Our Construction Diary
Page 87

 

 

Ping Pong's Puppet Workshop

 

February, 2006

Part three of the River Otter construction for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.

 

 

Top of head with air holes started

Here's the top of the head. The eight white holes are for ventilation, (they were later cut out entirely) and the other holes are where the wire ties hold the bicycle helmet to the papier maché head. Since we wanted to make the bicycle helmet removable, we made a velcro flap in the fur to be able to cut the helmet out of the head.

 

 

Whiskers going on

Now the whiskers are added to the head. We used lawn string-trimmer cord which was hot -lued to the outer shell of the head. The whiskers were then poked through the fur.

 

 

Trap door in the head

Here's a better view of the velcro panel on the top of the head giving access to the wire ties that hold the bicycle helmet to the head.

 

 

Inside of the eyes

Here's a shot of the inside of the eyes. The eyes were made out of the round half of the clear dome that encloses toys in vending machines. First, we sprayed the inside of the pieces black, and then, since the plastic is pretty thin, we filled them with the hardening foam you use to seal up leaks around the house. That strengthened the plastic considerably.

 

 

 

. Outside of the eyes

Then we sprayed several coats of shiny black paint on the outside of the eyes, and they were ready to install.

 

 

Eye preparation

Once the eyes were hot glued into place, a layer of black fabric was added for an eyelid as seen above. The blue tape was used to keep the fur out of harm's way, and was later removed.

 

 

Eye Detail

Here's the final eye detail.

 

Whisker discipline

Here we're doing a little whisker discipline. Once they're bent into the final shape, they will be trimmed to the final length.

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All text and photos © 2006, Olde World Puppet Theatre

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