THE BRIDE of ARTICULATION

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

THE BRIDE of ARTICULATION

OK haunters here is another one of those ideas that I had to build, just to get the design out of my head.

Sometimes, wood may not the best choice to build body form, so I wanted to try the "spring tension" system using PVC.

This is the THE BRIDE of ARTICULATION...or...another pose-able body form

and just like the BRIDE of Frankenstein, she is smaller, lighter, cleaner, better designed, and far more pose-able than her predecessor, (The Articulated form). http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=14638

Here is the couple side by side....you can almost hear her hissing at him.

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

I used 1" PVC to build the "bones" for this body

http://zombietronix.com/calculator_biped.php
For the length of the body parts, I have been using the measurements straight from the"bi-ped" calculator at Zombietronix....a very usefull tool

Again, I have been shopping in the chain link fence section at Lowe's, and came up with these nifty little post caps.

I used the same "spring tension" system to bolt the "bones" together and create working hinges / joints

Here is the set-up for the hinge....flat washers and lock washers bolted through the eye holes with a lock nut on the end.

frugalfrightgirl · Jul 24, 2022

beelce said:
I used 1" PVC to build the "bones" for this body

zombietronix.com is for sale | HugeDomains
For the length of the body parts, I have been using the measurements straight from the"bi-ped" calculator at Zombietronix....a very usefull tool

Again, I have been shopping in the chain link fence section at Lowe's, and came up with these nifty little post caps.

I used the same "spring tension" system to bolt the "bones" together and create working hinges / joints

Here is the set-up for the hinge....flat washers and lock washers bolted through the eye holes with a lock nut on the end.

Great idea! I've been looking for a hinge to many of my prop limbs, over the years.

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

I used the drill press to add holes on all 4 sides

The metal fence caps are slightly larger than the PVC, so I used coated deck screws to hold them together.

Pile of bones.

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

The first Articulated Form had 12 hinged joints....The BRIDE has 14 hinged joints and an additional 12 rotation points or "pin and slot joints"

The pin and slot rotators are made with a 1' PVC coupling.
The pin and slot joints were inspired by the an outstanding articulated PVC body by Merlin Calhoun..."Merlin's Figure Armature"...http://www.hauntershangout.com/home/Myarmature.asp

I used a 1/4" guide to cut the slots

I used the miter saw to to carefully slice open a slot in the coupling, and a screw to hold the "bones" together.

Yes, I do use PVC primer and PVC glue.....I want the strongest bond I can get.

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

The coupling is only glued on the un-slotted side....the slotted side is dry fitted so that it can spin.
Do not get any primer on the slotted side, as it will totally bind the rotator...I found this out the hard way.

These screws fit just right in the 1/4" slot....

Here you can see the metal hinges and the PVC rotators

She is very light on her feet and doesn't balance or stand to well on her on, so she gets nailed to the ground.

beelce · Mar 28, 2009

I used extra large nails (spikes) to stake here feet to the ground to keep her standing.

The really cool thing about this prop is that once you have all the spring hinges tightined up, it poses instantly, repeatedly, and stays where you pose it. If the joints are too loose, just tighten them up with 2 wrenches.

Extreme posing is no problem for the Bride, as you can see she's a real drama queen.

FOR A COMPLETE PARTS LIST GO HERE ----- http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=15432&page=4

Draik41895 · Mar 28, 2009

thats realy awesome,usefull too.(i think shes fainting in the last one)

Silent Requiem · Mar 28, 2009

f#$%^& awsome!!!

Spider Rider · Mar 28, 2009

That's some very clever hardware engineering. I never would have guessed chain link fence caps. With this kind of flexibility I'm thinking an army of zombie gymnasts.

pyro · Mar 28, 2009

very nice beelce-- it ,s one of those projects that makes me say ---doh

dave the dead · Mar 28, 2009

Great, great, great! This is a very useful project that I am sure will be copied many times over and over again.

so, the big question of the day.....what was your investment $ into this project?

Sickie Ickie · Mar 28, 2009

Dave took the comment and question right out of my mouth.

I'm especially interested because we have planned a number of zombies this year for the yard.

Haunted Bayou · Mar 28, 2009

Mee three!
This is a fantastic body form. Doesn't look that difficult to put together if you have the tools handy.

