Basic Armature Part 2

 Photo 12: Take the smaller gauge wire and wrap around the main skeleton.  If you want you can also fold the feet so that it’s rounded like above or add brass tubing to the head or feet to give extra support to the structure.  (When you add a brass tube to the armature it makes removing the head so much easier.)

Picture 13: Another skeleton with a better view of the feet.

So that's how I usually do my armatures (this time around anyway.  As always thanks for stopping by.

Basic Armature

Long Post Ahoy!

Hey again and welcome back internet peeps.  I know before I started straight away with making a figure but some people might be wondering how to make an armature.  So to rectify that mistake here you go.  

 Materials needed for making an armature.  You’ll need aluminum wire (two different sizes), nippers, marker, needle nose pliers, and a ref.

Measure out how long the wire needs to be according to the image and double that.  Then add a bit more for extra.

 Fold in half.

Mark where the shoulders should go.  This is where you’re going to add the arms.

Cut another length of wire that will be the arms and hands.  Lay the “arm piece” on the “main body” piece and on each side fold over.  This part takes practice but make sure you get a secure fit so that it doesn’t wiggle around later.

 Take the “main body” wires and twist them together so that it looks like the pic.  Stop just above the pelvis.

This next part can be somewhat tricky so take your time, use your marker to pinpoint the bends and always double check the reference.  Then mark the knees and ankles.

Fold the “main body” wire at the ankles and slightly curve the “femur” forward.

Here’s how it looks from the side.

Attach the smaller gauge of  wire to the arms and further secure them to the body.  Then carefully nip off the very top of the “main body” where you folded it in the middle.

This is what it should look like when you fold one prong down.

End Part 1

Part 2

So this is what I have so far.  Before working on everything else I find it easier to make the head first and then the body.  As always it's important to keep referencing your muscle anatomy sheet.

Slowly build up your clay on top of the apoxie.  You don't want to put too much on at a time or else it will become loose and move around.  Take small pieces of clay and "pancake" them all over the armature.  

When the "pancake" stage is complete you can now take larger chunks of clay and add on top.  Using my handy dandy muscle reference sheet I try and mimic what I see.

And here is the final product!  I have to say I'm very proud of this redux.  Compared to the original I've come pretty far in my sculpting skills.  (You can see my original attempt in the earlier posts.)  Thanks for stopping by. :D  

Kitty-N New Redux

    Hey there internet lands.  My last post hasn't been in a good long while and since then I've had some inspiration to start posting again.  Earlier this month I had a panel at San Japan called "Let's make an anime figure."  It was my first time with something like this and I really liked the whole experience.  I'd like to try this again but want to talk about maquettes and stationary figures as opposed to garage kits.  (Perhaps that's too niche for right now. *shrugs shoulders*)

  So these next series of posts will be a kind of tutorial so my next panel will be a bit more cohesive. LOL

SO LETS GET STARTED!

Right here is a particularly new product from SuperSculpey.  This is SuperSculpey Medium and it is AMAZING in my opinion.  It's the right mix of softness and firmness.  It holds its shape even when I'm holding it in my hand and blends easier than SS firm.

Next up you need to make an armature.  You can use steal wire or aluminum, but I prefer aluminum because it's more pliable and I'm not killing my hands bending it this way or that.  When making your armature it's always important to have some form of reference image.  I use a skeleton image that's scaled to 6 inches and use that.  When making the armature you can make it as simple or complex as you like.  The blue wire wrapped around the silver wire is just a smaller gauge of aluminum wire and helps the clay grip to something.

When you are satisfied with the armature it's time to add on some kind of epoxy putty.  (This step isn't entirely necessary but I like that it bulks out certain parts of the armature as opposed to aluminum foil).  I use Aves brand Apoxie Sculpt.  In my hand is the head but I've used a different kind of "wire" here.  This is called a brass tubing.  They come in many different sizes and a couple different shapes.  This is a circular tube and it fits snugly into the silver wire so that it doesn't wiggle and move around.  (Also called telescoping)

So that's it for Part 1 and I'll see you next time for Part 2. Bye~