Posing a 1/32nd Scale Figure Armature

[Ray]

Guys,
In this SBS I’m going to pose an armature for sculpting a new 1/32nd scale figure (I have chosen 1/32nd scale, as opposed to 54mm for the sake of consistency and interchangeability in my sculpts, especially detail items). Your comments and criticism are welcome as always.

In the first photo can be seen the things I use to start a figure. There’s a basic armature casting, consisting of only the shoulders and hips, a very basic head that provides the general proportions needed (made intentionally small with little surface detail), and helps position the head during posing. The last item in this shot is a 1/32nd scale figure data card I made for myself because I’m lousy at remembering the lengths used for limbs, spine and height of head from the top of the shoulders. For me it’s much easier to have created this data card, doing the math only once. Not shown in this photo are a pair of feet/boots (I’m using bare feet on this figure), a pair of hands, and the annealed brass wire used for the long bones and spine.

Ray

 

[Ray]

This second photo shows the chest area of the armature being cut from the carrier. It is a much simplified operation cutting parts from a carrier if held firmly in a vice. The vice allows an increase in cutting accuracy unobtainable if the part(s) are attempted to be held in the hand while sawing. With this simple expedient I’m even able to cut completed figures from carriers within a few fractions of a millimeter of, say, the soles of a figures boots. Although I am using a cast armature it is not strictly necessary, the real reason is that I absolutely despise doing anything twice, so find it less arduous to simply cast these repetitive bits, and use them over and over. If you don’t have one available simply form them from putty to the basic shape and size required, little or no actual anatomical detail is necessary at this stage. (an armature made from blobs of putty will be pictured later in this SBS) I might also point out that the armature I am using was made, intentionally undersize allowing for a larger range of body sizes to be made from a single pattern, including in fact figures in 1/35th scale. Underneath the pictured data card there is just visible another made to 1/35th scale, and I’ve got one for 1/48th as well. Of course a 1/48th scale figure requires a much smaller armature and that is to hand as well.

Ray

 

[Ray]

The following photo shows me using the data card to mark the lengths of wire used for the long bones and spine. I just lay a length of annealed brass (more about annealing later) onto the appropriate part of the data card making marks with a pen at the various joints, and where the wire (bone) is to be inserted into the armature forms. When cutting the wire to length after this, make sure and leave enough to cement into the armature forms, and some extra though the feet/boots for grasping later. Once cut, I bend the wire (arms and legs) where I made the marks for each joint. At this point I’m not at all concerned about have the joint bent the correct amount for the pose I am after, only with permanently registering where the bends will be necessary.

Ray

 

[Ray]

In these two photos the torso bits and head are assembled with a wire spine. The first photo shows the curvature of the spin (somewhat exaggerated), with the leg ‘bones’ lying nearby. Though difficult to see in these photographs note that the armature when assembled lies neatly within the confines of the drawings. The second photo shows the armature from the front, also laying on the drawing, this time I’m checking the height, or length of the torso and position of the head. I’m not sure all of this is strictly necessary but it gives me an extra degree of confidence when finally applying putty to the armature, that I’ve gotten the thing right to start with. So in the end, if not necessary these are certainly useful steps in the process and aren’t at all difficult to take.

Now for that promised word on annealing. Especially for purposes of posing the long bones and spine of a figure it is useful to anneal your non-ferrous (brass or copper) wire before use. The reasons for this is that the wire will loose its inherent tendency to develop a memory after each bend, which is then difficult to later remove if a mistake is made or you simply want to alter the bend slightly. The second benefit to annealing is that the wire becomes fairly soft and it becomes easier to make tight or precise bends in it. This increase in softness does not make the wire (unless of a very small gauge) too flexible as to not be usefully rigid. Annealing, for anyone who isn’t familiar with the term, is simply the process of removing the temper left in metal after the manufacturing process, by heating (with a torch, candle or even a stove burner) to a dull red and letting cool naturally. Unless an absolutely straight length of wire is need I find that annealing is almost a necessity, and if not that, at least a useful help in forming non-ferrous metals.

