Temperance
Well-Known Member
I'll admit something: I actually have a terrible fear of ventriloquist puppets... but at the same time, I have a real fascination for them. I had to do a lot of scary research to get the details for Scarface >_<
His head I sculpted out of clay. Everyone draws him a little different in the comics, so I went for more of the Batman Animated series look - but I reduced his chubby cheeks a bit. Silicone mold was made and I slush cast some copies. The eyes, jaw and back panel hinge were dremmelled out so the interior workings could be installed.
I didn't want to go too overboard, so I decided just to try a moving jaw puppet and avoid making the more complex moving eyes and eyebrows variety (maybe next time).
His eyes were made with a pingpong ball cut in half. The jaw hinge mechanism is really just a simple work of springs and pulleys. The jaw is installed on a bar which is epoxied into the head cavity. A spring is mounted into the base to keep it closed, then a string and pulley is added with a simple trigger. The trigger pulls the jaw down and the spring snaps the mouth closed again.
The puppet body was purchased from Braylu Creations (http://www.braylu.com/). I got the T2 Set A kit which included the wooden frame, arms with hands, legs and the basic control rod base (which needed to be modded to add the trigger and install to the head. Ventriloquist dummies tend to come in sizes T2 and T3 which correlate to toddler clothing sizes - so a T2 body will fit T2 sized children's clothes. This was a godsend, since it meant I didn;t have to sew or alter some tiny children's clothes. I used good-ole ebay to find a cute toddler suit (I would recommend searching for Wedding/ring bearer clothing to sift through a mountain of useless baby clothes). The hat was a trilby I found at a children's clothing store. The shoes were actually the hardest to find; I managed to find a decent pair at a shoe store after months of digging; they seem to be seasonal.
His head I sculpted out of clay. Everyone draws him a little different in the comics, so I went for more of the Batman Animated series look - but I reduced his chubby cheeks a bit. Silicone mold was made and I slush cast some copies. The eyes, jaw and back panel hinge were dremmelled out so the interior workings could be installed.
I didn't want to go too overboard, so I decided just to try a moving jaw puppet and avoid making the more complex moving eyes and eyebrows variety (maybe next time).
His eyes were made with a pingpong ball cut in half. The jaw hinge mechanism is really just a simple work of springs and pulleys. The jaw is installed on a bar which is epoxied into the head cavity. A spring is mounted into the base to keep it closed, then a string and pulley is added with a simple trigger. The trigger pulls the jaw down and the spring snaps the mouth closed again.
The puppet body was purchased from Braylu Creations (http://www.braylu.com/). I got the T2 Set A kit which included the wooden frame, arms with hands, legs and the basic control rod base (which needed to be modded to add the trigger and install to the head. Ventriloquist dummies tend to come in sizes T2 and T3 which correlate to toddler clothing sizes - so a T2 body will fit T2 sized children's clothes. This was a godsend, since it meant I didn;t have to sew or alter some tiny children's clothes. I used good-ole ebay to find a cute toddler suit (I would recommend searching for Wedding/ring bearer clothing to sift through a mountain of useless baby clothes). The hat was a trilby I found at a children's clothing store. The shoes were actually the hardest to find; I managed to find a decent pair at a shoe store after months of digging; they seem to be seasonal.
