My extreme low budget puppet Cardboard Cylon Jr

[ReallyNotACylon]

This puppet was built as the son of a costume I once made as a joke costume for Dragon Con is Atlanta, GA. I retired the cardboard, but I liked the idea of giving people cardboard and duct tape robots. Something about the design appeals to me, plus I like to challenge myself with making something look interesting with a close and looming deadline. He's based on the Cylon Centurions from the new version of Battlestar Galactica. The armor pieces are basically cardboard covered by duct tape. Cardboard while probably not the lightest material. But it is cheap and easy to get, it's also an amazingly easy to use material to make really any shape. I've used styrene before but it isn't very sturdy unless you get thicker sheets.

This was the original version.

The area under the helmet is an actual sock, the joints are felt stuffed with fluff. I made it in a week for the convention last year. He became a hit with anyone who saw him, so I starting writing some material and a personality for him, all of which I'm turning into a webseries I'm working on. But since he really wasn't intended to be used past one weekend I decided to give him an upgrade. I removed all the fabric and bought some fleece to replace it.

Here is what I did.

The sock is now a sort of inner head. There is a little gap to insert a small flashlight I use as his eye. My hand is able to move around the eye, going from the standard Cylon eye sweep to being able to look at anything I can point it to. Since he doesn't have a mouth, I use the eye to express his feelings. He can even blink.

Here he is with the head attached.

The limbs are basically just small boxes covered in duct tape like the rest of the body.

The legs attach to the body using magnets.

They're extremely strong and so far I've been unable shake them loose.

The new hands are foam covering memory wire shaped into fingers. I glued some magnets onto it as well. It allows my to attach objects to his hand or to his body. They also attach to the control rod.

I covered them in fabric.

The fabric is actually from an old t-shirt, it was actually the closest match to the color of the body and since it stretches the fingers can bend easily. Since it's glued to the foam the tightness makes it look a little like skin when bent in certain ways. The outside ended up having a hard edge due to the fabric drying after being glued down. It looks like the edge of a blade so I left it in, makes his fingers look more like knife blades.

The control rod is inserted into a small pocket on the inside of the hand. I've since sewn down the edges and it blends better. But it and the magnets keep the rod tightly in place. You can also notice the fingers forming small joints like a real hand.

Here's the final product. There is a magnet hidden in the armor so I can attach it to the body when I'm walking around with him and have only one control rod.

 

[SkeetScootSquat]

This puppet was built as the son of a costume I once made as a joke costume for Dragon Con is Atlanta, GA. I retired the cardboard, but I liked the idea of giving people cardboard and duct tape robots. Something about the design appeals to me, plus I like to challenge myself with making something look interesting with a close and looming deadline. He's based on the Cylon Centurions from the new version of Battlestar Galactica. The armor pieces are basically cardboard covered by duct tape. Cardboard while probably not the lightest material. But it is cheap and easy to get, it's also an amazingly easy to use material to make really any shape. I've used styrene before but it isn't very sturdy unless you get thicker sheets.

This was the original version.

The area under the helmet is an actual sock, the joints are felt stuffed with fluff. I made it in a week for the convention last year. He became a hit with anyone who saw him, so I starting writing some material and a personality for him, all of which I'm turning into a webseries I'm working on. But since he really wasn't intended to be used past one weekend I decided to give him an upgrade. I removed all the fabric and bought some fleece to replace it.

Here is what I did.

The sock is now a sort of inner head. There is a little gap to insert a small flashlight I use as his eye. My hand is able to move around the eye, going from the standard Cylon eye sweep to being able to look at anything I can point it to. Since he doesn't have a mouth, I use the eye to express his feelings. He can even blink.

Here he is with the head attached.

The limbs are basically just small boxes covered in duct tape like the rest of the body.

The legs attach to the body using magnets.

They're extremely strong and so far I've been unable shake them loose.

The new hands are foam covering memory wire shaped into fingers. I glued some magnets onto it as well. It allows my to attach objects to his hand or to his body. They also attach to the control rod.

I covered them in fabric.

The fabric is actually from an old t-shirt, it was actually the closest match to the color of the body and since it stretches the fingers can bend easily. Since it's glued to the foam the tightness makes it look a little like skin when bent in certain ways. The outside ended up having a hard edge due to the fabric drying after being glued down. It looks like the edge of a blade so I left it in, makes his fingers look more like knife blades.

The control rod is inserted into a small pocket on the inside of the hand. I've since sewn down the edges and it blends better. But it and the magnets keep the rod tightly in place. You can also notice the fingers forming small joints like a real hand.

Here's the final product. There is a magnet hidden in the armor so I can attach it to the body when I'm walking around with him and have only one control rod.

wow,that's cool!

 

[ReallyNotACylon]

Thanks.

I've started on another cardboard puppet.

He's going to be a Raider. He'll probably get a bit of a paint job to replicate the coloring of one.

I've also started on the wings.

I'm adding pieces to them so they have more of a 3D appearance. He'll need something to keep it from collapsing under the weight, I'll probably go with PVC or wood. I'm also debating adding small arms/legs where his guns are supposed to be. I think some foam controlled by rods should work. I'm trying to figure out how to have them slide out of a tube.