I am becoming more and more interested in rod puppets like those of Hansjürgen Fettig and Sergei Obraztsov.
The mechanics of making these puppets are beyond my understanding, and I'm finding it difficult to find resources. I have seen a copy of "Glove And Rod Puppets, A Handbook of Design and Technique," by Fettig, but it had more technique than design. Obratzsov's puppets are amazing, and I'd like to learn more about the mechanics. Does anyone know of directions I could go?

You might want to get in contact with Gary Friedman. He is the one who did this video with Hansjürgen Fettig. It is a private video so you need to copy and past the url to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXfLuBxuJpw

Gary authors http://www.puppetrynews.com/  He may be able to give you some more resourced for Fettig.

Beyond that I don't have any specifics but look for as many books on both rod puppets and marionettes. While one is controlled form below and the other above there are many similarities when it comes to mechanics. Animatronics is another source for ideas.

I am becoming more and more interested in rod puppets like those of Hansjürgen Fettig and Sergei Obraztsov.
The mechanics of making these puppets are beyond my understanding, and I'm finding it difficult to find resources. I have seen a copy of "Glove And Rod Puppets, A Handbook of Design and Technique," by Fettig, but it had more technique than design. Obratzsov's puppets are amazing, and I'd like to learn more about the mechanics. Does anyone know of directions I could go?

Maybe this will get you started

http://www.puppet.org/pdf/CPA.librarybooks.pdf

http://ukbookworld.com/book-details/waldenbooks/18082/obraztsov-sergei-vladimirovich-profession

http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~wwwsfa/library_publications.htm

http://www.tutorgigpedia.com/ed/Sergei_Obraztsov

Link no longer available.

You might want to get in contact with Gary Friedman. He is the one who did this video with Hansjürgen Fettig. It is a private video so you need to copy and past the url to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXfLuBxuJpw

Gary authors http://www.puppetrynews.com/  He may be able to give you some more resourced for Fettig.

Beyond that I don't have any specifics but look for as many books on both rod puppets and marionettes. While one is controlled form below and the other above there are many similarities when it comes to mechanics. Animatronics is another source for ideas.

Gary may indeed have more resources. I've had conversations with him numerous times about how he has a lot of archival footage of various puppeteers, and it's all sitting on hard drives somewhere. He may be busy, but if you shoot him an email he might be able to help.