Puppet Tutorial: How to make an 11 (eleven) string marionette puppet from an artist's mannequin. Part 1

 

Here's the first post of your guide to making your own marionette puppet from an artist's mannequin. It's a work in progress so bear with me.

Step 1

Get a mannequin. You can get them from discount shops or online for just a few pounds. The bigger the better.

The joints are spring-loaded so it's no use for puppetry. 

 

Step 2

Remove the stand (it pulls off easily)

 

Step 3

Stretch the springs to loosen all the joints.  For the head and neck, only stretch the spring a small distance becuase you want to keep the spring in place. The same goes for the 2 springs holding each leg. Glue the knee joint into the upper leg, (on the left of the picture) keeping the slot in the knee joint facing forward, to allow the lower leg to move up and down:

 

Step 4

Glue back in place any screws which are loose or which have fallen out

 

Step 5

The legs then fit back onto the body using the hooks on the springs:

 

Step 6

Remove the arms and break off the shoulder joints

 

Step 7

Glue the 2 parts of the body together (image above)

 

Part 2 of the tutorial here:

http://www.fouragesofsand.com/2012/06/puppet-tutorial-how-to-make-an-11-string-marionette-from-an-artists-mannequin-part-2.html 

 

 

Comments

[Alan]

Your instructions are obviously excellent, you've had no feedback at all.

[Iain]

Exactly. If you do it right first time, there's nothing more to be said.