Looking for some good links on building puppets

[Fozzie Bear]

You have to have patterns to make puppets. Even if you create your own puppet, you should create a pattern for it while constructing it so when you have to rebuild it later you can and get a better match. Even the Muppets use patterns. Heck, props and scenery require designs or construction plans, which in themselves are patterns. you won't be able to escape it.

"Resistance is futile!"

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Back on the subject of puppet building links, The Tumbles P. Bear Project is back online. For those who haven't seen it, it's a basic intro to foam puppet construction techniques. I've finally finished it but don't have the last two installments online yet because I'm overhauling my web site again.

 

[gfarkwort]

What kind of patterns do you use Buck? Because I think I do it differently but it works and that’s all that counts. What I do is get thick printing paper and build what I want my puppet to look like out of paper. So basically is just a 3-D paper puppet. And I tape all the pieces together. Then when I start building I UN tape it and trace the shape onto the foam. This way I can see how big the Puppet is before I invest time in building it out of foam. This procedure has worked for me so far. I've built 12 puppets this way. The only problem I have is fitting the mouth plates into the Puppets. But now I'm just thinking about making the mouths out of foam as well.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Well I use whatever works really. The method I'm describing is what I've dubbed the "wedge method". Like I mention in the article there's no one right way to build of course. I've tried doing the "paper puppet" thing before and while it's sometimes helpful I just go ahead and usually build out of foam.

 

[Iokitek]

We'll see

The Tumbles P bear project was a great help in getting to understand the basics. I'm currently trying to figure out more for myself to get the result that I want. Everyone does that I noticed.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

I was gonna bump this, but you know how much I like to talk. Does anybody have good links to puppet patterns on the interweb? I was searching on yahoo/google/etc. yesterday and I could not find a solitary thing on that subject. Any suggestions? Buck? Anybodee?

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Go to "Google" websearch, type in "aol blue boy puppet pattern" and it pulls up a link for a great, simple puppet pattern. You can take this pattern and pretty much do anything with it. I made a Mahna-Mahna puppet out of it.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Check out http://www.bear-town.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=36

There's a section in that article on puppet patterns you can buy (pg two I think) and page 4 has links to sites with a few free patterns. Otherwise try searching Google (do both a web and an image search).

I hope that helps.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

buck, you're a total genius-a-saurus! I LOVE Star Wars and your Yoda link was fantabulous. Foz, I'll get to that when I can, but great ideas from both of you.

 

[Jinx]

To erniebert1234ss

Just a quick note regarding your signature. As someone who loves Star Wars, I figured you might want to be accurate. Vader's quote is actually "I find your lack of faith disturbing.", not simply "Your lack of faith is disturbing"

Cheers!

Jinx