Planning on a walking Tardis for an October con:



Going to use pink foam for the box, and plastic canvas for the eyes and windows.  Not sure on the mouth yet.  If possible, I would like to..uhm...puppetize it a bit so I can attempt to be more interactive.  Any suggestions on doing a moving mouth?  Not sure I want to try moving eyes, but will take any suggestions on that as well. 

you could activate the moving mouth via bike brake cable (see uglymug ventriloquist mask thread) i guess you'll need some sort of basic and light weight structure to start building off.

for eyes i would try something like the dishwasher or fridge that furry puppt studios have done
https://www.youtube.com/user/FurryPuppetStudio

I have scraped the eyes idea, the mouth is still a possibility though probably not for the convention.

I have seen many people mentioning harnesses on other threads.  My initial thought was that I didn't need one as the foam would be resting on my shoulder, turns out I was wrong.





Any suggestions on what to use and how to add shoulder support?

You might look around to see if you can find an old backpack frame, and try building off that.

Just add suspenders.   Well two straps that attache a bit above the center horizontal line front to back. Add a bit of batting wrapped around them where they rest on your shoulders for comfort. That should be a starting point. You may have to either run a short strap between them left to right or cross them over on the back like suspenders in order to keep them from slipping off your shoulders.  This would be the quick cheap way of doing it.  May not give as much control as a backpack frame set up but works pretty good.  I've used it in large body characters before. 

If for some reason  you think the span from front to back is too much you could run some pvc pipes attached into each side to anchor the straps into but then you have to kind of wiggle up through those to get into the costume.

Next question....uhm...best way to add the suspenders?  Also thought about using thin strips of wood wrapped in batting or foam, but not sure if that is a good idea.  I know where to attach them (second set of "windows"), just not sure the best way.

Looking good and what a great idea!

You could button through some leather straps to get the suspenders on there.

Also, two handles both sides on the inside may help manoeuvre around your venue.

What are you using to glue your foam together. Same should work for your straps. Glue about 2 to 3 inches to the foam then take a piece of heavy fabric like canvas or if you have an old pair of jeans cut them up to use... glue a strip wider by about 1/2 or so over the strap.

Love the idea of handles on each side. Could be leather or sew some layers of those cut up jeans to make a handle and glue to the side. 

I am using Liquid Nails on the foam, then sandwiching the pieces by thin strips of wood screwed together.  Didn't even think about using that on the suspenders. 

So it occured to me that I can utilize this build and create a decent walking puppet stage.  Will attempt that after taking the Tardis to the convention next week.