Sponge and duct-tape were then applied to the double coiled wire for girth. The feet are two small quarter inch magnets afixed using duct-taped. The balance is not as sturdy as I would like at this point but once the boots are put on I will add more weight, either using more magnets or some heavy coins.
Made from Sculpey III, paper, duct-tape and 16 gauge wire. I started with an initial core of a 2″ ball of paper, wrapped in duct-tape. This was secured to the 3″ double coiled wire with a 1.5 inch brass tube for the neck. The exterior of the ball was then covered with Sculpey III and baked for hardness.
Made with double coiled 16 gauge wire, brass tubing and Sculpey III. The brass tubings are insertion points for hands and the head. The Sculpey was placed to strengthen joint areas then the entire armature was baked to make the Sculpey rigid.
The underwire structure is built from two 1″x1″ tin sheet metal. Four small screws make up the joints for fingers and wrist. 2 four inch 20 gauge wires are wrapped around the top two screws, forming the fingers while a 2″ wire is used for the thumb. The wrist is double coiled, approximately 1.5 inches long. After that the entire hand is wrapped in two layers of duct tape. The palm and fingertips were then covered with Sculpey III and then baked for hardness. The problem I’ve come up against is how to join the wrist to the rest of the arm. In the photo there is a quarter inch long brass tube surrounded in sculpey, but this method will not be suitable for stability or the wear and tear of animation.
This went fairly well though I did not solve the smudging problem due to lack of time and patience.
Nearly three hours setting up lights and tweaking the camera and dragon stop to get the exposure and shots I wanted, one hour of shooting, all for nearly one second of animation. This had better be worth it.
These test were done under energy saving GE 60watt bulbs. Needless to say they are not ideal. Plus I should have remembered to set the white balance on my camera.
This is the first half of my background painting for “The Space Rail” short. I fooled around with different liking but have not yet found the best lighting to shoot under yet.
