Making Armatures - Part 1

Part one of two on how to make a 35mm armature. This video will take you through the majority of the process and end at the same time you will need to in order to let the putty cure.
Supplies:
24 gauge steel wire
Ruler
Wire snips
1-2 pairs of flat pliers
Kneadatite or ProCreate putty
In the near future I will be updating www.masonstudios.com with resources and other tools to assist in learning to sculpt.

[@mrspacely5580]

finished my first mini yesterday. thanks :).

[@TomMasonSculptor]

That’s awesome! Congratulations!!!

[@arwenbrimhall3737]

So basically you are “the Wizard of the Coast”‼️ I appreciate you sharing your skill even more now that I know this is your profession. It really helps intermediate sculptors and there’s not a lot of that. I suppose if we get good we could come work for you. Then it is an investment in your craft to teach us how.

[@Snaptocovers2c]

Awesome video. I know we talked about this back at PAX. Great to see the process in action.

[@BlitzKupo]

Hi, Tom. Just a huge "thanks" from this fella in Greece who got into making DnD figs thanks to your videos and actually got decent at it. Seriously, would never have made it without you! It all started from this here video, so I thought it appropriate to leave a comment of gratitude. Cheers for sharing your wonderful art!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Oh wow, that's awesome! This is an oldie but a goodie. So reat to hear from you Dimitris!

[@barbaraness4507]

Hello! Your channel popped up because I was searching for this type of thing of course. I’m so glad I found it because so far I like the way you present making an armature. See I hope to be successful at making mini people for my Christmas village and other projects. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to watching your videos!

[@tree6484]

Just found your channel by searching D&D figure sculpts, thanks for the videos!

[@mopar_dude9227]

I am glad I found this channel. I have been making figures for my 1:64 dioramas, using a similar technique that I just thought up. I got a lot of new techniques that will improve my figures greatly. Look forward to watching more of your videos.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Awesome! Glad the vids have helped.

[@myblacktube1]

Thank you very much for doing these videos mate...thanks to you I have bought some milliput some tools and I already had a load of colour shapers from my artwork...I just got into modelling about 6months ago now I'm retired and I have always fancied having a go at sculpting but never knew where to start...and I noticed a lot of the figures I like to use on dioramas are never in the position I really wanted them to be in...I was a bit disappointed...then I saw how you made it look so easy to make your own figures...it's not as easy as you make it look but I am learning quickly thanks to you...your tuition style is very relaxed and thorough and I find it easy to follow along with you...plus it has given me a completely new hobby to get on with too...so again thank you very much for being so inspiring to the likes of me...all the best Dave

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I love hearing that my videos help others get into this hobby. Some parts are easy and others are hard. I'm happy to be able to pull back the veil and make it more approachable. Keep sculpting!

[@supernova79100]

This is great part 1 and 2, and easy to follow by noobs like me...tks man for the tutorial...greeting from indonesia

[@supernova79100]

And able to makes minis 2 of them yesterday...tks man

[@laudzadermaga9456]

Hey, glad to meet folks from the same country as minee

[@minitzonthesun]

This is a real treat dude. I really appreciate you putting this up. I have been doing the twisty method for a long time now but the current method you use is awesome. Iv'e made about 7 of them for practice and I am finding it easy to keep propotions. I am keeping to the 28-30mm scale but your techniques seem to be good for any scale. Bitchin!!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Yup, they work for anything around this size. Just have to change the dimensions a bit. Looking forward to seeing what you work on next.

[@Josh-gi2no]

Thanks for the guidance. Very thorough, gonna go put it to use with the new tips!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Awesome! Keep sculpting!

[@minitzonthesun]

I have been using 20 gauge copper wire but after watching this I scored a shitload of 22 and 24 copper wire. My dad works for AT&T and he has tons of scrap phone wire in a huge bin. Must be miles of good wire in there waiting to be recycled. Anyway, I like the thinner gauge a lot, seems to help keep proportions when bending and twisting.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Awesome. Yeah I like using thinner wire as it makes it easier to keep elements trim when you need them too. Be careful going too thin with the copper wire or it can bend even after skinning it with putty.

