I am so lost with the body. I have a sheet of arethane foam, and i don't know how to start. Can some one post some instructions or tips on how to do a body that looks like this:
http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=lucy+the+slut&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1R2ADRA_enAU394&biw=1366&bih=519&tbm=isch&tbnid=1irQobwZbvDVYM:&imgrefurl=http://www.showcase.ca/blog/archive/2008/08/06/hump-day-avenue-q-gets-me-all-warm-and-fuzzy.aspx&docid=MvtPDAHT7d2Q-M&imgurl=http://www.showcase.ca/BLOG/photos/adult/images/42810/366x480.aspx&w=366&h=480&ei=arXATpugLc3TmAXu-sS0BA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=187&sig=105142802295525564452&page=1&tbnh=165&tbnw=126&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=43&ty=37

Ok it is a little bit more then this but the figure you see is called hour glass. An hour glass are two triangles set together at the tips. That breaks it down to the very basics of things. If you took two hour glass shapes of foam and glued them together you would come up with a "tube" that is what you are looking for.  Now before you dive in you need to experiment some. The end result is going to be more extreme and dramatic then the two flat pieces of foam.  You need to soften the shape of your two hour glass shaped foam pieces. This is all so clear in my head.

The breast are added on top of this and they are essentially two halves of a ball.  Think Nerf ball you cut in half.

AveQfan,

Shawn is right with the hourglass. Lucy is pretty extreme and curvy. To get you started I suggest you look in the gallery under puppetlady's projects. She has an alternate torso hybrid design based on Dr. Puppets suggestions. It creates a body with shoulders. In my personal opinion, it looks a little more feminine shaped than masculine shaped. That may have been what she was going for. Either way, it's a great jumping off point. Look at her idea and create your own pattern. From there if you want it to be more curvy like Lucy, you will have to adjust the cutouts on the side that create the hips and the curve of the body. Then you just need to add breasts as Shawn said and viola, you should have a body to your liking that works for your puppet.

Hope that helps,

Lee

AveQfan,

Shawn is right with the hourglass. Lucy is pretty extreme and curvy. To get you started I suggest you look in the gallery under puppetlady's projects. She has an alternate torso hybrid design based on Dr. Puppets suggestions. It creates a body with shoulders. In my personal opinion, it looks a little more feminine shaped than masculine shaped.

I just made a body with that pattern, I made minor alterations for more of a curve... works great!

 :)Yay!!!! I have finished making the body! I love it, i have made less of a curve so she isn't as "lady-like" as lucy.
And I am thinking of using polyfoam balls for the breasts to make it light weight but still hard enough to show shape.

You know I bet that pattern could be used with some modifications for puppet use. You could actually reduce the main part of the body pattern by a bit and try and make it in foam so it is hollow and then make the fabric and put it over the foam. You would still need to stuff the breast and maybe the buttocks with polyfill. You would also need to leave the bottom open for access up into the puppet.

That doll pattern mentioned stretch fabric.  Do you thing normal anti-pill fleece has enough stretch to be able to that kind of forming?

Yes you should be ok with an anti-pill fleece. Most have pretty good stretch. It is something to check when you are buying fleece though. Some have more then others.

While we are on the subject, I know we have also mentioned other fabrics like lycra or spandex.  Most stretch fabrics including the aforementioned and even fleece have different amounts of stretch and often stretch more in one direction then in the other. It is something to keep in mind when you are covering a puppet or even patterning something like legs. For example on a leg you may want to lay out your pattern so that the stretch goes across the leg horizontally instead of up and down the leg vertically. Why?  Well you don't really want your leg to end stretch vertically and become longer then you intended.

Talk about synchronicity!  I was just watching about the stretch direction on the Foam Book DVD as I read this last post.