How to make dragon bases
Explained by a dyslexic
Ight, no gradient for this one because it'll become a pain eventually.
SO what you need is:
Paper/cardboard/cardstock (anything you can cut and draw on)
Scissors/box cutters
Glue/hot glue (optional)
Tape (any kind that holds)
Pencil
Drawing/painting material
Ruler
These are for all bases. No skipping stuff.
Also this is how I make them. Everyone has different ways and this is mine/how I'd make the base.
Also I'll use the metric system so I'm sorry to those who don't use it.
Also feel free to change the numbers, not every measurement fits everyone
Triangle base
4 triangles, 2 strips
Looks like this ↑
Measure out and draw a 14cm line. Then mark 3.5cm, 7cm and 10.5cm. On the 3.5 and 10.5 line, put a 10cm line that makes a 90° angle with the original line. Those are the heights of the triangle. For the sides, connect the top of the first line with the start and 7cm mark and the second with 7cm mark and the end. Then draw another 14cm line that connects the tops of the triangles + some 7 cm on one side. Connect the free 7cm line to the end of the original line. It should look like the picture bellow. Then cut out the 4 triangles you made.
Play with the numbers if you don't like these triangles
If the opening is too big, but you like the shape use this formula (x is the width you want, solve for y.. you can't escape math)
7 / 10 = x / y
Now for the sides. Grab two triangles. Place them on the sides and mark the end (or measure them.. using the Pythagorean theorem it's 12.2 cm so that *2 is 24.4 cm). You have the length of the strip. The height is 2* whatever you want a side to be. I use 2cm, so 4cm. But, while making. make a mark in the middle. Do the same at the end of your line. Connect the two marks and cut the strip out and then in half using the line you made. Should look like this↓
Bend the two strips in half
Now tape/glue 2 triangles to 1 strap so you get a cheese vege with a side missing. Do that twice. Tape the two holes in a way you can make the two cheese things talk. Now you have a base! Now draw your design, cut it out and glue on the base. Now you have the most basic* puppet dragon!
*unless you add stuff like wings or faceplates or masks or stuff like that to make your dragon cool
4 split base
8 triangles, 4 straps
Looks like this ↑
Measure out and draw a 14cm line. Then mark 3.5cm, 7cm and 10.5cm. On the 3.5 and 10.5 line, put a 10cm line that makes a 90° angle with the original line. Those are the heights of the triangle. For the sides, connect the top of the first line with the start and 7cm mark and the second with 7cm mark and the end. Then draw another 14cm line that connects the tops of the triangles + some 7 cm on one side. Connect the free 7cm line to the end of the original line. It should look like the picture bellow. Then cut out the 4 triangles you made.
Play with the numbers if you don't like these triangles
If the opening is too big, but you like the shape use this formula (x is the width you want, solve for y.. you can't escape math)
7 / 10 = x / y
Now a change from the first tutorial! Cut all triangles in half so you get 8. THAT'S IT!
Now for the sides. Grab two triangles. Place one on the side and the other on the height and mark the end (or measure them.. using the Pythagorean theorem + height, it's 22.2cm). You have the length of the strip. The height is 4* whatever you want a side to be. I use 2cm, so 8cm. But, while making. make a mark every 2cm. Do the same at the end of your line. Connect the two marks and cut the strip out and then in half using the line you made. Should look like this↓
Round base
4 shapes, 2 straps
Looks like this ↑
Draw a circle with 3.5cm radius. Then draw a line trough the center that ends at the "sides" of the circle. Now draw a 6.5cm line on both sides, starting from the line you drew. Should look like the drawing below Draw 4 of those.
Now for the sides. Use the formula r*π+(x*2) where x is the sides. In my example it's 23.9 (use 24 if you want). You have the length of the strip. The height is 2* whatever you want a side to be. I use 2cm, so 4cm. But, while making. make a mark in the middle. Do the same at the end of your line. Connect the two marks and cut the strip out and then in half using the line you made. Should look like this↓
Extra
The only reason this is here is to tell you to experiment with shapes. They can be made in any way you want and are meant to let people express creativity. Hell, I have a weird shaped one that looked like a dog (pic below, not a dog anymore tho). But I had to do some sculpting to make it work. These are just some possibilities. Go crazy with them <3
