Claymation figures begin with modeling clay.
Claymation entertainment has been immortalized in films like David and Goliath, Wallace and Gromit, the Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline. Budding filmmakers and enthusiasts can begin making their own claymation epic, starting with making a claymation figure. Creating excellent claymation figures take time, practice and patience.
Instructions
1. Draw a to-scale or actual size drawing of how you want the completed figure to look. Draw the figure from the front, back and side.
2. Purchase aluminum sculpting wire, which is usually available in 1.5 and 3 millimeter diameter versions, among others. Purchase both to use for different parts of the figure and two sizes of thinner wire. Get some different sizes of sculpting mesh, depending on the needs of your figure. This is used to wrap around the wire so the clay will hold and can also be used for hats and clothing. Purchase mineral, linseed or baby oil; molding clay of as many different colors as you need; epoxy adhesive; glass beads the size of the figure's eyes; and any sculpting tools you want to use, such as a clay knife.
3. Gather the wires, wire cutters, a drill and vice to make your armature. Armatures serve as the skeleton of the clay figure. According to the guide on animateclay, "an armature should be strong enough to support the puppet's weight but not to hinder its movement ... to support the bulk of clothing on the puppet. It's better to err on the side of too stiff."
4. Bend or cut the aluminum sculpting wire that will serve as the body of your figure. The 1.5 wire can be used for the arms, while the 3 will be for the legs and torso of the character.
5. Cut several lengths of the 1.5 wire. Fasten one end of these wires together in the chuck of a drill and the other end in a vice. Move the drill so the wires are wound together, keeping a tension on the wire during the process. This stronger wire can be used for the neck and wrist of the figure.
6. Fashion hands and fingers for the figure from the thinner wire. Create a waist using the other thinner wire.
7. Assemble the armature parts. Epoxy adhesive can be used to fasten the wires together.
8. Sculpt the clay into parts of the figure. Start with small bits of clay and go over the armature to create the figure's basic shape.
9. Add smaller bits of clay to round out the figure. Smooth the clay manually with your fingers as you do.
10. Use sculpting tools on the fine detail parts of the figure. Tools help precisely remove bits of unwanted clay.
11. Place eye beads where the figure's eyes will be. Use this as a reference point when sculpting the rest of the face.
12. Dip a small paint brush into your oil. Spread the oil sparingly over imperfections on your figure to make it appear as smooth as possible. Doing this too much will create a mushy clay figurine. Wait for the paint to dry.
