Good Grief! *ANOTHER* Toodles Kermit replica?

[ToodlesTeam]

Yep, that's right! I'm at it again! I'm proud to present Kermit the Frog 5, my finest (and hopefully final) Kermit replica yet! My last Kermit didn't have legs, but I decided I'd rather do the entire frog this time again. He also holds the unique distinction of being my first puppet ever finished on Christmas! (Hence the scarf.) Thankfully I managed to get him done before the family arrived so Kermit can help entertain everyone tonight!

Since my hands were a bit busy operating the camera, his head is empty here so he looks a bit goofy. I'll try to get some more pics later when there's someone around to lend hand, if you will!

Here's a couple more of the full body:
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx96/ToodlesTeam/PB180002_zps125926cf.jpg
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx96/ToodlesTeam/PB180001_zps79ad9120.jpg

 

[Muppet fan 123]

To sum up my thoughts in three words:
YOU ARE AMAZING!!

How do you do it?
What did you use for his body? Did you use fleece on him? What are his eyes made from? Where can I get a scarf like that?

 

[ToodlesTeam]

Ha, glad you like him so much!

Other than some refinements to my design, he's built pretty much exactly like my previous Kermit puppet. His body is made of foam. Four pieces glued together to make kind of a barrel/pear shape. He's covered in what I think is blizzard fleece. It's actually the same fleece that I used for Kermit 4, so I bought it about two years ago. The collar is fleece too, mostly because it was the right color. He does have an arm sock, but it's tucked up inside his body so he can sit better. His eyes are made from 38mm ping pong balls with part of a styrofoam ball inside to give them some strength and make them easier to attach. The pupils are just black felt.

And his scarf is a one-of-a-kind miniature scarf my mother crocheted just for Kermit! Cute, isn't it?

 

[charlietheowl]

Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ToodlesTeam]

Thanks! Kermit 5 was a big hit with the family tonight! He sang "One More Sleep Till Christmas"...despite being one sleep too late! It was still good fun.

 

[MuppetsandMe]

Good grief is correct!! He is amazing, well done! I have only made one puppet and plan on making Kermit in the next couple of months, is he difficult? Any advise? And once again I am speechless he is incredible

 

[ToodlesTeam]

Thanks! Kermit is easy to construct but hard to get right. He's deceptively simple. It's very easy to built a puppet like Kermit, but extremely tough to get him to look just like the genuine frog! My biggest advise is to do *lots* of research to understand exactly what Kermit looks like and also to test build everything before you commit to the final puppet in order to make sure it looks just right.

 

[MuppetsandMe]

What pattern did you use for the head?

 

[ToodlesTeam]

I used the infamous "dissected" Master Replicas Kermit as the basis for my pattern, and then tweaked it as needed to make it more accurate. Pretty much just trial and error until I thought it looked right.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1351/1296208247_2bd9ac64ce.jpg

 

[JacobsBest]

Well done. Did you adjust the size of "the infamous dissected MR Kermit"? Also, any tips on calculating the size of the mouth-plate to match?