Puppet-in-Progress: From the foam up

[TheWemblin'Fool]

I buy feathers from a seller on Amazon called Crazy Cart. They often have packs of 100 13.5" white feathers for sixty-something dollars, which is pretty good bang for the buck. They sell them in different size categories, and while the small ones may look wonderfully cheap (10 for a dollar, or even a penny), they're useless for puppet hair.

I used 25 feathers for Wembley's hair. Not sure how many I ripped up for Gobo, but I'd guesstimate it was about 20. Now you see why I buy in bulk!

Oh, I've also used an ostrich feather boa. I bought that on eBay and used chunks of it on Shonky. Turned out to be more labor than it was worth, even though the strands were nice and long and fluffy.

Wow Thanks for the advice, I will look them up!

 

[Slackbot]

bigwilly200: interesting. I'd think that the rod would slip out of a plastic sleeve too easily. If the rod is flexible enough to bend to hook it in, I'd worry that the rod would be bendy, period.

TheWemblin'Fool: No problem. They have other colors too, and in fact Gobo's magenta hair and Janken's purple hair were that color right out of the bag. If they don't have the feathers you want now, check back in a few days; they're always selling out and replenishing their stock.

 

[TheWemblin'Fool]

TheWemblin'Fool: No problem. They have other colors too, and in fact Gobo's magenta hair and Janken's purple hair were that color right out of the bag. If they don't have the feathers you want now, check back in a few days; they're always selling out and replenishing their stock.[/quote]


Cool, I'm going to looke them up now

 

[Slackbot]

I blitzed a bit tonight, so here are the last few in-progress photos:

The body. I didn't actually build this for Gobo; it was originally for a different puppet, but I decided that it was the too big and put it on the shelf. It looked good for Gobo, if still a bit tall, so I trimmed an inch off the top and went with that.

My special, secret, high-tech of making legs: quilt batting rolled into a long cylinder, then cut into leg lengths. I cut a notch into the back for the knee. The batting is much thicker than the leg will be, which is fine. It'll compress smoothly, and because the knee part is less compressed it'll bend there. I do arms the same way.

 

[Slackbot]

...Aaaand he's finished! Complete puppet is over here. Warning: full Fraggle nudity.

 

[Slackbot]

I'm working on clothing Gobo. One problem was, how to do the stripes on his shirt? It's not like I can just buy that fabric. The answer...

Buy a T-shirt at Goodwill, cut it up, use masking tape to mark the edges of the stripes, and put 'em on with fabric paint. I used a scrap bit of foam as a paint sponge.

 

[bigwilly2000]

Great idea for those hard to find stripped patterns. I nearly went crazy trying to find a green and stripped fabric for Skeeter's horns. Found a kid's t-shirt in Giant Tiger for $3 and used that.

 

[Slackbot]

The shirt wasn't striped. I painted the stripes on myself.

 

[Foodie]

Simply fantastic! The way you attached his hair is particularly enlightening. I love those hands too.

 

[Slackbot]

Thank you! If you approve of my Gobo, than I know he looks good.

I finished Gobo up today! Here's one last under-the-hood shot:

His head is not sewn onto his neck. Rather, it's attached to a sleeve, which I safety pin to his, um, exit port. I've done all of my puppets this way since Derpy. This allows them to turn their heads freely, and if I have to change their clothes I can take off the heads rather than risk damaging them while pulling shirts off.

Still gotta make Wembley's shirt fabric...