[@pierrelenfestey]

Really nice tutorials, Tom. I'm learning a whole load from them. I'm just a beginner sculptor, but I'm finding that it's possible to solder the arms to the torso and the join is strong, relatively flexible and immediate. Don't know if anyone's been experimenting with this. It also gives the torso and head some extra rigidity.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Awesome Pierre. Thanks for the insight on soldering as well. I'll have to try it sometime.

[@pierrelenfestey]

you'll like it :)

[@Fighka303]

[@renx99]

I would make sure you clean it with soapy water after soldering, to remove any flux that may still be there.. not sure how that would react with the putty.

[@AcornFox]

This feels like one of those things that looks really easy been then learn quickly how many little variables there are lol

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Very astute observation :) I definitely recommend sticking to one size of character (like only humans) until you nail down the proportions. That helps a lot!

[@mystatwo]

Thanks for this great set of videos Tom. I’ve just started this journey with this video because I can’t find any decent figures to use with 72nd scale models. Can you paint the Green Stuff? Or do you always cast them first?

[@davestevenson5365]

Hey Tom Awsome vids man i have been following them thoroughly..... best tutorials available on the net and my skills have improved alot. One problem im from South Africa and i cannot get green stuff or milliput since no one stocks it here, do you maybe know of a substitute i could use or another name i could try. kind regards.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Dave Stevenson the only other substitute I can think of would be ProCreate, but I suppose if you can't find the other two you will have trouble finding ProCreate. Basically any 2-part epoxy putty should work if it's sticky enough. Perhaps there is a local manufacturer that makes something similar. If not, your only choice will be to buy internationally.

[@sebuteo]

+Tom Mason - Hi Tom, thanks for the reply. It's great to hear you'll be doing a video on that aspect of figure sculpting. I'm currently stalled at the stage where I have about 15 armatures and a bunch of wooden bolted bases all ready to go. But I don't want to start until I know how to set the armature in the base! I'd also like to add my vote to Tom Campbell's for stuff in smaller scales. My armatures are all for 20mm figures. PS - I can't see how to reply directly to your comment! (either via Google Chrome or Safari, the alter being the browser I usually use)

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Sebastian Palmer If you're on KZbin there should be a small text that says reply, but no worries, I usually receive notifications on all comments. Thanks for the comments. You'll be all ready to go by the next video.

[@tubezv]

this kind of putty can drying up and get harder? do you have review about sculpting materials?

[@markvincenteguico4084]

Hi Tom! Great tutorials! I'm learning a lot. I think this is the most important part. Would you recommend apoxie sculpt a & b as a substitute for Kneadatite or ProCreate putty?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Thanks Mark. I would not recommend Apoxie Sculpt A & B as a straight up substitute, but I do use it as an adaptive to Kneadatite and ProCreate. Feel free to try it, but in my experience it is WAY to soft to work reliably.

[@markvincenteguico4084]

Thanks Tom! Keep up the good work. Best channel, subscribed.

[@jasonjase8661]

I'm going to try and make a CAD drawing of one and cut it on my industrial laser. When I get it right I could scale it up or down to whatever size I want.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Woah! That’s a cool idea.

[@bobm672]

Just found your videos, they are great. Have you tried soldering the arms on instead of using putty on the armatures? Or is there a reason not to solder? Thanks

[@TomMasonSculptor]

I actually have started using solder for my armatures. It’s especially helpful on smaller minis. It works great if you have the setup and I really should do an updated tutorial showing how to do it.

[@christianlabor5553]

These are the best sculpt tutorials for minis I have seen, but I am not finding a lot about how to make molds for them, especially for white metal as opposed to resin. I wonder if you know of a good video tutorial for that? Not really looking to spin cast, but will be happy to watch a video on it if it also shows how to make a mold from the green-stuff originals.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Christian Labor these are some of my favorite tutorials on mold-making: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4q5eomweNJ7Z5I kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWG0eKSEgrWNgNk They're done by the guy behind ZombieSmith and are extremely informative. What make them even cooler is that he talks about how he built his own spincaster and mold frames!

