AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" FINISHED!

 YO HO HO, ME BUCCANEERS!  The Pirate Project be DONE!!

As often happens, my projects turn out to be way more complicated than I anticipate when I start with a little sketch on a scrap of paper.  But fortunately, I had some time over Memorial Day weekend, and some on-line encouragement from my friend, Joyce, to stick with it and finish this guy! So, without futher ramblings...let's look at the final stages.

I will say up front...the most frustrating part of this project was messing with beard fur and super-glue!!!  What a mess! Some months ago, a co-worker buddy of mine, Shannon, had given me this 98¢ fake beard, which was perfect for my pirate. I began by cutting out a piece to fit the lower jaw.  I glued the fur upside down, so it would hide the fabric backing, and give a soft, rounded edge to the top of the beard.

Next up...combing...trimming...then a little razor work to make the beard more uneven and shaggy.

Then I glued on a piece to cover the back of the head and neck.  After that...I added the mustache.  You will note that there is a nice little gap where the Pirate's wicked scar cuts across his lip.

The finishing touches were a bit more fur added in front of the ears, and also to back-fill any spaces where the backing showed through.  And then I glued the hat in place.

Next, it was time to see if I remembered anything at all from the sewing class I took in college, umpteen years ago! This part of the build took about 10 to 15 hours to figure out how to create the jacket.  But I think it worked out pretty well in the end.  The lace cuffs were some ribbon material I found at the fabric store.

One thing that I didn't account for was the thickness of the black felt that I used for the jacket.  It bunched up a lot in the area of the elbows, so I had to trim out and sew the sleeve with a bend to it...like the heel of a sock.

Since I did not have a pattern, I had to trim and measure things as I went.  I cut a hole for one arm, wrapped the felt around to the other side, then cut another arm hole.  The sleeves were long enough to tuck under for stitching later. Once I had a "vest" made, I folded the tops over for lapels, and added a collar.

I had stumbled across some ribbon fabric in the laundry room a few days ago, and thought it would make a nice "shoulder belt". So, I quickly made a buckle out of wire and plumbers epoxy.  The final step for the jacket was to attach the "steering arm" by closing up the "screw eyes", and then stitching on the other sleeve.

 Once the jacket was complete, I ran my strings through all the mechanisms, and glued the puppet parts to the base.  I was a little frustrated to discover that much of the range of motion with the finished puppet was diminished, due to the way the thicker felt fabric, and the beard material restricted the movements.  Oh well...live and learn!

Check out the final photos below!

 Time to swab the decks, Maties...this journey be over!
AAAARRRRR!!!!

AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.4

LAND HO!  We be headin' fer home soon! 

I'm sorry it's taken me over a month to get back to this little project.  Fortunately, I had a vacation day today, and made some good time on this guy.  In my last post, I said I would have the pirate's beard and jacket ready to show.  However, it dawned on me that I need to make sure all the mechanical bits on this thing work, before I start with the final details. Happily...everything actually went according to plan!

So, I started painting the rest of the base.  Above and below, you can see the color scheme.  I tried to make the "deck" look all "distressed" with multiple colors and textures.  Below you can see that front of the box for the wheel has not been glued on yet.  I need to keep all the parts removable so I can work on them a bit more.

Here's a little detail of the front...I added just a touch of "ocean blues" just to give it a little accent. I also have gold on the beaded molding strips that go around the top of the base.  I found the nice detailed molding at Michael's Crafts store...they have some cool stuff in there, if you look around a bit.

Time to show you the steps of this phase of construction.  Here are all the little "hook eyes" that I run the fishing line through and connect to the three levers.

As the lever is pushed down...it pulls the string to make the action happen.

This is a close up of under the pirate's jaw.  The string goes through a hole in the neck, then runs down a little groove that I cut into the back.  There's a hole at the base of the waistline that goes to the hook eyes.

And here are the ways the Pirate will move when you push each lever.  The one on the right makes the wheel turn, and the arm goes up with the rotation.

The middle lever makes the mouth open.

The left lever raises the "hook arm" with a salute!

And here's what happens when you push all three levers at the same time!  
SHIVER ME TIMBERS!!!  
See ya next time, as I put the finishing touches on this puppet!

AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.3

AHOY, ME HEARTIES! Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!

Time to show you the next stages of my little project.  As you can see, I managed to finish the rest of the sculpting, and have moved on to painting the pirate.  Below is how I made the HAT.  I started with an aluminum baking pan to create some support inside the Sculpy.  I cut a circle about the size I needed...folded up the sides, and cut slices in the middle of the metal to measure on the pirate head.  I made the hat brim a bit smaller, then flattened out some Sculpy.  I baked the brim first, then trimmed out the aluminum bits in the center with an exacto blade.

Next I sculpted a bandana on the pirate's head.  I made sure I could separate it from the skull after baking it with a heat gun.  I then put the bandana and brim together, patching up the gaps, then rounded off the top of the hat with more clay.

