1st puppet progress

[Snark Blarmsten]

Hi there,

In response to my thread over at

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=24646

I was asked to post when I have something, well it isn't much but here's this much. The foam head, foamcore mouth start and foam chin:

http://www.pixelmech.com/rev/monster1.jpg

Note the odd colored foam I mentioned. The head came out a little more rectangular than I wanted, but that's okay. You'll note the "flatness" of the chin, even though I glued the darts. I'm not sure if I did it right, we'll have to see how it goes on. The way I see it now, I won't get the 90 degree angle I need to attach the neck, hopefully I can make it work.

A *very rough* sketch I whipped up in photoshop of what I am after:

http://www.pixelmech.com/rev/sketch1.gif

I want a "beeker" type nose, but I'm not sure how to make one.

Tom

 

[ravagefrackle]

i suggest you do not use foam coare for your mouth , u will not be happy in the long run with it, search the forums for mouth plates it come up in topics quite a lot

 

[Snark Blarmsten]

I'll give that a look, thanks. I know that Sean Johnson of Puppet101 uses the actual foam to do his, and I like his technique too. I haven't put anything together yet so I'm still open to going either way.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I don't recommend foam either. Gasket rubber or certain types of leather work best in my experience.

 

[Snark Blarmsten]

Seems it would be hard to attach the foam to leather - how would you make the lower jaw strong enough if it is just leather? (seems too thin too) - same for the gasket I guess. Is it placed on top of something?

For the sake of argument, how do the muppets actually do it?

 

[puppetsmith]

Gasket rubber, foam, foam core, wood, cardboard, chipboard, plastic sign material, and anything else you can think of or at least find in your garage - use what suits your needs the best and the material with which you feel most comfortable working . THERE ARE NO RULES! Sean Johnson used foam for his cat puppet tutorial - I'm sure he has used other materials in the past and will again in the future. I have personally used almost all the materials above for mouthplates, depending on the circumstances.

Consider how you would like the mouth to move, how the mouth will be constructed or attached, and under what conditions your finished puppet will be used. Then decide on mouthplate material to suit your needs.

Professional puppet builders should not encourage experimentation and creativity and then severely limit first-time puppet builders to the methods or techniques that they personally prefer. If it works - it works. If everyone uses the same methods and techniques - the art dies.

 

[Snark Blarmsten]

Thanks Bez, that makes sense. Like I said I wasn't necessarily locked into anything - I really chose the foamboard because this is my first puppet and I am following the foam video method. Since the 3-piece head I made is measured with the mouth I already have (and it's already covered in material) I will probably stick with it. To me too, part of a classic muppet look for a monster muppet is that flat type of stiff mouth. We'll see how it goes!

 

[puppetsmith]

No problem Snark. If there is anything I can do to help out feel free to contact me privately here on MC.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I agree that there's no rules, but each type of material does have different properties.

There's no contradiction in encouraging experimentation and still maintaining an opinion on which materials might work best for one thing or another. I think that the important thing to remember in these discussions is that it's a good idea to take under advisement what works for different people, but not be ruled by it.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Seems it would be hard to attach the foam to leather - how would you make the lower jaw strong enough if it is just leather? (seems too thin too) - same for the gasket I guess. Is it placed on top of something?

What I personally do is make the mouthplate from leather in two parts (one top, one bottom) then glue them to a single piece of black felt cut to the same size as the entire mouth plate. Leather glues to foam just fine (using contact cement) but if it's finished (smooth) on one side you have to sand the surface with some rough sandpaper before gluing otherwise the glue can just peel off.

Does that help at all?

Ravagefrackle is the only person here who I think can accurately speak to "how the Muppets do it" but my understanding is that they don't have any one way of doing anything. It all varies depending on what materials are available and what the puppet needs to do.