BigHank
09-12-2009, 05:12 AM
Hey gang, here's a really nifty way to scratch build fully articulated hands using basic styrene sheet, rod, some brass pin stock and the secret ingredient: fishing hooks! Each hand will cost pennies and after a bit of practice, you can crank 'em out pretty quickly too! I made this demonstration hand in under an hour, including stopping for pics.
Specifically we will be utilizing the eye and part of the shank of the hook. Let's see the materials we'll be using.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1017.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1019.jpg
You can use any type of rod stock you wish for the fingers, square, round, rectangular, etc. It all depends on the look you are going for.
The thin brass rod will be our pins for the joints, going through each finger segment and locking in the eye hook joint.
The particular fish hooks don't really matter, just match the eye hole and the diameter of the pin stock.
The tools are pretty straight forward too, no specialized tools required! Here's a quick rundown on what I used.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1021.jpg
Starting from the top and working down we have a pin vise and very small drill bits, super glue, hobby saw, exacto knife, a couple pliers with cutting surfaces, scribing tool, a square/straight edge, ultra fine sharpie, and some hobby files. Standard stuff that should be in everyone's tool kit.
Alrighty, we have our materials and tools, let's get crackin'! :D
We're gonna start with the hand itself. I cut a square shape out of the styrene sheet, real basic shapes here. I won't be getting into the fancy finish work here for a few reasons.
1. This is primarily aimed at introducing you to using fish hooks in your scratch building.
2. We're focusing on the construction of the hand's basic shape and functional articulation.
3. No need to "mech" it out, the hand (along with a lefty) will be going to a Marvel Legends Thing figure (hence we're only doing three fingers and a thumb).
Take your square hand shape and add another smaller square in a corner. this will be the thumb location. I used a rotary tool and a dental burr tip to remove enough material for the thumb to rest in. It will make more sense later on. You can also see I've plotted where my fingers will be. I put a dot with the sharpie in the front section of the hand where I will eventually install the fingers. We can put the hand aside for now, it's basically ready to go! (See, I told you it was easy!)
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1026.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1005.jpg
For the fingers, I like to do them assembly line style, working on each finger segment first then installing and building the fingers afterward.
We start the fingers by making "crosshairs" on the tip of the finger stock.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1027.jpg
Using our hobby saw, we now saw a slot using one line of the crosshairs as a guide. Take your time and make the cut as centered as you can. This will be where the eye hook goes.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1028.jpg
Using the pin vise and the appropriate drill bit,drill a hole for the brass pin to go into. Use the second line of the crosshairs as a guide to keep you centered.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1031.jpg
Now line the hook's eye up with the holes you just drilled and insert the pin. I then clip the rod stock as flush as you can with the cutters, use the files to file down any brass that sticks out. We are going for totally flush pins here.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1032-1.jpg
Repeat this step for as many finger sections as you need, thumb too. the only difference with the thumb is I like to make one section (the one that will be the base of the thumb) thicker than all the rest. You'll have a nice little collection of links like this!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1033-1.jpg
Now it's time to assemble the hands! I start with the thumb, and construct it completely. Use your own hand as a reference for the way the thumb should move. The first thumb joint moves sideways, so pay attention here! Check the pic and check your hand! The next two thumb sections move forwards and backwards like the fingers.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1006.jpg
Clip the hook off until just enough of the shank is left to be glued into the link before it. The first link will be glued into the hand of course. I like to drill the hole in the tip (for the following joint) of the link before gluing it ino the preceeding joint.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1007.jpg
For the fingers, I like to build them at the same time. By that I mean do all three base links, then all three middle links, and finally all three finger tips. Use your file and file a little material away on the inside of the fingers at each joint, this allows you to snug the links together and still have clearance for posability.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1022.jpg
And that's it!! You've made a fully articulated hand! From here you can add details like armor, spikes, rivets and panel lines if you wish. This one is going to be sculpted with the rocky texture of the Thing! After I build a lefty, Ben Grimm will be fully ready to ring Johnny Storm's neck, fold a car into an origami swan, or the rare (but well documented) occaisions when 'ol blue eyes has to smack a green bitch!:D
Hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial, hopefully your now "hooked" on the possibilities of working with unconventional objects to achieve excellent results!--Big Hank
Ultimate posability!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1011.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1012.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1022.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1008.jpg
Specifically we will be utilizing the eye and part of the shank of the hook. Let's see the materials we'll be using.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1017.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1019.jpg
You can use any type of rod stock you wish for the fingers, square, round, rectangular, etc. It all depends on the look you are going for.
