My muppet style puppet build. (pic heavy)

[Jeebee25]

Hey all! This is a build I thought I would share (that's outside of my Proton Pack and Ghostbusters props wheelhouse) so it was a fun experience. I just moved to the Seattle area and am an improviser from Chicago, so I was thinking of how I could produce a show that would not be a fixture in every theater but might make use of my improv AND building skills. While watching Elmo with my girls it occurred to me that an improvised puppet show might be cool. So I quickly found this video -

Using this as my starting point and cruising the muppet central forum (which still has not approved me to post? Very odd...) I found enough info to get started. If this puppet came out good, then I decided I would build four more. I wanted the standard "Any Muppet" monster.

I followed the video and ripped apart an old baseball cap to get the pattern for this -

From there I used my arm as a gauge and wrapped some foam around it, I then folded over the bottom to get a beveled edge for comfort.

**Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him.May His passage cleanse the world**

Arms and hands -

Sewing.. I'm not that good at it...

The fur isn't as vibrant a color as I wanted, but it was $5 a yard and I didn't want to blow a bunch of money if I could not make this work.

Made a patten for the head -

Later I took a pin and rubbed the edge across the seams to coax out the fur. I studied the "Henson Stitch" and decided to try that later.

**WORM SIGN! A BIG ONE!** Making the pattern for the body.

And finishing the arm rods. The next one I will attach one arm to the bod and just use one rod.

Arms, hands and body attached!

Used some EVA foam from his nose -

Ping Pong balls for eyes, but I backed them in Loctite two part putty so they are hard and won't dent.

Added fleece and EVA eyelashes.

Positioning the eyes

AND! DONE!!!

My girls decided his name is "Tacoroni" and I like it.

 

[Philly]

Friggin awesome, I want to make one now!

Good work mate.

 

[Jeebee25]

Thank you! I'm thinking he needs some short horns to round of the look.

 

[Trooper_trent]

Great job! I've built a few over the years and it's not easy! getting the pattern right is pretty daunting but it looks like you nailed it!

 

[Probe Droid]

That's damned impressive. Bravo.

 

[Jeebee25]

That's damned impressive. Bravo.

Thank you!

 

[Jeebee25]

So, I've been playing with this puppet for the last few days and I'm discovering that using two arm rods while moving a puppet around and talking is not easy! I'm thinking that I might cut one of the rods off and tag the hand to his belly so that I only have to deal with one. Any puppeteirs out there with some sage advice?

 

[Snow Builder]

Puppet came out great. What was the duration of the build?

 

[Jeebee25]

Puppet came out great. What was the duration of the build?

Ten days or so.

 

[ultraman]

that's a great job on the puppet jeebee!

now you could sew him up some different costumes to wear...then he'd be a customizable puppet!:cool

 

[Jeebee25]

Thank you! I think my wife will get weirded out if I start dressing him in clothing though...

 

[Trooper_trent]

So, I've been playing with this puppet for the last few days and I'm discovering that using two arm rods while moving a puppet around and talking is not easy! I'm thinking that I might cut one of the rods off and tag the hand to his belly so that I only have to deal with one. Any puppeteirs out there with some sage advice?

Here's one of my puppets with double arm rods. Try this little idea I came up with. I've never seen anyone else do this but it works very well for me. Skip to about 1 minute in.

 

[Jeebee25]

Great puppet! Thank you!

 

[Steven Nedry]

Wow!!! Cool! Very nice!

 

[davidnagel]

Nicely done. If you aren't already there (I haven't visited in a long while) the PuppetsnStuff forum might appreciate this

Gotta love a muppet style puppet, nice work on replicating the Muppet eye house style.

 

[Jeebee25]

I'll check it out! Muppet Central still hasn't enabled my profile to post, so it would be nice to find a community to be a part of. (Besides this wonderful site of course!)

 

[davidnagel]

I neglected to mention Muppet Central, just incase RPF had a problem with other forum mentions

Looking forward to seeing any more you make

 

[Jeebee25]

I can't seem to get my profile approved to post. I've talked with one person and they said they would do it for me ASAP and then never did. I just gave up on them.

 

[Jeebee25]

Just checked, my profile is still sick with a "you do not have sufficient privilege to post."

Kind of frustrating to be honest.