Well I've start a new project.  A few years ago I wrote some short children's stories in which all the characters are bugs.  The umbrella title for all the stories is "Joshua Junebug and Friends".  Since I've gotten into puppets recently I thought I have a try at making some of the character into puppets.  My first character is the title character Joshua Junebug.  Below is the sketches I am going to be trying to make my puppet to look like.

My plan is to take pictures as I go along through the process and post thiem like a tutorial.  I'm hoping that some of you will be able to give me advise about how I might improve my puppet construction.  And that the process will be instructful for other beginners like me.

Sounds great Jon  Will you be making this puppet as a talking and performing puppet ? It may be fun to make smaller non talking (bug) glove style puppets that the kids can wear. This could be a selling item for the kids to take home with them along with a copy of your book ( Did I say Book)

Can't wait to see the tutorial.

Billy D.

I've assembled the foam for the head and inserted the mouth.  I started by making a paper mock of the head.  This helps me to make sure that I'm building the piece the size I want before I take knife to foam.  Then I cut the foam and glued the head together with DAP contact cement.

After that I made the mouth using a method inspire by the method Sean Johnson described in his Ratchet tutorial.  The pallate of the mouth is made of foam reinforced by 6mm craft foam.  To this I have added a thumb tube on the bottom and larger tube on top that will fit all four fingers.

This is then glued into the head and the edges of the mouth are glued and pinched to make them rounded.

Just a note.  I've never heard of anyone else using 6mm craft foam for mouths.  But I'm happy with the short term results.  I've made two puppets before this with this method.  the action fo the puppets are very satisfactory.  The only question that is still in my mind is durability..

Great idea to make small simple puppets to sell to the kids.  When I get to that stage of the project I'll have to keep that in mind.

This is a great tutorial Jon, Thanks for sharing the building process with us.

Billy D.

Thanks for taking the time to show us step by step. 

Can't wait to see it finished!!

Daryl H

thanks for taking the time to make this tutorial, looks like it will be a neat project

Here goes another installment in the progress report/tutorial.  I've put together the foam for the body.  Who would think that so much work would go into four pieces of foam?

I start by a paper pattern for the three pieces which will make up the back of the Junebug.  I believe the names of the thorax and the wings.  Once I was satisfied with the patterns I traced them onto foam and cut them out.  Then I pinned them togher with straight pins to see how they would fit together.  I was pretty happy with what I saw.  My plan is to cover each of the back pieces individually and then attach it to the main body tube.  This will give more of an exoskeleton look.

Next I measured and cut a piece of foam for the main body tube.  From this I cut out two triangles to taper the body up to where the head will attach.  Then I glued the tube together with DAP contact cement.

Then I pinned the back pieces to the Body to see how everything fit together.  I looked OK.  Very insect like.  But I didn't think it was fat enough for a junebug.  So I added a piece of foam to the front that fill out the shape of the body more to my liking.

Next I'll be working of the foam for the arms and the hands.  Then I'll have to take a break until I can get out and find the fabric I need.

I don't know if "cute" is what you were going for, but I happen to love bugs. Actually, I'm inspired to make some of my own.... the puppet kind of course 

-Michele

I made an ant this summer, in a similar style. Bugs are definitely tricky.
Where will the hand be inserted? ALl the way at the bottom, in the back, in the front in between the two stomach parts?
Looks good so far!

Also, Michele I think you should try to make some bugs of your own...not the puppet variety : )


and...... 200th post woohooo, I finally made it, I have been on this forum for 3 years almost

Since this is for children, I'm at least trying to lean toward cute.  Ever looked at a close up of an insects face?  Not the cutest thing.  I'm coing for realistic colors and body shapes with a more child like face.  That way when you look at it you'll say "hey thats a june bug"  but still relate to it like a child.

The puppet is about 20 inches long.  At this point the only opening is from the bottom.  if that become a problem I probably add an access between the wings in the back.

Oh yeah,  I wanted to add this little discovery.  When your working with contact cement and you decide you want to undo a joint you've just glued.  You can reach for you hair dryer.  Applying heat to the glue makes it realease.  And don't worry about adding more glue.  The cement will still hold after the joint has be separated.

Oh yeah,  I wanted to add this little discovery.  When your working with contact cement and you decide you want to undo a joint you've just glued.  You can reach for you hair dryer.  Applying heat to the glue makes it realease.  And don't worry about adding more glue.  The cement will still hold after the joint has be separated.

This affect can also be created by leaving your puppet inside a car in hot weather. Just a heads up for folks since they may not want their puppet to come apart at the seams in this case.

I really appreciate the step by step pictures.  I am not a puppet maker but the more I am exposed the more I am likely to give it a try.  And watching the step by step makes me realize that puppet making is just that Step By Step.  I am preparing for the summer reading program at the area libraries (I have 5 bookings already  ) And the theme is Catch the Reading Bug, so a bug puppet would be perfect for me.  I will have to think on this!