Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A call to arms

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Let the dip-a-thon commence.

16 comments:

Michael Granberry said...

Ha! Those look terrific! I need to go to the store now to stock up on supplies so I can follow in your footsteps. I'm linking you to my blog, too, if that's ok...and the fandom is totally mutual!

Darkmatters said...

Cool... I'll reciprocate on the blog linkage.

Man, I had a hard time getting through to Blogger last night to post this (as well as getting through to leave a comment on Ubatuber Productions' blog).... I ended up tryinmg to post this one twice, and then today both posts showed up! Fortunately only one had a comment, so I deleted the duplicate.

Darkmatters said...

Oh, and one thing to be careful of if you decide to go in and add epoxy putty to smooth the arm contours the way I did.... I'm afraid I limited Cosmo's arm movement... he can only bend 90 degrees at the elbows now! Everyone else seems to be okay.

mefull said...

I hope you have all the proper licenses and permits for that arms factory :-p

Looking good mike, production rolls on!

Shelley Noble said...

Snicker- snort, arms factory--hee.

These look cool, Mike. I bet they'll animate wonderfully. Are you going to add anything to the elbows?

Darkmatters said...

Oh no Mark... no permits at all... this is strictly "under the table" geurilla style.

I think I'll try some 'speriments for Nick's method of building up drip by drip to make knuckles, and maybe elbows too. For that I can probably use the thickener, even though it's all lumpy. Shouldn't matter for such small drips.

UbaTuber said...

I love Nicks 'knuckle-drop' method...I usually add a drop on the opposite side for the palm too, at the base of the thumb...still haven't perfected the fingers, Docs are starting to break :( howz the movement with the armature wire?

Great pic too, the arms factory...

Darkmatters said...

I noticed in your lates pics Doc's fingers look real good. A lot better than these cartoony blob-fingers I'm making! But I think these hands suit the Radke heads... at least I hope they do.

The armature wire fingers seem to be great, atleat so far, though I haven't really tried to bend any finished ones yet. But in the thread-wrapped stage they respond nicely. Just slightly stiff, but still completely flexible (unlike Buster's stubs). I think I could have used even thinner wire though, and will next time. Hey, I gotta do something with all these rolls of thin wire I got trying to determine the sizing used at Mcmaster-Carr!

Anonymous said...

Preeeetty pictuuuure...

(Gawd I'm tired. Been pulling almost 12 hours of work every day. Hands? Today I rebuilt the hands on armature #1 for the third time. Done at last? Knock wood.

But I did finally get around to starting armature #2. Which -- get this -- they'd kinda like done by Thursday. Guh?!? ...Very difficult, but not entirely impossible. And there's a *third* armature job waiting for me (Friday?). That one a six-incher. Smaaaaall joints. Oh my.

Best wishes, Mike & Moes!)

UbaTuber said...

So, Svengali......in other words......its time to hate you now? :D Sounds like your having a blast despite workload issues...

Mike, I'm generally happy with Docs hands but one of them has an awkward space between the two middlest digits, and thats where the first break occurred...the latex is holding it together, and the thin wire is still bendy in the finger itself, it just isnt attached to the armature wire anymore....pain to animate but not impossible....

Darkmatters said...

You want to talk awkward spaces? I'll see your awkward spaces and raise you oddly short or long digits, plus the occasional bizarrely fat finger or misshapen stub to boot! And.... I've got insect legs embedded in some of the arms! There's some kind of tiny fruitfly that apparently likes to land in freshly applied latex, and then can't be removed whole. It always leaves a leg there.

UbaTuber said...

Ahhhhhh the Kamikaze Flying Latex Leg-leaver, boon to effects wizards across the globe....set out a bowl of honey next to your work station, that'll teach 'em! (in theory)....(course everyone knows how difficult it is to teach theory to the Leg-leaver, they'll pay attention for a few seconds and then get that glazed look in their compound eyes, like they're watching you but seeing a giant blob of latex with arms and legs...)

:P

Tennessee Reid said...

Cool Man!,
One thought you might try dipping silicone instead of latex - we at Bix Pix have been using a similar replacement arm technique you are but dipping twice in silicone - no latex. The final skin/ puppet is more pliable and animatable and requires less dipping / drying time.

Darkmatters said...

Nice! Thanks Tennessee! I was originally going to mold and cast the arms in silicone, but I decided against it for the reason that latex is so much easier to paint. I want to try to match those crazy Scott Radke head colors as close as i can. And also because they need to hold little beer mugs and glasses, and I thought that would be much easier with the aid of some fun-tac or stikki wax, whih wouldn't stick to silicone. Though I have considered silicone arms with a thin skin of latex. I know it wouldn't stick to it, but if it was dipped then the latex would "fit like a glove".... couldn't come off. Man, maybe I just need to switch to foam latex.... probably so much more toruble-free in the long run....

And Jeff!
Whoah dude! You're really waxing insectivorousifically pseudophilosophical! Don't try saying that out loud... I just hurt myself trying! I can totally tell you've been burning the midnight animation oil.....

Shelley Noble said...

KNUCKLE HEAD! Knukles knukles. And Bellbows.

UbaTuber said...

Bellbows?! lol :D I pictured a little elbow dressed as a hobbit, Bellbow Baggins of the right arm of the Shire...

Hey Tennessee, loved 'The Answer'...it cracked me up, especially the little 'hmph!' by the egg at the end :)

http://trnorton.com/shorts_page/shorts.html