Exactly correct, Rikka! This will indeed be a puppet of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu... if I get it that far. And yes, Shawn, it works like a glove with the added tentacles on the sides of the hand and one between the thumb and forefinger. It takes some fast wiggling to really get the tentacles working the way I like, but I'm planning on slowing down the footage to help that.

Cool your going to film this! Hope it'll be available for us to see.

I'll post some test when (and if) I get this one done. Busy days are leaving me with less time for puppets, but I'm forging ahead where I can.

Here's Mr. C's eyes under way. These are acrylic half spheres that I painted with translucent paints.

Here they are with lights behind them. I'm using standard 18v bulbs from the model railroad hobby. they do get hot, but I should have plenty of clearance and I may put a small fan in if necessary.

I've added a few more tentacles and here you see the plywood eye plate in place.


The frame for the eyes is a simple piece of cardboard. I'll build a full opening housing once I'm comfortable with the lights.

Here are the eyes in place with the glow on. They're not supe bright, but I think they should work for the environment I'm envisioning the puppet in.

I'm also scrounging through the scrap pile to see if I can scavenge any more old items to turn into a puppet. This is an old, abandoned puppet attempt for a project that didn't go. It was originally purple and not designed as a moving mouth puppet, so I've ripped an torn it to heck and I'm rebuilding it as a background puppet.

Yeah, scary looking, I know. But I'm planning on making him a very hairy guy to disguise his real looks. The irregular skin is latex and cotton (he was origianlly a zombie), so it doesn't move, but I've cut the mouth free and used foam to connect the pieces; to later be disguised by a beard.

Just painting his eyes helps... a little.

Wow, that is looking good. And yes, creepy too

Love the glowing eyes! The seem to show up really well in the light and photo... that is normally a sign that they look even better in "real life".

Like the creepy old man puppet!

Me, too! Both puppets are too great for my English!

I'm just catching up on this thread. Oh my! Amazing work and I'm a little star struck to know you worked in a "Major Motion Picture". 

Well, I've been pretty darn busy on a film project and we're in the midst of selling our home and moving to another state, so I haven't had any puppet time. But today I finished off the Grumpy scary guy I was working on. Considering that I had planned to throw this one away, I think it came out all right, although a bit ragged looking... part of the character now. Here's Snorri Grendelsson, a rugged mountain man of Icelandic descent;


I tried a technique I had used on other "creatures" for the hands. I didn't want foam or fabric skin, so I covered the foam with cotton batting and then added a coat of colored latex, which comes out fairly smooth. I think I'll try this technique on a full puppet and see what kind of finish I can get with it.

We're in a panic to sort out the interstate move and find a new house, so this will probably be my last puppet work for a couple of months or so, but I'm looking forward to getting back to it.
Chris

Another truly fascinating creation Chris! Best of luck with the move! I will eagerly await your return.

Best wishes for your moving, Chris! And that puppet is so wonderful!