lobiwan
New Member
Hello, well I started this project by first looking at the budget build thread found here, but I ended up doing some things differently and finished my project so I wanted to post it here. Now I build a lot of props but this was my first puppet in anyway so forgive me if its not up to your standards. I however was very happy with the outcome. I started this because I make props for a independent film company in Tennessee. Plans for a Star Wars fanfilm is in the prcoess to be made late this year and we wanted to include Yoda so thats what inspired this project.
First off, I started with 1 inch foam piece I found at a fabric store in my area for next to nothing. I bought two pieces to make sure I had plenty.
The pattern I used to make a round puppet head which was the foundation for my yoda was found at the following website here, Bashful Puppet. Just save the template, print out and trace onto your foam. The template even shows what spot to glue where and comes in two pieces. So keep this in mind when you start your glueing.
Once I got my head gued together using a hot glue gun, which was by far the cheapest way I found to do this. It was also pretty easy since hot glue solidifies and sticks very quickly. I used ping pong balls for eyes and spare pieces of foam for all the detail work. Ears, nose, etc. As far as the eyes, just cut slits and slide the ping pong balls in. I used spare material with a lot of hot glue on the inside of the head to make sure the eyes didnt moves one I got them into the position I wanted.
Now at this point it looked like a cross love child between Yoda and Kermit the Frog but dont worry, that will be fixed. When I put in the eyes and nose I ended up putting them too high so keep that in mind if you choose to try this. Yoda's head/forehead is actually pretty large so keep that in mind and put his nose and eyes closer to the mouth. Heres a pic of some of the detailing for the head. I simply used spare pieces of foam to build his head up higher and give his head ridges.
At this point I also went ahead and added the neck. I fgured i would make it easier to attach the body later which it did but it also made it impossible for a neck turn so keep this in mind when you do yours. From this point I added the body and used wood dowels with foam feet glued on for the legs. The arms I ended up cutting and inserting hanger wire and pushed it through the foam. This allowed me to bend the arms and fingers however I wanted them to have more of a realistic shape and so my Yoda could stand up on his own if need be.
Ok, Yoda is starting to take shape however hes kind of scary so its time to start the latex process. With this I bought just a canister of latex and added a little bit of green dye and shook it up until I got the desired color. A word of warning it will dry a lot darker than what you see, so my suggestion is to add just enough green dye to the latex to where its just starting to turn green and trust me that will be plenty when it drys. Now just use the latex to glue some cheap tissue paper like what you would find in a birthday present to all of Yoda's skin. Once it dries this will imitate skin. It will be a slow process. Just take your time, use plenty of latex and use small pieces of tissue paper.
Next I wanted to make a walking cane for Yoda. Since my Yoda is supposed to be during the Empire Strikes Back time period I knew I needed to have him leaning on it. So I went into my yard found the perfect stick, cut it down, added a little wood stain to it and that was it.
Once the latex dried, I glued little lee press on nails to his feet and fingers for that added touch and I started painting in the details. In the prequels Yoda was more grayish green so thats what I wanted to go with as for as my paint. Started looking pretty good.
Lastly I needed to add his clothes. I found some bargain material at my local Walmart and used it to make his under tunic and cloak. Im not the best seamstress but I did all the sewing by hand. It was a trial and error sort of task but it turned out well. I left a hole in Yoda's back in the brown tunid so that we could still reach a hand in and work his mouth but I didnt put a hole in his cloak that way if the director wanted to shoot any scenes from behind his back, he could. So lastly putting on Yodas hair, I used 2 part apoxy and cotton from cotton balls for the hair. I actually gave him too much which you will notice in these pictures, so I will end up taking some of it off but it still turned out great. I hope you like my finished project and hopefully this is helpful for anyone else who might choose to try this.
Finished Yoda
First off, I started with 1 inch foam piece I found at a fabric store in my area for next to nothing. I bought two pieces to make sure I had plenty.
The pattern I used to make a round puppet head which was the foundation for my yoda was found at the following website here, Bashful Puppet. Just save the template, print out and trace onto your foam. The template even shows what spot to glue where and comes in two pieces. So keep this in mind when you start your glueing.
Once I got my head gued together using a hot glue gun, which was by far the cheapest way I found to do this. It was also pretty easy since hot glue solidifies and sticks very quickly. I used ping pong balls for eyes and spare pieces of foam for all the detail work. Ears, nose, etc. As far as the eyes, just cut slits and slide the ping pong balls in. I used spare material with a lot of hot glue on the inside of the head to make sure the eyes didnt moves one I got them into the position I wanted.
Now at this point it looked like a cross love child between Yoda and Kermit the Frog but dont worry, that will be fixed. When I put in the eyes and nose I ended up putting them too high so keep that in mind if you choose to try this. Yoda's head/forehead is actually pretty large so keep that in mind and put his nose and eyes closer to the mouth. Heres a pic of some of the detailing for the head. I simply used spare pieces of foam to build his head up higher and give his head ridges.
At this point I also went ahead and added the neck. I fgured i would make it easier to attach the body later which it did but it also made it impossible for a neck turn so keep this in mind when you do yours. From this point I added the body and used wood dowels with foam feet glued on for the legs. The arms I ended up cutting and inserting hanger wire and pushed it through the foam. This allowed me to bend the arms and fingers however I wanted them to have more of a realistic shape and so my Yoda could stand up on his own if need be.
Ok, Yoda is starting to take shape however hes kind of scary so its time to start the latex process. With this I bought just a canister of latex and added a little bit of green dye and shook it up until I got the desired color. A word of warning it will dry a lot darker than what you see, so my suggestion is to add just enough green dye to the latex to where its just starting to turn green and trust me that will be plenty when it drys. Now just use the latex to glue some cheap tissue paper like what you would find in a birthday present to all of Yoda's skin. Once it dries this will imitate skin. It will be a slow process. Just take your time, use plenty of latex and use small pieces of tissue paper.
Next I wanted to make a walking cane for Yoda. Since my Yoda is supposed to be during the Empire Strikes Back time period I knew I needed to have him leaning on it. So I went into my yard found the perfect stick, cut it down, added a little wood stain to it and that was it.
Once the latex dried, I glued little lee press on nails to his feet and fingers for that added touch and I started painting in the details. In the prequels Yoda was more grayish green so thats what I wanted to go with as for as my paint. Started looking pretty good.
Lastly I needed to add his clothes. I found some bargain material at my local Walmart and used it to make his under tunic and cloak. Im not the best seamstress but I did all the sewing by hand. It was a trial and error sort of task but it turned out well. I left a hole in Yoda's back in the brown tunid so that we could still reach a hand in and work his mouth but I didnt put a hole in his cloak that way if the director wanted to shoot any scenes from behind his back, he could. So lastly putting on Yodas hair, I used 2 part apoxy and cotton from cotton balls for the hair. I actually gave him too much which you will notice in these pictures, so I will end up taking some of it off but it still turned out great. I hope you like my finished project and hopefully this is helpful for anyone else who might choose to try this.
Finished Yoda
