Busy day today!

Today I did the fiberglass mother molds for the feet, a new puppet head, and tiki's mouth. I also drilled out the eyes for 9 different puppets; then I painted them; then used sealer to protect the paint! With the new eye system I'm using the eyes are against the head snug so when I went to paint the last 2 the eyes had trouble moving since there was no play room. I'm thinking smart from now on and painting the eyes before putting them in! I work the next 2 days so I won't be posting anything new until Sunday or Monday.

The eyes

This is a pile of eyes! I took all their eyes so they can't see where I'm hiding! Lol! Actually, I drilled all the holes for the brass rods to go through and also for the springs and pupils. I'm going to paint and sealer the eyes before I out them in the heads. I have 9 eyes in that pile!

More rain. :(

I'm not sure if I'm a bad planner or not but everyte I go to make the fiberglass mother mold it rains!!!  I have to make it outside because of the fumes. I made the mistake of trying it inside and during the winter once! I made that mistake and will never do it again! The fumes went up through the vents and it was an over powering smell.

The feet and a new puppet

Here is the pair of feet and a new puppet I sculpted! They are just now in the rubber latex stage and almost done! Next step is the fiberglass mother mold! In the back ground is a lot of puppet heads so I decided to take a picture for you of them too! Lol

On their way home!

The Dr's 2 puppets are on their way to him as of today!  Hope things turn out and he loves them! Now it's back to making the new puppets!!!

Ending progress for the good Dr!

I had to work a lot this week so the weekend I didn't get to work on the puppets at all! The good news though; is I got up today after 3 hours of sleep and been working all day on the puppets! They are being painted today and a few coats of sealer the mail them out to the good Dr tomorrow! Just a few small things like painting the eyeballs, gluing the iris in and the wig for Esmerelda!

Ezmerelda

This puppet has been giving me trouble with her eyes since I started them. At first they didn't was to move at all so I chiseled away and got them moving then I worked on them before work and now after and I finally came up with a new system that I think is fool proof and I'm going to use it with every puppet!!!  Even though she has the springs in the back of the eyes I added extra springs to make sure they don't stick and both eyes self center!

Sammy had a stroke!!! What!!!

I had everything ready for paint last night and I noticed that Sammy's mouth opened to the left like he had a stroke!!! I recut his mouth back out and fixed that immediately! I'm not sure why I didn't notice it before! His update for today is I had to let the magic sculpt dry for his mouth again and I put the inner mechanics in and the hand control stick! I got called into work for tomorrow but I'm gonna wake up and sand more and if everything works perfect then I can start the painting process before work and Thursday! I'm still shooting to get him out this week if luck is on my side. Esmerelda is being difficult though so she might be the beginning of next week at the latest.

Almost done!

The two puppets that go to the good Dr is almost finished! I had to do a little most magic sculpt work and now I'm waiting for it to dry; then sand, and then they go to the painting tables!

Slappy jr mold is dead!

No one order a slappy jr puppet for about a month please!!!   I have to make another rubber latex mold for him as we can see by the picture it literately ripped to pieces as I was taking the head out of the mold!!

The progress for the Dr's puppets!

I filled the hole around the mouth of Sammy and put his eyebrows on him today! The weather wasn't doing its job and drying the magic sculpt quickly so I have to wait for it to dry before I go moving it all around and mess it up. Later this evening I'm going to build the 2 bodies and probably build the arms and legs and put them on. I took the hands out if the molds today so I had to fill the holes with magic sculpt. Just waiting for the magic sculpt to dry on them too so I can sand! Both puppets will be done next week and mailed to the good Dr! Doc if you got any questions please feel free to call my cell phone 816-898-6690. If I don't answer I'm either at my full time job and can't answer and will call you back on my break; or running a very loud sander but please leave a message and I will get back with you ASAP!

Swelling up!!

I think I'm allergic to magic sculpt!! Not a good thing since that's what I use to make the puppets heads, hands and soon the feet! Every time I use a lot of it at once I start swelling up! Last year when I was making all the new puppets my eyes swoll up and almost shut! I do have medicine I take before, during and after but sometimes my eyes still swell up!

The progress on the Dr's puppets!

I got the sanding done and started the inner mechanics! I got the eyes put in on both puppets, with Sammy I also got the mouth put on and the brass rod on the inside of the head! The magic sculpt is still drying on Ezmerelda is why I'm not as far on her. The picture shows the progress for the face in the top photo; and the bottom photo shows the inner mechanics for Sammy! There is still a lot of work to do but it's moving right along so far!

Very nervous!

This is as I thought; a very good year for selling ventriloquist puppets! I have been selling a puppet every week! Today I sold to a Dr! The dr's are the ones who care for us when we get sick or cut our fingers in half from making the puppets! Lol. I feel as though I have to do the very best work I've ever done. Wish me luck! I will keep pictures posted as I work on the puppet for each step. I already have the head out of the mold so I have to sand, sand, and sand some more!

Tiki man

I wanted to show everyone the work on tiki man step by step! He went through the sculpting stage, then the rubber latex stage, then tge mother mold; then I stuffed the head with magic sculpt and yesterday I took the new puppet head out when the magic sculpt dried! Here he is today after I cut the holes out for his eyes and his mouth! When I'm off on Sunday I need to make a mold for his mouth; right now it just has the outside of the magic sculpt and sculpting clay to make the rest of the mouth and teeth and tongue.

2 feet are better than 1

I finally finished both feet today! I got magic sculpt in 2 of the new puppets molds and working to be actual puppets! Today was very productive! Bad thing is, I work my full time job the next 3 days! (Boo!) wish I could make puppets full time!

Let's step into it!

I have decided to make some feet for the puppets! I made the right foot and working on the wrong foot;  oops I mean the left foot! Here is the pictures of the right one that just in the sculpting clay and ready to be molded!

New eye procedures!

I was putting the eyes on a thin platform and magic sculpting them in the head. After a short while the eyes were looking like they were sinking back and I thought of a fool proof way so the eyes have to remain in place! Attached is a picture of the new way! I put a brass rod tgrough the wooden ball knob I'm using for the eyes and magic sculpted the brass rod so it will never move again!

Let it rain!

I have been trying to get the new puppets done but due to rain and holidays I've not been able to complete the mother molds because I have to do it outside. The last time I tried to do the fiberglass mother molds in the garage but it stunk the entire house up!! Ooooops! I guess we learn something new all the time. So I'm having to wait until tomorrow to do the remainder of the molds. Patients is the key with puppet making I quickly discovered!