Carousel-Part 4 Camel and Cat Armatures

Camel armature.

I'm only a little further along on working on the armatures than I was when I posted on last Wednesday.  I have completed the camel armature and I'm working on the cat armature. Creating the armatures on any project can be a slow process, especially if you are working on something really small.  On this project, some of the parts are so small that I am using tweezers to hold onto them long enough to get them taped where I want them.

Cat armature.

The effort put into this part of the project will pay off in the long run, because I will have an armature strong enough to stand up to the damp paper mache'.  A few years ago, I started a project, but did not put enough thought into the strength of the armature.  In the middle of the evening, the whole thing buckled and landed on the floor with a thud.   The project was ruined.  I never did get that project started again.  So now I know to make sure that the armature has enough support for what is to come.  

You might notice that the camel and cat armatures have no tails.  The giraffe armature shown in a previous blog post had neither tail, ears, or horns.  All of those components will be added on later, once the menagerie animals have a couple of layers of paper mache' on them.  If they were on the project at this point, they would be over-sized by the time the final layers of paper mache' were added.

My goal right now is to get the armatures created for the animals before I move on to the next phase.  I want the armatures to be balanced, so that they appear to stand naturally.  That is important at this level.  If the animals are not balanced at this point, when the upright pole is added the animals will not appear to be level in relation to the pole.  In situations where the animal is not level in relation to the pole, people have to make a choice to go back and repair the animal or learn to deal with a pole that is tilted so that the animal appears upright.

The cat is my third armature.  I have a sketch drawn for one more animal.  Once they are complete, I will place them on the carousel to determine whether to stop at four animals or whether I can add a few more by staggering the animals on the carousel platform.  I'll blog more about this as I get to them.  The fourth animal may be complete by my next blog post.  Stay tuned for pictures.