About SCAMP Armature

SCAMP Just Wire is the easiest and the cheapest armature of all SCAMPs.
Skill Level: Beginner
Suitable for beginners, low movement background puppets and needle-felted posable sculptures.

Tools and Materials:

– about 1 foot of aluminum wire 2.5mm (M00091)
– about 2 foot of aluminum wire 1.5mm (M00456)
– 2 square brass tubes 5/32″, cut 15mm (M01372)
– 4 nylon connectors 10mm (M01517-10)
– 1 nylon connector 15mm (M01517-15)
– 1 nylon connector 25mm (M01517-25)

– hand drill M00136
– ice pick (M00039) for making starting pre-drill holes, widening square tubes
– drill bit 1.5mm, 2.5mm (see morezmore.com)
– JB Weld threadlock epoxy (M01322)
– wire cutters (M00947)
– needle nose pliers (M01046)
– flat nose pliers (M00202)
– hot glue melting pot for thermoplastic (M01218)
– 1 oz thermoplastic (M00402)
– toothpicks for epoxy (M00878)

How to:
1. Prepare a drawing of your puppet (draw or print from internet)
2. Draw the skeleton lines, like this

3. Trace the spine with aluminum wire 2.5mm, bending the wire to follow the curves, from nose to end of tail.
4. Drill the holes in the nylon connectors for the wire with 2.5mm drill bit, see the location of the holes on the photos above:
– 10mm connector for the jaw
– 10mm connector for the ears
– 10mm connector and 25mm for the chest
– 10mm connector for the side rig port, if planning to use the rig
– 10mm connector and 15mm connector for the hips
5. Trace the legs with aluminum wire 1.5mm, doubled (2 strands of 1.5mm wire). Or, one strand of wire for smaller puppets, experiment what works.
6. Make the ears and jaw out of 1.5mm wire
7. Make the side rig port out of a small piece of 2.5mm wire going through the connector, with 5/32″ square tubes, pinched with wire cutters to secure them over the wire.
8. Mix threadlock epoxy and epoxy it all (wait for 12 hours to cure)
9. Make leg “bones” out of thermoplastic (optional)

A question: what is the purpose of nylon connectors and why not just wrap wire around itself.
Answer: If you can wrap the wire in such a way that it does not move around, you can do it. Movement in the armature (any kind of unauthorized twisting, rattling, wiggling) is a problem. The armature should move and bend only where it is supposed to be by design. I found that epoxing the wire is the best way. But epoxy needs something to grip to, other than wire. The connectors are there to set the wires in place and epoxy them dead. These nylon connectors are the cheapest suitable parts I found. Also, they are easily drillable, so it is easy to make custom 2 way, 3 way and so on connectors.

That is it. If something is not quite clear, write to me, I will answer and reword it on this description.