[@christianlabor5553]

Tom Mason Hehe. Saw those before, but thanks. Rewatching after your comment, I did notice that some of his models were cav, which was one of the things I was curious about. Apparently the trick is to place some stuff under frail bits before closing up the mold to vulcanize. But what I am really trying to find now is more info on RTV, and I will have to be cranking quite a few minis by gravity before I start contemplating building a spin caster. Thanks for the good word though! And again, I really appreciate all the stuff you've put out here for folks.

[@sebuteo]

Hi Tom Since my childhood I've wanted to sculpt miniatures. I did try a few times, around the age of 13/14 (30 years ago!). But the results - cutting into hardened grey Milliput with a scalpel - were pretty rubbish. I just had no idea of how to go about it! I took a break form the world of wargaming for over 20 years, and now I'm getting back into it, and I really want to pursue and fulfil those unfinished ambitions! Your videos have been inspirational and helpful. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and expertise. I have a question for you: can you do a video tutorial on bases? I'm interested in both the bolted wooden bases you use to hold your armatures (I'm already making up my own versions of these at home), but also - and more importantly for me - how you handle the actual flat figure base. Your miniatures appear to have large square bases of a thin layer of what looks like green stuff. Do you have a method for laying that down on the wooden base so that it can be separated and trimmed once the figure's sculpted? Regards Seb

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Sebastian Palmer so glad you're giving sculpting another try. Great question. In fact it's so great i'm going to make it my next video! It will be easier to show than tell to answer your questions so look for that in 2 weeks. If you happen to be online around 10:30pm EST come check out the live stream I'm doing and feel free to ask questions while I sculpt.

[@caprikar21]

Many thanks, Tom. Any thoughts or suggestions for those of us crazy enough to try smaller scales (15 to 18 mm) - would you go with a smaller gauge wire, or would you worry it would be too bendy?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Funny you should mention that. Yes I have a great method for doing smaller scales like 15mm. You can build them the same way but this can create problems depending on the thickness of the wire. I'll put 15mm armature tutorial on my to film list.

[@sebuteo]

+Tom Campbell Hi Tom, I'm seconding your vote for tutorials on smaller scales! Cheers, Seb.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Sebastian Palmer thanks and noted. It will be fun to do some small characters again. I haven't done anything in 15mm since my work on Battle Stations.

[@Metalface123]

Awesome tutorial! I am going to give sculpting a try, got really inspired watching your videos! One question: I cant find 24 (0.5 mm) gauge galvanized steel wire anywhere in my town. The closest to that was 0.7mm , do you think that will be hard to work with?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

That will be thin enough to work with, but it will be a little stiffer to bend.

[@Metalface123]

@@TomMasonSculptor well, i will try it out, got no other real option at the moment. It it Will cost me a bit to get it here and it Will take a while to get it here.

[@Metalface123]

@@TomMasonSculptor could you use brass instead? Or is that a lot softer?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Any wire will work as long as it will hold up to your sculpting.

[@elaineromao9333]

Parabens

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Thanks!

[@ahmedjaber86]

I was messing around with this a few nights ago. By the second armature, I started soldering the wires together instead of twisting them to save time. Is there any reason why that would be a bad idea?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Nope. Soldering works great. I just never had the knowledge to do it. It's so funny you said this as today I just went out and got the materials to solder armatures. Hope to do a full tutorial on it once I'm more proficient at it.

[@anab0lic]

only negative of soldering is i think the fumes are quite toxic.

[@sujikim4945]

Nice work , i will make my own slenderman armature too

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Awesome!

[@peabody2884]

Great stuff. My armature keeps wanting to twist the way the shoulders are twisted. Where did you get that pliers that has exactly 2 mm width?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

I bought them in the jewelers section of Hobby Lobby. You should be able to find something similar in any craft store with those supplies.

[@DemonMage]

Top bone of the leg is the femur and the large bone of the lower leg is the tibia, while the smaller is the fibula.