The thin brass rod will be our pins for the joints, going through each finger segment and locking in the eye hook joint.
The particular fish hooks don't really matter, just match the eye hole and the diameter of the pin stock.
The tools are pretty straight forward too, no specialized tools required! Here's a quick rundown on what I used.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1021.jpg
Starting from the top and working down we have a pin vise and very small drill bits, super glue, hobby saw, exacto knife, a couple pliers with cutting surfaces, scribing tool, a square/straight edge, ultra fine sharpie, and some hobby files. Standard stuff that should be in everyone's tool kit.
Alrighty, we have our materials and tools, let's get crackin'! :D
We're gonna start with the hand itself. I cut a square shape out of the styrene sheet, real basic shapes here. I won't be getting into the fancy finish work here for a few reasons.
1. This is primarily aimed at introducing you to using fish hooks in your scratch building.
2. We're focusing on the construction of the hand's basic shape and functional articulation.
3. No need to "mech" it out, the hand (along with a lefty) will be going to a Marvel Legends Thing figure (hence we're only doing three fingers and a thumb).
Take your square hand shape and add another smaller square in a corner. this will be the thumb location. I used a rotary tool and a dental burr tip to remove enough material for the thumb to rest in. It will make more sense later on. You can also see I've plotted where my fingers will be. I put a dot with the sharpie in the front section of the hand where I will eventually install the fingers. We can put the hand aside for now, it's basically ready to go! (See, I told you it was easy!)
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1026.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1005.jpg
For the fingers, I like to do them assembly line style, working on each finger segment first then installing and building the fingers afterward.
We start the fingers by making "crosshairs" on the tip of the finger stock.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1027.jpg
Using our hobby saw, we now saw a slot using one line of the crosshairs as a guide. Take your time and make the cut as centered as you can. This will be where the eye hook goes.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1028.jpg
Using the pin vise and the appropriate drill bit,drill a hole for the brass pin to go into. Use the second line of the crosshairs as a guide to keep you centered.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1031.jpg
Now line the hook's eye up with the holes you just drilled and insert the pin. I then clip the rod stock as flush as you can with the cutters, use the files to file down any brass that sticks out. We are going for totally flush pins here.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1032-1.jpg
Repeat this step for as many finger sections as you need, thumb too. the only difference with the thumb is I like to make one section (the one that will be the base of the thumb) thicker than all the rest. You'll have a nice little collection of links like this!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1033-1.jpg
Now it's time to assemble the hands! I start with the thumb, and construct it completely. Use your own hand as a reference for the way the thumb should move. The first thumb joint moves sideways, so pay attention here! Check the pic and check your hand! The next two thumb sections move forwards and backwards like the fingers.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1006.jpg
Clip the hook off until just enough of the shank is left to be glued into the link before it. The first link will be glued into the hand of course. I like to drill the hole in the tip (for the following joint) of the link before gluing it ino the preceeding joint.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1007.jpg
For the fingers, I like to build them at the same time. By that I mean do all three base links, then all three middle links, and finally all three finger tips. Use your file and file a little material away on the inside of the fingers at each joint, this allows you to snug the links together and still have clearance for posability.
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1022.jpg
And that's it!! You've made a fully articulated hand! From here you can add details like armor, spikes, rivets and panel lines if you wish. This one is going to be sculpted with the rocky texture of the Thing! After I build a lefty, Ben Grimm will be fully ready to ring Johnny Storm's neck, fold a car into an origami swan, or the rare (but well documented) occaisions when 'ol blue eyes has to smack a green bitch!:D
Hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial, hopefully your now "hooked" on the possibilities of working with unconventional objects to achieve excellent results!--Big Hank
Ultimate posability!
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1011.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1012.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1022.jpg
http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m422/hankbig/tricksofthetrade1008.jpg