Poseable Army Men

The original poseable paracord army men!

I grew up playing with little plastic green army men. They were okay, but they couldn't really do much. They were either shooting guns, throwing grenades, or using binoculars. That was about it.

So I made some poseable paracord army men, and these guys can do all sorts of cool stuff. They're not just limited to war-type activities anymore; they can dance, scrapbook, chase butterflies... anything is possible.

Step 1: Get Started

You will need some paracord and some thin wire. I used "bell wire" which I believe was 22 or 24 gauge.

Cut two strands of paracord, one about 44" and the other about 20". Remove the inner paracord strands. Cut two matching lengths of wire and insert them into the hollow pieces of paracord.

To keep the paracord from fraying, you can fuse the ends with a lighter as shown in the third photo.

Step 2: Basic Body Shape

Create the basic body shape with the longer piece of paracord, as shown in the photos.

The head shape should created at the mid point of the longer piece of paracord.

Step 3: Chest and Torso

Wrap the chest and torso with the loose ends of paracord as shown.

Step 4: Legs

Wrap legs as shown. When you get to the bottom of the feet, trim off the remaining paracord and wire leaving about and 1/8" remaining.

Use a lighter to heat up this remaining bit, and moosh the molten glob down smooth with your thumb. (I highly recomment putting some spit on your thumb first!)

Step 5: Arms and Head

The arms and head are wrapped with the shorter piece of paracord. Begin by feeding it through the chest section and wrapping around the head circle. Continue wrapping through both arms, and finish them in the same manner as the legs.

Step 6: All Done!

Put a keyring on the head and throw it on your backpack, make a simple base out of cardboard, or just play with it as is. We've had a lot of fun with these by adding parachutes made from garbage bags and the inner paracord strands.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[theguywitheyebrows]

These are so cool!! There are several variations that can be had as well!! Great on you for this one!! I will definitely be making some of them muself 👍🏽 Pictures to come when i do

[rickcitooo]

Im not sure how the torso is done. Can u explain to me how its weaved. Thxz rick

[seamster]

The creation of the torso is shown in step 3. Be sure to examine all photos in that step for details of the process.

[ericmee]

What color paracord did you use?

[seamster]

It was called "army green."

[ericmee]

Thanks!

[wesley.leblanc.7]

I decided to make it into a ninja, I made the swords out of wire and the nunchucks out of a nail I cut wrapped in hollow 550 connected with the insides.

[seamster]

Hey, this is awesome. Well done!

[wafflemaker878]

How do you do the arms and legs, the picture isn't very descriptive...

[wafflemaker878]

And the legs and arms are kinda confusing, how do you wrap them? Is it braiding?

[wafflemaker878]

Nevermind, I was just confused for a while.

[wafflemaker878]

This is amazing! By the way, where can you find paracord in the US?

[wbannister]

my attempt, only had pink at the moment but getting some more cord soon!

[seamster]

Awesome! like the pink--it looks very nice!

It's actually time for me to make a few more of these. My kids have lost all the original ones I made.

Thanks for the photos!

[wbannister]

going to make one today :) love them!!! I've only got pink paracord at the moment, can u reccomend a place to get paracord from?

[seamster]

Thanks, glad you like them! Looks like you live in the UK (and I'm in the US), so I'm not much help finding paracord over there :)

It is available online from any number of stores though, so surely you could track some down somewhere close to you. Good luck!

[King Apocalyptic]

Great job gonna make an army of them both army and civilian para-men

[remccarty]

great instructions!

[kitty86]

Thank You Very Much!!!

[Dhani C]

What did you use for the base? Thanks for sharing the idea!