Dale’s Puppet Design (Papyrus)
(Sans and Frisk design here)
PAPYRUS IS FINISHED! I didn't keep track of time but I estimate that I spent at least 55 hours making him. I actually started making him before Frisk but ended up finishing Frisk first since I didn't know how the frick I was going to attach Pap's arms or make Papyrus' jaw movable (that's right, he can talk, suckas!) His design is completely different from the other puppets and at first I thought it would be easier cause I wouldn't have to sew clothes. BOY, was I wrong.
Coming in at a whopping 16½"/42cm, Puppet!Papyrus (or"Pappet") towers above Sans (11"/28cm) and Frisk (10"/26cm). If you've been following for a while, you may remember my post lamenting how I made the frame way too frikkin big and had to start completely over. Apparently I still made him too big but at least he's not the size of a small human child anymore. When I remade the "skeleton" (hah hAHA!) I forewent wiring the shoulder pads.
It took a long time for me to figure out how to make Papyrus' jaw move. Eventually I came up with a design incorporating a spring in the form of a hair tie. To shape the head, I found a tutorial on drawing Papyrus and drew it myself (UGHH, DRAWING), then photocopied a bunch of sizes and held them up to the frame to make sure the proportions were right. Then I took a very thick gauge of aluminum wire and shaped it into the jaw, matching the size on the drawing. I used a slightly smaller gauge wire to form a hinge around the jaw, using the same wires to make a rough outline of the head. Inside the head, the jaw wire bends upwards into a loop, which is attached to a rubber hair tie. I hope to hell that it doesn't break, because it will be very, very hard to fix. Another wire prevents the jaw from moving too far forward. I filled out the rest of the framework with thin, flexible wires.
To shape the torso and pelvis, I covered the wire framework with cosplay foam, only putting down one thin layer at a time to ensure it dries all the way (I LEARNED MY LESSON FROM LAST TIME). For his boots, I used the same technique as with Frisk and Sans where I first made the shape I wanted and covered it with a thin layer of foam. Following the theme of me overestimating the size of Papyrus, the first boot attempt was way too friggin big and I had to start over.
I made Papyrus' shoulder pads and gloves out of foam. At this point, I gave him a face cause it was getting creepy.
And then I made it even creepier by using my patented Puppet Suspension System™ to hold Papyrus while drying. The counterweight in the bag is a jar of Fusilli beans, which I pulled at random from the family pantry.
Once the foam was dry, I put on a few layers of acrylic paint to match his sprite. Before I glued on the gloves, I rolled up fabric around the wires of his arms (same as torso and legs). The outermost layer is stolen from the bottom of a black velvet dress. I used a different matte spray finish this time (pictured right), because it claimed to "eliminate sheen." You can still see some shine but I think it's just unavoidable. I want the puppets to be as unshiny as possible so that they don't have a glare in videos. The brown boot drying on the stick in the background is because I tried putting the new finish on Frisk's boot and ended up with a really dull, foggy look that I had to paint over. It's still lighter than the other one but whatever, it's good enough. It seems like 2 layers is the limit for matte finish.
Next, I made Papyrus several sets of swappable teeth out of poster board, covered with foam and painted. Initially, I used wood and put spaces between the teeth, which looked horrifying, as you can see below.
Papyrus' boots are held on by stuffing leftover black t-shirt material around the wire of his feet. For his signature red scarf, I knew I wanted the floppiest, least stiff fabric possible to make it look realistic on a puppet. I have plans for a video series which includes Frisk wearing two of Papyrus' scarves (it will make sense in context) so I needed it to be thin, compressible material. The nearby Jo-Ann's (craft/fabric store) just closed so I ended up getting a really soft red shirt from Ross. It took a while but I finally arranged it and cut it into the right shape, using hidden sewing pins to secure the fabric.
And VOILA! A completed Pap!
As always, I am more than happy to talk crafts and offer what advice I can to anyone! These are my own designs (because I'm too lazy to follow instructions) and you are very welcome to use them! Please let me know if I can explain anything better, and remember to follow @underpuppets for puppet shenanigans.
EDIT: I totally forgot to mention how I covered his skull. I used a white plasti-dip spray, which kept coming out bubbly so I worked out a system of spraying it first into a cup and then painting it on the foam with a brush. I did it this way so that I can use double sided tape to hold on different eyes instead of using magnets, which I didn't have room to add and didn't work very well with the Frisk puppet. I went back and covered Puppet!Sans' head with plasti-dip as well, which makes it way more durable and less likely to get scratched or marked up. Papyrus' torso is still really soft and I live in fear of putting him down on something sharp or dropping him or something. Thankfully, cosplay foam is pretty easy to repair, so if that happens I'll be able to fix it pretty easily. I also glued on the arms in a way that will allow me to somewhat easily replace those wires if they break from bending too much.