Making Baby Simba

After watching the Razamatazz group rehearsing, I couldn't help but note their lack of anything to use as a baby Simba prop whilst rehearsing the first scene. Therefore, I decided I would make a maquette that could potentially be used as a Simba prop, dependent on how well the techniques worked.
I started out by balling up some newspaper in the rough shape of the lion's head, and piecing it together with masking tape to form a rough muzzle. I also found some paper rope left over from an old project and nestled this deep inside the paper structure, providing a secure anchor point for the head.
Once I was happy with the head shape, I made some simple ears out of corrugated cardboard, and Claire attached these with a little PVA. We then covered the head in a couple of layers of newspaper papier maché and finished the look with gum tape.

The head with ears attached. You can see the paper rope anchor and
test body shape made of stuffing.

Testing the head before it was gum-taped with the faux fur paws.

I then went on to make the body, drafting up a simple 2-piece body pattern out of paper, then tracing it onto some scrap calico I found in the costume room bin. I sewed it together on the machine, using a running stitch. I also found some brown faux fur fabric and leftover toy stuffing. I considered adding sand to weigh the body realistically, filling two nitrile gloves with sand and tying them off, but they proved too heavy, so I later resorted to just stuffing. I also made a simple 2-part pattern for the front and back legs, and once I had sew and stuffed this used thread to make the individual toes, trimming down the fur with scissors.

The head and fur legs with the test body. Because it had the
 sand in it, it was realistically heavy - but a little too heavy for the
young actors to easily hold above their heads for an
extended time on stage, as we saw in the rehearsal. 

After I had sewn the body together, I fed the paper rope anchor from the head into it and stuffed the remaining space. I sewed the neck through the paper rope so it was secure, but it looked a little thin. I then sewed on the legs by hand, using a button to give them more detail and cute charm. To solve the problem of the thin neck, I used some thin cheesecloth material to make him a neck ruff, gluing the base of it onto the head and gathering the remaining fabric up with a needle and thread by hand before sewing it onto the body. I also added a sweet little plaited scrap tail with a fur tuft on the end.

After I had painted the face with acrylics reflecting some of the tribal markings and colours I had researched earlier, I handed baby Simba over to Claire for his body to be dry brushed. She also used acrylics and a mixture of stippling with a sponge and brushing to achieve the finished effect.

The completed baby Simba, ready to be presented to Hayley.