I've begun working on the Rhino Beetle.  Below is a sketch of what I am planning the beetle to look like and under that is a foam head I've already constructed from 1/2 foam. 

I need some advice.  I'm thinking that the weight of the horn is going to cause the head to flex out of shape.  What would be the best way to reinforce the snout of the puppet so that it will be rigid enough to hold the weight of the horn?

What will the horn or horns be made of ?

Billy D.

It looks like his snout is pretty long and that perhaps the hand does not go all the way to the end. If that is correct then you could put a "half circle" piece of foam in the snout at the point where you are going to add the horn. I normally use a higher density foam for such supports but if you don't have any perhaps two pieces glued together would do it.  If my description is not clear let me know.

I should have given you something so you would have a beter idea on the size.  The mouth is about 4 inches long,  So it's not terribly big.  I didn't want this puppet to be too much bigger than all the other puppets for the Joshua June bug cast.

I got to thinking and I believe that the mouth palate and the finger tubes will almost fill up the top part of the mouth and I think little more foam will fill out the inside of the mouth and give the stability I'm looking for.

I really like the head shape.  I'm thinking of posting the pattern to share and also shortening the nose so that it might be able to be used for a people puppet and posting that pattern as well.

That is a neat head shape.  Do you design your own pattern for each character?

Most of the bug puppets so far have been minor adaptations of the round head pattern I have on my blog.  The beetle head is also an adaptation of that pattern but much more than a minor one.  And since it can be hard to repeat a design if you don't save a pattern I decided that this head is different enough to deserve its own pattern.

I like it as is for the Beetle but think the snout is too long for use as a person.  So I'll just shorten the snout.

As I think about it I guess all the puppets have had unique body shapes, no two alike.

Its very satisfying to build a unique puppet.  On top of that is the fact that there aren't many bug puppets out there and no patterns.  My project kind of forced me to design and build for my self.

Very cool, Jon.  Very cool.

The beetle is going to look beetliful.
Brenda

This is a very interesting design, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished puppet.



Ron G.

I really like the shape of the head already......can't wait to see when it is done (and a few steps between). 

Daryl H

I think that I won't need to add any reinforcement to the head.  the finger tubes are sufficiently big enough to fill the snout of the beetle.

Billy you asked what the horns would be made from.  I plan to make a tapered tube of 1/2 inch foam.  This tube will have wire glued into it which will make it positionable.  I believe that this will give me the look and weight I'm looking for.

BTW - I like your new avatar, Billy.  Very colorful and creative.

I agree with Jon.That is quite a catchy logo you have there Billy!
Brenda

Not to highjack your thread Jon but thanks.................. this was a design from a drawing a coulple of years back that I had presented to Sonny to make in to a banner for something else I was working on. It now will be encorperated into my new adventure coming in January 2009. Thanks for your compliments but all the praise goes to Shawn for this design and Cicero from Brazil for helping me in other areas.

Billy D.

Here's an update on the progress with the Rhino Beetle build.  I got a lot more done today than I expected to.  I admit I slacked off on some things I really ought to have been doing.  This just means that I'll have to shelve the build for a few days to chatch up with the other stuff.

Anyway ... I got the body and all the horns in place.



most of what you see is self explanitory.  I will mention that the horns are simply foam tapers with wire in them to make them positionable.  Also, about mid way down the body you will see a black line.  This is where I cut a slot part way through the foam and glued a wire in place to add support to the body.  If the body has a very large diameter it has a hard time maintaining its shape with just the foam alone.  In the past I have inserted plastic ribs but this time opted for the wire support.  It seems to be working so far.

Thanks,  Jon

Jon

I will have to say that with each build you get more and more creative. Your talents for creating puppet characters is amazing. I can't wait to see how all this comes together when you complete them all. Thank you so much for including all of us with the detailed descriptions of the building of each of these characters.

Billy d.