Rankin-Bass Rudolph puppets - re-creations?

I have my felt, foam, wood, and wire.


Good luck and Post some pics of your progress. I will do the same.

Previous Photos removed at the request of Mr Kriess.

If you have them, hold them close and please do not post OR share.
 
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Did you get any of Santa? :) I can always scale it using the information on Rudolph. Thanks Frank, this makes alot more sense. Now it all jives to the reports other folks have given in the past.

Dave
 
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The head core, body core and hooves were all carved from balsa wood. Then wire armatures were used inside the legs and neck areas. Tiny wire was used in the outer edges of the tail and ears. Some sort of poly foam was used inside the original puppets, because during the repairs, it had turned to dust basically and had lost it's form altogether. I'd recommend using batting to replace the foam for longevity. According to the writeup in the Rudolph book, the legs were created separately, then glued in place with white glue to the body. I'm guessing the wires were glued into a hole in the wood form underneath so that the legs would hold their poses etc.

Let's show photos of our progress as we go thru this showing all the "guts" of the process......for those that want to follow in our footsteps. :)

Dave
 
This brings back great childhood memories. Was five when this first aired , and every year since I become five again!

Great to see the effort going in to restoring these!

-Troy
 
Sounds good Dave.
Hope the pics help, I didnt get any on Santa...but with the pics of them together, it would beasy to figure out how tall he is.

Im making a Clarice also. Im also making two of each, as I promised Kevin a set.

Hopefully they come out.

I read the book too, I didnt realize it was BALSA. I was looking for "Kusutra" wood, or whatever they called it in the Book. Balsa makes alot more sense.

Frank
 
Yeah, it would need to be relatively light weight to keep the tiny wire legs from collapsing etc.. I also read the eyes both whites and pupils were leather, glued in place. I know they animated the pupils so I am guessing the pupils were stuck on and could be moved about as needed.

I am also planning a Hermie figure as I am a dentist. :)
 
vaderdarth said:
Yeah, it would need to be relatively light weight to keep the tiny wire legs from collapsing etc.. I also read the eyes both whites and pupils were leather, glued in place. I know they animated the pupils so I am guessing the pupils were stuck on and could be moved about as needed.

I am also planning a Hermie figure as I am a dentist. :)
Click to expand...


Hahahah You got to do a HERMIE.

The legs are 3mm lead Wire. I bought some..I guess it will last as I wont be animiating mine...too much.
I have black leather, Ill figure out a way to make it thinner.

The legs, I was going to sculpt in renshape...then Mold...then fill with a poly foam.
Remember to keep the legs and Body thinner than they should be to compensate for the thickness of the felt, which is suprisingly significant.
 
Ordered felt last night for Rudolph. Got a few items for Santa as well. I've decided to go sculpy for Santa's head and Rudolph's head and torso forms. I'll probably do santa's boots in black sculpy too. I can sculpt way better than I can carve. I found a big wooden goose egg at Michaels that I'll use for Santa's torso. Bought some thin black leather for Santa's belt and Rudolph's pupils. Gonna start the process as soon as the felt arrives.
 
Looking forward to seeing some replicas!

Pumpernickel

IMG_0150rudy.jpg
 
It's wonderful to know that Rudolph and Santa are still around. I've watched the show every year since it's debut in '65 when I was six years old. And yes, I still watch it. I have the DVDs, but only watch them at their appointed seasonal times. Got most of the Memory Lane toys, too...! :)
 
I have made progress with my Rankin Bass Rudolph items. I started off easy with a small Christmas Tree forest. I posed the deluxe Rudolph figures which are too large, but they still display nicely. The actual puppets will be smaller than these figures.

I just wanted to show off the trees.

001-8.jpg
 
vaderdarth said:
I have made progress with my Rankin Bass Rudolph items. I started off easy with a small Christmas Tree forest. I posed the deluxe Rudolph figures which are too large, but they still display nicely. The actual puppets will be smaller than these figures.

I just wanted to show off the trees.

001-8.jpg
Click to expand...

:)Very festive. I LOVE it(y)thumbsup
 
Update, have begun making Rudolph to start with. It's going suprisingly well.

This photo shows my resizing the images of Rudolph to life size, then drawing overlays of the wire lengths needed as well as the armature sizes. The wool felt has a 3mm thickness so the armature needs to be that much less in all dimensions which will give me the correct size of the finished puppet. I drew in the wire armatures and the wood armatures for the head/torso and hooves.

001-9.jpg


This next photo shows my armatures that I decided to create from epoxy putty via sculpting rather than carving wood. I know the wood has less weight, but I hate carving and my dremel is blown.......LOL Each armature piece is more or less identical in size to how I drew them on the photocopy. I tested the felt by wrapping a piece around each armature piece and layed it on the drawing and it is exactly the same size as the finished puppet. :)

002-8.jpg
 
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