Marionette tutorial

Marionette Tutorial 1. The first thing we need to do is construct the marionette’s body parts‌which are the head, the torso, the 4 arm pieces, 4 leg pieces, hands and feet. The head is modelled around the plastic ball, and the structure of the body consists of tin foil, plasticine and coins.

2. Start modelling the torso from the foil. We are aiming for a shape like in the picture below. Start with the neck which needs to be fairly long as half of it will not be on show when attached to the head. Make sure the foil is compressed tightly so it is sturdy.

Create the rest of the torso around the neck.

Slightly bend the body so the back has a slight arch.

Roll two plastercine balls to make the chest Make a hole through the side of the neck, just below the shoulders and at the bottom of the body.

3. To make the limbs, simply work your tin foil around a screwdriver compressing it down, building it up and compressing tightly again.

Two of the arm and leg pieces need to be longer and slightly larger than the others to make the body look in proportion.

4. The hands and feet are made of the tin foil wrapped around the pennies (the penny is needed for weight) with space to make a hole to attach to the arms and legs).

5. When all these pieces have been made, we need to cover them with papier mache. I always start with the puppet head first as this will take longest to dry.

We need quite a few layers and it needs to be just under a centimetre in thickness.

Smooth any wrinkles out with you fingers, leave to dry overnight.

Cover all other body parts in the same way.

Don’t worry about covering the holes…these can be ‘poked’ through when dry.

6. When everything is completely dry, we need to open up the head with a saw or scalpel. Start cutting a straight line right the way around. Make a mark across the cut before you pull the head apart so you know where the pieces should be when gluing back together.

When separated, prize and discard the ball. Either with a scalpel or file make a hole for the neck like in the picture below. There needs to be enough room for the head to move around the neck. We also need a smaller hole at the top of the head for the neck string to be threaded. Glue back together with PVA or use a glue gun.

7. Open up all other holes that were covered when papier mache’d, not forgetting the torso. Using your screwdriver to make holes at the top of the hands and feet too.

11. With all our bits and bobs done it’s time to attach all the body parts together. Wrap a long piece of doubled over wool, around a small twisted piece of wire and feed it through the neck. Tie a knot at the top of the neck. Feed the thread through the hole you made earlier at the top of the head. Gauge where the head will sit on the neck and make a mark on the wool at the top of the head like in the picture below. Remove the thread from the head and tie a triple knot just under the mark you made.

Feed the thread through the head once more and see if it looks like its sitting right. If so, make a triple knot at the top, so it’s secure. Pull the thread taut and use a dot of glue from the gun to secure it even more. Trim the excess wool off.

12. Repeat the same process for the shoulders and bottom of torso, triple knotting the wool to secure at each entrance like in the picture below. Add the thighs and tie a knot at the knee, making sure that the joints can be easily bent. Add the lower leg and triple knot and finally finish with the foot.

Trim the excess strand off under the foot. Do the same for arms.

13. You can add your decorations and finishing touches to you puppet at this stage if you like or you can leave til later.

14. Now our puppet is completely finished and the body is attached, it’s time to string it. There will be 7 strings in total. These will be 2 at the side of the head and one at the back. The other four will be at the wrists and bottom of the knees like below. Get a sturdy needle and in the centre of the knee make a hole straight through. Thread your nylon string through and knot it so it’s secure. Don’t forget to feed the string through the fabric skirt too. Repeat this step for the other limbs, hands and feet. Do the same for the three points of the head. Keep threading your nylon through and eventually you will be able to tweeze it out of the gap between the head and neck. Secure with knots.