Ventriloquist Dummy Travels

I finished with the Special Custom Order "AL" Uncle Joe Figure, and was getting ready to package him up for shipment tomorrow. I asked him to jump in the box to see if he would fit, as you can see he wasn't much help. I think he wanted to travel 1st. Class! Oh Well, at least his new owner will be Happy. MontanaDan

Custom Uncle Joe Dummy Video

Here is a short/silent video of a completed Custom Uncle Joe Ventriloquist Dummy. His new name is Al, and he will be heading for Kentucky on Tuesday. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Nine"

All in all, it has taken me about 60-70 hours so far to get these two dummys built. Mind you that those hours are spread out over several weeks, and months. I work on them some everyday. Some days two or three hours, other days six or seven hours. I all depends on what I can do each day. Waiting between coats of paint, and for Magic Sculpt to set up, causes some delays, but I stay pretty busy most of the time just tinkering around and coming up with ideas. Each part is usually made by hand, measured, cut and fabricated. I use brass tubing, brass rods, steel springs, pulleys, cord, wire, wood dowls, plastic tubing, magic sculpt, acrylic paints, glue, and various other items to bring these little guys to life.

I cast my own heads with Easy Flo 120, from a Silicone Mold which I make from my original clay sculptures. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent on the sculptures, but that is half the fun. I make alot of my own parts, but I also purchase dummy building parts from Puppets and Props, and from Braylu Creations. It is time consuming and costly for all the materials and parts needed to create a Professional Ventriloquist Dummy. All I can say is that it is a Great Hobby, and one that I really enjoy. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy

SOLD! on eBay is a MontanaDan Uncle Joe Ventriloquist Figure. This figure has side to side moving eyes, and moving mouth. He is dressed in Jeans, a light blue shirt, and tennis shoes. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy Bodies

I put together both bodies today, and tried on some clothes. I still need to sand and paint the hands but besides that, these bodies are done. I will finish up these two little guys this weekend or early next week. Here are a couple more pictures of both figures. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Eight"

Today I installed the Headsticks, and finished all the controls on both of my projects. I installed the back of the head trap door to the standard figure. I still need to apply a final coat of paint and some details to the finished heads. The next thing to complete are the bodies. Those won't take to long, and I should have a couple of finished Ventriloquist Figures ready to go. The Custom Dummy is a special order, but the other little guy will be up for sale on eBay very soon.

Now lets see, Right Brow connected to the right spring, Left Brow connected to the left spring, both brows connected to the center spring, time to attach the cords. Sounds like a song to me. Connecting all the parts to the cords, alligning everything up, this one over that pulley, those two tied together, wires, pulleys, controls bars, springs, levers, tubes, I need a map! It is alot of work and time consuming, but the rewards are Great! I've finished the standard dummy head, and I have just about finished up the Custom Ventriloquist Dummy Character. I have re-done the eyebrows on this Custom head to give him a more concerned look like the original Uncle Joe, and re-did some painting. So far I am way ahead of schedule on both of these little guys. Tell next time. Montanadan

Ventriloquist Dummies

Here are some pictures of the two Uncle Joe Ventriloquist Dummy heads, side by side. The next thing to do is finish up the controls inside the heads and mount some headsticks, but first I have to put some headsticks together. Hmm, where did I put those parts? MontanaDan

Blinkers!

Here are a few pics of the eye blinkers I installed on the Custom Uncle Joe Ventriloquist Dummy head. Well what do you know, they work! Blink, Blink. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Seven"

Talk about FUN! I have been working on this Custom Uncle Joe Head for a customer. He wanted moving mouth, moving eyes, blinking eyes, and raising eyebrows. Now, sounds like no big deal until you try to get all of that inside a 2-T size head, and still be able to get your hands inside to work. Here are a couple of pictures of what the head looks like so far . Not much room in there for anything else. Now, to get it all hooked up! Can you spell Jigsaw Puzzle? MontanaDan

JellyBean Jack Ventriloquist Dummy

When I am in the process of creating a new character, I always take a few pictures of the clay sculpture to study. I like to update them in Paint Shop Pro to see what they might look like finished. Here is such a pic of JellyBean Jack. Actually I think he will turn out quite nice. Better hide the jellybeans! MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy Al

Here is a picture of the last Uncle Joe character I made sent in by the owner Mike Gooch. His name is now Al, and he is by the looks of it, enjoying his new life. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Six"

Today was prep and paint day. I started by sanding and filling in areas on the Ventriloquist Dummy heads, and then used Magic sculpt to affix the trap door portion of one on the heads. I then painted both jaw pieces and installed one into the standard head. The other jaw piece will be installed after I finish working on the eye controls inside the custom head. I also painted the moving eyebrows, on the Custom Dummy, and worked some more on the eye blinkers. Lots to do. MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Five"

