 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Captain Scarlet/Joe 90/Secret Service era puppet heads overview The average size of a head from this era is 4¼” high from the top of the head to the bottom of the neck and about 2½” across the ears. They are hollow and made from glass reinforced polyester resin in two parts with the join being down the side of the neck. The modeller constructed a master sculpt out of modelling clay and then made a plaster mold corresponding to the front and back of the puppet head, the puppet heads were then made in these moulds by laminating many layers of fibreglass cloth soaked in polyester resin. The resin would be dry to the touch in 30 minutes and completely cured in an hour. Openings for the eyes and mouth were cut on the front of the head and a section was removed from the rear of the head to gain access to the internal workings. Any surface imperfections were smoothed out using putty like material. The exterior of the heads were then finished with small details like creases, etc... The hair and eyebrows are made of a fine mohair material and not real hair which is commonly believed. The eyelashes were cut down from standard cosmetic eyelashes. The eyes are made from transparent plastic hemispheres which have a reduced colour photograph of an actual human pupil glued into the centre from the inside, the interior of the eyes behind and around the pupils were painted white. Over time the pupils of original eyes fades to light shade of pink. The lower lip is hinged and held shut by a strong spring. The surface directly below the lip is covered in fine pittards leather to provide flexibility. The rear of the heads were removable to gain access to the internal mechanism, the joints are hidden by the hair. This rear panel was held in place with strong magnets and metal strips. The interior mechanism is made of finely crafted brass and steel wire. The eye mechanism is a rocker assembly that pivots from side to side to move the eyes. The movable lower lips were secured to the inside of the heads with a strong spring wire which keeps them in the closed position. The actual lip-synch mechanism is a metal wire loop that is connected to a solenoid by means of a length of nylon string. The metal lip-synch solenoid extends about 4” below the neck, it is connected to the head with a ball and socket joint. |
||
Captain Scarlet This puppet head was originally sculpted by Mary Turner as the lead character of “Captain Scarlet”. It featured in every episode of the show and may also have appeared as “Blake” in Secret Service”, after filming it was retained by Sylvia Anderson in her private collection and is complete with the body. 
|
 It was one of the star lots of the 1995 Phillips auction and was purchased by Phil Rae, and it still remains in his collection. |
|
Captain Blue This puppet head was originally sculpted by Terry Curtis as the Character of “Captain Blue” in “Captain Scarlet” it is a fantastic example of a “normal” head and is complete with original eye’s and back of head, it was kept after filming by a member of the production before being obtained by Phil Rae, and it still remains in his collection. 
|
 |
|
Captain Ochre This puppet head was originally sculpted by Terry Curtis in 1967 as the character Captain Ochre it is the “hero” normal head. It latter appeared as guest characters in both Joe 90 and Secret Service The puppet head is in excellent condition and is complete with original eye’s, of all the Captain Scarlet Characters this head is the rarest being the only known surviving example in existence. 
|
 It was originally sold at the 1995 Philips auction of puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson, Mary Turner and John Reid. |
|
Captain Grey - Normal This puppet head was originally sculpted to resemble Sean Connery by Terry Curtis in 1967 as the character Captain Grey for Captain Scarlet. This is the only captain Grey head that appeared on screen in Captain scarlet and matches to all the original publicity shots taken of the puppets before filming, it then went on to be used in Joe 90 and Secret Service. 
|
 The puppet head is in excellent condition and all original and complete the back of the head is marked “G2” meaning that this puppet would have been used on filming stage 2. It was originally kept after filming in the personal collection of Mary turner before being sold in the 1980’s to well known Anderson collector Phil Rae. |
|
Commodore Goddard This puppet head was made as one of the “revamp heads” for Captain Scarlet, it appeared in 8 episodes of the show before being used in the subsequent Series of Joe 90 and Secret Service. The head is most famous as the character Commodore Goddard from the episode “The Trap” it was also the lead character of Major Buchanan “Buck” Gravenor in the episode “Treble Cross”. 
The head is an example of a “blinker” puppet which were used when the character was needed to close its eye’s, i.e. sleeping or a death scene, it is in fantastic original condition including back of head, eye’s, wig and solenoid, it is also an extremely rare example of a head made for Captain Scarlet that has not been repainted or re-wigged for subsequent series unlike the majority of the puppets. |
 The puppet was originally sold as Lot 42 of the 1995 Phillips auction of puppets from the collections of Sylvia Anderson, Mary Turner and John Reid |
|
Dr Fawn This Puppet head was originally sculpted by John Brown in 1967 as the character “Dr Fawn” in Captain scarlet, it later appeared in the Joe 90 episode “King for a day” when it had a darker skin tone applied along with the wig being trimmed. 
It is an example of an “under control” puppet meaning it was controlled from beneath using wires, these were used in scenes were the puppet was in a vehicle etc... you can quite easy to match the puppet on screen due to the lack of head strings I have been able to do this to episode two were Dr Fawn tells Captain Scarlet “you are indeed indestructible” making this an important “hero” head. |
 The puppet head is in excellent condition and is the only 100% complete example in existence including original wig, eyes with internal turning mechanism and moving lower lip synch solenoid. It was originally sold at the 1995 Phillips auction of puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson Mary Turner and John Reid. |
|
Captain Grey “frowner" This puppet head was originally sculpted to resemble Sean Connery by Terry Curtis in 1967 as the character Captain Grey for Captain Scarlet. The head is a rare example of a "Frowner" that was also used as a guest character in Joe 90 and Secret Service. 