This is a very nice how-to. I find most leave out details figuring we would just know what to do.

There will be an army of these really quickly.

RoxyBlue · Mar 28, 2009

Okay, as soon as I saw her, I thought of this (because she's clearly a Lady

):

Mr_Chicken · Mar 28, 2009

Excellent job! The Bride really is a perfected version of her counterpart.

Revenant · Mar 28, 2009

Very sweet design! Yes please a rundown on cost.

Your gal looks like she's bustin' some funky moves in those pix.

Oh yeah... awesome how-to, by the way!

PerfessorEvil · Mar 29, 2009

Are those 1 3/8th rail end cups? How much were they at Lowes? Found these:
http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=196284&CartID=1

Works out to a little less than a buck a piece for 28 of them after shipping. If that's the right part, that's MUCH more affordable than the last version.

ScreamingScarecrow · Mar 29, 2009

Simply put - Very, Very Well Done!!! :jol:

beelce · Mar 29, 2009

Hey everyone...Thanks for the nice comments from all.
OK.....I have been checking my receipts form Lowe's, and I spent more than I remembered.....
Here is the break down....
PVC $17
Hardware...$75.
glue and primer $3

$95. for everything.

HARDWARE was the the budget buster....

ProfessorEvil found this supplier http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/P...96284&CartID=1
for the end caps....looks like that could save a good deal of $..
Also SpectreTTM sent this link for hardware... http://www.boltdepot.com/product.asp...=7&cm=79&cd=78

Looks like we could trim off $10 to $20, if we try hard.

PerfessorEvil · Mar 29, 2009

We were thinking of possibly doing this for a make and take for the CalHauntSNorcal.com group... nice thing about http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=196284 is that mass quantities doesn't seem to add much to the shipping total, so if you were to get, say, 280 pieces, enough for 10 dummies, the price gets as low as $18 per dummy for the caps.

Any chance you can give us measurements of the PVC and the bolt sizes and lengths?

beelce · Mar 29, 2009

RoxyBlue...thanks so much for the theme music...It's perfect...now that's what I hear in my head when I work with the bride...

Devils Chariot · Mar 29, 2009

wow, Great idea! Much better that melting the pvc with a torch, and it really lets you change your mind with the pose.

beelce · Mar 29, 2009

Thanks DC....I actually started to bend her shoulders down a little with a torch, but there is not enough room to do that with the rotators there.

beelce · Mar 29, 2009

Sure PerfE....I can get a list together for everyone...$18 per form is way better than the $40 that I paid for those caps at Lowe's..
Just for the fun of it, I counted 501 separate pieces in this prop.

KimilyTheStrange · Mar 29, 2009

Beelce - Is putting the rotators AT the shoulders doable? Or do you think it would be too much load on the rotator joint if there was any weight in the hand, say a lantern?

Absolutely awesome job!!! I had Merlin's armature build on my list but this seems sooooo much easier to do!! You rock!!

beelce · Mar 29, 2009

Kimily.....There are rotators in her shoulders, and they help her reach upwards, although she is still not able to put her arms up over her head....I am working on an additional "double rotator" idea to fix this...
As far as holding props, don't expect much. She could hold plastic swords or axes or something like that....this body is light weight and I would use other additional support systems to hold any kind of heaver prop...

Thanks so much for the compliments....good luck with your build!

hpropman · Apr 6, 2009

If you eliminate the shoulder and the hip joints and replace them with rotator assemblies coming off the crosses you can eliminate 8 caps, 4 bolts plus the washers and the lock nuts. I would think that it would be just as posable and cost less to make. You would need to add a coupler and a screw between the cross and the elbow between the neck and shoulder and at the base of the spine and the hip joint. BTW the slot can also be made on the drill press using a v block and a stop block to keep the slot straight. once the pipe is on the drill press on the v block with the coupler against a stop block drill through the coupler top wall but not the bottom wall and then rotate the pipe both towards you and away from you to create the slot of any size. I have done this and it works. It may be a little safer then using the chop saw. Alsos I just noticed that the bottom cross can be replaced with a tee they are cheaper than the crosses.

THE BRIDE of ARTICULATION

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