Whilst at Manchester Animation Festival, Animation Toolkit had on display the armature for what looked to be a dragon or winged dinosaur. There looked to be about 15 ball and socket joints in the tail alone, in gradually decreasing sizes, with only marginally fewer in the neck. This was obviously a beautifully made custom armature, far outside of my reach. Even if I adapted an armature kit, purchasing additional joints, the cost would be astronomical. Fortunately, during their presentation, Animation Toolkit mentioned more cost effective ways of constructing armatures, namely twisted wire covered with metal tubing. The exposed wire would form joints. While time consuming, this technique would be far more economical, while allowing me the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the nature of armatures.
Working closely to my design, I proceeded to cut the correct lengths of tubing, before fixing them in place along lengths of twisted wire (three or four strands depending upon the required flexibility of a limb or body part) using JB weld.
There are however large disadvantages to this technique. Joints which bear repeat manipulation and stress can be liable to snap and break, while there may prove to be too much freedom in some joints, as they can bend in any direction without restriction. Also, the springy nature of the wire means that the puppet may bounce back when being posed or animated. It is for this last reason that I attempted to keep the wire malleable, yet strong enough to support the weight of the puppet (fortunately it will only be covered by stuffing and knitting).
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