Homework - Tom Stewart

Yukako Shimada

Hi Tom,

Please use this forum to post your homework.

Tom Stewart

So I decided on Pinocchio as my Character. I went through tons of reference material and even found a "blueprint" version of the original Puppet used as reference for the animated film. I came up with these "Blueprints"

Tom Stewart

After studying the blueprint and reference material I decided on having the legs and arms be wood as you can see Pinocchio's joints and I wanted to get as close to the character as possible- I will however make changes to the joints and the way they attach to the body. I started to sculpt the head. You will see that I refined him a bit and took the advice of classmates and made the eyes more round (Picture not posted) and made his forehead bulge out more. 

Tom Stewart

Next I made the Body using Ted Haines- How to Body Cast as a reference. This was cost effective and since I only needed a "one-off" I didn't see it as manditory to sculpt it and cast a mold. 
I basically carved the body form from Insulation board and masking taped it, then poured the desired amount of Rigid Foam.
After it was completely hard, I removed it from the tape and saran wrap- took a rasp to it and then sandpaper. I brushed it off and then split the body in two so he could have more movement at the waist. I then sealed it with Epoxy. I also cut the Land Linq and will add that too the middle. I want to finish the legs and arms before I do so to see how much space I need to make the space between the two half of the body before I add the linq. I still want to add another round of Epoxy to the areas that will see more strain and use. Also still have to drill the neck to back hole for the head, again need to wait on the head cast to see how deep I want the neck to go into the body (probably just half an inch )  

Tom Stewart

For the Arms and Legs I was going to make one each out of wood but then decided not to as it would be costly- I would need to order more Silicone :-(
So I am now roughing out the shapes for all the appendages. The hands I thought I would build much like Rod puppet hands (reticulated foam and wood palm/wire in fingers so they can be pose able) and cover the hands in Antron Fleece. The wrist would be simply leather to the forearm, which will be hinged to the Bicep. The shoulder will be fabric and attached on like you showed us how your Puppets arms are attached. The legs will be similar....made of wood and attached the same way. The feet were also going to be cast from molds but (again, costly) so now I may make them out of foam. All in all the Legs and arms now have to be sanded to a more finished look. I also used used the marionette blueprint from the movie as a reference but changed it as the arm movement was very stiff. 
 

Tom Stewart

Right now I am waiting for the silicone mold to be done (time will be 11am) and then I can get my first cast...hopefully :-)

Tom Stewart

Here is my final video for the 2nd Homework Assignment -Pinocchio 
https://youtu.be/E4jNHsWDemQ

Tom Stewart

I attached the arms with rope. I noticed while practicing my performance the cord stretched some- will exchange the rope to a non stretch one when finishing. 

So the hands I created out of the Urethane pucks left in the bottom of the cups after pouring. This provided the shape and strength I needed. I also made the hands pose able. 

The feet, head and eyes were cast but none of the other parts due to financial constraints. I decided not to use the eyes as the space in the head was already crowded with the nose and the mouth mech. I did mold and cast the eyes for future projects.


I also added a magnet and leather strap for the head but the shoulder strings kept getting caught were the head was cut open- I placed Gaffer Tape in those areas as a quick fix. Later I will have to place a shoulder spreader for the hat clearance anyway.

I also changed the forearm design- It was originally round but I changed it to a more square look. 

The Controller- smooth as silk LOL

Tom Stewart

One last video to summarize things:
https://youtu.be/9maV9hk84pM

Tom Stewart

Also have to add a little more apoxy to the sides of his mouth :-)