Weldwood or Barge contact cement? Which is the best contact cement for builders of puppets and cosplay?
When attaching foam to foam, I have discovered Barge Cement provides a stronger bond, and it dries quicker than Weldwood or other adhesives I have tried, for faster work.
Every puppet building shop needs contact cement.
Although Weldwood dries slower, I have found I can speed up the drying with a hairdryer. Set the hairdryer on low and blow it across the cement after it is applied to the foam. It will become tacky much quicker, and ready to attach to other pieces.
The one advantage Weldwood has is that it is considerably less expensive than Barge.
I surveyed other puppet makers and these were the responses I received:
“I’ve used both. No preference, but always use a breathing protection/respirator mask.
“It really depends on the application and what you are using it for.
“I use Weldwood because the new formula of Barge has no Toluene. If you can find the old stuff I believe they are practically the same.” Cement with Toluene is way quicker (you can glue it together in a couple of minutes) but it comes at the cost of your health if used in a nonventilated area.”
“If you want another alternative, latex-based and pretty safe to use indoors (only a slight ammonia smell/fumes, same as with latex) I recommend DR. Puppetstein Foam and Latex contact adhesive. As with newer formulations, you have to wait between 15 and 30 min until it’s ready to glue, but a really cool feature is that the level of stickiness is dependent on how hard you push it, so if you just lightly put it together and you are not happy, you can separate it and put it together again. Once you are happy, just push it together harder and it will stay strongly bonded.”
“I use toluene-based contact cement when I want to power through something or I don’t care as much about precision/looks (like and inside armature) and the latex-based one for visible seams or parts that I don’t mind if they take longer while I work on other parts.”
“Barge is more flexible when cured than Weldwood. This has never been an issue for me so I use whichever is handy.”
“Barge. Just keeps getting stronger with age.”
“I use Weldwood because I can walk into any hardware store and buy more. Barge I’d have to order.”
“I’ve found Barge works slightly better but maybe I’m just suffering from expectation bias. I’ll use Weldwood in a pinch.“
“I was introduced to Barge by the Evil Ted Smith YouTube channel. It instantly became my go-to adhesive. I couldn’t recommend it enough. Not that I’ve had a bad experience with Weldwood.”
The consensus seems to be that Barge is the preferred contact cement among puppet-makers, but neither product gets a bad review.
Another contact cement favored by some builders is Masters Contact Cement. It does have Toulene in it, which means faster drying and toxic fumes. Be sure to use your respirator.
When using any contact cement that has Toulene, be sure to have a well-ventilated work area or wear a respirator.
To Use Contact Cement:
Contact cement is applied to both pieces to be attached. It is then allowed to dry until tacky. At that point, the pieces are joined together and a permanent bond is formed.
A hair dryer can be used to dry the adhesive quicker before joining.
To separate pieces joined with contact cement, heat the piece with your hair dryer set on high heat. If it is a relatively fresh bond (a couple hours or less), the pieces should be easily separated with no damage.
Please be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for updates and new articles. Thank you.
Eyelashes are used to add character to a puppet. They make a girl puppet more feminine. Long lashes can make a woman puppet look flirty, especially if you have blinking eyes.
A wide variety of materials can be used for puppet eyelashes including:
False eyelashes sold for women.
Craft foam.
Felt.
Sewing thread.
Pipe Cleaners
Teddy Bear and Doll Eyelashes From Craft Stores.
Clown Eyelashes.
Paper
Feathers
Table of Contents
How To Attach Eyelashes To Your Puppet
Using false eyelashes available online or at your local store, you can make realistic lashes for your puppet. For a thicker lash, use two eyelashes on each eye.
Fleece eyelids with false eyelashes.
Cut your eyelid out of your material
Cut a thin, 1/8″ strip of black felt or velvet. I like self-adhesive velvet for this.
Place the false eyelash on the black strip Use fabric adhesive. The top of the lash should cover 1/2 the strip.
Place the eyelid on the other 1/2 of the strip.
Attach eyelid to the puppet eye.
Eyelashes can also be attached directly above the eye with no eyelid if desired. Glue the eyelash to the back of the eye before attaching the eye to the puppet.
Craft Foam or Felt Eyelashes
You can cut eyelashes out of foam or felt. Draw your eyelash design and cut out. Using tweezers or a small dowel, curl the lashes, if desired. Then attach to the puppet.
How To Make Craft Foam Eyelashes For Your Puppet
Cut a rectangle from black craft foam.
Snip along the length of the foam creating a “comb” shape.
