Hey, everyone.

I'm in need of a few realistic turtle puppets for an upcoming project and I was wondering if anyone had any tips as to how I would make and/or find them to purchase. Most turtle puppets I find online are soft, fabric, and cartoony-looking which is the exact opposite of what I'm looking for. I'm thinking I might have to make one from foam or latex but I have no idea how to go about doing that.

The best example of what I'm looking for is Hojo the Turtle from Comedy Central's TV Funhouse (look it up on Youtube. Though, I must warn you there's lots of mature language/themes). I can't tell if it was bought or made, though (most puppets from that show are Masked Illusions latex hand puppets attached to the bodies of stuffed animals). If you think it was custom made, could you give me a run down of how they might have put it together?

Thanks a lot!

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff



http://www.sunnypuppets.com/aquarium.html

Thank you!

But again, I'm not looking for plush puppets and I need more of a common water turtle, not sea turtles (sorry, I should have specified).

hmm.

my first thought is carving/building the shell with foam and coating with liquid acrylic, then painting it up. the head and feet i'd go with fleece covered foam.
((  i could draw you up a sketch and send you a quote if you are interested in having it built   ))

have you seen Axtell's turtle? that one is pretty sweet. might be a little too cartoony looking for what you are talking about, but here's the link in case you are interested.

http://www.axtell.com/turtle.html

-Kimberly

I have seen it. It is, as you said, too cartoony and also too big. I wasn't imagining anything bigger than 6 inches.

A sketch/quote would be nice. Let me just be a little clearer as to what I'm looking for (just watch until 2:13): 


 




As you can see, the puppet's not more than 5" long. It appears to be made of latex,as the skin has a quasi realistic look to it. It's not a hand puppet (to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how it's operated. There are scenes with the turtle off the ground, and it appears to be attached to some kind of rod that may have something to do with it).

Maybe one of these is close: http://www.folkmanis.com/newpuppet_detail.php?item_no=2920= or http://www.puppet-world.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=637&idcategory=71

That is going to have to be a custom build I am sure. Also it is rod puppet not a hand puppet. You might want to get in contact with Sonny.  He hasn't stopped by the forums for some time so you might have to contact him via his site.  While all the examples on his site are hand in mouth puppets, I suggest him because I know he has experience working with latex and I think that is what it is going to take to make this guy look realistic the way you want.

Yea, for what you are wanting, sculpting in clay and making a mold is where you're going to want to start. If youre going for small, see if there is a realistic toy you can get your hands on (aquarium, toys r us, etc) and you've got a wonderful start for a mold.

If you need it bigger, then sculpting is gonna be you're best bet.

I have seen products you can dip your foam in to give it a hard, plastic like appearance but I don't have any experience with it. Also comes in a spray version

150650573148