Re: Gryphon Marionette Posted by Abdolos on Oct 09, 2010
Back in the saddle! While the gryphon is in more pieces now than it was at the beginning of the day, I have brought the shoulder piece up to date. Remember the old shoulder piece?
Well, I wasn't happy with how the leg was meeting with the body, so I decided to change it to work like the rear legs. While I was doing that, I decided that it would be nice if the spine was continuous. Here is the result:
Because the pins that hold the legs on will need to be tied on in the inside, there needs to be a little space I can get at, so here's the bottom:
And here's the little trap door that will cover it up:
The wing piece now has a curved channel in it with a nubbin that matches up to the hole in the top of the spine:
And here it is inside of the foam-rubber covering:
Now I can move on to getting the proportions of the leg bones right and sculpting on top of them. Then I need to make permanent cloth membranes for the wings. Hopefully I'll get these jobs done in the next few days, and the outline of the gryphon will finally be complete! Exciting!
Well, I wasn't happy with how the leg was meeting with the body, so I decided to change it to work like the rear legs. While I was doing that, I decided that it would be nice if the spine was continuous. Here is the result:
Because the pins that hold the legs on will need to be tied on in the inside, there needs to be a little space I can get at, so here's the bottom:
And here's the little trap door that will cover it up:
The wing piece now has a curved channel in it with a nubbin that matches up to the hole in the top of the spine:
And here it is inside of the foam-rubber covering:
Now I can move on to getting the proportions of the leg bones right and sculpting on top of them. Then I need to make permanent cloth membranes for the wings. Hopefully I'll get these jobs done in the next few days, and the outline of the gryphon will finally be complete! Exciting!
Re: Gryphon Marionette Posted by Abdolos on Oct 15, 2010
Thanks, Shawn. I actually injured myself at work recently, so I've had more time to work on this. Not that I've been getting a lot done, I just have the opportunity. 
The bird legs are coming along well, and, as always, I have changed my mind about the way things work midstream. Here is the old claw armature:
The problem here is small, but it's enough to bother me: The ankle is behind the place where the toes meet. So I took a new piece of dowel, drilled two holes in it, used a different gauge of wire, added a little masking tape, and this is what I got:
Which looks like this when covered with paper and glue:
I also got the proportions fixed on the bird legs for what I hope is the last time:
So now it's on to putting the mache on the legs. I've started that already, and I've found that the discarded claw armature makes a good hook for drying. Oh, that reminds me: I've been thinking a lot lately about the identity problem that some philosophers use the image of Theseus' ship to characterize. Theseus replaces the planks on his ship as they decay, eventually replacing every timber in the ship. Is it still Theseus' original ship? What if someone gathered the old planks and built a ship out of them. Would that be Theseus' original ship? Would they both be? Anyhow, I'm making and discarding enough pieces for the gryphon that I've been considering the possibility of gathering them together and making another puppet. I've been referring to this imaginary project as "Theseus' Gryphon." I might also have a whole play written in the material that I've discarded. Who knows?
The bird legs are coming along well, and, as always, I have changed my mind about the way things work midstream. Here is the old claw armature:
The problem here is small, but it's enough to bother me: The ankle is behind the place where the toes meet. So I took a new piece of dowel, drilled two holes in it, used a different gauge of wire, added a little masking tape, and this is what I got:
Which looks like this when covered with paper and glue:
I also got the proportions fixed on the bird legs for what I hope is the last time:
So now it's on to putting the mache on the legs. I've started that already, and I've found that the discarded claw armature makes a good hook for drying. Oh, that reminds me: I've been thinking a lot lately about the identity problem that some philosophers use the image of Theseus' ship to characterize. Theseus replaces the planks on his ship as they decay, eventually replacing every timber in the ship. Is it still Theseus' original ship? What if someone gathered the old planks and built a ship out of them. Would that be Theseus' original ship? Would they both be? Anyhow, I'm making and discarding enough pieces for the gryphon that I've been considering the possibility of gathering them together and making another puppet. I've been referring to this imaginary project as "Theseus' Gryphon." I might also have a whole play written in the material that I've discarded. Who knows?
Re: Gryphon Marionette Posted by StiqPuppet Productions on Oct 17, 2010
Keep up the great work and sharing the steps....lots of great details and it is coming along nicely. 
Daryl H
Daryl H
Re: Gryphon Marionette Posted by Abdolos on Oct 18, 2010
Not that I'd recommend it, but drawing compensation is a great way to get work on puppets done. I'm very excited about where the gryphon is at right now, and I expect that I'll be able to move on to the highly experimental controller I have in mind pretty soon. Here's what I've done in the last little bit:
I put fast mache on the bird leg skeletons:
Once this was done, I moved on to making permanent connections for the wing support spines. I used spray extension tubes for this, and drilled shallow angled holes to give them some purchase. Then I drove a needle into the hole to give additional support for the tube, and covered the join with paper and glue. I'm thinking about sacrificing one of the spines, so it's not in all of these pictures:
I'll probably add some more paper and glue to the wing spines so that I can paint them, but I'm waiting until I have a wing pattern so that I'll know what their final length should be.
And finally, with all of the skeletal bits made and covered, with almost all of the mechanics of the body in order, I have reassembled the various pieces to get this:
At the moment the shoulder joints are temporary until some more drying happens in the mache and I can drill the guide-holes to the right size, but this is pretty much it. I need to go and find some good fabric for the wings, and I'll sew it right onto the bone structure. Then the outline will be complete, and I can start experimenting with controller design. Unless I start messing with the controller right now. Hmmm...
I put fast mache on the bird leg skeletons:
Once this was done, I moved on to making permanent connections for the wing support spines. I used spray extension tubes for this, and drilled shallow angled holes to give them some purchase. Then I drove a needle into the hole to give additional support for the tube, and covered the join with paper and glue. I'm thinking about sacrificing one of the spines, so it's not in all of these pictures:
I'll probably add some more paper and glue to the wing spines so that I can paint them, but I'm waiting until I have a wing pattern so that I'll know what their final length should be.
And finally, with all of the skeletal bits made and covered, with almost all of the mechanics of the body in order, I have reassembled the various pieces to get this:
At the moment the shoulder joints are temporary until some more drying happens in the mache and I can drill the guide-holes to the right size, but this is pretty much it. I need to go and find some good fabric for the wings, and I'll sew it right onto the bone structure. Then the outline will be complete, and I can start experimenting with controller design. Unless I start messing with the controller right now. Hmmm...
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