Hi guys! I've joined the site recently and this is my first post.. Really hoping for some help!

I'm new on the scene of puppetry and appreciate any help, links or tips. I'm current doing a rebuild on one of my first puppets. Its a giraffe thats used on a rod mechanism out of a rucksack. Please see pictures at www.desipio.co.uk and look at "Patched Up Puppets"

The original design was swimming noodle/foam for the neck but I found this too heavy and clumpy with alot of restriction. I've brought myself some 'Piano Wire' A light weight flexible craft wire that moves does not bend... Have you heard of it? Anyway!!....

So I came up with the idea of making an actually spine for the Giraffe. I've tried chopping the foam down and then making sections and putting tape in-between but when I slide my felt/fleece back over it all crunches up in to a mess or the wire pushes through the foam and everything goes to pot. Is there a way you professionals/more experience puppet-makers would go about this?

Hoping to hear from you all soon!!
Callum

First off Welcome to Puppets and Stuff. I would guess they are different ways to make a spine using the pool noodle foam. It would depend on how rigid you want the spin to be. I would think and I'm just guessing here that wire might make it a bit stiff. I would experiment with nylon rope the size of the opening in the middle of the pool tube. Try placing the rope in each segment securing it with a knot before adding the next spine segment......This way the spine segments would be held in place and this would give a lot of movement. This just a experimental suggestion not professional one.

Surely rope would make the neck really 'floppy' and I'd loose the support needed when having the giraffe in a more vertical position? the swimming noodle foam I feel is a really cheap foam and i don't think will hold out with wear and tear against the nylon rope, surely there will be friction?

Surely rope would make the neck really 'floppy' and I'd loose the support needed when having the giraffe in a more vertical position? the swimming noodle foam I feel is a really cheap foam and i don't think will hold out with wear and tear against the nylon rope, surely there will be friction?

Thats true! I was just guessing at things. How are you going to add the piano wire to each segment of the spine? Sorry I'm more of a visual type person. Shawn has a good suggestion.

Yes I know what piano or spring wire is. I love the stuff although not sure if that is the best thing for this. I can see how you would have an issue when you tried to put your fabric cover on.

Two ideas come to mind. First you can bend piano wire it is just hard to do. I use a vise and a pair of vice grips to bend it. My thought is if you could bend the wire so you had a stop where you needed each piece of foam it might old better. I am trying to think how to explain this bend but can't come up with the right words.  It would kind of be like one side of a T pin if you know that that is.  This would give you a solid bit you could maybe tape to the underside of each piece of foam you slid on. The issue here is that you would have to do this bending as you go along which could get hard to do.

Ok my second idea is to not even use the spring wire.  Do you have dryer hose in the UK?  It is found in hardware stores and is kind of like a slinky that is covered in a plastic sleeve.  I've used these inside many puppets where I wanted flexibility like you need in the giraffe neck.

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff.  I love the giraffe puppet by the way!

Ah I'm loving the response! Cheers fella's.

Shawn - Do you mean this sort of stuff; http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00SMuQKtTrahks/Flexible-Spring-Hose-GH-3002-.jpg          From the back of a Tumble Dryer?

With the Piano (Craft) Wire, I've been attaching the foam around the wire. So across the Radius of the tube... Make sense?

I had another thought. Why not combine the spring wire and the dryer hose idea together. If at the top of the spring wire you bent it into a loop (again hard to do but it can be done) then hooked a screw eye into that loop that was then screwed into the end of your control dowel you would have a swivel point you could embed into the the head of the giraffe. Then simply sleeve the wire in the dryer hose. Attach the dryer hose covered in your fabric into the the head then let it drop down around the wire and secure the bottom into the back back.  This should give you the same feel you get with the pool noddles I think where that when  you don't have the neck in the down position it bounces back into an upright vertical position.

Yes that is kind of what I was talking about only that product may work even more to your advantage and you might not need the spring wire. This is actually what I was talking about. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM5693062701P?blockNo=4&blockType=G4&prdNo=4&i_cntr=1315321569638  Now they also make this product in aluminum but it is not as flexible as the kind that is plastic. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM2146823701P?prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6

I think one of these types is the answer to your problem. It might take some experimenting on your part to see which ones properties works the best for you.

I've gone with the Nylon Rope idea. Been drilling all my foam pieces today. All pretty much ready to thread on and get tying with some good strong knots between them! fingers crossed it works!

If someone could please tell me how to post pictures.. that would be fab.. can keep you all updated!

I've gone with the Nylon Rope idea. Been drilling all my foam pieces today. All pretty much ready to thread on and get tying with some good strong knots between them! fingers crossed it works!

If someone could please tell me how to post pictures.. that would be fab.. can keep you all updated!

I was thinking ............. after you join each segment together with rope you could add the wire thur all the segments for added support

There are two way to add images.......... you can open a gallery album and upload photos here at P&S then click on  the gallery image button below the post. click on your album then your photo it will automatically insert the code

The second way is to insert a image URL into image tags by clicking on the picture icon located at the top of each post. Hope this helps!