Making Armatures - Part 2

The "epic" conclusion to how I make armatures.

[@TheGamerZapocalypse]

Thanks for the tips. I especially appreciate the elbow and knee bend, and having the armature end out from the toe...very useful if the heel of the foot will be raised up. I'll be doing these from now on. The slight curve of the armature in places really helps to get a good dynamic pose from the inside out...those subtle tweeks and curves really carry through on the final sculpt. It begins with the bones. My two favorite ones that dial in a good dynamic pose is the clavical/ shoulders being positioned forward or back and higher or lower as well as the neck and head positioning in relation to each other. I would argue that the pose is even more important than the quality of the sculpt because a good pose can make a mediocre sculpt look great, while a great looking sculpt that has no dynamic posing looks worse, Imho. I like using a mechanical caliper for measuring out armatures, ect. but you don't have a flat surface to lay the armature on when using a ruler so it has it's uses. Also, "armature cards" like you made for your Patreon are invaluable to spot check stuff. Thank you for those! I used to use one called "The Scale Card" 1:48 Scale. They are transparent and the pose is static with arms to the side, so not as handy. thescalecard.com/

[@johnkelley9877]

I have learned so much watching your tutorials. I am learning to make 15 mm armatures from your video and it has really helped!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

That's great John! Look forward to seeing what you do.

[@minitzonthesun]

I put a tall mirror in my sculpting studio so I can reference poses and posture. I feel like a weirdo sometimes but there are no windows so it's cool as far as dignity goes, but it helps a ton. HAHAHA holdin a pistol up ready to cap... ready to fire it off. Nice.

[@trashcanhands]

HOW CAN I REFERENCE MY OWN BODY FOR A SWOL BARBARIAN WHEN I'M A BIG FATTY?

[@minitzonthesun]

Brilliant. I love the subtle little bends in the legs to show the natural shape of bones. Nothing in the skeleton is actually straight. You have converted me to keeping the arms attached as part of the armature. I have been leaving them off to sculpt the bodies but I have had more success with seeing correct anatomy when I have the arms there.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

minitzonthesun I've seen other sculptors do it this way as well, but I'm with you. It's much easier to get a whole sense of proportion when all the parts are there.

[@caprikar21]

Another great tutorial, Tom! I've noticed the wood vices you use have what I assume is a layer of procreate and then another layer of green stuff putty along the top. Can you explain the benefits of doing that? Thanks!

[@TomMasonSculptor]

The top layer is actually just green stuff. This particular base happens to have two different layers of green stuff since I had to repair the original green stuff layer. Which brings me to the benefits :) You don't need to have a layer of putty on top of the wood. However, just like cork, the wood can be worn down or get stuck in the putty by constantly sticking figures to it. By putting a layer of putty on the top, the figure has a nice smooth surface to stick to. It can than be easily popped off by working a blade between the base layer and the miniature's feet. If the putty layer does get damaged, it's easily repaired by pressing down a new layer of putty.

[@1STAPPEARANCEHULKED]

This is a question about your merc miniatures. I saw them on your workbench website, and it blew me away how detailed the armored miniatures were. I was wondering how you went about sculpting those specific miniatures, did you sculpt all the armor at once? Or did you sculpt a piece of armor, wait for it to cure, then move on to the next piece.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

The sculpts in my WIP site would all have been sculpted in putty (mostly ProCreate). Certain elements were sculpted at once. For instance, the shoulder pieces and the chest piece of the armor were sculpted individually with most of the details all at once. I try to do that whenever possible because it can save a lot of time. However it can be a challenge to do that when there are so many precise details.

[@seacow910910]

When do you think you could make the next part of adding the next layers :) I love your first 3 parts its very nice compared to some other videos ive seen. would love to see how you add your armor and other items.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Gen Falcon I'm currently showing that in some of the speed sculpt videos that just posted. However it would be good to have more focused videos on the subject as well. Adding it to the list!

[@seacow910910]

cool! I saw some more of the videos just the name changed :)

[@ellencochrane7847]

Hi love it I'm just starting out making mini fairys and mermaids etc this is the size I want to do so your tutorial for the armature is great 👍

[@TomMasonSculptor]

That's awesome! Glad it helped.

