Long-lasting foam...and other questions

[Convincing John]

Hey, everyone. Convincing John here.

I'm planning on making a human puppet (about the size of Farley, but with a head about the same shape as Zoot's).

Anyway, is there a foam that lasts longer than other types...or is there no difference, really? In the past, I've made a couple puppets out of those "egg crate" foam mattress pads you get for like 10 bucks out at Wal-Mart.

See, I've been thinking about the Muppet exhibit I saw in 1999, and after looking at an original Mahna-Manha, I thought of how well the puppet looked after all these years. I know that the Henson company would use some really high-quality, super expensive foam. But after so long, does foam get stiff and crumble? I just want to use some foam that will last a VERY long time!

And I know that blinks and blinking mechanisms have been discussed many many times here before, and I've seen some photos of different blinking mechanisms, but I'm not sure if they would work for the puppet I'm building. See, the kind of eyes I'm shooting for are the kind that blink like Clifford's (is there a different mechanism I should try?) And the eyes will be set into the head, like and not on top like or .

I've heard that some puppeteers prefer a rod or string below the puppet's body to a lever above the mouthplate to control the eyes. Any comments on this?

And here's another thing (I wish) I could make with this puppet. I wish I knew how to (besides with just basic hand movements) make the puppet smile or frown. I'm talking about building some kind of mechanism. I've only seen this done with the Skeksis Chamberlain, but I'm nowhere NEAR that level in puppetbuilding! LOL!!! Has anyone devised or know of how you could rig something with fishing line and plastic rings to make the same effect?

And I've heard about stretchy fabric (that doesn't leave lumps in your puppet's skin when you glue it to the foam). Where can I find some of that stuff?

Convincing John

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi John!

First of all, all foam breaks down over time. The best thing to do to preserve a puppet is store it when it's not being used in sealed container in a cool dry place. I store puppets in clear plastic bags inside Rubbermaid storage bins and I have ten year-old puppets made from regular polyfoam that are only now starting to look like the foam is coming apart. The Muppets have used a variety of different foams for their puppets over the years, but most builders today tend to use reticulated foam. I would recommend staying away from the "egg crate" foam and try buying sheets of polyfoam from a fabric or upholstry store instead.

As for eyeblink mechs, I'd take a look at Michael Brose's "Figure Making Can Be Fun". It is written for Vent doll builders, but all of the mechs in his book can be adapted for puppets. He even has some free tutorials from the book available on his site at http://puppetsnprops.homestead.com/home.html

If you're looking to make a puppet smile or frown using a mech you'll probably have to build it out of foam latex which is very complicated. There might be away to rig up something using polyfoam, but I doubt it would work very well. There's a lot of good info on foam latex available at http://www.puppetry.info/puppetry/building/FoamPuppets.html

As for non-lumpy fabric, antron fleece and most polar fleece have a bit of natural stretch to them. They can be glued down to a puppet head without lumps, but this is very difficult to do if you use hot glue. Working with a spray glue like Super77 or brush-on contact cement works much better.

I hope that helps!

 

[Convincing John]

Thank you, Buck Beaver! Reticulated foam, eh? Didn't know that. I'll take your advice and stay away from the egg crate stuff. Thanks for the helpful links, too!

Convincing John

 

[Show and Tell]

Awesome info Buck! thanks for the links and info. Very valuable.