How do you build a armature?

[Mark N. Akers]

I am in the market to build a armature to start trying to work out some caricatures in clay.If any one has any Idea on were about I may go to learn this please post a thread and let me know.I would be real interested on how Lynn goes about designing some of his cowboys.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

We used to make some lightweight armatures for my wifes sculptures, we used coat hangars.....drilled a couple holes in a base, put the wire thru and on the bottom side made a loop and screwed the wire into the bottom...used a paddle bit to make a large recess for the wire and screw...the upper part, kind of go by ear.....you can solder or twist the wire or use a finer wire as tie wire...Cowboy

[Goody]

I have used floral foam stuck together with toothpicks and glue to get the basic shape then applyed modeling clay over it to work out the details.
Goody

[Anthony Filetti]

Mark,
Here's a thread showing an armature I created using copper wire ...Mike Willeson provided me the deatils but essentially you take some copper wire and fold it in half, bend a hook for the head, take a second piece of wire and wrap it around the first to form the arms, put some bends in it for the hip area and feet and then screwed it to a board. From there I started adding clay. BTW, Marv uses a couple of pipe cleaners to get a general idea before making the actual armature.

http://www.carvingworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8131

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Mark....If you want my opinion on doing a clay model to work from prior to starting the actual piece here it is.....Don't Bother! By the time you construct the armature, pile on the clay and move it around you could have the figure half carved out of wood.

A head is a head...just the expression changes. A mirror or a photo is the solution for this area of a carving. The body is just a bunch of separate pieces hooked together. While the movement of these pieces might change their basic shape stays the same. A paper manikin works great for this, especially if the manikin is the same size as the carving your doing. Once the side profile is arrived at you can just lay it on the wood and draw the outline. Again, a photo or picture works as a reference. I have manikins of all sizes to fit the scene I'm developing. I have arm manikins, leg manikins, horse manikins, cow manikins, you name it you can probably find a manikin in my shop for it. Back in January I did a post on making one of these paper manikins.

Almost everyone now has a digital camera and a computer. All you need in addition to these is someone to take the pictures. I, to quote Madonna, "strike a pose" and have the wife walk around me taking shots of the angles I think I'll need for reference. Those photos, along with a mirror and my paper manikins are just about all I need to get the figure started.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

But.......you have to have a really strong camera to take that abuse!!

[Mark N. Akers]

Thanks to y'all for the comments,and I agree with you Lynn,I am glad to hear you say that,but I thought it might be easier to get action out of a carving by working it up in clay.

[Claude]

Lynn:
This was your earlier post: Homemade Manikins but the images no longer are there. Any chance you could re-post?

Thanks,
Claude

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Claude.....You're right....no photos!! I'll do what you suggest. My main manikin is getting a little dog-earred so I'll make a new one and take photos!!

[Claude]

Great! That'll be another keeper. I've found that my wooden maniken won't give me elbow and knee bends beyond 90 degrees - so it's hard to position it for someone squatting, for instance.

Claude