Armatures: introduction
In the introduction of the course, and in the chapter on essential tools I've already
mentioned the importance of armatures.
They are needed for giving strength to your model and to hold it into shape while baking.
In this chapter I'll show you where to pay attention to when creating armatures for polymer clay models. I'll show some examples for illustration, but for full descriptions on armatures for
humans, dragons, animals, bases, and such, look at the case studies where I show them
as part of the modeling process.
You should consider to give each figure and item you make an armature.
For example, when I create a
book, like an ancient grimore or tome, I create a simple armature for it. I do this by cutting a
piece of styrofoam into shape and covering it with tinfoil. This way I can, after adding
a layer of clay to it, add decorations to the book (ribs on the back, studded pieces on the
corners, and an emblem on the front) without warping the shape of the book itself.
Without an armature it's hard to press the decorations into the unbaked clay without messing up the
shape of the book.
