B.A.R.K. Production Journal: Putting the Head Together

The foam shapes are cut out and ready to be glued together. I'm using Barge Cement, and I'm taking the proper safety precautions. To glue foam pour out a little Barge onto a piece of cardboard - using a small about at a time will limit your exposure to it's harmful fumes. With a small piece of foam dab a thin layer of glue onto the two foam shapes you are gluing together and let dry for about 30 seconds.



Once the glue is dry press the foam together, being careful to keep the top and bottom flush.



Here are the three individual shapes that will make up the puppets head. Right now the rounded ends of the cheeks look pointer than I would have liked, and I may need to adjust this later. I'll keep them as is for now, and see if adding the fur gives me the shape I was looking for.



There, the cheeks are glued to the head, and the cat puppet is beginning to take shape.



I'm cutting a circle from a sheet of high density, half inch foam to create the top of the puppet's head. The higher density foam will help the head hold it's shape.



To keep the round shape on the bottom I'm using a thin piece of gasket rubber glued in place with contact cement.

B.A.R.K. Production Journal: Tracing and Cutting the Foam

Now I've traced the patterns onto a sheet of half inch foam. Just like I would for fabric, I'm placing my patterns close together and near the edge of the sheet. By doing this I'm not wasting a lot of foam.



Use an exacto knife with a sharp blade to cut your foam. This will give you a cleaner and more even cut than you would get by using scissors. Remember to use caution: Cut on a sturdy surface, and cut away from yourself.



Now I have all the foam shapes I'll need to make the cats head.