Hands and Feet

 by Al Stevens
al@alstevens.com
Hands and feet are difficult to build but easy to buy. Many figures don't have bare feet and always wear shoes. Fred, as built for this project does not have feet, but I added them to Jayjay when they became available. This procedure explains how to to that.

Building Hands and Feet

The hands and feet are the easy part. If you are using the Pro Ventriloquist Dummy Hands and Pro Ventriloquist Dummy Feet available from Puppets and Props, following preparation there's nothing more to do here in the way of building hands.

Preparing the Kit Hands and Feet

  1. Clean the hands and feet according to the instructions that come with the kits.
  2. Carefully sand the hands and feet to remove all traces of seams from the casting process.
  3. Clean them again to remove dust from the sanding.
  4. Proceed to the painting procedure.


You can build your own hands by using the procedure described in Let's Give That Dummy A Hand. If you do that, make sure that the hands you build are narrow enough for whatever sleeves are on the shirt and jacket you choose in Dressing Fred.

You can even use a pair of stuffed gloves for hands, but why do that when everything else about this project is built at a professional level?

Painting the Hands and Feet

Paint the hands and feet by using the procedures in Painting the Hands and Feet.


Installing the Hands

  1. Insert the hands into the arms at the wrists.
  2. Ensure that, when installed, both hands are the same distance from the shoulders.


  3. Wrap .18 gauge copper wire around the arm muslin at the wrist slots on the hands.
  4. Twist the ends of the copper wire.
  5. Flatten the twisted ends against the wrists.


  6. Fold the muslin back over the copper wire.


Installing the Feet

This procedure is just like the hand installation.
  1. Insert the feet into the legs at the calves.
  2. Ensure that, when installed, both feet are the same distance from the seat.
  3. Wrap .18 gauge copper wire around the leg muslin at the calf slots on the feet.
  4. Twist the ends of the copper wire.
  5. Flatten the twisted ends against the calves.


Here's a body with its arms, legs, hands and feet installed, ready for a head and some clothes.