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Benny the Dragon

Project type:

Puppet

Date:

April 2024

Location:

Manchester

An original character puppet.

I started this puppet by creating the base for the head, using reticulated foam and sheet plastic for the mouth plate, and contact cement to glue everything together.

I then dyed some F3 fleece, cut out the pattern for the head, and hand-sewed it together, adding some extra pieces to create nostrils. I used black felt for the mouth, carving a tongue out of some scrap foam and covering that in felt before gluing into position.

I modelled the teeth using Nomad Sculpt, then had a friend 3D print them. They were then painted using acrylics and glued in place.
The eyes are made of half ping pong balls with fleece eyelids and felt circles for pupils.

I made the hands by sandwiching armature wire between two pieces of foam, then covering them with the fleece. This allows them to be fully poseable, allowing the puppet hold objects and change hand gestures.

I sewed together the arms and hands, then doll jointed them on to the body and sewed the neck into place.