Hey friends, I want to make puppets that, as part of the final image of the play, begin to glow softly.

I was previously planning on using celluclay, and I'd like to be able to take my time sculpting and shaping.  But all I can think of that is translucent is fiberglass. 
Has anyone worked with fiberglass before?  Do you know of any other materials that could glow from within?

Paper Mache' could glow from the inside.   The only thing it would most likely show your layers but it might be a cool affect.  I would suggest not using fiber glass. Nasty stuff.

Shawn would a clear watercolor paper or even the unwaxed baking paper liners be used in paper mache'................ this would give a nice glow with a light inside.

You can use pretty much any type of paper in paper mache'.  

If you look at Fimo, they have translucent (it looks like white, but only because in a block it's compressed. It really is translucent) and glow in the dark clays. I've used the former, not the latter.

http://fimo.com/FIMO_effect_eng.Staedtler

EDIT: I don't see the glow in the dark ones at the site above, maybe it's not that brand that I'm thinking of, but I was sure I've seen it before somewhere... Maybe it's the 'nightglow' one listed on Fimo.

You could try using a translucent fabric and wood glue instead of paper mache.  Same effect.  I'm thinking the color of the wood glue wood give a nice yellowing effect to the overall glow. 

Na, I think you are right, this should be the glow-in-the dark, they have that in our hobbyshop here. But if it is a larger strukture FIMO seems a bit expensive, cloth or paper mache would be cheaper. On the other hand: FIMO is great to form, keeps it well and can get wet definitly cool for detail work.

Have you ever heard of Oyumaru?  It is a Japanese modeling compound mainly used for moulds.  It is popular with miniature artists.  You can purchase it from the internet and definitely through Etsy.  It is easy to use and comes in many colors that all possess a translucent quality.  It is moldable after sitting a short while in hot water.  It is a plastic compound that you can shape with your hands once it is softened.  It will harden up and you then use it as a mould but I don't see why you couldn't use it as a structure for your sculpture.  Not sure of the pricing outside Asia.  I live in Asia so it is pretty easy to obtain.  Here is a youtube link of a video that shows how this compound works:



Happy building!
xoxo,
N

This is one site here in Singapore that sells it.  Prices are in Sing dollars.  This is probably best as an example and then just look for the product near you.  Again, it comes in a lot of different colors but this page shows a completely clear option.  You can view examples of use of this product to get a better idea below.

http://shop.singahobby.com/?q=node/26858

Gee, Nikole, this really looks interesting! Good thing to have people from all over the world around, so one can learn. In  Germany we are so fixed on Staedler, I never even knew anything else existed.