[@michael6447]

This is an awesome tutorial, but I had a question. Why when you measure your armature do you put it on the inch side of the ruler when the dimension you're using is millimeters? Or was the ruler you were using only metric?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

I had to go back and watch the video to make sure I wasn't crazy. That isn't the inches side of the ruler. That's actually centimeters.

[@1STAPPEARANCEHULKED]

Hey tom, I was wondering why you would have to measure 110 mm and 60 mm for the 2 wires in the beginning? Couldn't I just snip a long wire and a short wire without measuring exactly 110 mm and 60 mm? Thanks.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Absolutely. The key to remember is make sure you have more wire than you need. That way if limbs need to get longer you don’t have to create and all new armature.

[@1STAPPEARANCEHULKED]

Thank you bro.

[@dand2412]

How do you work out the measurements required to do 28mm? Tried searching all over but can't rind out the info I need

[@TomMasonSculptor]

It's to complicated to explain on here. In the description of one of my videos, there should be a link to some armature reference cards I made that will be of help. Ah, just found the link (cause I'm awesome, considerate and humble): kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5OznH6dq96opK8

[@GypsyPaz]

What if you twisted two loops for the head, then branch the arms off from that? You would need to twist all the way from the head to the chest. And you would need to make sure your twist is tight enough to not wiggle loose over time. But if my theory works, you could could go straight to posing and boneing and save that first three hour cure time.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Yup, that can work. I actually used to do it that way, but I found I could make more armatures quicker if I did a bunch of armatures like this and let them cure at once.

[@imranmalzian1954]

Besides using procreate. What clay should i choose??

[@TomMasonSculptor]

The putties and clays I like to use besides ProCreate are Kneadatite (Greenstuff), Aves Apoxie Sculpt, FIMO Professional, and BeesPutty.

[@PossumMedic]

Back for a recap! :D

[@PossumMedic]

I always loose the paper I write these sizes down on and have to come watch the vid again! xD

[@frankymontens]

are there charts available for other scales like 28, 32, 54 etc, love this vids dude

[@TomMasonSculptor]

I have some scale reference cards I'm working on and will post them to my website as soon as they are ready. Thanks for the comments!

[@canuckotter]

Tom Mason Just to be annoying... :) By any chance have you had an opportunity to create these reference cards?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Chris Salter BAH! I have not yet, but I think I can get them up this week. Thanks for the reminder Chris.

[@canuckotter]

Thanks Tom! :)

[@frankymontens]

+Tom Mason hi Tom, did you have time to put up the chart for 28mmn thx, love your work Greetings from Belgium Franky

[@NinjaGamer1999]

Hi, I am a first time sculptor and have already done some... terrible attempts at scultping and was wondering if this tutorial works with 15mm miniatures. I've already created an adorable mini armature but don't want to continue if the rest of the tutorial doesn't support 15mm size. Thanks if you respond!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+lil_misfit you can create a 15mm armature this way, however it can be a little bulky. I have a different way of making armatures for smaller scales. I would suggest continuing with what you have in order to get practice. With that said, there will be a 15mm miniature tutorial coming soon.

[@NinjaGamer1999]

Okay cool. Thanks for the reply!

[@NinjaGamer1999]

+Tom Mason Okay So I have another question... Do you have any tips for sculpting robots? I'm trying to sculpt the B1 Battle Droid that is in star wars but if you look at them they are very thin almost WIRE thin. I've gone to 28mm in size and when I get "good" I'll return to 15mm. (You were right, they turned out bulky and it was hard to get detail.) If you could maybe tell me how to get the "thin" look of them that would be great!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+lil_misfit you can get pretty thin on 15mm with enough practice but you will inevitably have to sculpt it a little thicker in proportion just to make it castable. The number one tip I can give you to sculpt thinner is to only use putty (either Green Stuff or ProCreate). When you have to add Fimo on top of a layer of putty it's nearly impossible to keep it super thin on smaller parts. You'll see this illustrated in my tutorial on 15mm miniatures.

[@NinjaGamer1999]

Okay thank you!

