Oh no, not yet!  Just asking the puppet masters.  I am making my own marionette and tomorrow buying a rod puppet. 

I mean it looks like you have a plan in the making!

Just to let you know.  I'll work on a Rod Puppet first then a marionette. Read that on School of Puppetry.  I'll be getting my puppets on PuppetU.com.

I do hope approaching rod puppets first helps; I mainly wrote that in order to direct parents/teachers away from complicated marionettes when working with kids. Muppet-type puppets and marionettes are the top two things people seem to search for, but it's also at the more difficult end of puppetry (in comparison to rod puppets for instance) and so I tend to suggest beginners start with something simple.

It's not set in stone though and is totally dependent on your comfort level. For instance, I am biased: I find the strings too fiddly to want to do many marionettes. You may find it more enjoyable and easier than I do.

... Oh, I just thought: yesterday I uploaded to the School of Puppetry website an interview I did with marionette performer Ronnie Burkett. It may be worth listening to.