UK Puppet Builders

[FeLo]

Hey guys i'm a puppeteer at a theme park and would love to attempt making my own puppets but have no idea about what materials to get to start and where to get them from. If anyoen in the Uk can help me out with what materials i should be trying to get, i.e. what type of fleece/material and what measurment foam as in thickness and where you guys get your stuff? shops/internet sites...any help you can give me would be much appreciated

 

[HauntedPuppet]

Half-inch and inch foam sheet.

Just about any fleece. Most people here seem to prefer Antron fleece but I buy a lot of different types. Kingston, Polar, Sapphire, etc . . . . .

Faux Furs. These can be either retail "off the bolt" or even strange fur jackets that one may find in a second hand clothes store.

Any other material. Your puppets can be made from just about any material such as leathers (for lizard / monster skins). Translucent materials for exotic skins to make certain effects. Your imagination is the only limit here.

projectpuppet.com has some good starting patterns which are easy to modify to make unique characters.

Peace

 

[FeLo]

Thanks for the info especially on the foam measurments because that was confusing me big time haha... now if anyone from the UK has any retailers that are worth me going into? or any websites that are decent price wise and obviously ship to the Uk i would be very appreciative. I hope to be part of the puppet building world very soon and hopefully semi succesful at making them haha.... this is a great site to for information and help i'm glad i got told about it

 

[HauntedPuppet]

I dont know if they have them in the UK but we have a company here in AU called "Clark Rubber". They sell anything rubber, sheeting, tubing, etc.

Any rubber supplier will carry foam sheeting.

A few tips.
Inch foam sheet is great for bigger puppets but not so good for smaller puppets. Use the half inch for smaller puppets. They make great "skeletons" for the inner part of muppet style puppets, skull caps, body forms hands, feet, etc.

 

[FeLo]

hmmm i havn't heard of that company, i will have to take a look. How large is a larger puppet? just trying to figure out if 1 inch fam would make sense for the type of puppets i want to attempt to make? this is all very confusing haha

 

[Luke]

Good to see another Londoner. Which theme park are you working at? Sounds fun!

 

[FeLo]

Hey luke i work at chessington world of adventures at the moment doing the puppet shows and skin work its a really fun job...where are you in london? have you ever made puppets? if so where do you get your foam and materials? just trying to get my head round all this haha

 

[Puppetfur]

Hey,

I use www.pentonvillerubber.co.uk

Recommend the reticulated foam.

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[FeLo]

Thanks for that Dan i will look into them...do you go and pick it up from the place or do they do online sales and delivery somewhere? thanks for all the advice so far guys

 

[FeLo]

Whilst i have this thread going and am hoping more people will come back with places i can look at for foam, I have a question about puppet building and it has to do with eyes. I think ping pong balls or table tennis balls depending on where your from would make good eyes but how would you cut them in half? any advice again would be appreciated...i find this whole thing very complicated but im starting to get the hang of it