Skeletons On My Worktable

Well, armatures actually, but they serve the same function. I actually finished the man's armature last week but just got the woman's done tonight (without bulking it up yet since I need to wait until the man's partially sculpted before filling her out more).

So, the guy first. I tried using 16 guage wire first but it didn't work because it was too thin. He really needed to have a thicker armature since he's going to be supporting another figure. So I used the 9 guage again, although I think I would've preferred 11.5 guage. Unfortunately, 11.5 guage is very hard to find here for some reason. I'll be ordering some from Dick Blick I guess.

Anyway, I used the 9 guage I'd gotten from Dick Blick--coated aluminum wire. It's very easy to manipulate and, because of the coating, it kind of sticks to itself (similar to waxed thread versus unwaxed) which made it easy to wrap the arm wires around the main torso wire. The reason I know this is I got some uncoated wire from Michael's for the woman's armature which was also 9 guage and it was a lot more difficult to work with because it didn't stick as well.

Well, after much wrapping and bending, adding foil and wrapping in floral tape, I had a passable armature for the feller.

Next was to do a little tweaking on his armature based on some suggestions from the instructor. Just a little adjustment on the back, pinching the shoulders so they're not so thick, and eventually adjusting the head.

The woman's armature followed and was slightly more difficult because of the wire I was using. She came together pretty well though but I can't do any bulking up on her with foil and tape until I've sculpted the man's torso, so this body postion for her is approximate--it'll definitely require adjusting once I've done a little sculpting on the man.

The best thing about doing the woman's armature now was that I could adjust the man's even more. I found I had to raise his left arm a bit and bend his right out a little differently for the pose I want to work. It's coming together nicely, though.

They make such a nice couple, don't you think?