Wire Armatures Revisited

13 February 2006

PREVIOUS NEXT

Prepare for a very long sentence

Apart from drinking irresponsible amounts of alcoholic beverages and taking a number of baths, I actually learned some valuable lessons on the subject of armature making while on my student exchange to Bristol—exactly one year ago. And seeing that my previous article on wire armatures is still being read by quite a few people coming from search engines, I thought I’d do an update. You see, some of the methods I describe in the first article don’t really work that well. While the overall approach of the first article is still very applicable, some specifics are not. And while this new article will not be a full blown tutorial on building an armature from scratch, I think that the tips here—in combination with my previous article—will allow you to make a decent puppet.

The techniques described are the ones used for my film “Junk”, so if you’d like to see how the puppets move, check that one out.

Metal Epoxy is not your friend

There, I said it. The problem with metal epoxy is that it is heavy. It also smells and sticks to anything you don’t want it to stick to, like your cashmere sweater. Lastly, there is no ‘undo’. Once you’ve applied it, you can’t get it off in case you change your mind about something. Luckily, there is a more than capable replacement available; Polymorph.

Polymorph head and legs

If you’re in the UK, you can get polymorph at Wickes. Otherwise you might be better off ordering online.

“Polymorph is one of a new generation of commercial polymers set to have a major impact on model making and prototyping. This polymer has all the characteristics of a tough “engineering” material yet it fuses and becomes easily mouldable at just 62°C. It can be heated with just hot water or a hairdryer and moulded by hand to create prototypes and solve manufacturing problems currently outside the capacity of other materials.”

And it’s all true! Seriously, give it a shot.

But there are exceptions

Of course, the fact that epoxy is one heavy bastard can be beneficial aswell. If you’re working on a huge monster that won’t be jumping around, and you want it to stay put, that mass may actually be desirable. For example, the monster below was joined together with epoxy because of it’s added weight.

Monster armature with epoxy

Notice that the skeleton does use polymorph for sections that bend, like the arms. This is because epoxy tends to crumble at the edges, and also there is less chance of damaging the (fragile) aluminium wire it is wrapped around.

On wire

I still use aluminium wire, but instead of the two strands of thick wire I used in the past, I went with 4-6 strands of thinner wire for the Junk project. This resulted in a more flexible puppet. I have to admit though, it might not be better for strength. On our last day of shooting Junk, our lead character broke his back, as shown in the image below.

Back support glued on

Luckily, we only had a few frontal shots left, so we quickly glued a few strands of aluminium wire onto his back. If you’re planning to use a character for more than a few minutes of animation, prepare to build more than one puppet (or go with a much more durable ball and socket armature).

Foam & Latex

In the previous article I talked about using pieces of fabric to create your character’s body. Another possibility is using foam and latex. I guess in the end, it’s mostly a matter of what style you prefer. We used the foam & latex method on Junk, and with success. It’s pretty easy. First, use scissors to cut our small bits of foam, glue them to the armature with a glue gun.

Foam glued on

Then, paint the foam using latex. You can add coloured ink to the latex if you want. Make sure you open a window, that stuff stinks.

Painted latex drying

Be sure to give your character as many layers of latex as it needs, while realising that a thicker latex layer will make it more difficult to position your puppet (because of the elasticity of the latex).

Screw magnetism

I curse myself for actually recommending magnets as tie-downs. Sorry. Unless you really know what you’re doing, don’t use magnets as tie-downs. While it’s not that hard to get a few decent magnets, you have to consider their drop-off rate. If you have a set that curves up a few centimetres, sitting on a wooden plate, under which you want to place the magnets, forget it. You’d need a magnet as big as a fist, and it might actually be dangerous to carry such a powerful magnet around. Magnets are out.

A secured puppet

Scews are in. For starters, they are more secure. When that big and hairy exchange student from Italy bumps into your meticulously arranged animation table after a night of heavy drinking, your only discomfort will be his bodily odours. Had you been using magnets, the situation would have been a different one. Of course, there are some downsides as well: you need a grate with holes big enough for the screws to come through, and you need that grate follow the shape of your set.

Clay covering the holes

You’ll also need to cover the grate with something soft so your audience does not see the holes, but you can still push the screws through—like in the image above. We just used clay, it’s the easiest solution.

Anything else?

If there is anything else you’d like to know more about, shoot me an email. I don’t claim to be the expert, but it would be great if my (relative) experience could save you some time.