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So, you want to dabble in stop-motion animation but you don't know where to start? Well, aside from having, y'know, a story, you're going to need some puppets to take the place of your actors.
In this tutorial, you're going to be shown how I made the Kostas puppet for the upcoming "Kids Today" shorts series. Now, this is hardly the only way to make a puppet, but this is just how I do it, in a way that is relatively cost effective, and which will produce durable puppets whose construction does not require a lot of time or extra equipment.
Plus the hands and face being made with Sugru gives them great range of movement while maintaining some incredible structural integrity. Because some of us haven't got the means or patience to work with foam latex.
Materials:
1/16" armature wire
polymer clay (like Sculpey)
duct tape
Sugru
aluminum foil
Mighty Putty
2 rare earth magnets
cotton balls
acrylic paints
EDIT: What is wrong with the bloody image uploader! Five hours and 2 browsers later and I submitted this thing to the contest at the last possible second! Hope it still qualifies!
In this tutorial, you're going to be shown how I made the Kostas puppet for the upcoming "Kids Today" shorts series. Now, this is hardly the only way to make a puppet, but this is just how I do it, in a way that is relatively cost effective, and which will produce durable puppets whose construction does not require a lot of time or extra equipment.
Plus the hands and face being made with Sugru gives them great range of movement while maintaining some incredible structural integrity. Because some of us haven't got the means or patience to work with foam latex.
Materials:
1/16" armature wire
polymer clay (like Sculpey)
duct tape
Sugru
aluminum foil
Mighty Putty
2 rare earth magnets
cotton balls
acrylic paints
EDIT: What is wrong with the bloody image uploader! Five hours and 2 browsers later and I submitted this thing to the contest at the last possible second! Hope it still qualifies!
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Signing UpStep 1Make the armature:
Using your 1/16" armature wire, begin to make the basic skeleton for your figure.
Remember basic proportionalities and build from there:
-shoulder = 3x width of the head
-elbows at mid torso
-hands at mid thigh
-legs 2x length of torso
Twist the wire around itself to double the skeleton's thickness. And be sure to provide
extra wrapping around important joints.
Notice the head; it is composed of a vertical loop for the cranium and a lower
horizontal loop for the jaw. This provides a hinge for the jaw and makes it easier when
you have to start worrying about actually making your character speak.
Remember basic proportionalities and build from there:
-shoulder = 3x width of the head
-elbows at mid torso
-hands at mid thigh
-legs 2x length of torso
Twist the wire around itself to double the skeleton's thickness. And be sure to provide
extra wrapping around important joints.
Notice the head; it is composed of a vertical loop for the cranium and a lower
horizontal loop for the jaw. This provides a hinge for the jaw and makes it easier when
you have to start worrying about actually making your character speak.
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What is the material you used as armature wiring?