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My Favorite Ways To Cover & Finish A Foam Head Puppet

Written by admin in How To,Arm&Rod Puppets,Uncategorized

There are many ways to cover a foam puppet. In puppet building, it is important to get a solid foundation, a well-constructed foam head and body and then we need to cover the foam to create character.

One of the easiest ways to finish your puppet build is to spray paint the foam. You will not want to use automobile spray paint, but rather you will want to use florist paint. Florist paint is made for painting dried flowers. Design Master spray paint is such a paint. It is perfect for painting over a foam puppet head.

This is a painted foam puppet.

Using spray paint you will have many color choices you can even feather colors together to create a multi-colored puppet.

To make a more Muppet-style puppet you will want to cover your puppet with fleece. There are a wide variety of fleece colors available at fabric stores.  you will want a nonpill fleece that has stretch. The stretch will go in one direction. You will need to be aware of this when placing the fleece on your puppet. You always want the stretch to be horizontal on a puppet head. this will prevent the police from sagging.

Rockywoods.com has a four-way stretch fleece fabric. I have a sample and it looks really great for draping fleece on an unsymmetrical puppet head. I would not want use it for a puppet neck as the neck would stretch up and down and could create the dreaded giraffe neck.

Pastel chalk is great for adding shading and make-up effects to a fleece puppet. Use a grater or sandpaper to create chalk dust, then brush it on with a paint brush. You cannot use chalk for coloring a puppet, but to add shading and bring attention to areas, it is great. A little pink on the cheeks, or maybe a little blue on the eyelids will really bring out the character in your puppet.

To set the chalk, spray it with hairspray. The cheaper hairsprays tend to be better for this.

Imitation Fur is a common puppet covering when making animals and monsters. In some ways, fur is great because you can use simple sewing stitches and the fur will naturally cover the seams. On the other hand, unlike fleece, fur usually has little or no stretch. Because of this, your patterns will need to be a little more precise.

When I first started making puppets my preferred covering for the foam was latex. You can buy Mask Makers latex and cover your puppet with this. The latex is white but you can get any color you want for your puppet by adding in acrylic paint. just mixing the paint until you get the color you want and you are good to go.   

It is easy to put the latex on the puppet, just brush it on with a foam brush or even a piece of scrap foam. You will want to put on three or four layers to get a good strong finish. You can use the latex to cover puppet heads, puppet hands, puppet feet. It is easy to use and spills clean up easy since they harden into a soft rubber you can peel oh way if it drips.

Larry is a latex over foam puppet.

Sculpt Or Coat is an amazing product for puppet makers it’s used in the construction of scenery and props in the theater. When you cover foam with it, it creates a tough outside coating and has many uses in puppet building.

Sculpt Or Coat is a thick paste. It can be used for sculpting but in puppet making, we will mostly use it as a coating. It can be thinned with water if needed, for easy brushing.

The great thing with Sculpt Or Coat, is you can mix in acrylic paints to give it color.

If you make a foam head that you’re not covering with cloth or feathers, just mix a little paint with a little bit of Sculpt Or Coat and you get a nice hard shell like shield over the foam. It goes on white but it will turn clear, if you do not color it.

By covering foam pieces you have shaped, you can make horns for a devil or a cow, maybe a turtle shell. You can just go thicker to get that hard shell. Additionally, you can fashion other shapes out of foam and cover them with Antron Fleece or other materials and then coat that with a very thick layer of Sculpt Or Coat. It will dry into a nice, hard glossy shine but it will still be light so it won’t add a lot of weight to your puppet.

Another great use for Sculpt Or Coat is to coat the inside of your puppet mouth. After you put together the puppet mouth and you have the finger tubes in place, cover the mouthplate with cloth over the tubes. Use a nice stretchy open weave fabric, maybe a t-shirt, over the mouth plate. The Sculpt Or Coat will soak into the fabric and hold everything together giving you a nice strong mouth that will last a long, long time.

Antron or Muppet fleece and sculpture coat are a great combination. You finish out your design in foam covered with the fleece. Get a nice tight fleece covering and then you can add some color and a  nice hard shell. Maybe for a bird beak for a chicken or toucan. Make it with foam covered with fleece. Then you cover it with Sculpt Or Coat. You may want to dilute the Sculpt Or Coat with water so it will paint on little bit easier with a bruh. You can add a little acrylic paint in if you need some color, otherwise it will go on white but then it clears. So it’s kind of scary at first. You get this white coat on your on your fleece, but it will be dry. When it dries becomes clear.

You can even add a second or third coat to make it stronger. You just keep applying coats of Sculpt Or Coat until you get the look you’re after. The more coats you add, the more hard and shiny it will be. The fleece makes the foam durable and adds strength to the Sculpt Or Coat. The Sculpt Or Coat will mat down the fleece, adding to the smooth shiny look. Just keep adding until you get that nice look that you want.

