Mingo - Pink is Not That Shrimple

Directed by Valeria Gallegos Toriz - 2025

Sculpt

Mingo’s sculpt was done in an oil based Chavant clay. The initial body sculpt was done by Valeria Gallegos Toriz, before being passed off to me for final reshaping and clean up. I am also responsible for the full head and beak sculpt. After the sculpt was completed, Mingo was disassembled so his parts could all be made into separate molds.

Mold Making

The leg molds were made using two part urethane, with a urethane key at the bottom of the foot armature, to insure that the armature would key in properly and not move during silicone casting.

Mingo’s body, head, neck, and tail molds were all made with GI 1000 silicone molds so the parts could be cast in foam.

Armature

Mingo’s armature was made with a base of polycarbonate plastic. The neck, wings, tail, and legs all has brass tube in the end of their armatures, with a corresponding brass tube that plugged into a brass port in the armature. The brass tubes were tensioned with 6/32 set screws. The armature was also equipped with 3 10/24 rig ports on either side as well as the back, so the puppet could be hooked up to a fly rig.

Foam Casting

Mingo was cast in Smooth-On Flex Foam. The foam is measure and mixed as a 1-to-1 ration and them poured in either side of the mold, and then closed with the armature placed in between. Pressure is applied to the mold to make sure it does not come apart at the foam expands.