Minor Project armature build

I am massively behind on blog posts recently, so over the next few days i'm just going to stealthily bombard my blog and make it look like its all as and when i've done it! The next couple of posts are going to be armature build. The post below was a sneak peak at my character for minor project.

Above is the armature in production. Made from aluminium wire, shrink wrap and K&S. Filing K&S is easily the most tedious part of making an armature. Its definitely worth taking time making sure all pieces of K&S are filed down to a decent standard in order to avoid wire snapping. I find that if I try and file ALL the pieces i need at once, by the time i get to the last few pieces I couldn't care
less about how well they're filed. I find it easier to 
file pieces and build as I go in order to break it up.

The shrink wrap is also used as an extra layer in between the wire and K&S. Basically allowing the armature to have a slightly longer life before the wire inevitably breaks. Added whilst thicker and heated with a lighter to make it closely hug the wire, shrink wrap will still fit just inside the K&S on either end.

The bottom photo is of the armature I have built next to the bespoke armature from Malvern Armatures. For the sake of the marking criteria, I have to build an armature for this project but my tutors have said that it is ok to animate with a ball and socket one. Check out Malvern armatures for affordable, bespoke, quality armatures.