New video available on mould making

This video shows how to make a single plaster mould from an original puppet head modelled in plasticene, which involves cutting the head in half, then making a single plaster moulding block from the two halves.

WATCH VIDEO NOW ON YOUTUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIrE3gjt4Gw

The picture here is of the finished mould. The heads appear solid, but are actually the mould recesses.

Scientists

I now have a model for the scientist. I think it captures a degree of the intended features it is pillorying. i.e. conceipt, arrogance, aloofness, trusted authority hiding selfishness, slightly obsessive air.

New video on making crocodiles snap

I have now managed to get a working jaw mechanism for the crocodile. Bicycle cables! The complete video is now available here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ZbKjea9Dw

Crocodiles

Crocodile mouth parts have been occupying me, and I have finally got the ideal remote control, which is a bicycle gear cable and sheath linked up to its mouth.
Here is a pictures of the croc head before being cleaved in tow to insert the mechanism
Video and more pictures to follow...

Salesman

I have now just about got the finished model created in papier mache. It is pretty close to what I had intended from the intial rough drawings, and possibly even pouts more disturbingly leerish than the original concept, which is a bonus!

Breakage in plaster moulds

Having used normal strength dental plaster, and slight undercutting on model details, the results of a first cast are often that the papier mache moulding snaps off any fine mould lobes as it is removed. This is OK if you only need one single moulding, but any subsequnt mouldings will not have the full detail. Two ways to avoid this are to remove the moulding when semi-dry (but this risks layer separation and drying distortion), or to buy much stronger plaster.

New video - developing characters by sketching

To get to the point where you can make a model for a puppet, you need to know beforehand what it will look like once you have modelled it. This is useful to get it fixed in your mind.

A good way of doing this is to develop it via sketches until you have a final reference drawing.

By doing this, you not only have something to refer to, but by doing the drwaings you also reinforce the picture of what you are aiming at in your mind, so you can do quite a lot without even looking at it.

Here is a video that shows a character going through this process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47Yl50uJbQ

tools and stuff

Having just been on a lunchtime jaunt to Tiranti's, I thought I might as well post this, as it is a fantastic place for tools. Just spent far more than I should on super hard casting plaster, modelling tools, and hard setting thixo rubber. yum yum yum...

http://www.tiranti.co.uk/