| Above I have pictured the materials and tools I use to fabricate the steel armature for my figures. The roll of wire is the 18 gauge galvanized clothes line I use for the construction of the body sections. I use the same wire in 20 gauge to form the hands and feet. The completed armature, based on George Stewart's (Fantastic Figures by Susanna Oroyan, pg. 67), is soldered with solid core solder using soldering paste with a 40 watt soldering iron. The pliers are round for bending the joints and flat for bending the angles. The wire cutters cut the individual pieces. I view this armature as if it were a skeleton. No matter how I pose the figure the parts are always in proportion and in proper position to one another. |
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| Here I have formed the armature into the preliminary position for Amanda. I position the segments to where I want them and then solder them firmly in place. I often have to cut the segments and reassemble them with a brass tubing sleeve so that the limb section may be removed for draping the figure. This is the first armature I made in this larger scale (1/3). Now, for the sake of much greater strength, I completely cover the wire with Aves Epoxie Sculpt before going to the next step. Notice I have changed the position of the legs and feet in the final pose. | ||
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| Here are details of the leg joint, hand and wrist and foot and ankle joint. The hands and feet are soldered of individual pieces and bent into proper position for the pose. I coat the fingers and toes with Elmer's glue dipped in dry Cell-u-clay to improve the adherence of the stone clay as I add it to the wire. | ||
| Amanda's head is sculpted of air drying clay over a 3" Styrofoam egg. Her eyes are 10 mm Glastic Realistic from G. Schoepfer Inc.. The teeth are made of thin styrene (Evergreen Scale Models). The neck is formed with stone clay over a 1/4" dowel which is removed so that the head may be slipped over the armature. Again, as soon a I have positioned the head where I want it, I solder it firmly in place. |
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After the armature is finalized with the head in place I apply large blocks, of Styrofoam to all parts of the body. The steel armature is sandwiched between two pieces of Styrofoam that are cemented with Bondo. (Bondo is a commercial resin based car body filler that hardens without exposure to air.) When the Bondo has hardened (about five minutes) I file the Styrofoam to the required shape, leaving about 3/16" for the final clay sculpt to cover it completely. If you are interested in viewing Amanda's painted full body sculpt before she is draped go to Amanda Full Body Sculpture If you have questions about this or any other process please e-mail me at the address below For an alternative method of fabricating an armature please see Hollow Armature. |
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