Clip each “tooth” in the comb at an angle
Roll the combs between warm fingers to curl and shape.
Craft Foam Eyelashes
Lashes from foam or felt will have a much wider lash. They will be less realistic than false eyelashes but can add greatly to the appearance of your puppet.
Realistic puppets will look better with false eyelashes, but a more cartoony or kid-friendly puppet will actually look better with the foam or felt.
Sewing Thread
Sewing thread can be used to make lashes. Use a stout thread.
One long piece of black thread with a bunch of cow hitch knots all trimmed to the same length make excellent lashes. Can be shaped easily with Elmer’s glue or starch.
Eyelashes made from thread.
The cow hitch is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of half-hitches tied in opposing directions, as compared to the clove hitch in which the half-hitches are tied in the same direction. It has several variations and is known under a variety of names. Wikipedia
Cow’s Hitch Knot From kispng.com
Pipe Cleaners
Pipe Cleaners make wonderful eyelashes. Glue a strip of pipe cleaner to the bottom of your eyelid and VOILA you have an eyelash.
A single strip of pipe cleaner makes a subdued eyelash, perfect for a man puppet. For a female puppet, twist a few lengths of pipe cleaner together and you will get a thicker lash.
For a simple and good looking eyebrow, fold a pipe cleaner over itself four times, then twist it all together. Glue it where you want it with hot glue.
Plastic Teddy Bear Lashes
Plastic Teddy Bear Lashes make great eyelashes for puppets. They are 5″ long and can be cut to the length you need. You can find them HERE.
Clown Eyelashes
Clown eyelashes are available online at Amazon and at party stores. They are long lashes and very colorful. A great way to make you puppet bright and fun.
Paper Eyelashes
Paper makes for quick, inexpensive eyelashes for your puppet. You can use craft paper for a wide variety of color choices or use markers to color white paper as desired.
Feathers For Eyelashes
Feather Eyelashes
Feathers can make beautiful eyelashes. Rather than going for a realistic eyelash look, the feather can be used to highlight the eye.
Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified of new articles and videos. Thank you.
Part of your puppet’s character comes from the hair. The material, color and style you choose can communicate a young, old, male female, conservative or wild puppet.
There are many materials you can use for making hair for your puppet including:
Fur
Yarn
Fleece Strips
Craft Foam
Wigs
Feathers
Felt
Wool
Mohair
Table of Contents
Fur
Fur makes great puppet hair. Fur is available in a wide variety of colors and lengths. Fur can also be cut and shaped.
The puppet pictured above has white fur for hair and eyebrows. You can find craft fur at fabric stores and hobby stores.
I have also found fur hats and muffs at thrift stores which I cut up to create hair.
When cutting fur for your puppet, always place the fur side down on your cutting pad.
Using a sharp razor blade, you cut the backing of the fur.
DO NOT cut the topside of the fur, or you will end up with a lot of fur coming off and an uneven, unattractive edge.
DO NOT use scissors to cut fur. You will end up cutting the fur itself and end up with an uneven edge and lots of pieces of hair all over your table.
When cutting fur, determine what direction you want the fur to lie. Fur goes in one direction. If you want fur to go in a couple of different directions, to create a part, use separate pieces of fur.
If you use a long pile fur, you can style it after it is attached to the puppet. Using sharp scissors trim it to the length you want.
Another cool trick for styling the hair is to use white glue to create shape. Mix equal parts of white glue and water. With your hands, work the glue into the fur. Mix it in thoroughly.
Now shape it into position. You can create waves, spikes, or just a normal hairdo that is permanent. The glue will dry clear. If needed you can change the hair later by wetting the hair.
How you shape the hair helps to create the personality of your puppet.
The puppet above has a fur mohawk. The hairdo helps create the character of a punk rocker. I have used that same fur for a more traditional haircut on a puppet. How you shape the hair helps to create the personality of your puppet.
Yarn
Yarn is a great material for puppet hair. It is available in a variety of colors and thicknesses. It can also be found very inexpensively at thrift shops.
Loopy Yarn Makes GREAT Puppet Hair
To make yarn hair, get a piece of cardboard the same length or longer that you want the hair. Wind the yarn around the cardboard again and again and again until you have the amount of “hair” you want.
Yarn wound on cardboard, ready to be tied off for wig.
Slide a piece of yarn under the yarn on the card and tie it off at the top.
Cut away the yarn at the bottom and you will have your hairpiece. Make a smaller piece for the bangs of the puppet.
Yarn Hair on a Puppet
Fleece Stripsor Craft Foam Strips
Hair can also be made from strips of fleece or strips of craft foam.
