Right then: armatures the dazzler way (not necessarily the 'proper' way...)
tools:
pliers, a ruler, cork (this is from some ikea placemats) and some garden wire.
1. I take off the rubber sleeve of the wire - just cut it with my thumbnail and it slides right off.
2. Fold in half then twist a little loop. It's soft enough to do with my hands; just pinch each end of the bit you want to twist between finger and thumb, then twist.
3. For a chunky figure I then make two loops and fold them back to my twisted bit: make sure they are longer than you will need for the arms.
4. Then twist each one, like so. Once done twist the two ends down to make the body.
5. Measure against the ruler to get the proportions right: for a 35mm the hips are at about 20mm.
6. Fold one leg up and twist, leaving at least a cm at the end, then twist the dangly bit down the other leg. Use the pliers to bend nice sharp angles for the hips and shoulders, and straighten the limbs.
7. Trim each lim with the pliers, then pose. Stick the longer bits beneath the feet into the cork.
done!
8. Ladies are a bit different: we want to keep the limbs thinner. So I start as normal but only make one loop for the arms, and don't twist it together. I just go straight to the body.
9. Then I cut the loop with pliers to make our two arms. Pose the legs as usual, but don't bother doubling up and twisting.
the proportions are essentially the same, but each limb is thinner.
10. Straighten with the pliers. Here I'm bending the feet - you can see it's no special tool, just a regular set of pliers, though I imagine it'd be easier with needle nose pliers.
11. Stick in the cork, and pose. Done!
It's very straightforward. These two took about ten minutes to build, and another ten minutes to pose - though you can take more time over getting it just right. It took me longer to write this post!
Then as you've seen elsewhere in my WIP I'll make the legs first, to 'glue' it to the cork and add a bit more stability. Speaking of which, I did a bit more on the lady's legs:
I hope that proves useful to someone - just let me know if you want more info on any steps.
Oh, and here is the garden wire (a UK link, so sorry if it doesn't work). 100m is enough to do well over 300 figures... I do like a bargain
http://www.diy.com/departments/gard...69_BQ&ef_id=VwhNygAAALdkSsgJ:20160409003314:s
