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| These are the parts I cast in plaster from my plasticene
sculpts. The arms (not pictured) are made in one piece, slightly
bent at the elbow. I made plaster molds from these original plaster
casts. I make the individual hollow armature parts by pouring Flumo Light
into the plaster molds. The result is very strong, yet workable, hollow
parts. The round bulge on the hip part fits up into the bust section.
The larger round end of the thigh piece fits up into the hip piece and
the calf pieces join at the knee. The arms are attached to the round extensions
at the shoulders.
All of the joints are reinforced by slotting the parts with my Dremel tool and sliding a piece of tongue depressor into the slot. Once the arms and legs are posed they are cemented into permanent position with 5 minute epoxy. The neck is positioned in a hole that I cut to accept the neck extension. I create the hand and foot armatures out of 20 gauge
galvanized wire, soldered with hard solder. The ankles are hinged so
that the feet can be bent and positioned to support the figure if necessary.
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This is the completed armature for Ariel. I have set her eyes and started the basic sculpt of her face. You can see the tongue depressor joints and the wire hands and feet. The wood piece that you can see under her will be clear Plexiglas. At this point she is from 1/16" to 1/4" smaller than her final girth. You can visualize how I have carved and assembled the cast Flumo parts to create this pose. All the parts are joined with the 5 minute epoxy. She is very light and unbelievably strong. You may see the completed Ariel. Valorian is constructed this way as well. You may see her body sculpt at Valorian in Process. For an alternative method of fabricating an armature please see Amanda Step by Step. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about this or any other process. Just e-mail me at my address below. |
