Policeman is nearly complete

'ello, 'ello, 'ello. What's all this then? 'bout bleedin' time I 'ad some clothes, matey...

shoes...

Plasticene and papier mache. I love it!

pink thing is the mould - brown thing, the shoe... policeman's shoes...

Policeman gets clothes

Jumble sale jeans are perfect for making a good navy uniform.
This is not yet fitted with trims or buttons, but starting to show the final look.

Puppet bodies getting better

This shows the Policeman puppet. The head sits freely in a central hole and is held and, in use, is manipulated by the last three fingers of the hand curled round it.
The hands are detached from the body to allow maximum freedom od movement.

The body is connected to the sleeve with a short stitched hinge joint.

Crocodile head

Crocodile with elastic jaw opening. This opposes the cable controlled jaw snap shut.
I wonder if elastic to close jaw would be better. Possibly more relaxing to use in practise, as most of the time not tension would be required in the hand to keep the jaw shut.
hmm...

Mr Punch gets new clothes

My, doesn't he look dashing. I liked the last costume, but this one is more theatrical. The shadows work rather tastily here!

I can't decide if he should have a hat. Does anyone out there reading this have any opinion on if it would improve the look?

Another puppet body pattern

Policeman.

This design is a 2-finger control, with the head on a stick in the remaining curled three fingers. This is better than the fixed head version. It can shake its head in despair etc.!

Hands getting attached

Here is Judy's right hand being glued into place into her arm sleeve.

The hand is modelled and baked Fimo, painted and varnished, with a thin bamboo rod inserted as a mount to keep the arm rigid. This is hot-glued into the fabric arm. The fabric of the arm is reinforced by surrounding with thin plastic from a soft drink bottle to form a rigid, hollow tapering tube which will allow thumb operation.

First body made from latest pattern...

This will most likely be Judy. The body is full of flocked (i.e. quite fluffy) cotton cloth, cut up and stuffed inside. There are a few coins in each foot to give them some swing. Four pence in each to be exact!