DeoArt MagiKote

If you’re making accessories for your puppet out of Styrofoam or poly polystyrene, perhaps you’re making eyes out of Styrofoam balls, a great product is DecoArt MagiKote. It will create a hard paintable surface on styrofoam. You may want a carve a nose out of Styrofoam and again you can cover it with the MagiKote and then you can actually paint the styrofoam.

When you’re making things out of Styrofoam for your puppet, MagiKote is a great cover to allow you to paint it. You can make other props out of Styrofoam. Carve whatever prop you need for your puppet and cover that with the MagiKote. Then you can paint it. Iit’s an excellent product for making lightweight accessories for your puppet.

You may also want to consider polyurethane. It provides a hard, hard durable finish that shouldn’t chip or crack. Unlike the MagiKote, you can sand the Roscoe FoamCoat to smooth out any rough edges on your puppet.

Rosco Foamcoat
Rosco Foamcoat

You can also use Roscoe FoamCoat on paper mache if you want to make something out of paper mache that you can’t make out of foam. So Roscoe FoamCoat is another excellent product. You just paint it on and you’re ready to go.

Another product that works like Roscoe FoamCoat Is All Purpose Foam Coat from the “Hot Wire Foam Factory.” It will also go on with a brush and you can sand it and then paint it. So you can go with Roscoe FoamCoat or you can go with All PurposeFoam Coat. Both are excellent products for covering foam for your puppet.

For an inexpensive and quick covering for your puppet,  you can cover your foam puppet with muslin strips. Dip muslin strips in glue and cover the puppet head or other prop with the muslin strips. When the strips dry, it will create a very hard outer shell. This can be painted. You can also, if you want, change the texture with the strips, adding wrinkles or otherwise building character into your puppet.

I hope this article has helped you and started the fires of your imagination. You can find links to the products mentioned in the article on my RESOURCE PAGE.

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The author, Dennis having some fun with latex and fur puppets.

What Are The Parts To Build A Rod Arm Muppet Style Puppet?

Written by admin in Arm&Rod Puppets,Uncategorized

What are the parts of a puppet?
When you decide to build a rod-arm (Muppet style) puppet, you will need to design it. To build a good house, you need a blueprint. To build a quality puppet, you need a plan. You need to know what the parts are, the materials you need for those parts and how they will go together.

A PATTERN
The first thing you will need is a pattern. You can buy a pattern online or you can make your own.
Before making or buying a pattern, it is a good idea to sketch out how you want your puppet to look.

One way to make a pattern is to take apart a stuffed toy and use the cloth of the different body parts as guides for your own puppet. You can get a large stuffed toy cheap at Goodwill or Salvation Army stores. Rip out the seams and lay the pieces out flat on a brown paper bag or craft paper. You will trace the pieces to get your patterns for the head, hands, legs, arms, etc. You can also get some good doll eyes off used stuffed animals.

Once you trace out the pieces, you will need to make adjustments to the pattern. You will need to modify the head pieces to allow for a mouthplate. You may want to make other alterations to make the parts become what you want.

Another easy way to make a pattern is to take apart a ball cap and use the pieces to pattern a round head. Picture two ball caps place together to make a spherical shape – that is a round puppet head, so to speak. So taking apart the hats, you can create a pattern to make a round head. Again, you can modify it to get the shape you want.

Patterns can also be made by sculpting your idea out of clay and covering the sculpture with masking tape. The tape is removed and darts or cuts are made to cause the tape to lie flat on a piece of paper. This becomes your pattern.

Some puppet builders do not use patterns. There is a method called “nip and tuck” where a mouthplate is made and then the foam is added to the plate and trimmed and tucked to get a desired shape.
I have other articles and videos coming on how to make patterns.

FOAM FOR HEAD AND BODY PARTS
For a “Muppet style” puppet, you will need foam to create the head and body. JoAnn Fabrics ( https://www.joann.com/sewing/foam-and-fiber/foam/ ) and other fabric shops will have polyurethane foam, (also known as poly foam), that you can use. This is the foam used for seat cushions. You will want to buy 1/2 inch foam for the head, arms and hands of your puppet. For the body you may use 1/2″ foam, but for some puppets, 1″ foam gives more strength.

Many puppet builders prefer reticulated foam. This is the foam used in ventilation systems. It has large holes and is very lightweight. It can be hard to find, but some puppeteers swear by it.

Dr Teeth made of dyed reticulated foam.
Dr Teeth made of dyed reticulated foam.

The original Dr. Teeth of the Muppets was made with painted reticulated foam.

