HOW TO MAKE A CHEAP PUPPET ARMATURE

Hi stop-motion friends, how are you? Did you think to make some movie? any idea? ok let's start with a really important piece of the Stop-motion. The first thing we need to make, unless you are using only plastiline (wich is great) is the "armature". A good armature makes the things easier and the movie smoother. So let's start to understand wich armature suits to our animation. If you have enough money I suggest to buy a ready made armature. there is plenty of armatures out there on the web, they are beautiful, perfect, smooth but also very expensive. I would like to buy a good armature, but being a hand maker lover I also like to make it on my own. The tools we need are: wire cable, 1 cm screws, their bold, a small spring (you can take from the biro the one you press to open and close) and some immediate power glue (as the Attack) then you need some FIMO, that is that kind of polymeric clay that once cooked in the oven become a strong and light plastic. Then you need a small grab to blend the wires and that's it. In the armature i have made in the picture above you will see more or less how it works. I've tried to reproduce all the movements making almost all the real articulations of the human body to make the puppet moving very well. To reproduce the musculature i put a stripe of a light sponge sheet because now the problem is not to make the armature heavy so it is good to find the lightest materials possible. The spring helps to keep the articulations tight and fluid, allowing the bolt to a little movement without loosening up. With a biro's spring you ca make about 6/7 small springs for the joints. the picture abobe shows a detail of a joint.
Thanks for the attention
Cristian Paradiso