It was originally sold at the Philips auction of puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson, Mary turner and John Reid. |
 The puppet head is in excellent condition with original internal mechanism and solenoid, the eye’s and back of head are replacements as the originals were missing. |
|
Sam Loover This puppet started life as an extra playing the part of “Supreme Commander of Earth Forces” in the Captain Scarlet episode “Point 783” it then went on to be the “normal” head for Sam Loover in Joe 90. The head is in complete original condition including eye’s wig and back of head although this is marked as “under control” which this head is not. 
The head was originally bought at the 1995 philips auction of original puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson, Mary Turner and John Reid. The costume is also original although not worn by Sam Loover. It was made for The Bishop in “Secret Service” the hands are also original and are constructed from soft rubber over wire armature. |
  |
|
Real from “Breakout” This puppet was sculpted as a Guest character for Joe 90 it appeared in many episodes most notably as the lead villain in the episode “Breakout”, it latter went on to appear in episodes of secret Service, the puppet has had a dark skin tone added for a role as a foreign character. The puppet head is in good condition but is missing the back of head and internal mechanism. 
|
 It was originally sold at the 1995 Philips auction of puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson, Mary turner and John Reid. |
|
Native This puppet head was made in 1969 for an episode of Secret Service entitled “Errand of Mercy” The puppet head was in a disassembled state when it was first sold and lacked the back of head, internal mechanism and eye’s although the condition of the face was very good with very little paint chipping etc, since then the head has had a new back of head and eye’s 
|
 It was originally sold at the 1995 Phillips auction of puppets from the collection of Sylvia Anderson Mary Turner and John Reid. |
|
Puppet Hands The flesh coloured hand was used on a “stingray” puppet in 1964 it is made from a plastic/rubber type material over a wire armature that has stiffened over time; it would have been attached to a puppet via the screw thread in the wrist. The two black hands are from “Captain Scarlet”, they are constructed from a softer rubber over wire armature and have a longer wrist, these type of “black” hands were used on characters that were meant to look like they were wearing gloves and are often referred to as “gloved hands”. 
|
 Comparing the two types of hands you can see the progression from the more caricature type of puppet to the more lifelike puppets used later in the 60’s. |
|
Parker This complete puppet was made for the 1965 Gerry Anderson series Thunderbirds, the head was sculpted by John Blundall and is probably the most famous of all Gerry Anderson’s characters, the head is complete and in fantastic condition it is more caricature in appearance than the latter Scarlet era puppets due to the solenoid being mounted inside the head rather than the body. 
|
 The body is an original stage two with some parts being used from the “Brains” puppet, what’s amazing is that the he was rescued from a pile of puppets and set pieces that were waiting to be burnt. |
|
Professor puppet from “jif Alien Attack” This puppet was made for the Gerry Anderson produced “Jif Dessert Toppings” commercial in 1977 it was first shown as a trailer to “Star Wars a New Hope” in UK cinemas, it then went on to be aired on TV until around 1979. The commercial was inspired by Thunderbirds and feature three characters of Intergalactic rescue in their bid to save the planet from “Gooey” deserts!! Anderson used many of his old production crew like Barry Gray(Thunderbirds) for the music, Ed Bishop (aka Captain Blue)as a voice artist and special effects by Brian Johnson ( Thunderbirds, Alien), Nick Allder (Star wars, Alien, Blade Runner) and Martin bower ( Doctor Who, Blake’s 7) hear is the commercial on youtube. The commercial is very significant as it was the last Gerry Anderson produced using the “supermarionation” techniques that had made him famous in the 1960’s Two of the puppets in the commercial were made for a un- aired production in 1972 called “The investigators” these are the two character dressed in red uniforms. 
The Professor puppet was specially made for the production and loosely based on Albert Einstein, it has the more caricature design of his earlier puppets but with the dimensions of his later puppets the puppet is historically important as it is the last “supermarionation” puppet made by Gerry Anderson. |
 The Professor puppet was specially made for the production and loosely based on Albert Einstein, it has the more caricature design of his earlier puppets but with the dimensions of his later puppets the puppet is historically important as it is the last “supermarionation” puppet made by Gerry Anderson. The head is made from fibreglass and is similar in design to a Scarlet/Jo90/service era puppet, some differences being that it is constructed from an off- white fibreglass and has slightly larger caricature eyes and features. 
A full detailed analysis of the body is difficult due to the clothes being attached with glue, the main part of the body appears to be fibreglass with the arms and legs being made from wood which is in keeping with how the body’s were constructed in the 1960’s the hands are a very soft white rubber over a wire armature painted flesh colour and the feet have been covered in leather to simulate shoe’s, the clothes are quite crude and have been hemmed using double sided sticky tape! The Puppet itself is 100% complete including Head, body and clothes making it extremely rare!! There are only a handful of complete puppets know to exist from any Gerry Anderson Production. |
|