The New Chockletts DIY Popper heads are really fun to assemble and tie. They come in a kit with pre-cut foam parts, hooks, and eyes. Here's how to assemble the heads. (Shown on a needle for visual clarity; you don't need to line them up on a needle to assemble. You can assemble them without a needle and vise). Be careful when glueing these together its pretty easy to get your fingers stuck to the foam!
Step 1: Line up the inner foam parts. Large has 3 sections, Medium and Small have 2 Sections, XS has one inner section. Glue the sections together. I used Loctite brush-on superglue.
There is a line on the bottom (flat side) that you can use to align the pieces
Step 2: Attach the Outer Top Skin. There is a set of crossed lines on one side. The long line is the center of the skin that will be glued inside the ridges of the inner foam pieces. The shorter line aligns with the leading edge of the largest inner foam section. There is a lip that overhangs on the front side of the popper. Apply Glue to the top side of the inner pieces and align the skin using the crossed marking lines.
Set the skin in place and press firmly to ensure it sinks into the channel on the top of the popper body.
Step 3: Apply Glue to one side of the popper head and fold skin down. Press firmly and hold to glue the skin onto that side. Repeat on the far side.
Step 4: Apply Glue to the front of the popper, and glue in the tongue section. It will line up with the ridges at the top of the popper, and the hole in the tongue section will also align with the hole in the inner foam sections. Press firmly and hold in place until glue is set.
After the glue is set, apply glue to the bottom of the popper body, then fold the tongue piece over the bottom and hold firmly until the glue is set
Step 6: Attach eyes. You can attach them with super glue or set them in place and cover them with UV Resin later.
Step 7: Tie your popper by adding a tail, flash, legs, and collar, leaving room for the popper head to slide over the hook eye. Be sure to have a thick thread base covering the hook where your popper head will be slid over. Apply super glue to the thread base. Slide your popper head onto the hook. Work fairly quickly to orient the head into place before the glue sets!
You can add legs to your popper with a leg puller, or I used a bodkin to make a hole, then slid a bobbin threader through the hole, inserted rubber legs, and pulled them through the popper head.
You can also coat your popper head for durability. Use Flexible UV Resin, or I have done a light coating of Liquid Fusion.
Finished Popper