Beaks

[GaryBaum6566]

My first post. Wow, I'm thrilled.

Anyhoo, I'm finally following my childhood dream and build a few puppets. One of the puppet designs that I have is of a bird type creature. I'm looking for different ideas on building beaks for the character. I seem to have found answers to other questions that I've had already in this forum, thought that I might find the answer to the beak here as well.

Thanks for any help

 

[fragglerockr]

Beaks...

Gary,

Welcome to the forum. Nice to see another member from Georgia! About the beak your trying to create, what kind of puppet is it for? A Hand puppet? And what materials are trying to make it out of? If it's a foam puppet you can make it make it out of scrap foam covered in fabric. I've even seen some people cover them out of a vinyl type material. You could try some of the 'sculpt' mentioned in 'The Foam Book' for a harder material.

Hope that helps,

Lee

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Balsa wood covered in fleece. That's Big Bird's Beak.

I carved my duck's bill out of foam.

 

[GaryBaum6566]

You know, I should try to explain things more when I'm making requests.

First off, yes it is a hand puppet, and I plan on using foam to make my puppets (something I've never done in the past when making puppets). The beak design is somewhat resembling, say, a dodo's beak. I also wanted to make the beak sturdy and hopefully, hard to damage.

Looks like the Sculpt and Coat is the answer I was looking for. Just wondering if there were other options as well. But I could always look for other options on different puppets, so all advice will not be wasted.

Thanks guys

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I've been finding furniture on side of the road and taking the cushion foam from the seats! It's big blocks of foam that's 4" thick or more. From these foam blocks I've been carving things for puppets, and puppets themselves.

I'd say if you can find some of this foam, it's fairly sturdy stuff, and cover it with a vinyl material to create your Dodo beak look.

Keep in mind that sometimes up close items seem a little harsh looking, but in photos, tv, and from an audience view, the 'harsh' look is smooth as silk!

A friend of mine saw the Crank Yankers puppets in person and said they are NOT made well at all!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

An alternative to Sculpt-or-Coat is to use latex. I generally use Moldcraft, because that is what is sold locally here, but it is available in almost any art supply store. It adds a little more weight to the foam it's applied to than Sculpt-or-Coat but it's easier to find.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Hey, what about that stuff that's like styrofoam-in-a-can? It gets pretty hard, too.

BTW: one of my friends has used paper mache` in 7 to 10 coats, then painted it and covered it with a thick layer of clear coat, and his sculptures are very hard and sturdy. Mightn't something like that work? Buck?

 

[DPuppets]

I thought I would put my 2 cents in here. I have bilt a few birds and Sculpt and Coat is good, but not been so satified with it. I have just cover beak with antron and shaved to make it little smoother looking which is good. Also I agree with Buck about the latex. You can take acrylic paint and make with latex and then paint it on the foam. The more coats you put on it the more it covers and begins to give a great look. I think you would be happy with latex.