Ok, so i spent quite a while developing this guy as a character but soon realised that he was too flimsy to even support his own weight in a standing pose, let alone for me to be able to pose him for the final animation.
After some internet research (which, in retrospect, i really wish i had done sooner) i found out that the professionals use a metal exoskeleton as a frame to mount the plasticine on. I found some useful DIY instructions on www.instructables.com and set about building my own:
The frame is basically made of lengths of wire, doubled up and twisted using a power drill in order to strengthen it but leaving it relatively malleable. I then added polymer clay (somewhere between mud and plastic(?)) which hardens in the oven, leaving only the joints pose-able. Although you cannot see it in the photo I also glued metal nuts into the feet using epoxy resin so that the figure could be bolted down in order to stay upright.
I then built the character onto the skeleton. I wanted him to look haunting, lonely and alien-esque which i think i achieved rather well and is emphasised by the colour of the plasticine.
I can't take credit for the clothes. I "out-sourced" some of the work to my darling seamstress of a girlfriend. Nifty eh?
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