adding mechanics to paperman

The inside of this paper mache figure was pretty tight to work in. His head is full size, but the room inside was limited due to the thickness of the paper mache. Should you ever decide to make a paper mache figure, you only need about a third of the thickness this one has. Once you have his head sanded, you can use a hardener on him like laquer to make him more rigid.

Even the jaw was made from paper!

I drilled a hole in the bottom of his neck and ran a brass tube up into his head and dremeled out a channel for the tube to sit in on the post. I then ran a steel rod up through the tube and bent it to use as a control for the eyes. It sits in between the brass eye connector bent in an "L" shape so when it is moved side to side, it will move the eyes. at the bottom of the brass tube which sits in the channel on the head post, I bent another 90 degree angle and connected a wooden ball to it. That will be the thumb control which manipulates the eyes.

I drilled holes in his forehead and added brass tubes and a wooden dowel to support them which I glued together. I then ran brass rods through them and bent them on the outside of the head for eyebrows. I looped them on the inside and connected them with a spring.

I ran cords for controls for both raising and lowering eyebrows.

I then ran a cord through the hole that held the original cord for the mouth an connected a spring control where there had been a rubber band.

I put a dowel with a pulley on it for the mouth string inside the head instead of the eye hook that had been there.

Then I sculpted some eyebrows out of magic sculpt for him and here he is! (the dummy on the right, of course...)

Have a great week! I am putting another figure with cross eyes up on Ebay so if your interested , check him out. Happy venting! and as always, If I can help you with anything, email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com.

working on paperman

After sanding him real well, I used paper clay to fill in the other places that were too deep to sand. I gave him a few coats of paint and blended his cheeks. I added 16mm iris from Braylu which I painted the back of brown to give it a deeper color than the amber colr that they were originally.

I removed two bent rods from the back of the eyes and replaced them with eye screws. I am adding a rod for eye control because there is no room in his little head to get the eyes to turn with eyelet controls. I also thickened an elongated his neck a little so it doesn't sit right on his shoulders like it used to.

I have drilled holes in his forhead and will add brass tubes to add eyebrows later. Here's where he's at so far.

I've got a few guys hanging around in the shop. If anyone sees one they are interested in, email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com

As always, if anyone has any questions pertaining to figure making or ventriloquism, feel free to email me anytime. I answer any and all questions. If I don't have the answer, you can rest asure I will point you in the right direction to get it. Have a great week. Happy Venting!