Ray

 

[Ray]

Although I don’t always add the wires that form the long bones of the arms at this early stage, I’ve done so in the next photograph to illustrate its appearance. Again, as with the leg bones and spine I’m checking the attachment of the arm bones against my data card. You’ll notice that there is only a tiny bit of extra wire left at the wrists for attachment of the hands. If I were going to sculpt some hands from scratch, (without a form), I’d pinch the ends of the wire where the hands should be in a pair of pliers to flatten them out, which renders a very thin beginning palm like armature for sculpting the hand to.

Ray

 

[Ray]

The next couple of photos show the armature in what I hope is a convincing and natural pose. This pose isn’t meant to be a suggestion, but only presented as an example of what can be done with an armature made in the way outlined here. Later I will of course need to start putting some flesh, and especially muscle onto these wire bones, but that is a different project entirely and I think might well warrant its own unique SBS. In the mean time as I am going to actually use this armature, please let me know if you find any faults with the pose.

Ray

 

[Ray]

The last photograph is the promised sample figure made using putty chest and hip parts. You can see the similarity between these and the cast bits used on the armature which is the main topic of this SBS. With that anyone with a bit of putty to hand can readily follow along and make their own figure using these techniques, none of which are really new or even unique. Oh, and sorry about the quality of these photo's, I'll be working on improving in future.

Ray

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Interesting, educational and inspiring.
Im still having problems with this step. So I find it very useful.

Thanks for sharing, Ray!

 

[Sambaman]

Ray,
this is great! Keep 'em coming. I really like the fact that we are seeing the pice come together slowly and in detail. I think this will help with questions about specific stumbling blocks for some. Thanks for posting! Can't wait to see it come together!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[quang]

Hello Ray,

SUPER s-b-s. Instructive and helpful. Also, the angling of the right leg is correct and well-observed.

As you've already noticed, the major drawback is the quality of the pictures. They need to be cropped and enlarged (500 pixel-high). Also check out the white balance of your camera as the pics have a distinct yellow cast.

Looking forward to the next step.

Quang

 

[yeo_64]

VERY USEFUL SBS, Ray !!!! Wish I had that to refer to when I first started sculpting a couple of years ago. At least whoever starts now won't have to go through all the "difficulties" that I had experienced !!! Cheers !
Kenneth.

 

[megroot]

I'm with the guys above. Very usefull, very instructive.

Go further with it.

Marc

 

[outrunthedogs]

Hi Ray
Another great SBS. I like the template for the skeleton. Keep up the terrific work!

Len

 

[Ray]

Janne,
I'm glad you find this of some use. If you have any questions about the project or anything I might possibly have overlooked feel free to ask. If I can't provide an adequate explanation I'm sure one of our other friend here on the Planet will be able to provide for my lack.

Kenneth,
I'm absolutely with you brother, wish somewhere someone had made an SBS available to me when I was starting out. Fact is I wish that someone would make an SBS explaining all the other things I still don't quite get, like how in heck does Seo sculpt faces that look just like real people?

Quang,
Thanks for your observations. I've been working on improving the photo quality, spent most of today doing it in fact. The fortunate thing is my camera instructions were adequate for the task, the unfortunate thing is that learning to use the camera properly kept me from sculpting today and made it necessary for me to scrap some photo's I had already taken for the next couple of installments to the SBS.

Jay,
I'm pleased to be of service and hope to 'keep 'em coming' as you say. There are some stumbling blocks remaining to be sure, for I keep tripping over them. Perhaps with some input from the other guys we'll find our way round them.

Len,
Thanks, I'll have to get you one of those data cards sometime, eh?

Marc,
I hope this is of some use and appreciate you remarking on it.

Thanks to all you guys for taking the time to comment, and follow along with this thing. I intend having some of the next steps ready and posted soon, got some new pictures to take and some text to write.


Ray