Create a ball-and-socket armature for stop-motion animation that mimics a skeleton's movement.
Using home computers and digital cameras, a person can create their own stop-motion film. The hardest part of making a stop-motion film is building characters that move easily without being damaged. The secret of a mobile character is the ball-and-socket armature inside the character. The armature is built with rods that have balls on the end that are hooked into sockets, so every joint moves easily in every direction. Making the armature isn't too hard, but it requires time and patience on the part of the artist.
Instructions
Design the Character and Make the Arms and Shoulders
1. Make a drawing of your character on a piece of paper. Draw the character the size that you want the finished stop-motion character to be. This helps you know the size, shape and joints required for your armature. These instructions are for a human character, but the same concepts work for animals, insects and other creatures.
2. Lay the dowel on the paper so the end of the top of the dowel is at the shoulder. The rest of the dowel should be laying on the arm. Mark the dowel with a pencil where the elbow is located, and put the letter A in the center of the marked area without moving it from the drawing. Place a mark where the wrist is located, and put the letter B in the center of the marked area. Put the scissors on the mark at the wrist of section B as if you are cutting a piece of paper, and squeeze the scissors. It won't cut the wood, but should dent it. Turn the dowel to an undented area, and squeeze again. Remove the scissors and break the wood. It should pop at the dented area. Repeat this procedure for the second arm.
3. Taper the ends of the two arm dowels on both sides, using the pencil sharpener. The ends don't need to be sharp, just tapered with a small flat spot on the end.
4. Dent the elbow marks on both pieces of dowel, and break them apart. Pick up a stickpin, and push it into the tapered end of the part A and B dowel pieces. Leave 1/8 inch of pin exposed out of the wood.
5. Clamp one of the part B dowel pieces onto a table clamp, and use the rotary tool with the bit that has a ball shape on the end for cutting the untapered side of the dowel. Cut a round hole large enough to hold one-half of the stickpin's ball top. Repeat this process on the second part B dowel.
6. Keep the second part B dowel in the clamp, and lay the ball into the hole you cut. Prop up the part A dowel so it is laying straight. Paint a thin coating of school glue around the dowel where you cut the hole without getting glue on the hole or the pin from part A. Wrap 1/4-inch paper strips around the ball once, and let it dry for 30 minutes. Remove the dowel from the clamp.
7. Paint glue over the dowel, and wrap it with paper strips. Repeat this, making three layers of paper over the socket created by the paper and hole in the dowel. Place the wrapped dowel on a piece of parchment paper, so it won't stick as it dries. Let it dry overnight. Repeat this process on the second part B dowel.
8. Measure from the right shoulder to the left shoulder, and break two pieces of dowel that size. These are part C. Put one part C into the clamp, so both ends are exposed, and make a half-circle into the dowel near each end.
9. Put the balls on both part A pieces into the half-circles that you cut on the ends of the part C piece, and place the second part C piece on top of the ball. The ball is enclosed in the half-circles, creating a shoulder socket. Coat a strip of paper with glue and wrap it around the two pieces of dowel, 1 inch from the edge to the other side, 1 inch from the edge. Let it dry overnight on parchment paper.
Make the Legs and Hips
10. Make the legs by measuring the dowel from the hip to the knee, and making a mark with the pencil. Measure from the knee to the ankle, and make a mark. Dent the wood with the scissors, and break the wood. Label the parts D and E. Make a second piece the same way.
11. Taper the ends of the two leg dowels on both sides, using the pencil sharpener. The ends don't need to be sharp, just tapered with a small flat spot on the end.
12. Dent the knee marks on both pieces of dowel, and break them apart. Pick up a stickpin, and push it into the tapered end of the part D and E dowel pieces. Leave 1/8 inch of pin exposed out of the wood.
13. Clamp one of the part D dowel pieces onto a table clamp, and use the rotary tool with the bit that has a ball shape on the end for cutting the untapered side of the dowel. Cut a round hole large enough to hold one-half of the stickpin's ball top. Repeat this process on the second part D dowel.
14. Keep the second part D dowel in the clamp, and lay the ball into the hole you cut. Prop up the part E dowel so it is laying straight. Paint a thin coating of school glue around the dowel where you cut the hole without getting glue on the hole or the pin from part E. Wrap 1/4-inch paper strips around the ball once, and let it dry for 30 minutes. Remove the dowel from the clamp.
15. Paint glue over the dowel, and wrap it with paper strips. Repeat this, making three layers of paper over the socket created by the paper and hole in the dowel. Place the wrapped dowel on a piece of parchment paper, so it won't stick as it dries. Let it dry overnight. Repeat this process on the second part D dowel.
16. Measure from the right side of the hip to the left hip, and break two pieces of dowel that size. These are part F. Put one part F into the clamp, so both ends are exposed, and make a half-circle into the dowel near each end. Repeat this on the second piece, and remove it from the clamp.
17.Put the balls on both part E pieces into the half-circles that you cut on the ends of the part F piece, and place the second part F piece on top of the ball. The ball is enclosed in the half-circles, creating a hip socket. Coat a strip of paper with glue and wrap it around the two pieces of dowel, 1 inch from the edge to the other side, 1 inch from the edge. Let it dry overnight on parchment paper.
Making the Spine and Putting the Armature Together
18. Cut a piece of dowel the length from the top of the neck to the bottom of the spine, plus 1/4 inch. Put the dowel into the clamp, and cut a groove into the wood where the shoulders go across, and where the hips go across. Put some glue in the groove, and put the hips and shoulders in place. Coat a strip of paper with glue, and wrap it around the dowels, making a strong bond around each set of dowels. Let it dry overnight on a piece of parchment paper.
19. Push a stickpin into the top of the neck, and put a pin into the bottom of each ankle. Cut four pieces of dowel the length of the foot, and put them into the clamp. Cut a half-circle into one end of each piece. Remove them from the clamp. Put one dowel piece on each side of the right ankle's ball, and wrap the foot area with a strip of paper coated with glue. Do not get any glue on the ball. Repeat this procedure with the second foot. Let it dry overnight on parchment paper.
20. Break off two pieces of dowel the length of the head, and put them in the clamp. Cut a hole into the bottom of each piece near the edge with the rotary tool, and put one dowel piece on each side of the ball on the neck of the armature with the ball in the holes. Wrap paper coated with glue around the two dowel pieces, and let it dry overnight on parchment paper. Once it's dry, your armature is ready.
