Our Construction Diary
Page 28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ping Pong's Puppet Workshop

September 2, 2001- (Page 2 of 3)

So, we've got the cloth mache finished, now Bill & Kristin have to cut it off the sculpt--very very carefully, since Steve wants to keep the sculpt to maybe make another copy of it! Then, it has to have a plastic pipe frame to form the neck and attachment point for the detachable body.
Oh, by the way, did I tell you that it has to be operated by a single puppeteer? Yeah, nothing is easy about this one. The puppeteer holds the head in one hand, and the body in the other. The two parts have to stay together during the fight maneuvers. Yet the separation of the head from the body in the climactic moment of the scene has to be done while both of the puppeteer's hands are busy holding the puppet. An interesting design challenge!

 

Removing the cloth mache

August 7
Removing the cloth mache. Its really tough stuff, being about 3/16" thick. Lots of patience is required in its cutting with an X-Acto knife --as well as planning how to cut it off in the fewest number of pieces (while saving the sculpt for Steve!)

The resulting pieces

The resulting pieces -- three each for the head and the jaw.

The head, back together again

August 15
The head, back together again (minus the back). The plastic pipe frame is hot glued to the inside of the head. The jaw, held by a wooden dowel, is free to swing up and down working against elastic, which is tied between it and the frame.

 

Marty working on the plastic pipe frame.

Marty working on the plastic pipe frame. (No, not really -- he just hasn't had his picture shown for several pages, and he wanted his picture here) .

 

 

The sewable foam begins

August 28
The back of the head is made out of 1/2" sewable foam (foam rubber with a nylon mesh attached that helps push it through a sewing machine). Its inconvenient to rest the head on a milk crate, so ...

Marty's high-tech stand

Marty built this high-tech, state-of-the-art PVC stand to hold up the head.

 

 

 

The neck pieces glued to their fabric.

The neck pieces glued to their green glittery fabric. There is a front and back section for each piece.

Steve sewing them all together

August 30
Steve sewing them all together. They are sewn inside-out and then reversed. You can see the results on the next page.

 

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All text and photos © 2001 Olde World Puppet Theatre

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