A Lead Wire and Brass Tube Armature from Vinton Studios

A Will Vinton Brass Tube and Lead Wire Armature

This armature is probably from the late 70's - 90's. Below you can see the back shoulders, and how they were made. The first thing the armature maker probably did here was to solder a T shape out of three brass pieces. The next obvious step would be to drill holes where the arms, neck, and spine connect. Then carefully the designer must have soldered the four brass nuts over the previously drilled holes. Another square tubing is also adhered with solder to create an area for a jumping or flying rig to plug into from the rear of the puppet.

A Will Vinton Brass Tube and Lead Wire Armature Close-Up

One interesting thing is that round tubing was used to make rigid areas of the puppet between all the square connections. To save time, a center punch or nail must have been used to make a dimple in this round tubing. That way no epoxy would be needed to glue the pieces in place. It also appears that just one long piece of wire was used, all the way from the ankle to the hips.

The same system that was used for the shoulders was used to plug in the legs. The hips are in fact just a wide piece of brass stock that had three brass tubes soldered to it. One for the spine connection, and two for the legs.

A Will Vinton Brass Tube and Lead Wire Armature Close-Up of Feet

The feet are just a piece of brass stock with a wedge cut out to accept a wood screw. The screw would hold the feet down on the set securely, but there is no flexibility in the toes. I believe that the ankles have a nut and hex screw, but I did not scrape the clay away to find out.