Filthy little buggers
While I’ve been working on the puppets for a while now, this week work has really taken off. I finished our main character, Ringo, and the ladybug. The remaining character — the monster — is also coming along nicely. I hope to finish her tomorrow. As I only recently acquired a digital camera, the photos don’t show the beginning of the process. However, the method used for these puppets is roughly the same as outlined in my post ‘Aluminum wire armatures’, the main difference being the use of Polymorph instead of epoxy and copper tubing. Polymorph is a plastic that melts in hot water, is very light and very strong. Ideal for modelmaking purposes. I now only use epoxy when I need some extra weight (as with the monster puppet). For the ‘skin’ I am using the latex buildup method. This basically means gluing foam onto the armature, and painting coloured latex over that. The arms and head are made by putting plasticine on the armature, and applying latex to the plasticine. This last thing is a bit of an experiment, but so far it seems to work out.
Tie-downs
Most definitely the best thing since sliced bread, tie-downs are devices that ensure your puppet stays put. For this project I am using 2mm bolts which are attached to the model using polymorph. These bolts are inserted in a metal grille I got from a local D.I.Y. store and secured using nuts.
