From: Angusson-AT-aol.com
Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 23:12:49 EDT
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Finish coating over closed cell foam?
To: puptcrit-driftline.org-AT-lists.driftline.org


 creaturiste-AT-magma.ca writes:

<< Fred Thompson's contribution is as usual very insightful!

I'm saving this info!


<<I have tried the kraft paper (and carpenter's glue) over the styrofoam, and 

yikes, it is stronger than I thought!. Last week,  I saw a giant puppet I 

built a few months ago, and its foam feet have two coats of kraft paper, 

unscealed, and unprotected.

Still in good shape!


<<Fred, how do you insert the dowels into the foam? do you have a special 

piercing tool?

And if they are interlocked (as in, a cross perhaps), do you have to split 

the foam shape in half, practice some tight cavities in the negative shape 

of the dowels, and lay them there?

Hi Matthieu:

First, let me comment on your first statement....
Even though you express surprise at your paper and glue shoes standing up 
after a few months, my goal is for any puppets I make to stand up to use for 
years.  
Puppets to my mind are like any other 'instrument.'  They must be cared for 
and stored properly. Obviously, some puppets take a lot of abuse and must be 
repaired from time to time. But I try to anticipate some of the problems faced 
in touring and design and build for them. I try to build a strong puppet and 
also allow as best I can for ease of access when I must make a repair. 
Sometimes, I fall way short in that aspect....
Cussing often helps.........

I am always surprised when some puppeteers talk about papier mache heads 
being eaten by mice or other rodents while in storage, and in the same paragraph 
mention that they have used wheat paste in the puppets' construction.  I hear 
this less and less and appreciate that some materials and adhesives we have 
available today were not around 'way back then. But Kraft paper and alaphatic 
resin glues have been here for a while....

This description is rather long and somewhat tedious. Apologies...
ARMATURE:
It's easier than it reads....
I don't want to cut the Styrofoam head in any way to access the inside. It 
makes for more work and is a bother. One can do this before or after covering 
the head....

Let me use a puppet head for my example. A standard for me might be a 4" or 
5" head but I have done larger.  The weight of the head, carved of Styrofoam, 
is almost a non-issue, but it does have a balance point front to back. What I 
do is lift the head with my fingers at around the temple area. If it's a wide 
head, one can use two small nails.  I try to find the points where the head 
rests naturally, looking directly ahead. I also try to find the points where the 
left and right 'temples' line up horizontally on the same plane. Important! 

If a head, like my HAGs head is quite long, the balance point may be affected 
by the length of the head and placement of features.  On my HAG, the head 
strings are level, right to left, but are well behind the balance point because 
she has rather a long nose. It's fairly easy to attach a string to the nose for 
control ( 3 point) and also to the back of the head, (in this case to help 
with the weight of the hair) (4 point). A cross at the control will give you 
absolute control. 

If you are making a marionette, the head should be level and the 'temple' 
strings attached to the head on the same plane. You will find that any uneven 
pull will 'telegraph' to the control and thus to your hand or fingers. I know 
this sounds strange to some, but I depend totally on how the marionette feels in 
my hand and can tell immediately if something is 'off.' If something is out of 
balance. It's much like a musical instrument being slightly out of tune...

I mark these points I have located with a pencil or fine point marker. This, 
Matthieu, is the tricky part. I need to make a hole THROUGH the head from 
temple to temple. I also have to be sure the hole is even front to back. That is 
to say, if I hold the head at 90 degrees from its 'natural' position, (from the 
top, down) the marks and eventually the hole will be level. Not easy to 
describe.

I take a thin, pointed wire like a coat hanger wire and bend a slight 90 
degree handle for control (and comfort) at the end. This wire need only be 
slightly longer than the the head is wide by, say, a couple of inches. 
Holding the head in my left hand, with the 'face' facing me, and place it at 
the mark at one temple,  and begin to push the wire through the Styrofoam 
head, guiding it as best I can by keeping my eye on the mark on the OTHER temple 
-the one I am aiming for - in hopes of hitting it. As I am doing this, I am 
also rotating the head - the TOP of the head towards me 90 degrees to be sure 
that I am also keeping the wire level.

In other words, the hole will be perpendicular to the AXIS of the head and 
LEVEL.

The thin wire allows me several tries. If I miss, I haven't disturbed the 
foam. Once I hit the mark on the opposite side, I take a slightly larger 'tool' 
to widen the hole, being careful to guide it properly. I sometimes use a 1/4" 
pointed dowel for this second step. The point COMPRESSES the foam rather that 
tear it. 

Let's assume here that I will use a 3/8" dowel for the final cross piece of 
the armature. 
I will take a 5/16" pointed to make a final pass in this horizontal hole. 
Again, the pointed end compresses the foam. It's best to have as tight and solid 
a fit as possible. The glue needs something to bond to.