Foam Hair For Puppet
Cut half-inch strips of foam or fleece for your puppet’s wig. Using fabric glue, attach the strips to the head of your puppet.
Simple fleece hair from fleece strips.
Foam can be curled using a pencil or dowel. Roll the foam around the dowel and remove the dowel. Voila – curly hair.
For fleece, use fabric stiffener before rolling or you can just pull both ends of the fleece apart, let go and it will curl up.
Wigs
Used wig from a thrift store.
Wigs, both with real hair and fake hair, can be found at thrift shops and costume shops. To use a wig, simply glue it to your puppet and trim to the desired style.
Feathers
Feathers make for great puppet hair. Because they are light and wispy, they move as the puppet moves, creating life in your figure.
Feather hackle pads
Feather Boa hair on a puppet.
Feather boas are nice since they can be wrapped and glued into place. A strip of boa can make sideburns or a mustache.
Feather hackle pads are little sections of feathers connected together. These can be glued on to your puppet to make a nice wig.
Feather Boas
Felt
Felt can be attached as a single layer of hair or it can be layered, to create dimension. A single layer of felt will create a crew-cut appearance.
When making a foam head puppet, similar to the Muppets, you will likewise want a foam body.
To make a foam puppet body, you will need:
1″ foam
Fleece or other cloth to cover the body
A pattern
Spray Adhesive
Contact Cement or Hot glue
Needle and Thread
Razor blades or old scissors
I have found an excellent, yet inexpensive foam on Amazon that I use.
Puppet Body Pattern ready for cutting.
Table of Contents
Step One: Trace the body pattern onto the foam
Trace your pattern onto 1″ foam. You can use a sharpie or other marker.
Most body patterns come in two parts. When tracing, if you can find a common side, you can draw the pattern as one piece and save on some gluing.
In the picture above, I have two body patterns drawn out, ready for cutting. You will notice how I put the two long sides together. This line will not be cut.
For a stronger puppet and to protect the foam inside the puppet, you may want to glue cloth to the foam before cutting out.
A cotton T-shirt is perfect for lining the inside of a puppet. It will absorb perspiration and make the foam stronger and prevent tears.
Cut the T-shirt apart. Spray fabric adhesive on the foam and then place the T-shirt cloth on the foam. Make it smooth and allow to dry before cutting.
Step Two: Cut out your pieces
After you have traced the patterns, you will need to cut them out. DO NOT use good scissors on foam. Foam will dull your scissors very quickly.
Use a razor blade or old scissors. I keep a box of 100 razor blades on hand. Foam dulls the blades quickly, so you will go through quite a few.
When cutting out the foam, keep your razor blade or scissor blades perpendicular to the foam. You want a nice square cut.
Step Three: Glue the body together
It is now time to glue the foam together. You can use spray adhesive, such as Gorilla Glue’s spray adhesive. I prefer using contact cement, such a s barge or Weldwood. If you want to avoid the fumes with contact cement, you can also use hot glue.
It is possible to build an entire puppet with just one type of adhesive, but I keep a variety on hand, including hot glue, Barge contact cement, spray adhesive, fabric glue and even rubber cement. Different adhesives work better for different applications.
Glue the long sides of your foam together, as well as any darts your pattern may include.
You will notice in the picture above, one of the patterns has two ovals in the middle. These are cut out and glued closed to create a waistline on the puppet.
The pink puppet to the right has a simple tube as a body. A 12-inch foam tube was made with roughly an 8-inch diameter. The neck was hot glued to it and the entire thing was spray-painted pink.
The arms are glued to it with hot glue. This is a simple and inexpensive way to make a puppet body.
Other puppet bodies are more complex. As mentioned earlier, you can taper the sides in to create a waist for the puppet.
Step Four: Customize your puppet’s body
To make an obese puppet body, additional foam can be glued to the belly area of your puppet body and trimmed into shape with scissors.
Large sponge balls can be cut in half and attached as breasts for a female puppet.
Sometimes, I add half circle foam pieces to the top sides of the body to create broader shoulders.
For a taller puppet, you can make a longer body. However, since the puppet will be on your arm, you will need to create a hole in the back of the puppet. If the entrance to the puppet body is below the head and neck at a distance greater than the length of your forearm, it will be difficult and uncomfortable to manipulate.
For a full-body puppet, where you are attaching legs below the body, you may need to place an entry hole on the back of the puppet. Ventriloquists generally prefer to control the puppet’s head and neck from a position higher up on the puppet’s back, as opposed to entering at the bottom as you would when working behind a stage.