I then sculpted the torso.  I only needed to see the front and part of the sides of his chest and belt.  The rest will be covered up by the coat made of fabric. Also, this allows me to get to all the mechanical bits, to connect my strings that will be hidden underneath the coat.

Here are all the basic parts, after I gave the whole thing a base coat of acrylic paint.

Now on to painting the details.  I usually start out with darker tones...dry-brush on the highlights...glaze with a very watered down wash of darker browns...then add more highlights.  This process goes back and forth until I find a good balance.  I prefer the rougher hand-made look to everything.

Here is the face...and a good example of what I described above.  The color on the far left is darker than the final tone...I was building up layers, to bring out the details.  I gave him a fancy GOLD TOOTH, as well.

Now all the basic components have color.  I can start the final stages of the Pirate's clothes, then add some hair and a beard!

Make sure ya come back for more, or you'll be SWABBIN' THE DECKS....ARRRRRR!!!!!

AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.2

AVAST, YE SCURVY KNAVES! Tis time for the next part of me PIRATE project!

Well as you can see, I've made a good bit of progress since my last post.  I have most of the mechanical stuff figured out.  There will be some fine-tuning on this as I add the strings and make sure all the movements work properly.  I'm sure I'll hit some snags when I try to make a jacket out of fabric.  But I figure this pirate wasn't able to sew that well with a hook for a hand.  Speaking of a HOOK...below are the steps to create that.

I then made the steering WHEEL. I found some nice wooden components at one of the local craft stores.  The "peace signs" were the right size for the main part of the wheel, once I cut out the middle area.  I glued some dowels into holes I drilled into a wooden spool.  Then I filled in the gaps with Sculpy.

Next up...the HAND that turns the wheel

Here is the way the Wheel Hand will look like it's turning the ship...a string from below will pull the wheel, causing it to rotate.  The arm segments are very loosely connected by screw-eyes.

The movement of the HOOK ARM was inspired by a cast-off umbrella given to me by my friend Susie (since she knows I collect junk).  The levers on the umbrella was just the engineering I was looking for.

 A string will pull the arm upwards at the shoulder area, and the hook will give a "High 5" (or maybe that would be a "High 1").

Each of the movements of the puppet will be activated by "keys" that you press in the front of the box.  When the key is pressed, it will pull a string from underneath.  I may alter the length of the levers that you see here, once I add the strings.  Currently, most of the pieces of the pirate are not glued to the box, so I can take things apart to paint it, and work on the rest of the sculpture, the jacket, etc.

That's it for this post.  Check back later...there's still a lot more detailing yet to add to this SALTY DOG!

AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.1

AHOY, THAR, MATEYS!  It's time to show you my latest project...A PIRATE PUPPET TOY!

It's been a while since I've worked on one of my "automata" characters.  For those who have not followed along before when I've built one of these, you'll soon find out that part of the fun for me is NOT KNOWING WHAT I'M DOING!  I'm not an engineer, so I have to do a bit of homework to figure out how to make these little animated toys do what I want. I will be posting as I create each stage of development, so stay tuned.  This will be a "mixed medium" toy...I'll be gluing fake fur on this guy for his hair and beard, and will attempt to SEW a little tiny costume!!

Below are some of the many sketches I've done along the way to decide what I want this little guy to look like, and the mechanisms I'll need to make it work.

Next in the process is gathering "research"...I love this stage!  I get inspired by photos, sculptures, movies.

Since this little pirate is going to be a "puppet", I needed to figure out how to make the mouth open and close.  It's a combination of a "marionette" string puppet, and a "ventriloquist" dummy.  But I want to hide the mechanisms inside.  So part of my research was to help me explore and adapt some time-tested tricks of the trade.

Okay...let's start with the basic construction of the HEAD.  I used a wooden ball, dowels, and a block of wood to create the "skull" that would be underneath the sculpted face. Under the front of the lower jaw, I added a screw-eye for the string to pull the mouth open.

I created a spring mechanism much like one used in a ventriloquist dummy head.  This will keep the mouth closed until the string is pulled to make him "talk". The spring came from some discarded electronic thing I've dismantled for parts.  I often use "found objects" to repurpose for my projects.

I made some nasty big teeth from PLUMBERS EPOXY, instead of my usual SCULPY, since it would need to be stronger, and not chip or break when the mouth "talks".  I also carved a bit of wood to protect the spring...then sculpted a notch on the back of the skull to hold it in place better.

I continue with sculpting each section of the face with SUPER SCULPY (not the white "regular" Sculpy which is too soft.) The parts of the upper skull that are gray in color are made from a blend of "Sculpy FIRM" and Super Sculpy.

The head is pretty close to being finished here...complete with eye-patch and nasty scar.  I will be adding a hat and head-scarf later, after I paint it and glue on the hair and beard.  That'll be all fer now, ye land-lubbers! ARRRRGG!!