[@MANOFKENT149]

Where did you get the putty containers(joined together) from?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Those are bead containers. You can find them at any craft store that sells beading supplies.

[@mariacarmemdepaiva125]

Hi, Tom, awsome tutorials. I´m learning so much, but may i ask you to add subtitles? I am from Brasil and my English is not so good to understand you in all.Please? thanks, hugs.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Hey Maria. Thanks for watching and I’m glad the vids help. As far as subtitles, I’m so busy sculpting and making videos that there is little time for subtitles. If there is a way to add automated subtitles I would love to do that.

[@joeynuggetz]

Tom, do you have a spreadsheet or something for figuring out proportions? The human anatomy proportions calculator online doesn't include measurements for hip width and I'm trying to figure out how to make an armature for a 100mm figure.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Do you have the ability to scale up a picture of a body or skeleton on the computer? I would try to do that and print it out to the 100mm size.

[@AshBlat]

is the wire you use 0.5mm?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Yes. I used 24 gauge galvanized steel wire which is about 0,5mm.

[@elaineromao9333]

Qual massa vc usa?E está régua onde posso comprar?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

I am using Kneadatite putty during this stage. I can't remember where I purchased this specific ruler, but there are similar ones here: contenti.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=ruler

[@leoroam2770]

is it male and female. wire steel bodies?

[@davidcollins2648]

Makes sense to make the woman's hips slightly wider - as nature intended

[@edwardcornett9431]

Does the armature wire have to be galvanized steel wire? Anyone?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Nope, you can use any metal wire as long as it feel stable enough for you. I just use galvanized.

[@iracys.4908]

Qual é esse arame, usei de soda e quebrou rs!?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

24 gauge galvanized steel wire.

[@evancurliss3236]

Instead of putty would polymer clay work (after bakeing of course)

[@pocketpj2722]

So uhhh some people need captions, im having a hard time watching this without being able to read whats being said.. there isnt even an auto genersted caption option :/

[@brettroe8302]

Hi tom thanks so much for all the amazing videos learned so much from you! Never been particularly artistic or anything but always loved miniature games, thought I'd give it a go, anyway after my 4th attempt I finally managed a half decent armature. Tomorrow I'm going to make a bunch more and then move onto the next stage! Couldn't get on with the fimo at all so sticking with green stuff for the time being until I get the hang of it a little more. Used the fimo to make a stand as I didn't have any wood handy lol works well anyway here's a little video of it. Would love to see some videos on hair and fur and how to make a miniature that comes apart! Thanks again! m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJSqe6Z-l7N3kKs

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+brett roe that's great! Glad to hear your enthusiasm and to see that you are charging forward. It's the only real way to get better. Those are some GREAT ideas for tutorials. I'm actually just about to record on on hair and I can't believe I never thought of doing one on parting a mini. Definitely going on the list. Thanks for watching and keep it up!

[@brettroe8302]

Thanks! About to get a few more armatures prepped and ready. Actually got an idea in mind for a board game, kind of like a post apocalyptic dnd but doesn't need a dungeon master, just in the "brain dump" phase of writing the rules down at the moment hopefully this time next year it'll be polished and ready for kick starter or somewhere like that! Any ways thanks for the reply and looking forward to seeing your up coming videos!

[@medoragarcia1408]

falta traducirlo al español

[@TomMasonSculptor]

HA! I couldn't resist translating :)

[@guillermorojas2829]

Traductor Español

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Is that what you do?

[@leoroam2770]

These wire armatures aren't hard to make ,the really hard work is to sculpt,i think so

[@tedlanz5038]

Soldering the wires together may not be the best solution if you are using polymer clay as a medium because it needs to be baked and the solder might come while in the oven.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

That’s a valid concern, but I can tell you from experience that the sculpt hold up in the oven as well as being vulcanized. Having the initial putty layer helps give additional support as well.

[@fireanduril]

Why is there a Ukrainian flag in the bottom right hand corner?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Haha, I assure you that is only a coincidence. It is actually the blue and yellow strip of kneadatite “greenstuff” that is so iconic in sculpting minis.