Since I have settled on a front-carrying design, I started delving into more research on making hand puppets in general.
Size Reference Diagram
The Plan (Currently)
Most of the sculpting will be done with 3D printing instead of clay. I just prefer to do things this way. The body framework will include armature wire, EVA foam, and I will most likely sculpt the paws from clay. I plan to cover the body with a mix of felt, Minky, and brushed-out acrylic yarn. The puppet will open and close its mouth and blink.
Prep Work
So far I've been doing a search for 3D models and finding the scale. Once I found a good base for the head, I had to figure out how big this thing would be. I found my oversized drawing paper, traced my arm in the "puppet position", then started building out the puppet around it. I will use the drawing as a guide when creating the frame of the body and sculpting the paws.
3D Models
I'm using several free 3D models by Tioh on Thingiverse including the eyes, head and a nose.
I also found some 3D printable molds for paw prints but I may end up making that myself.
Eye Mechanics
The head doesn't have much realestate inside so making sure I have enough room for my hand and a way to manipulate the eyes is a challenge. I think I found a method of design using a weight instead of springs that seems to me like a great way to make the eyes move. I also made the extra challenge of possibly making it so I can keep the eyes closed, so Goro "sleeps" when not in use. That's a stretch goal at least.
Materials
I am not about to spend time shaving down faux fur and have my cat choke on the furballs. (Because he's a pill and likes to eat my craft supplies.) I was for a time considering doing a bit of needle felting but that may only work for portions of the face not the whole puppet. But the tails I'm having a bit of a think on how to approach.
Tails
The easiest way would be to sew the tails out of fabric. These are to be fluffy tails unlike the rest of his coat. There are also 3 of them so certain methods make more sense due to time.
I would like to knit them out of faux fur yarn but I'd need to make sure the yarn was a close match to the body fabric which may prove to be a challenge. Also this would be the slowest method.
The other way I thought would be to do the brushed acrylic yarn tailes which are lovely, fluffy and acrylic yarn would be easier to match with fabric.
Back Scales
Goro has scales down his back which will be a different material than his coat.
The "easiest" method would be to get a scale print fabric and do some reverse applique. But I want texture and I'm not about to sew in several sequins.
I could also create this by quilting the fabric in a scale pattern.
So I looked to my mermaid tail tutorials and have decided I will likely be making a series of silicone scales. I like the idea of them being a bit squishy...although resin could also work to make them hard scales. Then again, the flexibility of silicone is pretty desireable.
I will also be using silicone for other parts of the puppet including the nose, tongue and paw pads. (I want squishy!)
Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about. I need to clean my crafting area, get reorganized, so I can use my 3D printer without tripping over a million things. We'll see how these plans fair when we hit the ground running.
My first focus will be to get the head mechanics and structure working.
And dang, watching all these mermaid scale tutorials really makes me want to give making a silicone tail a try!
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