I grew up watching the Puppet Master films as a teen in the mid 90's as they came out, they were something I would watch on the weekends with my Dad, though I knew I probably wasnt supposed to. It was a bit of a ritual to rent some bad scifi/horror tape from the local gas station each weekend. So I've always wanted to make a replica of at least one of the puppets. Now at the age of 32 I'm finally getting around to it.
I just wanted to share some of my techniques and part sources for making my 1:1 Blade replica as I go through the process. One of the reasons I chose Blade to make first is that I knew i could source out a lot of the clothes from China/Korea doll makers. 1/3 and 1/4 ball jointed dolls are a huge thing in Japan and the US, and because of that there are a lot of clothes and accessories made in this larger doll scale. All of these parts did show up, so there was no worry about buying this stuff from overseas. I found that I needed a mix of 1/3 and 1/4 clothing to get the right sizes. After digging around for weeks, these are the parts I ended up using:
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Body: (With some modifications)
US Art Supply 20" Male Manikin Wooden Art Mannequin Figure
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400822446369?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Hat: (This was a temporary find, I wasnt happy with it being flocked plastic and its not easy to shape, looking for a full felt alternative)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151949069593?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Trench Coat: (needs buttons replaced with smaller black ones)
[wamami]500# Black Dust Coat/Outfit 1/3 SD DOD DZ BJD Dollfie
http://www.ebay.com/itm/391137750668?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Under Shirt:
Dollmore 1/4 BJD doll clothes MSD SIZE - Simple Round Neck T Shirt (Black)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311058427096?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Pants:
[wamami] 529# Black Pants/Trousers 1/3 SD AOD DOD DZ BJD Dollfie
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161932257428
Boots:
1/4 BJD MID Boots Supper Dollfie EID LUTS AOD DOD Shoes MSD Nubuck leather Boots
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181910025699?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
The real Blade prop is about 21" tall, and using this mannequin body It ends up being that size when the head is attached. I glued the torso sections of the body together with wood glue, since it is very floppy and the real puppets didnt have articulation there, I'm finding that once I have the heavy resin head on this body the joints become pretty weak, so I'm working on strengthening them. Be carefuly when taking parts off these bodys, the entire thing is articulated with super strong springs with hooks, so its easy to have one spring loose and cut yourself. I also wedged some washers into the front of the knee joints to stop the knees from bending the wrong way. The hands were removed and the feet will need to be ground down a bit to fit into the correct sized boots.
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When It comes to the head and hands, that's gonna be up to you. I got my parts on ebay, some are better than others, but there are many different sources. The head I got needed some touchup work and I ended up completely repainting it and doing quite a bit of work to it. To work with the mannequin body, I needed to hollow out the neck and have a post for the spring to hook to. I used a long hex screw as the post, and placed it into a hole I also used for the exterior "fluid injection" hole on the back of the neck as seen in Puppet Master 9. This was done with a small brass grommet.
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I drilled out the eye holes on the head so I could put in the eye spikes. I wanted them recessed like they are usually seen in the films. I made these from removing metal spikes from a neck collar I got at Spencers. I glued them to washers and glued them in place on the head after painting it. I went with a Puppet Master 1 paint style, with an off-white color, light weathering, and a high gloss finish.
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The hair that I will be attaching to the inside of the hat (once I get a new one) came from Party City. They have several different colors of hair extensions and a headband ponyytail thing. If you disassemble the headband and cut a few spots, youll have already curved hair that is attached in a big long strip, perfect for lining the inside of the hat.
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And that's about where I am right now. I'm finding a different hat, the jacket buttons have been replaced, the head is done, and the pants are on their way. I still need to grind down the feet to fit the boots and get the hands I have coming. But it's already starting to look like Blade! Thanks for looking!
