A
Step by Step Guide to Making a Low Cost, Low Tech Stop-motion Puppet (continued)
Written by Mary
Murphy
Here, the section of nylon stocking was pulled up over the length of the puppets
body fro the feet to just under the arms. Then using the sharp scissors, I simply
cut along the middle up to her crotch. Note the extra material around the feet
and up around her chest. Do not trim or remove any material at this stage.
Working carefully, pull the raw edges of the nylon stocking together, and sew
a seam down the back of the leg, working from the crotch downwards. Take the
opportunity to add more wadding to help the natural shape of the figure along.
Here, I added a lot of wadding to the upper thighs. You can always further refine
the shape by pulling the stocking in around the knee and ankle to slim the width
down. You can clearly see that I have added even more bulk to her buttocks.
And here, her
belly is way bigger than I want it to be. The next stage is to begin sculpting
a shape by stitching a seam down her back, and by pulling the stocking material
very tightly. If she is not over stuffed, she will simply turn out to be way
too thin.
To start the
process of shaping her torso, fold her back in on itself along her spine and
stitch a seam from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine. Run your
thread between her legs and pull tightly from the front, this will split her
bum and form nice natural buttocks.
LEFT
and RIGHT: At this stage, I have stitched up her back, and slimmed her down.
Her boobs were made by wrapping a wire around the torso, and securing it with
polymorph. It works almost exactly like an under wired bra, except her boobs
are glued to it…. Unfortunately I didn't manage to photograph that bit,
but you can just make out the wire running down the side of her boob. The shape
was achieved by making two little balls in the wadding, wrapping them in little
bits of nylon, stitching them up the back, then sticking them to the under wire.
A thin layer of wadding was then stitched in place over her chest, and the stocking
was pulled up over the top. Her nipples were made with sculpy, which actually
burned in the oven, but wound up with a rosy glow, so I used them in the end.
At
this point, I am preparing the shoulders and chest to be all packaged up.
It's a real "Try it and see" situation with the stuffing at this
point, adding some, removing some, getting the shape right. Because she is
essentially an open tube, you can still modify her shape right down to her
hips and thighs, stitching a bit here, adding a ball of stuffing there…until
you are happy with the shape.
This
next bit is a bit difficult to explain, but here goes. As you can see from the
previous picture, there was not enough nylon material left to pull up over her
head. I needed to add a second piece, but I really didn't want a visible seam.
What I did in the end was this…I pulled the raw edges of the stocking up
around to the back of the puppet, like a halter top, and stitched them in place.
I
then covered her head in a new section of stocking, and pulled that right down
and tucked it under her boobs, and stitched it to her under-wire. I then trimmed
the loose edges from her arms, and using the smallest neatest stitches possible,
I joined up the raw edges. I then ran a seam down the back of her head and neck,
pulling the material as tightly as I could. The hands and feet are made in exactly
the same manner, pulling the stocking material around the armature and stitching
it into place.
This wax sculpture
was made as a sort of sketch of how I wanted the character's face to look.
To be honest in the end, the face was a bit ugly, but As she spent most of
the film with her head down and her hair in her eyes, it didn't really matter
that much.
Her face was
completed by cutting a small slit where her mouth was positioned, and stitching
the nylon back inside her mouth. Her eyes were glued back into the sockets
over the nylon which I didn't cut. Her eyelids were made by wrapping a section
of nylon around the eye bead and painting it with P.V.A. glue. When it was
dry, I simply peeled it off, and shaped it with a sharp scissors. Her ears
are made with nylon and wadding, stitched into a rough ear shape and sewn
into place. Her hair is made by twisting thin wire, and dipping it into latex
coloured with black ink. It's more of a dreadlock sort of style, but it suited
the film.
Here,
the puppet is hanging over a heater after a hair touch up. Notice that I have
wrapped her up in cling film, and masked her face. You really can't afford
to get paint on the puppet when it's made in fabric.
These
images are stills from the same film….showing the other character which
was made in the same way……
The
hare armature was constructed with the same materials, and he was skinned
in exactly the same manner, except all his seams run under his belly. His
eyes and claws are made from sculpy. The following photos show him under construction.
If
you look carefully at the back feet, you will see a threaded screw running
through the Polymorph. Embedded in that blob is a nut, through which
the screw is threaded. On the next page is a simple guide to making very basic
tie-downs using the materials outlined at the start of the tutorial. This
guide shows a very basic option. For a more sophisticated foot with a more
realistic and natural walking style you would need to incorporate a joint
in the toe, and two tie-downs per foot.
4)
Simple Tie-Downs
| 1)
|
|
Twist
the leg wire into a loop to form a foot in position. |
| |
|
|
| 2)
|
|
Lightly
glue a nut of an appropriate size into the loop. The glue is a temporary
fix only. |
| |
|
|
| 3)
|
|
Thread
a wing-nut onto the screw, and firmly solder or glue it in place. Thread
the screw up through the nut to the half way position. |
| |
|
|
| 4)
|
|
Model
a blob of the hottest Polymorph around the nut and screw, persuading
it with your fingers to flow around the nut, screw and wire. It may take
a few attempts to achieve this. |
| |
|
|
| 5)
|
|
Dip
the Polymorph back into hot water, and level off the base of the
foot to create as flat a surface as possible. |
| |
|
|
The
head is treated in the same manner. The eyes have been removed,
and the wadding has been glued all over the skull and stitched
in place around the jaw. Take care not to fill the eye sockets
up with wadding, as we will be gluing the eyes back in after the
skin has been added.
The
first stage in skinning the puppet is to glue the hollow fibre
wadding to the Polymorph bones. Here, you can see the uncovered
head and torso, the glued on wadding on the legs, and the arms
completed with their nylon skin. You need to make the limbs much
thicker than the final desired result, as this technique really
relies on a lot of tension inside the nylon stocking. At an early
stage, you need to think like a sculptor, adding balls of wadding
where you know you will need volume. If you look at the picture
to the right, you will see that I have added a ball of stuffing
over her buttocks, and high on her left calf. These have been
roughly stitched in place with a needle and thread. At this point,
everything will look rough and really out of proportion, but just
stick with it……..it becomes much easier to control once
you have added the nylon skin.
3)
Skinning the Puppet with Nylon Stocking and Hollow Fibre Wadding
