How I make my armatures

I have found that I can get metal coat hangers cheaper than I can get thick crafting wire,  so I use this for anything that needs to be strong. I use florists wire for more delicate things like wings.

I use metal epoxy putty for all the joins.  It is clean to work with  (if you use gloves) and sets very quickly. Once set it is as strong as if you welded it.

I then use scrunched up tinfoil to fill any large spaces  (like the body of a horse) and use masking tape to hold it in place.

Once I have finished,  I cover it all in masking tape.  This is because my clay will stick to masking tape,  where it will slide on the smooth metal. 

Also, trying to cover tinfoil in clay without the tape is a disaster! You wind up with loads of it poking through the clay, where it's not gripping.  That was a really annoying day,  learning this the hard way.

I would also like to mention that you need to check that you are making it in a pose that will hold well and look natural.  I  look online at pictures of the thing I am trying to make. 

As a rule,  if your armature falls over when you put it down,  then so will your model.  It is possible to change this by the weight of the clay,  but not easily.  It's far easier to get it right at this stage. 

Armatures, why give your model a skeleton?

A armature is an open framework on which a sculpture is moulded with clay or similar material. But why bother with this when sculpting from Fimo?

I  didn't for almost a year.  I could not see of a way I could make them without welding the joints and that would not be safe to do in bed,  like I do my clay.  I  looked on various arts and crafts suppliers and those who sold them wanted ridiculous amounts of money.

There are 2 big drawbacks to not using them;

1) you can't make anything thin and delicate without it almost certainly breaking off.  So, lots of chunky creations.

Since the clay softens a bit in the oven before it does its change over to the hard plastic, you will have the awful situation of watching it fall to pieces. This has happened to me several times and it really smarts. 

I learned to lay out the broken parts and finish their baking.  Once they are cool,  I use raw clay to fix them back together.  You then have to finda way to support it through another bake,  as it will just fall apart again if you put it in the same as you did the first time.

2) if you are making something thick like a model, you have the risk of its core remaining as raw clay. 

The baking process works because when polymer clay is exposed to 110oc,  it changes from a play dough texture to a hard and slightly flexible plastic. If the center dosn't get to 110oc, then it's as stable as a Smartie  (candy covered chocolate). Yes, it's as bad as you are imaging.

I decided to research a way to make them myself.  My savior came in a little red tube with 'Metal epoxy putty' written on the front.  You need to use gloves with it,  as you mix it with your fingers.  It is really clean to use and doesn't have a strong smell. 

I now give most of my creations an armature. My next post will be how I make them.