It's been a while since I posted on this blog but I'm still using it for stop motion animations and related stuff........watch this space.

Puppet construction

With clothes

Foam body

Hip view

Sholder ,chest

Thigh and knee close-up

1:6 scale Brass and aluminium puppet with foam build up body.

This construction used the brass pieces from large electric block connectors. The plastic coating is removed from the brass by simply unscrewing the grip screws and pushing out the brass connector.


The picture above shows the original block connectors with a single brass connector removed, the picture also shows the beginnings of a hip section with a wire spine.

The brass connectors are soldered together using standard high temp solder; this creates the bones of the puppet to which the aluminium is passed through to create the joints.

The picture above shows a shoulder section connected to the puppet spine. The arm bones are soldered to flat brass plate at a 60 degree angle to create a shoulder for the wire arm, three further brass connectors are used as bones for the main arm and two connectors are used for the fore arm bones. It is important not to screw these connectors too tight. This will weaken and cause the aluminium wire joints to break.

The puppet skeleton is covered with standard foam used for upholstery.
The basic body shapes are glued together using spray upholstery glue, this drys quickly but can easily be prised apart if access to joints is required.In later builds I have sprayed WD40 oil on the brass connectors and screws so the foam only stick to itself and not the armature.




The picture above shows the foam torso which has been roughly sculpted or melted with an old soldering iron to create chest and stomach muscles which show through the clothing.
The puppet head is a static 1:6 scale sculpt, the eyes and mouth do not move, a post production method using Photoshop CS3 or above is used to create blinking and mouth sync movements.

This method should result in creating a strong but movable puppet for stop motion, joints can fail but the construction allows for replacing wires.
Below shows the finished puppet.


The cost of making this type of human form puppet is approximately £20.00.

My time at a naval school.

I attended The Royal Naval School Verdala , Malta from 1972- 1975, what has this to do with Bond? I here you ask, well the school was lead by none other than a real Commander, "Cdr.Bond", He even wore the uniform to prove it. This picture was taken in the winter time, in summer he wore it in white with shorts!! In a school report he wrote...."Neil is a difficult child who likes to be the centre of attention", I was 8 years old so i guess that makes me the norm then!!

1920 x 1080

Click on the image to see full size

Animation Spec

Quantum of Solace ( Tribute ) is shot at 1920 x 1080 ,16:9 ratio, unfortunately I don't know any sites that will host the completed short at HD definition as the finished uncompressed .avi is big.

The new 1:6 th scale Heckler & Koch UMP9 arrived from the States, looking good with working safety catch!!, got to get some macro shots of this into the short.


Photo taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 fitted with macro adapter.

Focus pull with Panasonic Lumix

I attempted a focus pull with the Panasonic Lunix DMC-FZ50 , I think it worked fine and has a very film look to it.

Real laser light

I was going to do the laser sight for the walther P99 handgun in post but thought it would work better and would be easier fitting a laser light to 1:6 scale gun. The light is not a fibre optic although that would work.

Shooting started

Finally started to shoot a couple of seconds of a cheeky kick , it's been a while since I last animated so the animation isn't as smooth as it can be but I'm happy with the shot as it turned out. I haven't removed the tie down bar or added blinking but here's a sneak peek anyway.

Some setup pics.

Close-up

I’m using a close up filter for some of the shots I wouldn’t call it a lens as such; it only works with the Panasonic Lica lens on wide angle. There is a bit of distortion but I wouldn’t want to get too close to this puppet's head it’s not very flattering.

A very compact set

My studio set is contained in a light tight shed inside the larger studio.Just enough space to work in.

Puppet is Ready

The brass and wire puppet is ready for animating, it can strike quite a pose.

What handgun?

I just can’t decide what handgun My Bond will use. The Bond gun is a Walther PPk or latter P99 or the Beretta , I love the Colt 45 Automatic, not very British or Bond but I just might use my Poetic license for this short and go for the 45 , you’ll just have to wait and see.

Looks like being a choice between these two, i think I'll go with the authentic approach.

Quantum of Solace (tribute) Stop Motion Animation

This blog will follow progress of my 30 second tribute to Bond and in particular Daniel Craig.

Why 30 seconds? , because that's how long the music lasts, which is part of a StopmotionAnimation.com users challenge. I've purchased the head sculpt (which is 1/6th scale) and awaiting it's arrival. I think I'll re paint some parts ,the lips look a bit odd.

The armature will be made from brass/aluminium wire and will be built up with foam. The clothes and shoes are taken from a bond 1/6th figure.

Daniel Craig wouldn't be complete without his Heckler & Koch UMP9 fitted with silencer.