Casting in Polyfoam?

[shtick]

I've seen photos of Piggy and other muppets and noticed that they have very shapely heads that look almost as good without fleece!

I used to think the builders would actually sculpt piggy's head from a block of foam, but now I realize that thats just too tedious for anyone and takes too long.

I'm thinking maybe they sculpt it in clay, make a mold and cast it in some sort of liquid polyurethane that air dries into a foam. Is this possible?

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

The original Piggy head was hand scupted from block, but now it's I believe foam latex cast in a mold then the latex is flocked. Sculpting from block isn't as hard as it may sound, but it does take some learning. I sculpt all my characters from solid foam block. You can see some of my characters here.

 

[shtick]

What do you use to sculpt? Scissors? Hot Knife?

 

[hennesprod]

Foam latex...

Yep, I have done several things in foam latex. However, it takes a bit of set up and there are different formulas and can give off some pretty bad fumes. That is why I went to just using a mask grade latex for all my creatures. The thing about this process, you can pour a number of them. You could have an army

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

First I draw out the basic profile I want on the side of the foam, I then cut that out with a hacksaw blade, (since I don't have a band saw) I then draw the shape I want on the front of the head and cut that out. I then have a basic rough shape to work with. Then I take scissors, trim off excess foam and refine the shape some more. I then sand the rest of the way with a rotary disc sander mounted on a drill. For mouth, nose and ear detailing I use a Dremel with a sanding drum on the end. I'll post some pictures so you can see.

 

[dramaqueen]

I have never puppeteered with a carved foam head. Are they harder to use than a hollow 1/2" foam head? (cemented together foam pieces) I would think they would be stiff. Is it a cramped space, or is that something you would just dig out larger? Just curious, I try to make my puppets as light as possible because we tend to keep them on stage for awhile.

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

Alright, sorry about the wait. Here's some pictures of how I sand and the tools I use. I put another picture of some of my characters in that album too. I'll try and get some pictures that show the build process from start to finish next time I do a build.

I have never puppeteered with a carved foam head. Are they harder to use than a hollow 1/2" foam head? (cemented together foam pieces) I would think they would be stiff. Is it a cramped space, or is that something you would just dig out larger? Just curious, I try to make my puppets as light as possible because we tend to keep them on stage for awhile.

I can't really say, since I've never used a hollow sheet foam head before. I can say however the solid foam is easy to use and quite flexible if done right though. It depends on how you carve the mouth really, for example a side to side or a "slice" is better than front only for operation of the mouth. Front placed mouths look great though and with practice can be made to work quite well. I do carve out the mouth area a lot and for a mouthplate I usually use leather, I have a few rolls of soccerball leather from Spalding that I use. Weight is surprisingly not an issue, they don't wear your arm out even though you would think they would. I have to thank Bob Fappiano for the foam sculpting techniques I use, at one of our puppetry guild meetings which was held at his studio/workshop/house when I was still in CT he very graciously showed everyone how his characters are built, I learned a lot that day.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Properly built, "hollow head" foam puppets (a more accurate term is probably "patterned foam" puppets) are, generally speaking, more flexible than carved heads simply because of their method of construction.

I say generally though because there are a few things to keep in mind. For one thing, a really well done carved head is always going to be better than a poorly made patterned foam head. Another is that flexibility is not the only consideration when building a puppet. Some puppets because of their design or the nature of their intended use simply work better as one or the other.

It's not a case of one being better than the other, each type has advantages and disadvantages. In end it often comes down to personal preference.

Getting back to casting polyfoam for a moment, I'm not sure but I don't believe they actually cast Piggy et al in polyfoam but actually foam latex which is a different, less pourous material.

 

[Iokitek]

Right, Miss Piggy was created using Tom Mc Laughlin's Latex Foam formula. You can read more about why they decided to go with that here. Jabba the Hutt and several other famous creatures have been constructed using Mc Laughlin Foam.

I like carving foam and covering it with fabrics. More than working with foam sheets and patterns. But I guess it all depends on the desired effect. If I would make a typical Muppet I would use a pattern. I really like the idea of sculpting, molding and casting though. And I'm still doing research at the moment on the whole thing. Right now I'm still practicing sculpting wich isn't easy. Luckily I have a background in drawing so I'm not doing too bad. Soon I plan on making my first mold and testing casting with regular latex bought at the arts and crafts store. If that turns out well I would like to get more professional material from Smooth-On for instance

Steve Axtell makes great latex puppets. But he uses a secret formula of latex and vinyl wich he developed himself. So he probably has alot more options because of that. It's fun to take a look at his puppets though.

Miss Piggy gets her final look by applying the flocking technique as was mentioned earlier. you can find all the info you need on that on the American Flock Association website. Flocking seems like the way to go if you want to have full control over applying fabrics. But it takes alot of time and precision work. Not too mention the fact that flocking tools aren't cheap.

 

[shtick]

From the way the article makes it sound, it would be too much of a pain to sculpt, mold and cast unless you need to make many of the same puppet. (as in the case of Piggy)

I think I'll just stick with the sheet foam method.