Now I shift focus. 
I will need to have (for a marionette) a means of attaching the neck joint. 
This will be a dowel of a larger diameter than the horizontal dowel. Since we 
have decided on a 3/8" dowel for our horizontal, lets go with a 3/4" or 1" 
dowel for the neck piece, which ever works.

We have established the hole for the 3/8" dowel. The 1" dowel  must also have 
a hole created for it. This hole must intersect with the existing 3/8" hole. 
So we repeat the process. 
We need to locate where the neck connection should be.
This point is what we determine to be the 'base' of the skull. That is to 
say, the neck joint.

Holding the head in our left hand with the 'nose' facing us, we need to 
locate a point at the center of the head (L&R) and at the point where you want the 
connection. Place the wire at this point and begin to push it up into the 
Strofoam head towards the hole already in place at the temple. Keep turning the 
head so that the wire is vertical and also in line with the existing hole. 
If you have good luck, the wire will bisect the hole.
Repeat this process using larger dowels until you have a 1/2" hole. Make sure 
that this hole goes beyond the existing 3/8" hole by an inch, if possible.
Sometimes (when I'm feeling reckless) I use an actual drill or Forstner bit. 
twisting it by hand, after I have made the initial hole to guide me. This 
gives me a smooth hole and doesn't tear the foam too much.
But I finish it with a pointed dowel the final size.

The 3/8" dowel should be removed for all of the immediate, above. 
You will have a piece of 1" dowel longer than you need for the neck piece, 
which will be cut off later. This is used to attach some kind of device (screw 
eye or cord). But if you want a simple one joint neck, allow enough extra dowel.

Insert the 1" dowel up into the neck hole until it is past the 3/8" hole by 
an inch or so. Until it stops.
Make a mark on the center front of the dowel just below the neck so that you 
know which is the front facing side. 
Take a pencil or thin marker and insert it into the 'temple' hole and place a 
dot on the 1" dowel. It's not easy but try to keep the pencil centered.
This mark will be the center of a hole you will drill for the 3/8" cross 
dowel. 
If you have located both dowels correctly, your mark should be more or less 
at the center of the 1" dowel.

Drill, as carefully and as perpendicular to the dowel length as possible, a 
3/8" hole. I CLAMP it in a drill press and provide a wooden backing piece to 
prevent too much tearout on the dowel. It's safer, too. Slight adjustments so 
that there is enough wood on both sides of the drilled dowel can be made. The 
pointed dowel end allows for some wiggle room.

Dry fit the two pieces outside the head. Sand the 3/8" piece slightly if it's 
too tight. The glue later on will make it tight.
Now, place the NECK piece inside the head with the MARK facing forward. Sight 
through the head so that you can see through to the other side. Now try to 
fit the 3/8" dowel through the hole into the 1" dowel and out the other side. 
This may take a bit of wiggling.
Once you have a good fit, mark the pieces so that you can cut them before you 
glue them in place. Mark the 3/8" dowel flush at the sides of the head.
Mark the neck piece at the base of the skull if a screweye or other is to be 
attached for a cord joint or a double neck joint, or mark it at the length you 
want the finished neck to be. The end of the dowel may need to be rounded if 
it is to be the neck itself. If you plan to use a screw eye for the connector, 
this is a good time to insert that. I always epoxy the screw eye just in 
case. Make sure it sits either fore or aft or side to side, depending on how you 
plan to fasten it to the body. 

Remove the two pieces and cut and shape them as needed and marked.

I always put Titebond yellow glue on all mating surfaces, regardless. So I 
use a brush to coat the NECK hole in the Styrofoam FIRST, and then coat the 1" 
dowel. I insert the dowel quickly and carefully inside the foam and make sure 
the holes line up. Sight through to be sure. Use the mark.
I quickly glue the 3/8" dowel and then the hole (in that order) and quickly 
insert the dowel into the hole and through the 1" dowel, pushing it all the way 
through. DO NOT PAUSE IN THIS OPERATION. The wood begins to swell almost 
immediately and may jam. 

Clean up any glue that oozes out and let it set up. 

What you end up with is a 'cross' of two dowels inside the Styrofoam head. 
All strings and attachments fix to this device. 

If you need to attach strings to the nose area or the back of the head, I 
take a very thin pointed dowel and insert it into the foam. Then I coat the hole 
and the dowel and push the dowel into the head.  A piece of dowel a few inches 
long should suffice. These do not become part of the armature.

Note: I use birch or maple dowels. They are harder and hold up very well.

Fred Thompson










_______________________________________________
List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Admin interface: http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit-driftline.org
Archives: http://www.driftline.org