Building (and rebuilding) Puppets

[Melonpool]

I've been building (actually rebuilding) my puppets for the epic motion picture that we've been working on for the last year or so (see previous post here).

I just finished Sam T Dogg -- actually the fifth version of this puppet. Based on a comic character I've been drawing for about three decades, I think he came out pretty well:

Sam 2011 version and cartoon version

Since he's a rebuild, I was able to hone a lot of the techniques such as building mouth palettes, making patterns and stitches to create a much more usable (and aesthetically pleasing) puppet. Here's the same character, as built in 2006:

Sam 2006 version

And, just to see how far my skills have come, here's the first version of this character, as built in 1994:

Sam 1994 version

Have any of you rebuilt the same character multiple times? I'd love to see how they've progressed along with your skills.

Steve

 

[D'Snowth]

What are you using for eyes?

 

[Melonpool]

Acrylic Lighting Globes

You can cut them out with a Dremel and sand the edges smooth. I'm currently using the 8 inch globe, but they come in many different sizes and weights. The thicker the plastic, the harder it is to cut and the heavier the finished head is to perform, so I try to find the thinnest plastic I can find. I lightly sand it to rough it up and paint it with a flat white paint.

I use black craft foam to make the edge and then hot glue it onto the puppet. I've also used Contact Cement, but on fur/fleece hot glue seems to work fine.

 

[Animal31]

Wow, excellent! And how fun it is to watch the evolution of a character after all these years..........

 

[newbie77]

Amazing to see the progress you made with this character.

I can't tell from the photo but are you inserting your hand through the bottom or the back of the puppet?

 

[larz]

Great work MP!

 

[Melonpool]

It's through the bottom of the puppet. I need to take some good pictures with my hand up inside. These were taken while they were on a cardboard tube held up by a paper towel roll, so there's not much life in them.