Mouthplate Material

[officermom]

Hello, All!

Is anybody willing to share their thoughts on the best material/s for mouthplates?

I'm working on my first two puppets. With one I went out on a limb & used a blank computer mousepad. Good grip. Allows some flexible mouth movement but it also curled the corners of the mouth/head. (Looks like he's scowling.) The second is an ArmsLength kit with sintra (hard, thin plastic) mouth plates and chamois thumb cup & finger grip. No scowl but the products don't seem to be easy to obtain commercially (for furture puppets).

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks!

--Melissa

 

[Buck-Beaver]

We use coroplast for stiff mouths. Coroplast is like corrogated cardboard, only made from plastic instead of paper. It's neat stuff and you can usually find it at art supply stores. If you don't want to buy a full sheet try seeing if you can get some small pieces from a signage shop.

For flexible mouths we usually use either gasket rubber (which can be found in plumbing supply stores) or thick (but flexible) vynl. Occasionally we've even used two pieces of shower curtain glued together.

Good luck!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Hiya,

In Muley's head, the top part of his muzzle is carved from 2" foam; the bottom is 1" foam carved and glued below some thick cardboard. That makes his upper muzzle versatile for expressions. The bottom isn't necessary for expressions.

Most of my puppets heads are carved and include the thick cardboard in their mouths.

Laters,
FOZ

muley pics are at www.midsouthcartoonists.com in the photo gallery

 

[Thom]

I've had real success with black suede leather. It's incredibly durable, thick to hold the shape and flexible for great expressions. The black is a good base for applying felt or foam material with hot glue to make details in the mouth. You may also want to try red if you prefer a red base.

 

[scarylarrywolf]

Corrigated plastic board works for me sometimes. You can find it for sale in a local craft store, or scattered about sidewalks for free after elections are over .

Good Providence with your puppet!

--"Scary" Larry Wolf

 

[CaptCrouton]

Hey Foz,

I tried to look at Muley pictures but I wasn't allowed to go in any folders without a member name. It gives me this message.

Oops! You have entered an invalid Member name.
Please try entering the correct Member name in the Visit Album box again.

This might be a result of my internet filter. (My computer is very protective of me, faithful little friend) But it doesn't appear to be a filter problem to me.

Markus

 

[Fozzie Bear]

It said that, huh? How dare it say that to my friends!!!!!

you went to www.midsouthcartoonists.com right? there is a link at the bottom of the page that says photo gallery, click on that link and you should get in no prob.

if not, email me directly at fozziemup@aol.com and i'll send u a pic.

laters,
FOZ

 

[Baby Rowlf]

Actually, with the puppet I've created, Nick Rhabbit (of Durabbit Durabbit, dontcha know.. ), I used an old PC board covered with red felt for his mouth! it worked pretty well!

 

[puppet builder]

Palette Materials

Hi,

Mouse pads are a good thought and can potentially give you finger grip, but the thicknesses tend to be bulky. Each head should fit pretty tight on to your hand, thus giving you the ability to generate expressions.

For Muppet-sized chaaracters (20"), try sheets of plain old arts and craft foam. Sold in most hobby/sewing stores. It's cheap, gives you just enough stiffness, yet allowing your hand to dictate expression but has just enough memory to break down and keep the puppeteer from fihgting hand fatigue.

As foams break down over time, just tack/sew it in place at a couple of locations. It can always be replaced.

Good Luck,
Puppet Builder

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Re: Palette Materials

I'm a big fan of craft foam, back in the day (before we knew what we were doing) we made all our puppets from stitched together pieces of craft foam (Ick! - Don't try it at home!!!) but now we discovered foam, contact cement and hot glue and we have a small army of much happier, better-built puppets.

Getting back to mouth material, my only addition to Puppet Builder's suggestion would be to glue some material to the craft foam to prevent ripping, tearing or breakdown over time. We usually make the mouthplate in two halves and then put them together to trace out a whole fabric mouthplate on whatever material the inside of the mouth will be (usually black felt in our case). The two halves are then glued down to the fabric mouthplate using contact cement (c. cement works much better than hot glue because it is thin).

Another method to ensure the durability of craft foam is to trace your mouth plate piece(s) on to a piece of shower curtain material or thin vinyl and then cut out the traced piece and glue it to the craft foam. The important thing is to glue the craft foam to a thin, strong (but flexible!) piece of material with contact cement.

It's a little extra work, but when done properly it means you probably won't ever have to worry about your mouth wearing out.