Do you think that Bionicle figures could be made into armatures. They have ball joints, but they are too loose. Could the joints be tightened for a cheap armature?

What about the wooden figures made for practicing drawing? There are plenty of joints, but they can't support weight and are spring loaded.

If anyone solves these problems please let me know.

Hi there Techno. The wooden mannequins are crap, Don't even waste your time on them. As for the Bionicle figures they could work. The only way I can think to make their plastic joints tighter is to wrap Teflon tape around the ball a few times (if that)  to get a strong joint. This is of-course a "cheap" armature but you can get some of Marc's wire for a fraction of a Bionicole and that can make several armatures. All they require is a little more labor. Hope I helped.

I probably will buy wire from the internet. Aluminum wire is ridiculously expensive at arts and crafts stores. I have been using some steel wire my mother found, but am running out.

manequins suck, they can't bend more than around 30-40 degrees, so they can't run or anything, and the ankles can't support the manequin itself, let alone with stuff on it.

I'd say go with wire + epoxy putty, you know it's always going to work, whereas you could end up spending a lot of money on looking for alternatives, but never really get anywhere

I got a ton of wire from an art supply store for really cheap. I think bulk helps. It was 350ft(I'm trusting that's how much it is) for like around $18.00 plus tax. It was a pretty good deal I guess, I won't have to buy wire for like 30 years at the rate I'm using it now. The thing that costs more is epoxy putty. Make sure you don't get some off-brand, it's not as strong. I got it because I couldn't find anything else, but I'm not really happy with it.

the bionicle stuff is great for robots or cyborgs but not a lot else IMO have you rtied the brass ball joints they sell in RC supply shops and 6.5mm wide by 2.5mm thick palastic strip, they can be used to make armature joints had a few sucsess with them

your best bet is to buy a standard armature from www.animationsupplies.net  they look quite good and i might get one soon

Sorry, but I had forgotten about this post.

I tried putting electical tape on the sockets, and it seemed to really tighten the joints. You guys are right, though, bionicles are very expensive. How can Lego sell these cheap platic blocks for so much? However, I think you can buy cheap individual pieces from one of the Lego sites. I finally bought aluminum wire. It is so much better than springy steel! I have been using epoxy putty too, but it is kind of expensive for my budget. In the future I will use more wood in my armatures to decrease the required amout of putty. (But not popsicle sticks. These will split in half, especially when you are trying to cut a notch in the end with the knife pointed towards your thumb! From now on I will use wire cutters to cut popsicle sticks, if they are absolutely necessary.)