[@danisanchez4550]

do you put the miniatures on the wooden holders directly into the oven to cure the clay? or the cork maybe, cause I'got no clue if they'll burn or in what to place the miniatures to cure them, I'm using super sculpey btw.

[@kathryncastanares525]

The wood, yes. Im unsure about cork, but as long as the wood you use has no lacquer or paint or is treated in any way it should be fine. I use little 2- 4 inch blocks of scrap that my husband leaves of 2×4s.lol

[@artsculpture1024]

Thanks for the videos, helpful in my learning. I figure if I can learn to sculpt small it's easier on larger pieces.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

It all works together. Speaking of which, I should try doing a large piece sometime. It's been a LONG time.

[@artsculpture1024]

I have one piece I did that is a head that is about 40" tall. It's on top of my van and will be a waterfall later. It was on top of my last vehicle too and I had a pond and waterfall on it too. Google "vantasticus"

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Haha, WOW that's great looking Scot!

[@artsculpture1024]

Thanks Tom!!

[@KingofCanada22]

Just found your videos, I want to start sculpting a few models for an army idea I have could you explain the different lengths for the armature for women and men? You mentioned that they differ but didn't say what the measurements were. Thanks.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

+Kallon Payne here's a link to my most recent video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5OznH6dq96opK8 In the description below there is a link where you can download Armature Reference cards that have exact dimensions for males and females. Thanks for watching and glad to hear your sculpting!

[@NicoleDSK]

These videos are amazing. Will 25 guage be too big for HO scale? I'm wanting to learn to make figures for an HO set up... buyable figures are like 80% male which makes for a really unrealistic layout, so I want to make a bunch of women for it.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Thanks Nicole! 25 gauge should work for HO scale. But if you fee like your minis are thicker than you want, you might want to try a thinner gauge.

[@bobm672]

Just getting started. Is there a reason you do not solder the arms onto the armatures? Thanks

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Didn’t have a soldering iron at the time. Hahahah!

[@AdamBoyes]

Just trying to teach myself sculpting. So pleased I stumbled across your videos. You explain it really well. I'm going to give it a go. Can I contact you I I struggle? Thanks

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Hi Adam, So glad to have you watching. If you have any questions just post them on here. I answer on here when I can and try to include responses in videos as well so everyone can hear my response. Thanks!

[@ArtWithJonas]

For a female sculpt, what changes do you need to make in the armature? Narrower shoulders and/or wider hips?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

The 2 biggest changes are making female armatures a little shorter and narrowing the shoulders.

[@ArtWithJonas]

Wow, that's pretty simple. Thanks!

[@davidpena8020]

Do you think you can make a resident evil armature female character? That's actually a suggestion.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Possibly. That is the sort of thing I let my Patreon patrons have input on.

[@vivianheeb6550]

is there a difference of putty or clay and which is best

[@TomMasonSculptor]

There is a big difference. Putty cures in 1 or more hours after mixing the 2 parts. Clay will remain soft until it is baked in an oven (I don't recommend sculpting miniatures with air dry clay). Putty is sticky and can adhere to almost anything. It's also very durable. But you're under a time crunch when sculpting. Clay is great because you can take longer to sculpt an area. It's also easier to work the entire figure rather than one small area at a time. Both are great and work well for different things. I will say that Putty is the most versatile and if you plan to convert miniatures as well as sculpt, that is the better one to know how to use.

[@elaineromao9333]

Qual a massa vc usa?

[@TomMasonSculptor]

Kneadatite epoxy putty and FIMO Professional poly clay.

[@J0z3man3]

make a lord of the rings dwarf with a heavy cool armor :D

[@TomMasonSculptor]

J0z31991 That's a good idea. I used to sculpt a LOT of dwarves. It would be nice to do some again.

[@J0z3man3]

but you don't have any video of them or you do? dwarf are kind of my favorite because of that heavy looking armor they look like a tank :D

[@cvharried3572]

Why so small? I barely can see this joker.

[@TomMasonSculptor]

It's called a miniature. HAHAH.