Step Five: Cover the body with cloth or fur
If you will be covering the puppet’s body with a costume or shirt, it will not be necessary to cover the foam body.
Little girl puppet
The little girl puppet to the right has a bare foam body. The dress comes right up to the neck and the sleeves cover the arms.
(The picture was taken before fleece covered hands were added to the arms.)
To cover the body with fur or fleece, trace your pattern onto the material you are using. Sew up the tube and it will slide right over the body. Do this before attaching arms.
Once you have slide the body fabric over the foam, you will want to use spray adhesive or hot glue to attach it around the neck hole and the entrance hole for your hand.
You may need to hand stitch the darts in the pattern.
If you have customized the pattern, adding a belly bulge or breasts, you will need to drape your fabric over the body. Just using the original pattern will crush your additions and you will not get your desired effect.
Draping the fleece over your body:
To drape the fleece (or fur) cut out a piece of material large enough to cover the entire body.
With spray adhesive, spray the front half of the body lightly.
Center the material on the center front of your body.
Be sure any stretch in the material is running across the body, not up and down.
Shape your material around the belly or breasts, smoothing it out.
Once you have covered the odd shapes, smooth the fabric over the rest of the front of the body. You may need to pin it in place until the adhesive sets.
Wrap the fabric around the body and center it along the back of the body. Trim a straight line up the center back where the two edges of the material will meet.
With hot glue or spray adhesive, glue the material in place. You may also want to pin the material in place and hand sew the back centerline.
Glue the fabric around the neck and hand entry holes, smoothing and darting as necessary. You may find you need to cut a couple darts and hand sew them to get a smooth edge.
Simple tube body covered with Antron fleece
Step Six: Attach the arms
Your puppet arms should be about the length of the body. Once the hands are attached, that will bring the total length to the right proportions.
Arms should be covered with fabric or fleece before attaching. You can attach them with hot glue, contact cement or hand sewing. Hand sewing will give you the most strength and durability.
Step Seven: Attach the neck to the body.
The neck should already be attached to the puppet’s head. When attaching the neck to the body, most puppet builders like to make the neck long enough to go through the body and be attached at the hand entrance on the bottom or back.
Attaching the neck tube at the base of the puppet body gives more movement to the puppet’s head. If movement is not necessary, the neck can be attached at the top of the body. This will still allow the head to be turned, look about and such, but it will not be nearly as fluid as attaching to the base.
If the neck is attached at the top of the body, the body should be lined with fabric before assembly. This will protect the inside foam for perspiration and feel more comfortable on the arm.
Be sure to check our other articles for more tips on building your puppet.
When puppeteers arms start to get tired, their puppets start to drop lower and lower behind the stage. Or, the puppeteer will lean his arm against the stage front. I have been guilty of both, and both will hurt the quality of your performance.
The secret to preventing arm fatigue when puppeteering is preparation before the show. By using short segments in your show that allow your puppeteers chances to rest their arms and by exercising and strengthening the arms before performance dates.
The following exercises will help the puppeteer become more skilled, as well as gain hand, arm and shoulder strength.
Table of Contents
Exercise One
Use the word “drop” in this exercise. Actions are dropping movements.
Start by saying the word “drop.” The puppeteer drops his head toward his chest each time he repeats the word. Then add the arm dropping with the head each time the word is said. Finally, Add dropping the thumb with the head and arm as the word is repeated.
This movement helps the Puppeteer understand the rhythm needed for lip sync. To vary the exercise, do the same thing in reverse.
Begin by dropping the thumb as the word “drop” is repeated. Then add the arm and finally the head. To conclude the exercise, gradually stopped moving the head, then stop the arm, and finally stop the thumb movement.
Remember all movement takes place as the word “drop” is repeated. During this exercise, the puppeteer needs to watch the thumb as it is dropped. Lip-sync is improved as the puppeteers learn to express themselves through their hand.
Exercise Two
To build strength in the hand, have puppeteers take Flex balls or tennis balls in the palms of their hands. Squeeze and release the balls for several minutes.
Exercise Three
The puppeteers take a stick of modeling clay in their hand in a squeeze it is hard as possible. Then passed the clay to the other hand and squeeze. Repeat this process for several minutes
Exercise Four
The puppeteers cross their arms as if sitting quietly and listening. Then with one hand under the arm and against the body of the puppet, they lip-sync a speaker with the thumb only. They can do this while listening to television, watching a movie, or listening to a speaker. The exercise keeps the top four fingers stationary while building the muscle and coordination of the thumb.
