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Ribs, Arms and Skull Assembly
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MATERIALS NEEDED:
3/4" diameter PVC pipe (4 ft.) Pool Noodle
1/2" diameter PVC pipe (3 ft.) Elmer's glue.
(2) 45 degree 3/4" PVC connectors. Paper Towels.
(2) 1/2 "PVC" T" connectors. White latex house paint.
3/4 " diameter wooden dowel rod. Masking Tape.
3/8" diameter clear tubing (25 ft.) (2) #8 x 3/4" screws.
(2) Arm bones from a blow-mold skeleton. (2) #8 Nuts.
Coat Hangers. (2) #8 Flat Washers.
Rigid Wrap plaster cloth product. (2) #8 Lock Washers.
(2) 3 inch long #8 screws and nuts.
Small piece of 1/2" flexible tubing.
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RIB CAGE
Cut a piece of ¾” PVC 14” long for a backbone. Drill 9 to 10 small holes thru the side of it at approximately one to one and a half inches apart. Place the PVC section on top of the motor, against the wood (piece F). Mark two spots where holes can be drilled for mounting bolts to go through PVC. Drill the two mounting holes approx.3/16” diameter all the way thru the PVC. Replace PVC on top of motor and mark the mounting holes on Piece F to drill. Drill the two holes in Piece F and slide two #8 bolts or screws (about 3” long) through the holes from opposite side of board. I then added ½” spacers to the bolts in order to center the backbone. Mount backbone on bolts and secure it temporarily with nuts. Slide lengths of coat hanger wire through small holes and bend each side up and then around and curve under to make each rib (see picture M).
It takes some patience to get the overall shape of a rib cage. Take your time.
To give each rib some thickness I slid sections of 3/8” clear tubing over each rib.
Paper mache the whole rib cage. I used cheapo paper towels and a mixture of one part Elmer’s glue to two parts water for mache mixture. Paint it with two coats of white latex house paint.
Arms/Hands
The easiest way to make the arms is to use the upper and lower arm pieces of a cheap blow-mold skeleton. For my version I used a blow-mold for the upper arm only. Cut a slot in each end of the bone and slide it on to the left metal stock arm.( After coating it with paper mache and latex paint.) Leave about two inches of metal at the “elbow” for space to attach the lower arm. I use a short length of ½” diameter PVC and a T-connector for the lower arm (see picture N). I used various sized wads of masking tape to make the
T-connector more rounded on the edges. Leave the rear hole in the T-connector open in order to put on the nut to hold the lower arm in place. I also added the extra bone beside the main PVC bone to make it more realistic (used the white cardboard tube from a coat hanger for extra bone).
For the hands I used coat hanger wire to shape the fingers and added wads of masking tape for knuckles. Then covered the fingers in more tape (see picture O). Once that is done either tape the hand to the PVC section or cut a slot in the end of the PVC “wrist” and slide the hand section in place. Again, paper mache the lower arm and cover with two coats of white latex paint.
Drill an 11/64” hole in the center of the bottom of the T-connector. Drill a matching hole in the elbow area of the upper arm metal stock piece. Use a #8 x ¾” screw to attach the lower arm to the upper arm. Insert screw from the bottom, into the T-connector, then use pliers to add a flat washer, lock washer and nut. Tighten it all down.
Repeat procedure for right arm.
Spine Extension
I used a short length of ½” flexible tubing and some pool noodles sections to make a spine extension for the lower end of the rib cage. Slide the pool noodle sections on to the tubing and use an exacto blade to shape each vertebrae piece (see picture P). Paper mache the spine and paint with the same white latex paint. Slide one end of the spine into the lower end of th rib cage PVC, drill a small hole and secure it in place with a screw.
Skull
I used a full size plastic skull and covered it with plaster/cloth material called “rigid wrap” to make a copy of it (see picture Q). After it dried, use an exacto to slice over the top of the skull (from ear to ear) in order to easily remove the skull copy from the plastic one. After removing the two halves use some more strips of rigid wrap to fuse them back together into a complete skull. Later, paint the whole thing with white latex paint and after it dries use various colors of acrylic paint to color the eye sockets, nose, teeth and any other highlights you desire. If you want the skeleton’s mouth to be open – slice off the lower jaw (between upper and lower teeth) replace it in open position on the upper skull part and use thin wire to secure it on each side. Then add more rigid wrap at each joint (see picture R).
Neck
Cut a section of ¾ “ PVC about 8” in length for a neck. Use a 45 degree angle PVC connector on the top end of the rib cage PVC pipe to connect the neck piece. Make two or three neck vertebrae out of pool noodle material just like the spine vertebrae, but smaller. Slide these on the neck. Paper mache and paint the neck assembly. Test fit skull onto neck to see if neck piece needs to be shortened.
Final Assembly
Mount rib cage on Piece F using the previously installed 3” bolts. Secure tightly in place with nuts. Attach neck to top end of rib cage. Cut a 5 inch piece of ¾” wooden dowel rod and mount it inside the skull, using a wood screw on the outside of the skull to secure it. Attach skull to neck by sliding the dowel rod into the ¾” PVC neck. Use a wireless remote control to power the skeleton or just use an extension cord with a light switch installed in the middle of it.
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