(Really nervous, here goes)

So, I said in one thread how I was working on a marionette of Puppetmon from the old Digimon anime (just to have, of course. I'm not going to use it in shows). I figured I'd show the armature and see if anyone has any ideas on what to make the finished product from.




The colours are a tad off, but I made it from things that were just in my room. The head is a Styrofoam ball, the body is a perfume box, the arms, legs, and string control are parts of a brown cardboard box, the strings are thread, the neck and nose are pencils, and the hat and over-alls are socks. I drew in the details with a sharpie.

(For reference. The picture isn't great, but it's a screen grab and it is hard to get one of him standing still--moves around a lot: http://imageshack.com/a/img856/4444/8vwq.jpg )

Originally, I was going to make the final marionette out of wood, but I'd end up having to buy hundreds of dollars worth of woodworking tools and it would be really heavy. I've been told that using a wire frame interior with a paper mache/plaster of paris exterior, painted to look correct (with the clothes made separate) would work and make the marionette light enough. What do you think?

Looks like you have the basics down of what needs to be done. You could actually use styro, like you did for the head, for other parts also and simply carve the stryo in to the shapes you want then cover that in paper mache' and paint. Don't use plaster of paris, it is to heavy. You can carve styro foam with regular house hold kitchen knives. You can use a scrape piece of the styro to "sand" other pieces to get some details. You can't get real detailed with styro but basic shapes are pretty easy. You can use a product called Creative Paper Clay to add details if you want. http://carnival.puppetsandstuff.com/ The puppet heads in the link I just gave are made over styro bases with paper mache' cover and CPC on top. Some folks even use Model Magic but I like CPC better. Both are similar and can be found in hobby stores.

Any way to paint styrofoam without it getting all..."flakey" on me? I've used styrofoam to make things before, but the paint always gets sort of flakey.

Use "Design Master" spray paint. It's used by florists to color their flowers and can be used on Styrofoam with no reaction by the foam. It is a bit pricey and can be found at Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics. As always, test paint a small piece of scrap foam first. I've used it many times with no problems.

Design Master is a great product, and I've used it my self quite a bit. You are always going to have a bit of an issue with strofoam flaking even when you don't paint it. I would suggest giving it at least one thin layer of paper mache'e then painting it. This puts a protective coat on it of sorts and also has the added benefit of smoothing out the surface just a bit.

I've also painted on a coat of "Sculpt or Coat" and then painted over that.

When painting on foam you can use spray adhesive on foam before paint so paint does not flake off when squished.  Might work on other media as long as it does not dissolve it, maybe a test on a scrap would be wise.

When painting on foam you can use spray adhesive on foam before paint so paint does not flake off when squished.  Might work on other media as long as it does not dissolve it, maybe a test on a scrap would be wise.

I was thinking that. I was tired of the fact that his nose kept slipping out, so I used some wood glue (the only glue I have at my disposal, currently) and I learned that glue makes styrofoam hard as a rock (and really easy to pain upon, too).

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone, and sorry for the late reply.

Would not use Wood glue, some of it will come off in water. We took apart an old chair with water once.  Maybe the hard glue will wash out for you.  White glue diluted in water will make felt stiff for making hats, but they will wilt when wet again.  I wonder how cowboys keep their hat shapes in the rain?

I wonder how cowboys keep their hat shapes in the rain?

Well cowboy hats are normally leather and you can treat leather so it rain resistant. That being said in the "old days" there where hat forms carved out of wood that where used to reshape hats. You can still get them actually and costume shops often have them. I would imagine that if you had money you had these forms in your house and the staff would keep your hats looking nice. If not then you would perhaps take your hat to the local milliner or Hatter and have them reform it for you.