Exercise Five
To help the puppeteers learn to speak through their hands, have them talk to each other using their hand without a puppet. They lip-sync their normal conversation. This exercise also helps begin the process of learning to react with their hand. Another variation of this is for the puppeteer to lip-sync telephone conversations.
Exercise Six
The puppeteers practice lip sync by placing one hand under a table the four fingers are against the table so they cannot move. Only the thumb moves up and down. A variation is to move the thumb up and down without attempting to lip-sync to dialogue.
Exercise Seven
This exercise is similar to exercise 6. The puppeteers place their lip sync hand in front of their bodies. Then place the free hand over the lip sync hand and hold firmly. Exercise the thumb in a lip sync motion with the four fingers of that hand firmly against the freehand.
Exercise Eight
The puppeteers vigorously shake their lip sync hands, keeping the arms as still as possible. Gradually slow down the shaking motion until it is stopped. If executed properly, the hand should be tingling. Then gently pull the top four fingers together and move thumb to the lip sync position. This is a good exercise to use during a performance after a long script or song. It relaxes the muscles and helps the puppeteers get ready for the next part of the program.
Exercise Nine
The puppeteers raised their lip sync hands into the air, spreading the fingers and thumb. Then move each finger and the thumb as the leader instructs. Move one finger at a time. Suggestion number the Fingers 1 through 5. The leader calls a number and the puppeteers respond. The purpose is to build coordination and independent movement of each finger and thumb.
Exercise Ten
The puppeteers sit or kneel in the positions they will assume behind the puppet stage. They raised the lip sync hands, keeping the elbow in the bent position, to the side of their bodies.
Move the arms back several inches if possible. Then on a count of five, move the arms forward and up into normal position. The arms will then be fully extended with the elbow locked. On each number of the five count, use an up-down motion is if the walk puppet is walking.
Building strong arms and hands is important for puppeteers. It will take time and dedication but the rewards of being able to perform with professionalism make the effort worth it.
Human puppets usually have arms that can be maneuvered by an attached rod. The puppeteer must first master lip sync and how to control the puppet’s body. Then he can begin to work with the arm Rod to add another dimension to the character.
Professionally constructed puppets usually come with Rod in some means of attaching the ride to the puppet. However if your puppet does not have an arm Rod you can easily make one.
When the puppets are standing at the correct height on stage, maintaining eye contact with the audience and even moving their mouths in sync with the tape, the learning has just begun. Puppeteers must still learn to make all the puppet movement believable.
Use the following techniques in handling the rod arm:
Work across the body of the puppet. Work the right hand of the puppet with the left hand of the puppeteer.
Use the rod only when the puppet has a specific action. The puppeteer may need to release the rod to do something backstage. The arm will appear limp if the audience is used to seeing continual arm movement.
Make moves smooth and easy. Avoid quick jerky movements unless for a specific reason.
Perform common actions, such as yawning, scratching, waving, pointing, etc. The moves should be as natural as possible and fit the script.
Attach props to the hand and move as required in the script. Velcro can be used to attach light props. Magnets sewed into the hand and on the prop also work well. Some props may need to be tied onto the hand, if they are heavy.
Use two puppeteers with the puppet for special actions. One handles the puppet mouth and the other works the arms.
Rod arm puppet movements
Attaching a rod to one of the arms of the puppet greatly increases the range of movement possible for that puppet. Attach the rod to the puppets left wrist is the Puppeteer is right-handed, or vice versa. Then practice using the puppet’s arm to express the following actions
Scratch its head
Throw kisses
Take a bow
Cough
Express sadness
Show excitement
Rub its tummy
Do a double-take
Yawn
Sneeze
Express fear
Rub its eyes
Look into the distance
Show concentration
Pretend to be hard of hearing
Once you have mastered lip sync with one rod attached, try two handed movement with rods attached to both arms. But keep in mind that not all movement require both arms.
When using two rods together, cross them in an “X”, holding the top of the two rods between your thumb and index finger while clipping your little finger between the rods at the bottom of the “X.”
Now experiment with the following to rod:
Clap hands
Fly like an airplane
Blow nose
Pray
Sneeze
Do jumping jacks
Play peek-a-boo
Run in place
Remove detachable rods after each performance to protect the puppet when stored. Rods left on the puppet can cause pressure and place extra strain on the arm if not carefully packed. Also, the rod could tear the puppet or punch a hole in the puppet.
Lash all rods together with a shoelace or cord. Then wrap the rods in a towel or cloth.
