Foam blocks?

[robinthecrow]

Watching Crank Yankers (which I must admit I enjoy) I wondered how they get these characters' weird shaped heads. It couldn't just be foam sheet could it?

Then I saw the cover to the "Making of Muppets from Space" book and noticed a hand with a clipper/shaver thing on a block of foam, would this be a good technique to get some unique head shapings?

Ya know, get a big block of foam, then shave away at it until I get the desired effect? Then cover in whatever fabric I have to represent skin?

David.

 

[robinthecrow]

Alright, i've given the cover a second look, and it doesnt seem to be a shaver/clipper after all.... but maybe my theory might work?

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

If you're looking to sculpt/shape foam, get a 3M rotary disc sanding pad that takes stick on sheets that will fit a regular hand drill. You can find them at WAL-MART in the hardware section quite cheap. Get some 50 Grit sandpaper discs also. 50 grit seems to work the best for sanding foam. Solid foam sands incredibly well, it will come out nice and smooth. For detail work a Dremel Moto Tool with a small sanding disc is perfect. As for skin, Airbrushing works wonders, they sell skin tone airbrush paint which is as close to real skin tone as you're going to get with pre-mixed skin paint. It can also be tweaked by mixing in other colors. The foam stays nice and flexible and doesn't dry out, get hard, crusty, etc. If you'd like to see some of the characters I've built using these methods, throw me an email and I'll send some pictures.

Kev

 

[muppetmayhem]

I beleive that your theory might work, but it would be a little tricky. You might wanna practice this theory before you try using it. If it ends up working, post a reply and tell us if it worked out!

 

[ravagefrackle]

Watching Crank Yankers (which I must admit I enjoy) I wondered how they get these characters' weird shaped heads. It couldn't just be foam sheet could it?
David.

well i worked on season two, and quite a few of them are pattered, but some are sculpted , and some area compination of the two

 

[ravagefrackle]

sorry edit double posted my message, read below

 

[ravagefrackle]

If you're looking to sculpt/shape foam, get a 3M rotary disc sanding pad that takes stick on sheets that will fit a regular hand drill. You can find them at WAL-MART in the hardware section quite cheap. Get some 50 Grit sandpaper discs also. 50 grit seems to work the best for sanding foam. Solid foam sands incredibly well, it will come out nice and smooth. For detail work a Dremel Moto Tool with a small sanding disc is perfect. As for skin, Airbrushing works wonders, they sell skin tone airbrush paint which is as close to real skin tone as you're going to get with pre-mixed skin paint. It can also be tweaked by mixing in other colors. The foam stays nice and flexible and doesn't dry out, get hard, crusty, etc. If you'd like to see some of the characters I've built using these methods, throw me an email and I'll send some pictures.

Kev

that sanding method seems a little dicy to me, home depot has a nice five inch table top belt sander i prefer to use that, i would be to worried about holding foam in one hand and a drill in the other

but the paintimg of foam works great, u might want to get some "sculpt or coat " to strengthin the foam a bit, or just make a pattern by drapping your sculpted head, and making a pattern, it just takes pratice.

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

Yes, a belt sander would work wonderfully as well and would be safer for people just starting out with sanding foam. Actually the way I sand is by holding the foam head between my knees and the drill with both hands. Bob Fappiano uses the rotary sanding disc method as well, the only difference being he uses a high speed pneumatic one.

 

[robinthecrow]

I'll see about getting a block of foam to start sanding, I'm quite an artist with a handheld sander but I fill with fear at the thought of using a pair of scissors to shape foam! ala Nic's Fursuit Webpage tutorial on a foam puppet.

David.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

What about one of those power sanders? Might that work to make a Beaker?

BJ