Exercise mats and floor mats are made of a harder foam called Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate or EVA foam. EVA is a closed cell foam. It is used in making cosplay props and armor, but can also be used in puppet making. It will give a very strong framework.
You may also decide to not use foam and just go with a cloth puppet filled with doll stuffing. This type of puppet will be more like a stuffed animal with a moving mouth.

Puppet Fleece
Colored Fleece

FLEECE OR OTHER COVERING MATERIAL
Most hand and rod puppets are covered with fleece. Fleece is a 100% synthetic material made from plastic. Often, it is made from recycled water bottles and the like. Fleece is not felt. One of the qualities of fleece that makes it so desirable for puppet building is the stretch.

Fleece will have a stretch to it in one direction. Felt will not stretch. The stretch will help you to cover your puppet without wrinkles. Fleece also has a slightly fuzzy texture. This fuzz allows for sewing seams to be hidden on the finished puppet.

Puppet makers often look for Antron fleece. This is also known as “Muppet fleece,” since it was used in making the Muppets. Antron fleece only comes in white and will need to be dyed to the colors you want.
Fabric stores will offer a wide variety of colored fleece. These fleece fabrics work just as well as Muppet fleece for most puppet projects.

You may use other fabrics of your choice depending on the puppet you are designing and building. Go to the fabric store and browse. I call the fabric store the “idea store.”

Fur is also used on puppets. By fur, I mean artificial fur. Again this is available at your fabric store and comes in a wide variety of colors and textures. White fur can also be dyed if you are looking for a specific color in a specific texture that isn’t available.

I often cover my puppets with latex instead of fleece. For my earliest puppet endeavors, I found the latex was great since it required no sewing of cloth. My sewing skills have improved with practice, but I still like the latex for certain puppets.

Puppet head “painted” with yellow latex.

The latex I use is Mask Making latex. It is white, but I color it with acrylic paint. You can also paint the latex after it is on the puppet.
After the foam puppet head is constructed, the latex is painted on with a foam brush. It takes several coats to get a nice strong finish.
Don’t want to sew fleece or use latex? Some puppets are simply made of foam and spray painted, or the foam is dyed before assembly to get the desired color. As mentioned above, the original Dr. Teeth was painted reticulated foam. Any spray paint can be used, but the spray paint made for florists seems to be preferred by builders.

HAIR MATERIAL
Your puppet may need hair. A variety of materials can be used and a trip to the fabric store will certainly get your ideas flowing. Yet, I see puppet hair everywhere. I have bought used fur hats to make hair. Some knit hats can be taken apart to make hair. I am currently looking at turning a microduster into puppet hair.

Fur is a common material for puppet hair. It can be trimmed short or left shaggy.
Feathers are terrific for giving life to your puppets. Feathers, especially maribou, move very naturally with just the regular motion of a puppet. Feather boas can make wispy hair. Feathers from a feather duster can be used to make a few small feathers on a birds’ head, or shaped to make the hair of a human puppet. I also use pieces of feather to make eyelashes.

You could make your hair out of fleece for a short cut hair.
Of course you could just stick a ball cap on a bald puppet if that’s the look you want. I have even seen painted hair. Painted hair is very common on hardwood ventriloquist puppets, but there is no reason you couldn’t do it with your latex covered puppets or even on uncovered foam.
Puppet building is an exercise in imagination and creativity.

MOUTH PLATE MATERIAL
Your puppet will require a strong, sturdy mouth plate. The mouth of a rod/arm puppet gets the most work and needs to be made to last.
The first step in building your mouth plate will be to pick a sturdy base. Do not use cardboard for your mouth plate. Cardboard will weaken and wear very quickly. It is also very susceptible to sweaty hands.

I like to use foam-core poster board for my mouth plates. It is easy to cut with a razor blade and is lightweight. Hobby and craft wood is used for a lot of professional puppets. The mouth plate pieces are cut with a saw. They often have finger loops attached with rivets. It is time-consuming to make a heavy duty mouth plate, but id your puppet will be seeing a lot of work in a professional capacity, it can be worth the effort.

Signboard, (like real estate signs), is a common mouth plate material. It is a corrugated plastic and is lightweight and sturdy. You can also cut your mouth plate pieces out of a plastic bin lid or sides. Use tine snips to cut the plastic.

For a strong, but flexible mouth plate, gasket rubber works great and is very popular. You can buy sheets of this very inexpensively at your local auto parts store. You can also line the mouth plate where your fingers and thumb will be to prebvnt them from slipping when performing.

Mouthplates are generally made in two pieces. Imaging 2 half circles. There will be a gap of about 1/16″ between the pieces to allow for movement. The pieces can be joined with duct tape, gaffers tape (which I use), cloth or leather. I have found denim to be great for connecting the pieces and it’s always available free from worn out jeans.

