JoshPrime Makes Stuff

Hey readers, We are wrapping up my Game Grumps puppet builds. These have been so fun to make! I already have my wheels spinning with my next puppet build, but I am going to try something else before returning to puppets. Anyway, Arin has been without eyes for far too long! Danny still doesn't have eyes, but that makes sense with his hair. I tested out a few different sizes of my new eyes to get a sense of scale with Arin's smaller head. I was going to use the biggest ones, but these medium sized eyes seemed a much better fit. Try taking a picture of eyes on a puppet before you glue them on sometime, let me tell you it isn't easy. Gravity was about as friendly to me as it was to Sandra Bullock . I am not sure if that even works as a reference since I haven't seen it. Also, that came out in 2013?! I would have guessed maybe a year ago, certainly not five. Sandra Bullock's career aside (holy shit George Clooney was in this too?), it was time to make some eyeball...

Hey readers! This is a weird one since you won't be seeing any of Arin in this post. I promise it is related though. Shout out to Adam Kreutinger again for the inspiration for this project. I was sick of using spoons to serve as eyeballs for my puppets - it was time to up my game and run silicone molds! Why do I dislike spoons? Good question, hypothetical inquisitive person. They aren't really all that bad. They make for great eyes that are easy to come by. There is just not that much you can do to make them not look like spoons. I know, you come to this blog to learn the really important life truths - spoons look like spoons. The other big problem is the lack of variety. Here are some of my previous puppet designs. There is some good variety there on design and overall look, but the thing that stands out to me the most is that their eye shape is identical. The red character has some cool feather eyelids to hide it, the pink and blue guy (Grizwald) has upper and lower ...

Hey readers! This week is probably going to be a shorter post than normal - assuming I don't get wildly distracted and go off on a tangent about cotton candy or other nonsense like I did last week. No promises. The reason this is likely to be shorter (spoiler alert) is that I was trying something new with hair that didn't work out, so I wound up doing similar hair techniques as I did with Danny. The plan was to a brushed yarn wig for Arin. Danny's hair is made from a thick yarn to simulate the curly and untameable mane that Danny rocks (also - sweet shirt, Dan). I wanted to use a brushed yarn wig because that would be much finer than Danny's hair and give Arin a big contrasting look. "What the hell is a brushed yarn wig, jackass?" You might be asking. Well, first of all, no need to name calling. Second of all, a brushed yarn wig is when you separate yarn into its fibers to make it look more like a barbie doll's hair than standard yarn. Kind of Deep ...

Hey readers, Now that Danny is all but finished, it is time to turn my attention to Arin. I think Arin is going to be easier in some respects, since he is a little more traditional and won't require me to make any specific clothing. Before I talk about that, I feel it is vital to mention that I saw a home cotton candy machine earlier today. I have so many questions - beyond my normal cotton candy related ones. First of all, who has enough of a craving for cotton candy to need to make it at home? Is it tough to do? I have used those soft serve ice cream machines and I can't get a good swirl like the professionals. Is the same true for a good cotton candy ball? More important than all of that, the machine uses hard candy to make cotton candy. How do that work? The box clearly shows a jolly rancher and a mint being used. Does that make minty cotton candy - and if so, what is that like? I feel like I am being pressured into buying this objectively absurd device just to see how...

Hey readers, This is the last post in my Danny Sexbang adventure! There isn't a whole lot left to do except his nose and those red wrist straps. This has been such a fun project and I hope you all have enjoyed seeing it come together. I am excited to finish him up and get to work on Arin - the other half of the Game Grumps duo. Then maybe I can do little puppet shows of their conversations on grumps! While I love making puppets, puppeteer isn't a skill I claim to have. Last time I tried, I realized how quickly my arm gets tired holding it up like that. I suppose I could learn ventriloquism since that lets me sit even with my puppet. Learning a new skill solely to avoid physical exertion does seem a little lazy even for me though. I am going to start with the wrist straps. I needed it to be something that could be removable. I might not want his cape on him all the time. I didn't want to use ribbon like the real cape. I could have, but it felt less in line with the sty...

Hey readers! Happy 2018! Hope your resolution is to make more things! Today I am talking about making the clothes for my Danny puppet. There are a ton of people who cosplay as Danny Sexbang on the internet, so I needed to do this costume justice. The look is a red Star of David on a white circle on a blue spandex outfit. The puppet version is made of a children's XS shirt and some felt. I used a pot lid as my template for the white, and then made my Star of David pattern by cutting out two equilateral triangles and taping them on top of each other. I needed to figure out how I was going to attach all of this to the shirt. I was thinking about my yarn hair and my thick wooden dowel arm supports, and I thought that doing a chunky black yarn stitch around the outside would really bring together the style I was going for.  I started with an obsession that every stitch be exactly even, but then quickly realized that was 1. not realistic and 2. counter to the style I was going f...

Merry Christmas readers! I know you have been patiently waiting to read all about how I made Danny Sexbang's puppet body. It probably was like a cloud over all of your Christmas cheer. Well, never fear - here it is! I have tried several different body making techniques. The red creature I made a few years ago has my favorite body type. I free-handed a bowling pin shape in foam and it came out really awesome. For people, I usually just do a loop of foam and rely on the clothes to give the body shape. Like most of the work on this puppet, I was learning a ton from Adam. His puppet body video is phenomenal and I used his template to make Danny's body. When it comes time to make Arin, I will tweak it a little since I want them to have different body shapes, but for now, this template was great. Body creation was pretty easy once I had the template. I cut out the foam and sewed the fabric - pretty much following the tutorial. pictured: impatience I used the same techniq...

Hey readers, It's time to talk about Danny's hair. I thought that Danny was frequently shown in Game Grumps Animated videos with hair covering his eyes. As I looked through, the only one I could find was the puppet video - the inspiration for all of this puppet making. I might eventually make him smaller eyes, but with the hair I am making, you won't ever really see them. I have some pretty cool toys coming through Amazon that are going to step my puppet making way up. Once again, thanks go out to Adam for his super amazing tutorials and supply lists. I just started a paragraph by saying I would talk about Danny's hair, and instead talked about eyes. Clearly I am the best blogger who ever lived. My ability to stay focused in matched only by that squirrel loving dog from that movie. I just did some googling, that movie is Up. I know that there are a lot of great options for hair out there for puppets. I have done hair with feathers, fur, and even the tubing you us...