Puppet Armature
Health and Safety - Goggles, gloves and dust masks should be worn when sanding down. The dust can be very irritable against skin and when in eyes. If does get in eyes, simply wash out with water or at the nearest eye cleaning kit. Overalls or long sleeves should also be worn when sanding down. When using the bandsaw, handsaw and electric sander, it is important to be well trained and wearing protective gear such as eye protection and even noise protecting headphones. Metal wire can be very sharp so you may want to wear gloves. When using super glue, it is important to be in a well ventilated room as fumes can cause headaches.
- Aluminium Armature Wire
- Pliers
- MDF
- Bandsaw
- Drill
- Electric sander/sandpaper
- Super glue
- Screw
- Polystyrene
It is important for armature in stop motion animation puppets to be strong and durable as they will be manipulated a lot. There are many options for making armature which I could have chosen. The first test moquette I tried was a really simple wire structure that consisted of one main piece of wire that created the head and spine. After screwing this into a wooden plinth, I then covered this with polystyrene and PVA which was later carved into the correct shape. This method was very flimsy and fell apart very quickly; I will not be using it again unless it is to show the simple body shape.
The second test was inspired by a YouTube tutorial that I watched by StopmoNick, published on 1 Jun 2011. He used piece of wood to create the bulky parts of the armature such as the shoulders, and drilled holes in them to attach the limbs. This seemed to work really well. Bellow are the techniques I used.
The one I chose to use is very simple and strong, but also quite cost effective. I started by drawing out the puppet onto a piece of paper. This needs to be fairly accurate as you will be working around this for the armature size. Then I took a long piece of aluminium wire and, starting at the feet, traced out the body shape up to the chest and back down to the feet. To make the armature stronger, the wire should be tightly twisted together along the spine which can be done by twisting the wire with pliers. If the wire it too tough to twist, you may want to clamp one section down using a vice. To add strength to the legs, I took an extra piece of wire and again twisted the two together. I bent the wire at a 90 ° angle to form the feet. To make the arms, I twisted two pieces of aluminium wire together. For the chest, I started with a piece of MDF that has been cut to the correct size on the bandsaw. Using an electric sanders, I sanded down the corners and edges so that it was smooth. Then, I drilled two holes in the top and bottom of the chest piece which will be for the neck and spine to be inserted into. The size of the hole will depend on the thickness of the wire. I also drilled another two holes on the top either side of the neck hole which the arms will be inserted into. Next, I started to super glue the limbs into the chest piece. Any super glue will work but I purchased mine from Wilko. It is important that these are properly glued into to place as you don’t want to risk the wire falling out of their sockets. I then took a piece of Milliput which I purchased from eBay and added it to the joints that will be moving most like the hips, elbows, knees etc. To use Milliput Epoxy Resin Putty mix together equal parts of each stick from the pack. Knead and roll in the hands for at least 5 minutes until the colours merge and become uniform and no streaks can be seen, and then mix for another minute. The surfaces to which the putty is applied should be free from grease and dirt. Smooth surfaces should be cleaned with a suitable solvent or with soap and warm water to remove dirt and grease. Abrading the surface will improve adhesion. the putty may now be applied and will set hard in three to four hours without shrinking.
For the head I used a similar technique as when making the chest piece. Taking a piece of MDF, I cut it to the correct size on the bandsaw and sanded down all the corners and edges so that it was smooth. I then drilled a hole in the bottom so that the wire neck can be glued into place. Four smaller holes drilled so that I could insert thin wire for the jaw. Two of the holes went on the front of the face; like dimples. The second two went on the bottom either side of the neck hole. I drilled these holes fairly deep to ensure the wire could be secure as they will be moving a lot.
I then twisted two piece of soft aluminium wire to make them stronger and the armature more durable. I did find that this made the wire very stiff and quite difficult to bend but it doesn't matter too much as there isn't any flamboyant movement within London Road and so it wont need to be moved to over exaggerated. These wire twists, once measured against the body so I knew would fit, were pushed into the wooden blocks and glued in with super glue. I found it easiest to twist the wires in with a pair of pliers as I found they could then be pushed all the way in. The super glue worked really well but to make sure all the joints were strongly connected, I added some small blobs of Milliput which is a two part, air drying clay. The two plasticine like substances are mixed together thoroughly until the colours are blended. I then moulded this around all the joins. When it cures, it dries to a solid form making it very good for the pieces of wire I don’t want to move too much. If the body shape I wanted was going to be following the shape of the armature, I could have used this to add on bulkier sections such as calves and arms. I also added some little dots of milliput onto the ends of the hands and feet as the wire was rather sharp and would pierce through the latex.
To stop any sharp pieces of wire cutting into the latex, I covered it all in florist tape which adheres to itself. This is perfect for wrapping something as fiddly as wire as it can be twisted and holds it shape. Above is my finished armature which was then placed inside my latex skin. It was very cost effective and strong but also allows a lot of movement for the puppet.
