need help with puppet idea

video567

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hi all i am tring to make a puppet nothing fancy its supposed to look like a medicine tablet? kinda like a tube. I just dont know how i would go about cutting the shape so i can make it look oval at the top. if anyone has any ideas i would love to hear from you
 

vaderdentist

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Make the tube.........but make it long on the end. At the top cut long v-shaped pieces out of it and then glue them together ...........practice on paper first and you'll see what I mean. Which ever paper pattern makes it look more oval at the top............use it on your real tube and voila.......instant capsule!

Dave :smile:
 

Puppetplanet

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I wonder if when using foam tube, you cut a circle slightly larger and attach with glue from inside lip. Wont it cause it to automatically "puff" up and create the rounded cap effect that your looking for?

Just a suggestion. :smile:
 

officermom

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If what you're aiming for is indeed a capsule, what about using a tube as your main body shape and Nerf ball halves as the top and bottom?

This would require your tube to be the same circumference as the ball but they are available in an almost-playground ball sized version as well as the large softball size.

Polyfoam Nerf-type balls are available in various colors (which just might match your project) or could be covered with fleece or flocked or spray-painted.

You can also "carve" a rounded end (the same circumference as your tube) out of a block of foam.

Finally, cheap plastic playground balls (usually found pouring out of huge displays in the middle of the main aisles in the toy store or stores like Wal-Mart) can be halved on the conveniently placed midline and used similarly. These would have to be flocked or covered in fabric (unless you made your tube out of a similar vinyl).

If what you're aiming for is more of a tablet (like an aspirin), consider halving a round pillow form and placing that at the top and bottom (or sides or ends) of a short tube.

Same rules apply for carving the shape out of a chunk of foam.

Hope this helps.

Good luck!

--Melissa
 

video567

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thanks fo r the info i though about the nerf ball before but i have like 10 yards of foam in the house and was hoping to just use that so i wont have to spend more money. ill look into it maybe i can work saomething out

thank you
 

vaderdentist

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Do this man!!!! Take a ball........similar in size. find it's north and south poles...............draw straight lines using a string as a guide from north to south pole.....................now do the same thing exactly opposite the first line and keep dividing the ball into wedges. The wedges will look roughly like a human eye........narrow points in the north and south corners if you will. Take a piece of paper and tape it onto the pattern and just trace the wedge onto the paper. Now cut as many of the wedges out of foam as it takes to make a ball. Hot glue them together and you will have your rounded end........actually two of them because you will have to cut it in half when done. It is really simple to do. Try it. You have enough foam to practice..............not only that but it will help you improve you nip and tuck method of puppet making. Many puppeteers use this method to form their puppet shapes. That is precisely how I made kermit.

Dave

see kermit in progress here:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/davidsimonds/Muppets/
 

officermom

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On that note, use an extra long tube of foam and cut the top and bottom of the tube into 6 to 8 half-ellipses of equal height and equal width (kind of like those paper Burger King crowns) (the height & width do not have to equal each other). When the "edges" of the ellipses are glued together, they will meet at the points and along the ever widening sides and will form the rounded effect you want. (Think of a twill ball cap and how the panels meet at the top under the button.)

Check out the black-and-white sketches in the middle of this link to understand this idea: Butterick Hat Pic

I used this technique to produce a LarryBoy (a cucumber a la Veggie Tales) costume for my son a few years back.

You will have to experiment to get the dimesions just right but that cheap playground ball will come in handy because you can get them for about 99 cents and they're already spherical. Use your craft knife to slice and dice half of one and you'll end up with a "pattern" which you can reproduce on a copy machine and enlarge or reduce to fit the actual circumference of your "capsule".

Finally, if you already have a puppet pattern, you might want to consider using the pattern for the top of the head (which is comprised of pieced and glued foam) forms a pretty reasonable half sphere (which could then be secured to the top and bottom of your tube).

Knowing what you have to work with makes it easier to suggest another option.

Hope this helps!

--Melissa


P.S. I just saw Dave's reply and that's right in line with all this *stuff* I just typed! :smirk:
 

Buck-Beaver

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You may also be able to make a tube and then pattern the rounded ends using a variation of the "wedge" method I've described here.

Good luck!
 
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