The excess foam is simply carved and snipped away until the foam takes on the desired shape. Large pieces are carved out to start, and then smaller pieces are snipped away with scissors (Figure 3.41). For Charlie, the same method is applied to his arms (Figure 3.42). In addition to his foam body, his hands are cast in silicone and his head in plastic. (More detail on these techniques will be explored later in this chapter). The outer layer of Charlie is then skinned in fabric by cutting out patterns according to his shape and stitching them together (Figure 3.43). For the striped pattern on his skin, masking tape is applied to his body in a specifically designed pattern (Figure 3.44), and the exposed parts are airbrushed lightly with white paint. When the tape is removed, the original darker color of the fabric remains in these areas to create stripes (Figure 3.45). With all of these steps completed, Charlie’s body is essentially complete. Topping him off are replacement pieces for his eye and lip sync movements, which are made of Sculpey. His eyes are coated with Vaseline on the back to allow them to stick to his plain white eyeballs, and his lips are attached to his head with double-sided tape (Figure 3.46).

[Figure 3.41] Ava’s carved foam body on the left, and Charlie in progress on the right.

[Figure 3.42] Continuing to carve and cut away the foam for Charlie’s arms.

[Figure 3.43] Charlie being skinned in fabric.

[Figure 3.44] Creating shapes for Charlie’s stripes using masking tape.

[Figure 3.45] Peeling the tape away after airbrushing the fabric.

[Figure 3.46] Eye pieces and replacement mouths for Charlie.