Today I worked on the second control bar for the eyebrows. I installed the control bar with two pulleys and attached the springs. I then placed the eyes inside the head, and the jaw piece to check for movement and free space. There is very little room inside this small head, and I still need to attach controls to the eyelids. I had created an eye tray and brackets for the eyelids, but there was not enough room inside the head for all these parts. I had to go with plan B, and attach the eyelids directly onto the eyeballs. Looks like it will work just fine. I will need to create a swivel attachment for the eyelids, so they will not interfere with the side to side eye movement. MontanaDan

Axtell Parrot Puppet

AXTELL PEDRO PARROT - 26" head to tail, teach the parrot to talk! Latex head and feet. Hand enters at bottom. Original Price $129.95
AXTELL BIRD ARM ILLUSION. This unique third arm gimmick creates the illusion that you are holding one of our bird puppets on your outstretched arm like a bird trainer - and the BIRD PUPPET appears to be alive - totally animated! Non-Animated Standard "BIRD ARM ILLUSION" Original Price $69.95

Three - AXTELL Wide-Open routine CD's

AxTrax Wide-Open" puppet routines have 5 character voice choices on each routine to choose from, and are not specific to any puppet. They are general comedy and you can used with most any Axtell puppet.

For Ventriloquists too! They have put all the music and sound effects separately on each CD as well, so you can perform these great routines by using all your own voices! These CD's are $19.95 each! Thats a $60.00 Value Included.

SOLD

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Four"

I have started working on the controls inside the head. I have installed the eyebrows and installed two bars, one with a pully for the Mouth/Jaw Control, and the other with springs attached for the Eyebrow Control. I am working on two characters, one with custom blinking eyes and moving eyebrows, and the other is a standard figure. Both are from the Uncle Joe character cast head. I have completed the eyelid installation and have set the eyes aside to let the control posts which are glued into place dry. I basically work on one head creating control parts and installing them, and as I set it aside so the magic sculpt can dry, I work on the other one. Keeps me busy. Almost ready for a first coat of paint! Stay Tuned, MontanaDan

New Ventriloquist Dummy Head

Available Soon from Braylu Creations and Kenny Croes is a New 3-T size Cheeky Boy style Ventriloquist Dummy Head. Braylu is taking reservations for shipment around October 1st. Check it out today at the Braylu Blog. MontanaDan

Braylu Blog

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Three"

I have finished the eye Blinker Brackets and the Wire Hoops have been attached to the eyelids. After the magic scuplt dries, I will paint and install the eyelids and control bar. Slowly but Surely. MontanaDan

JellyBean Jack Update

I am almost finished with my sculpture of JellyBean Jack. All that is left to do is some smoothing and some detail lines. He is looking like he wants some Jellybeans already! MontanaDan

Puppets and Props Shop Talk

If you haven't heard the news yet, there is a New Ventriloquist Blog in town.
Mike Brose of Puppets and Props has started a blog, and I expect that there is going to be some really great Ventriloquist Figure building information there for everyone interested in this great art. Check out Puppets and Props Shop Talk, and join in the Fun! MontanaDan

Puppets and Props Shop Talk

The Ultimate Eye Kit

Now available from Mike Brose at Puppets and Props is the Ultimate Eye Kit.
Mike has been expanding his Ventriloquist Dummy Parts including some new eyes, eyetrays, and blinkers. These are designed to fit his cast heads available from his site, but I believe they could be altered and used with many ventriloquist dummy cast heads. Thanks Mike! Check out these New Ventriloquist Dummy Parts Today at Puppets and Props

MontanaDan

Ventriloquist Dummy "Part Two"

I have finished fitting the jaw and made some small changes around the eyes. The next step was to create an eyetray. I had to grind out some space inside the head for a proper fit. As this figure will have both moving eyebrows, and blinking eyes, I had to make sure there will be enough room inside for all the controls to move freely. I still need to straighten out the eye level a bit, and next I will start on the eyelid brackets and wire hoops. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together. MontanaDan

New Ventriloquist Dummy Character

Here is a sneak peek of my newest character, JellyBean Jack.
I just started working on the final details of the sculpture, and I hope to be making a silicone mold and cast head soon. Keep an eye out for this new character in the comming months. MontanaDan

Custom Ventriloquist Dummy

I have started on a Custom Uncle Joe Ventriloquist Figure, and have decided to post the steps along the way.

Stage one is preparing the cast head. First the eyes, jaw, and back of the head are cut out. Then I cut off the eyebrows, and fitted them with brass rods.
Next, I sanded the area around the eyebrows and drilled holes for the brass rods. Then I fit the eyebrows on the head and checked the movement up and down.

The eyebrows were removed and the cast head was patched and sanded where the eyebrows were, and the eyes were reshaped and finished using Magic Sculpt.

The jaw piece was then sculpted to create a realistic mouth with tongue and teeth, and an eyescrew was placed in the back of the jaw for the spring to attach too.
Next I will use Magic Sculpt to close in the gaps around the sides of the mouth, and under the chin. Stay Tuned. MontanaDan