Puppet - Dog
*Responsible for all fabrication.
Sculpt
The director wanted the puppet to be inspired by the specific breed of Corgi. A lot of time was spent ensuring the sculpt resembled a Corgi as closely as possible. The initial sculpt was more generic, so after reviewing references and discussing with the director, I decided to split the dog down the middle and spread the torso out more. The legs were also shortened slightly, but they had to be kept longer than a traditional Corgi's to ensure the puppet was more posable and easier to animate. Finally, scruff and fur were added to the sculpt to give the coat more volume and structure when needle felted.
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Armature
Unlike the other armatures I've fabricated the dog's is constructed with different wire techniques. The spine is comprised of two 1/8th armature wires running parallel, which gives great structure to the puppet. The upper arms are 1/16 triple twisted aluminum wire (slightly less stiff then the 1/8th) and the lower legs/ankles are made of 1/16 double twisted wire.
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Foam Casting
The dog was cast in Smooth-On "Flex Foam." Since it is a large silicone body mold, a birch plywood "mother-mold" is used to provide structure to both halves. First, a mold release is applied to the mold. Then, Parts A and B of the foam are mixed together, and a thin layer of foam is painted over the smallest crevices of the mold. Afterward, the remaining foam is poured into both halves of the mold, which are then closed, and pressure is applied to the top to prevent the mold from expanding with the foam.
Final Felted Puppet:
The dog was felted with different shades of yellow, orange, and tan wool to give it a colorful yet textured look, a stylized pattern was done to mimic the coats of real corgis.
Animation Test by Thaddeus Varness
Head and Expressions
The dog's head has a complex construction to ensure all the individual parts are fully poseable, controlled, and swappable. At the center of the head is a polycarbonate skull with several attachment points. First, it features a 3/16-inch circular brass tube with a threaded countersink that can receive a tensioning bolt. This allows the head to be attached to the neck, with the rotation tension adjustable to the animator's preference. Next, a magnet is placed on the front of the skull, enabling the mouth to be swapped and attached to the face. Finally, two diagonal brass tubes on the top of the skull allow the dog's ears to insert securely.
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The dogs eye lids were vacuum-formed over a plastic cast of the dogs eyes in PETG plastic, first starting with an overall sclera painted white and barged into the eye ball (the edges of which were fitted into crevices into the foam itself). Then lids were cast and painted the color of the wool and wool was barged over them. Finally, pupils were cast and placed over the sclera, with the edges of the eye remaining cut so that the pupils could extend into the lid itself.