A puppet on a budget

This was my main character for my senior thesis. I wanted to do stop-motion but didn't have much money. So I embarked on a journey to make a puppet on a budget. Here are a few pictures and a time lapse of how I this drawing into a stop-mo puppet...

I ended up using nice air hardened tool steel.  It wasn't expensive because I bought so little.  But if you have a bigger project get ready to pay big bucks.

This was the drawing I used to build the armature.  I traced it from the painting above.

Finished armature ready for skin.

After the armature was done I sculpted his body...

Then I made a mold and cast him in silicone. It was a process that took a lot more time than I thought it would.  But in the end it was worth having the hard earned knowledge.

The first layer of plaster on my two part mold.

Here is the final product. The most important lesson I learned is that I HATE working alone.   So, I don't do that anymore. If you have more questions I left a lot out of this, so I'll do my best answer them accurately.



If you have more questions I'll answer them.