You will probably want finger tubes or a band to help you grip the puppet mouth. Finger tubes can be made out of polyfoam and glued to the mouth piece. You may also choose to use waistband elastic to make straps across the mouth plate for your fingers and thumb. I have made foam arches across the mouth plate that my fingers slide in.

Some builders just put a little “speed bump” on the top piece of the mouth plate. This will just a little block of EV200 foam about 3/4″ by 1.” This allows the fingers to grip the mouth plate and not slip.

THIN GAUGE WIRE TO ARTICULATE FINGERS
If you want your puppet to be able to hold things, you will need some wire to put in the fingers. Florist wire or any thin gauge wire will work.

EYES
Eyes are one of the most important parts of your puppet. The eyes give much of the character to your puppet. I have a short video on various puppet eyes.
Eyes can be made from a variety of materials. Something as simple as foam circles on white foam ovals can be used quite effectively for cartoonish characters. Doll eyes from the hobby shop or from used stuff animals (thank you again Goodwill), will also work.

One of my favorite puppets that we use in puppet shows has googly eyes. I am not a big fan of googly eyes since they have no focus, but on our puppet Elmer they work great and the kids love him.

A lot of puppet builders, myself included, use plastic spoons for puppet eyes. They come in a variety of shapes. To use a spoon, cut the handle off with scissors or a Dremel tool. Sand the rough edge and you have the foundation for an eye. You can make a pupil out of a felt circle, Velcro adhesive dots, or even add a teddy bear eye to the spoon. A fleece eyelid will finish it off nicely and can be used to create character and expression.
You can also buy puppet eyes or cast your own.

Another great choice for eyes is ping-pong balls. Either the whole ball or half a ball can be used in the same way you would use a plastic spoon. Wooden balls are also used by some builders. These can be purchased at hobby stores and painted white.

ARM RODS
Arm rods are attached to a puppet’s wrist or hand to allow the puppeteer to move the arms. Welding rods or coathangers can be used to fashion arm rods. They can be bent to the appropriate shapes and if desired, spray painted black or the color of the puppet to reduce visibility.

When making a wire arm rod, you will want a short piece of wooden dowel or other material to make a handle on the end.
Some puppeteers paint wooden dowels and use them as puppet arm rods. Some puppets, especially those used by ventriloquists have a short wooden dowel, 8-10″ attached to the puppet’s elbow to allow movement.

Arm rod puppets can have rods on one or both arms. It takes some practice to get used to manipulating them, but once you do, they add a lot of life to your puppet.

CLOTHING
You will want to dress your puppet if it is a huamn puppet and possibly if it is an animal puppet. A simple 1T t-shirt will work fine for a quick puppet cover. I have used bay cloths my little girls out grew. A trip to a yard sale can get you toddler clothes for pennies and quarters. Costume shops are another great place to get puppet clothes. If you want a pirate or a doctor, you can get toddler costumes.
If you are good at sewing, you can also design and sew your own clothes.

ADHESIVES
There are a wide variety of adhesives used in puppet making. Hot glue guns are commonly used, contact cement, such as Barge, is very common. I cannot picture building a puppet without it. It is the perfect glue for joining foam pieces, gluing mouth plate pieces together and attaching hair.
There are spray adhesives like 3M 74 and 77 that are used. For gluing fabric to fabric and even fabric to foam, Beacon’s Fabric-Tac is excellent. I always have some on hand.

MISCELLANEOUS
There are some other miscellaneous items you may want to use. Doll joints are great for connecting arms and legs to the puppet. They can also be used to provide an axle for arm rods to swivel on. They are available at hobby shops. Additionally, you may want to use eyeglasses on your puppet and other props to creat character. You can buy cheap sunglasses and take out the shded lenses to create puppet glasses. The can be spray-painted to a desired color if need be.
Poly-fill pillow stuffing can be handy to have. Hands, legs and arms can be stuffed with poly-fill if you do not want to make foam appendeges.

As you prepare to make your first puppet, these are the parts you will be making and a quick look at some of the materials you will be working with. I am posting instructions on the webpage for making the various parts and will be posting short videos on YouTube, too. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when new articles and videos are posted.

Welcome To Puppet Building World

Written by admin in Uncategorized

Puppet Building World

Be sure to click the MENU link in the upper left corner. It will open up a world of puppetry building to you.

I am so delighted to share the things I have learned about building puppets and performing with puppets.

As time goes on I will be adding more and more articles and videos on puppet building, dying fleece and foam, what adhesives to use, making latex covered puppets and making latex puppets, and much, much more.

If you want tutorials, I have a whole page of videos. Some of my puppets are for sale here. If you want to build your own puppets, my tools & resources page has my sources for quality materials.