|
Considering Multiple Purchases?
Here is the info on Combined Shipping, Shipping Time, etc.
a Morezmore Brickhouse™ Steel Wire Armature
for a ONE-PIECE-SCULPTED
8" OOAK fairy or doll
Suitable for sculpted or posable dolls
I finally created the armature listings in response to numerous requests from my buyers. For a longest time I did not have time to make them (it does take a considerable amount of time) and would try to refer my buyers to my online blog (free for clicking), but the requests for an actual physical wire armature kept coming.
What I wrote below resembles a thesis, but if you ever lost a fairy to an armature failure, you would understand why this description is so long. Please, kindly read it prior to buying Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature.
Thank you!
Natasha Red October
The listing includes:
- One armature for a one-piece-sculpted 8" OOAK fairy or doll, constructed of 2 types of galvanized steel wire (17 gauge and 24 gauge). The armature has slight bends in elbows, knees as well as natural spine curve. Included digital copy of Ms. Bones (skeleton) will provide additional help with proportions should you need it.
- 2 oz of Magic Sculpt epoxy putty (Flesh color) for reinforcing and "freezing" the armature in the final pose once you decide what it will be ($3.79 value)
- a digital copy of Morezmore Brickhouse Armature tutorial in PDF format ($9.99 value)
(you will be able make your own - you will need 17 ga steel wire, 24 ga steel wire, wire cutters, flat nose pliers, Magic Sculpt, Ms. Bones printout (digital copy included), brass tubing and mini tubing cutter (if making modules) and about 1 hour of your time)
******************
What is so special about Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature?
-
Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature has a unique 3 piece construction with a three-way pelvic area lock (Pigtail Lock™) that eliminates virtually any kind of moving, rotating, shifting, wobbling, rocking, twisting and fidgeting of wire during sculpting. Armature failure is the number 2 main reason for cracks and breaks in OOAK, underbaking - baking for less than manufacturer-recommended time and/or in less than manufacturer-recommended temperature - being the number 1 reason. Any kind of rotating, shifting, rocking, wobbling, twisting, fidgeting or moving in the armature will cause cracks because the cured polymer clay is NOT bendable. If the armature wire moves, shift or rotates (say in pelvic area or in armpit or in the neck), the cured clay will not accommodate for that movement, it will simply crack.
-
Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature spine and limbs practically comprise of a three-strand braided galvanized steel wire rope: one strand of 17 gauge steel wire ("core") wire with two strands of 24 gauge steel wire going in a criss-cross patern around it, giving it additional multiple-bend resilience and strength (think of the superior strength of a rope compared to the strength of individual rope strands).
-
Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature is made of steel wire - much stronger wire than aluminum wire. Although aluminum wire is softer, easier to work with and nicer on the artist's hands, it breaks off after just a few bends (consider the effort required to break a paper clip). Steel wire withholds multiple bends much more successfully. There is nothing more frustrating than to have the head, an arm or a leg suddenly break off in a half-finished OOAK fairy - been there, done that. In addition, steel wire does not leave gray oxidation marks on hands and clay, like aluminum wire sometimes does. The wire is galvanized - coated in layers of zinc, in other words, the wire has gone through a chemical process to keep it from corroding (rusting, reacting with other materials, etc.).
-
Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature rope-like wire design creates little steel "teeth" throughout the entire length of the spine and limbs that make a stronger grip with a layer of clay or epoxy putty, if the armature is reinforced with Magic Sculpt.
-
Morezmore Brickhouse™ Armature is versatile! - it can be very simple - for one piece doll sculpting and baking (requires a rather advanced level of skill) or can be customized with helpful brass tube modules. This particular listing offers only one module (head module). With additional modules - here is what you can do with the modules:
- sculpt and bake the head separately
- sculpt and bake hands and feet separately
- make your doll stand up on her feet - or one foot - or do a hand-stand, if you like
More about modules can be found here:
example of building and using a Morezmore Modular™ Brickhouse Armature
-
Why bother with Magic Sculpt? Although it is possible to use this armature the way it is, a layer of rock-hard Magic Sculpt epoxy putty makes the armature wire rigid and helps preventing accidental bending of the limb wire under the clay.
Pressure of human hands during normal sculpting process might be enough to accidentally bend even the strongest wire under the clay which might cause stress cracks during baking or after baking in a completed sculpture.
I personally love Magic Sculpt reinforcement and would not sculpt without it. It is not unusual for me to spend 60-100 hours on a sculpt and I love the extra security Magic Sculpt provides during numerous stages of doll-making which require a lot of handling (sometimes rough handling) - sculpting, sanding, wigging, dressing, etc.
This is NOT THE ONLY way to make an armature, this is the MOREZMORE way to make an armature and it works for me. It helped me to solve many of my sculpting problems and I hope it will help you to:
- avoid the areas of overbaked and underbaked clay due to lack of uniformity in thickness - Morezmore Brick House Armature builds bulk in chest, hips and back of the head - the thickest areas - as much as it is necessary for you
- avoid cracks in joints, limbs and neck caused by flexing of the armature under non-flexible baked clay layer
- avoid moonies caused by air trying to escape during the baking process from underneath the floral tape (no floral tape used with this method)
- avoid mistakes in pose, proportions and alignments caused by shifting and moving of armature during sculpting, especially in beginners' hands
- avoid cracks in the neck caused by twisting, rotating and shifting of the "spine" piece of wire, as well as unstable head syndrom
- avoid stress cracks - from repeated minute flexes that one just cannot help causing while sculpting, wigging, painting, dressing, etc.
- avoid clay sliding up and down, left and right, to and fro on the wire while sculpting, even with tape, causing future moonies to develop due to air getting trapped under the shifting layers of clay (with Morezmore Brick House Armature clay adheres to epoxy (or wire "teeth") and stays put
- avoid wax oozing out of floral tape during baking (no tape is used here)
*******************************************************
You can see examples of building and using a similar armature in Red October's Work in Progress blog HERE and in the pictures below.
Other sizes and and types of Morezmore Brickhouse Armature listings might be found HERE
ClicPic Photos copyright © 2005 The Morezmore Estate. Do not use without permission.
|
PLEASE VISIT MOREZMORE GALLERY
|
Back to home page
) 
The Morezmore Estate
Print
Report item
and your 