Make Your Own Bendy Toy

Intro: Make Your Own Bendy Toy

I was inspired by the rubber origami instructable to play around with Plasti Dip. One of the things that I chanced upon turned out to be a great deal of fun and so I'm posting it here in order to spread the cheer.

This is a quick and dirty way to make your own bendy stick figure toys. They provide hours of fun and entertainment. Really.

STEP 1: Go Get Stuff

To do this you will need:

- any metal wire that will hold its shape when you bend it
- tinfoil (optional)
- Plasti Dip (available in any hardware store)
- a hot glue gun (optional)
- a drying rack (or something to hang a wire from)
- a well-ventilated work area

STEP 2: Be an Intelligent Designer

Create any stick figure person or creature that you can envision using the wire (and tinfoil).

Just make sure that from one of the feet (or other extremity) you leave at least 8" of extra wire for dipping your finished creation into the Plasti Dip.

You can fashion your creation into shape simply by twisting it all together or by using the hot glue gun method shown below. Anything goes in terms of creature design so long as it will stay together long enough to be dipped into the Plasti Dip.

You can create large flat surfaces by attaching tin foil over enclosed gaps before you dip it (such as done to the head of one of the bendy figures in the image below).

STEP 3: The Elixir of Life

Go to your well-ventilated area and position your makeshift drying rack (I used an old shopping cart as my rack).

Open the Plasti Dip.

Basically, all you need to do is follow the directions on the packaging which says to insert whatever it is you want to coat at a rate of 5 seconds for every inch until fully submerged and then remove it at the same rate.

Dip your creature and then hang it to dry upside down by the excess wire. Be careful not to get any of the Plasti Dip on you when it's wet (if you do, wash off immediately).

Leave it for thirty minutes and then come back and dip it a second time. Leave it again for thirty minutes.

When you come back next, cut off the extra wire. Carefully wrap this extra wire around the opposite end of the figure and dip it so that it only covers the little spot you just made by removing the wire from the foot.

Let it sit for 4 hours.

STEP 4: FUN FUN FUN!

After the full 4 hours has passed take your stick figure off the rack and commence playing with it.

If you're anything like me, this is good for hours of self-amusement.

Comments

[DogmatiX]

Very creative

[DogmatiX]

This is like a bendy magnet my dad has! It's soooo cool!!!

[OjoeMDC]

wow!! Really awesome!:)

[wannabeinventor]

Would you say this is a good project for beginners? I've been looking for a good instructable to begin with and this is the coolest ever! Thanks for posting it :D

[nhl]

Thanks for this great idea!  Just made 42 of these using magnets on the hands and feet, as well as a bunch of magnetic accessories to go with the figures. Passed them out to my fifth graders today for Valentines Day.  They loved them!

[kcls]

42?!?!?

[nhl]

 42 bendy figures, thank goodness not 42 students.  I wanted the kids to have 2 figures each.  I only have 21 students this year--the smallest class I've ever had.  Next year back up to 28!

[wannabeinventor]

I love that number! I plan to make some soon as gifts for Christmas. :D

[Jerrsh]

What kind of wire did you use? I wanted mine to be a little thick (about the size of the wire used on a coat hanger), but still be bendy. Any suggestions?

[randofo]

Use aluminum armature wire. Comes in a variety of sizes and can typically be found in art supply store. It is for creating bendable clay models. You can also just buy aluminum wire from mcmaster.com and it should be roughly the same.

[patriots8888]

these are good for stop motion if you at clay to them

[TheStott]

that's really cool

[kei10]

This is looking awesome.
Sadly my country doesn't have such tools and materials found easily.

[smallman98]

what\ does plasti dip do. do i absoulutly have to use it?

[randofo]

It gives it the rubbery coating. Otherwise, you just made a wire figure.

[carpfluff]

Is there anything i can use instead of plasti dip? I couldn't find it.
P.S.- A long time ago, Klutz had these things with magnets. There was a dog, a guy named Joe, and a girl. I used to have them until they broke. I think these will hold up longer. :)

[smallman98]

oh

[Clayton H.]

they look like xkcd characters.

[bionicleman123]

 can you use the plasti dip spray on the stick figure instead of the regular plasti dip?

[Clayton H.]

Ah, I remeber when this was put on the make magazine wed site of to the side where they display some of these projects and when I saw this there, that is what got me hooked. Thank You for making this.