand-rod style puppet.
...but don't tell them they're puppets.
 

Pig'sSaysAdios

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Hello,

These are two puppets I built this past year for a project that my kids are developing. I did a lot of online research and looked at some helpful tutorials, but most of it was trial and error. Thankfully, not too many errors. These are mostly shots of the second puppet, Leaf, that I created. Unfortunately, I didn't take any under-construction shots of Wilton, the very first puppet I built last year, because I was basically clueless as to what I was doing. Wilton can be seen with Leaf in the very last photo. I'm pretty happy with how they both turned out. Any comments and/or criticisms are welcome. Please let me know what you think.


Handmade eyes constructed from wooden balls. I dremeled a small crater into the side of the ball, painted the eye details inside, and then filled it with clear resin.


All foam head and mouth-plate construction as I wanted the face have the ability to to be very scrunchy and expressive, as seen here. Had a little trouble refining the exact shape I wanted so the head took on a slight Frankenstein's-Monster look at this stage due to a lot of cutting, re-cutting, gluing, and re-gluing.


Face, eyebrows (not yet applied), and stomach is purple curly-shag fur. Top/scalp and back of head, as well as body and arms, are curly-shag camel color fur.




An all foam mouth-plate covered with felt. A hand-carved foam tongue and teeth carved from makeup sponges.





Leaf, a hand-rod style puppet, before wardrobe shopping.


Wilton & Leaf.
Wilton is a glove-arm style puppet.
Leaf is a hand-rod style puppet.
...but don't tell them they're puppets.
Those are amazing,these look professional but this is only your first time making puppets. I think you've discovered a hidden talent!:smile:
 

D'Snowth

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Holy crap, for a first-timer, these puppets seriously look like something Jim Henson's Creature Shop would have built for a show along the lines of FRAGGLE ROCK or DINOSAURS. You did an absolutely excellent, incredible job - no critique whatsoever. Interested in learning what this project is your kids are working on.
 

Wiltons World

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Those are amazing,these look professional but this is only your first time making puppets. I think you've discovered a hidden talent!:smile:

Thanks so much for the terrific compliment.:coy: It was a fun and patience learning experience and I will definitely be trying my hand at creating more.
 

Wiltons World

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Holy crap, for a first-timer, these puppets seriously look like something Jim Henson's Creature Shop would have built for a show along the lines of FRAGGLE ROCK or DINOSAURS. You did an absolutely excellent, incredible job - no critique whatsoever. Interested in learning what this project is your kids are working on.
Thank you so much.:wink: The project is for a YouTube channel my kids are developing. Thank you again! Very much appreciated!
 

D'Snowth

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Oh, cool! The puppet scene on YouTube has been really quiet in recent years, so it'll be nice to see some new original material again; looking forward to checking this out.
 

Schfifty

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Wow, those are outstanding! They look like they could be roommates in a college dormitory. Kind of like Sulley and Mike in Monsters University. :smile:

Are there any other pictures you have of Wilton? I would love to see what the mouth and sleeves look like.
 

Wiltons World

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Wow, those are outstanding! They look like they could be roommates in a college dormitory. Kind of like Sulley and Mike in Monsters University. :smile:

Are there any other pictures you have of Wilton? I would love to see what the mouth and sleeves look like.
Thanks!:smile: I'll take and post some more pictures of Wilton this week.
 

Wiltons World

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Wow, those are outstanding! They look like they could be roommates in a college dormitory. Kind of like Sulley and Mike in Monsters University. :smile:

Are there any other pictures you have of Wilton? I would love to see what the mouth and sleeves look like.

This is Wilton's mouth and hands/arms. I think I need to extend the sleeve portion of the arms a bit. I also built a manually operated eye mechanism that's operated from inside his head that allows me to move the eyes in any direction. I'll try to draw a schematic for it. His teeth are made from carved makeup sponges like Leaf's.








 

D'Snowth

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Are you sure these are your first puppets? You seriously sound like you're a seasoned pro who should be building for the Creature Shop or Puppet Heap - especially considering you jumped into building a puppet with a mechie for one of your firsts.
 
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