I hope this will be helpfull to you because some people asked how we do it I thought it would be nice to show a little of how the puppets are made. So this little bit will detail the construction of the David Tennant puppet as we build him. This won’t go on itunes because the videos are much longer and would be very large in the ipod format. I would not want to bog down anyones itunes for this video. However we will try and make a full length video for itunes a little later.

http://www.requiemoftheoutcast.com/99acrewoods/2008/08/14/doctor-who-preview2-reconstructing-david-tennant-puppet-head/

Let me know what you think.

Jay (Drpuppet)

Jay

Congratulations on a job well done. I give it five stars. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this video and sharing this technique with others. Although many of these techniques are read about in books it is much better to see it visually. This may be a door opening to do a in depth tutorial on puppet building from start to finish. Your presentation was clean, your instructions were simple and to the point. Camera angles were good, and it was a over all great video. I look forward to the future when we see " Building Puppets with Jay " instructional DVDs for sale.
Thanks again for sharing, something many professionals don't really like to do. It is greatly appreciated.

Billy D.

PS. Just thought I would mention............. never has been ask before. Although you share your videos with us here at P&S. I thought others might want to know. Can your video links be added into others blogs and or websites with your permission of course.

Wow, Absolutely AWESOME!!!! Amazing video and very clear and extremely well done. There was a lot of info there that I haven't seen other places. I love that there are so many ways to build puppets. I would like to thank you again for taking the time to do this. I have always used pins to stretch the fabric over the foam I like the idea of glueing it in if it is permanent.

Cheers,
Jon Little

Sure I am happy to help. Billy absolutely you may post my links up. I only wish I had something like this when i started.

Jay, thanks so much for poting such a great video tutorial on fabrication of a puppet head.  It was the best of this kind I have ever seen an d I think I've watched all of them in the last several months.  Everything was simple and clear.  I'm adding a link to them on my blog page and I'll be recommending them for anyone wanting to learn how to cover a puppet.

Oh yeah,  the puppet is looking awesome.  I can't wait to see more pictures as you get him finished.

Absolutely perfect Jay!  Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for everyone.  I agree with Billy's review of the video.  You have a very easy manner in your narrative which is soothing and gives the impression that "Yes, you can do it to!".

Something you address in the video is that when using the glue gun on the foam you let it set for a bit and cool down. Something I have noticed when applying glue gun to foam is that it almost seems to heat up more on the foam or at least retain it's heat longer then when used on other materials that are not as pores. This is an advantage as I can see it, since you can take the time to work with the material.

Again thank you.

It is an advantage and you are right Shawn it does stay warmer longer. The waiting period is really to let it cool a bit just so it does not soak through the fleece. I am sewing him today and my thought was to film a segment of doing the hand stitching to show how that is done.

Jay:

I'd like to see a bit of the hand stitching myself.  Is the Henson stitch also called the ladder stitch?

I'm looking forward to seeing the completed puppet.  The video was a joy to watch and very helpful.  I haven't seen this exact technique before.  Very clever. 

Can you tell me about L200?  Where would I purchase some?\

Pam

Oh, Jay, as I was watching the video I was thinking, "Who is this guy?  He is really good! I want to find out who this is!" and when I bounced back to the P&S blog I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was you:)

I can't tell you how helpful that video was. Thank you so much for taking the time to show us how you do this. I also would like to see the stitching. Dealing with those darts is the big puzzle for me. I was also wondering about what the L200 is.

Again, thank you so much for the tremendous video!!!