# Articulated Wings



## Phil

So Beelce got me thinking and I've been needing some articulated bat wings (who doesn't?). Here is my take on reasonably cheap hinge joints.










Half the joint cut and taped together.










PVC was heated and hinge tapped in place.










Cut from 1/8" X 3/4" aluminum stock and secured with locking nuts (the kind with nylon inserts). This example is going from 3/4" to 1/2" PVC.










The fingers are 3/8" PEX mounted to 1/16" X 1/2" aluminum stock.










Still need to finish and settle on material for the wing membrane. I am surprised at the strength and simplicity of the hinge joint.


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## slightlymad

Nice work


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## Phil

Thanks slightlymad, I appreciate that.
Forgot to give a deep bow to Zombietronix for providing a bat wing calculator in addition to their other free calculators.


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## beelce

Darn Phill that is a great set of wings...NICE hinge system...Now you are making me think....hmmmmm ....wings....wings??!!


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## HalloweenZombie

Ooooh, cool wing skeleton. You've got me thinking too.


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## Phil

Beelce this is all your fault! Ha. I think the hinge will hold up well. Heating the PVC fatigues it a bit so I don't know if it will crack. Thanks for the inspiration.
I continue to waste time trying to make a ball-and-socket joint based on a golf ball and aluminum. If only I had money and talent! Ha!


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## RoxyBlue

Those look great, Phil. Are they fairly lightweight or no?


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## KimilyTheStrange

Wings!!! Woooo Hoooo!! You rock!


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## Bone Dancer

Nicely done. This will be very useful with my dragon project. As far as wing membrane material goes, I have tried weed cloth covered with latex with my winged skellies (see album) but wasnt totally happy with the result. The weed cloth is not transparent enough and you still see the threads. I am trying plain bed sheet material next with a coating of latex and hot glue to make the smaller vein patterns. 
Thanks again for sharing your idea and the pictures.


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## Phil

Roxy they are fairly lightweight, but still large and awkward. If I can I will weigh them after they are finished. Thanks everyone!


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## Spooky1

Those look great Phil. What covering materials are you considering?


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## Phil

Spooky1, I am thinking very sheer and tattered, possibly nylon painted in latex.


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## kprimm

Hey phil nice work, now all you gotta do is get yourself a neck massage motor for around $20 and animate those bad boys.All you gotta do is hook some cable line to each side of the neck massage rotators. As it rotates it pulls the cables and flaps the wings. That would look so cool.


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## Spooklights

What a great idea! Thanks for the how to!


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## MotelSixx

Phil said:


> Roxy they are fairly lightweight, but still large and awkward. If I can I will weigh them after they are finished. Thanks everyone!


A simple way to judge weight is to hold object and step on scale, then step on scale without object and subtract the difference; hope this helps.

Not to mention, Great set of wings!!!!:cheesyvil:


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## Phil

Based on MotelSixx tip, both wings weigh about 2-1/4 pounds. Lighter than expected! The finishing will add some weight but I don't expect it to increase much.
kprimm, originally I didn't consider animating them, but you got me thinking!
Spooklights - thanks!


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## Sickie Ickie

Someone here painted latex on large leaves...elephant ear or rutabaga or something. Gave great vein texture...


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## Lady Nyxie

Nice. Interested in seeing the finished product.


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## The Watcher

I am really glad you did these. They are nice, and light. Would be easy to throw open on a scare crow. I was wondering if you saw the guy that built that Bat prop on here? He did a great job! He used tin foil to get the vein look. It looked really cool.


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## Phil

Bone Dancer -cool winged skellies, very similar to what I am working on, except deer instead of human skeleton.
Sickie - That was Lilly painting the rhubarb leaves and those looked perfect! I don't know if I can pull that with available materials but it is an inspiration.
Thanks Lady Nixie, I am interested in seeing the finished product also - ha.
Watcher I couldn't find the bat prop you mentioned?


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## Phil

Couldn't get the B&S joint out of my head. It works with surprising strength. Aluminum stock, golf ball & carriage bolt, and PVC.


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## Fangs

Your wing frame is a great idea! Wish this would have been here when I built mine for the Scarecrow challenge a while back! Made mine from aluminum tubing for the "bones" and stretched beef netting across them and "painted" them with carpet latex adhesive thinned with water for the "skin". They looked ok, but took a while to actually dry with out being sticky. LOL Wow, I just love your idea! Thank you very much for sharing it!!


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## Bone Dancer

Nice design, you must have a lot of aluminum stock to work with. Hope you make a vid showing the wing in action.


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## Phil

Thanks Fangs. I need to get to the fabric store and figure out what to finish them with.
BD, I have used less than eight linear feet of 1/8"X3/4" and eight feet of 1/16"X3/4" so far. I figure right around $20 in aluminum.
I don't have plans to animate them right off, though it is getting tempting.


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## Silent Requiem

could you go into more detail with the attachment of the fingers? get get a good feel from the pic.


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## Phil

Hi SR, sure thing. The fingers are 3/8" PEX attached to a 6 inch piece of 1/16" X 1/2" aluminum. To keep thing secure and light, I first bent the bottom inch of the aluminum into a "V" to nest the pipe, then I taped the pipe in place. One hole was drilled through the pipe and aluminum so two nylon wire ties could be applied, then a second hole drilled through the opposite end of the aluminum. Here's a picture of the fingers before the wire ties are in.










The wrist is just a piece of 1/8" X 3/4" aluminum bolted to the PVC forearm with a hole drilled through it. Then a bolt though two finger, then through the wrist, and the last three fingers tightened with a self-locking nut.










Hope this makes sense and if you have any questions please ask. Woo Hoo!!


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## DarkLore

Wow...looks like lots of fun. I want to see a video of your golf ball joint in action.


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## Bone Dancer

Please keep us posted on the progress of this project. I been wanting to make a large dragon with a 15 ft wing span, your work on the wings has been alot of help in moving my project along.


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## kprimm

Now i have seen everything! Who would have ever thought about using a golf ball of all things for a joint? That is brilliant and it looks like it works very well.
Great job there phil.


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## beelce

Phil....I love your ball joint work!!!! I can tell that you have been obsessing over the design. I want to see more....thanks


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## Phil

The golf ball idea came from a good friend (and whiskey). I didn't think it would work but couldn't let it go. It needs more friction to be stable in wind, so I will experiment with either holes in the aluminum, or inserting sandpaper or rubber between the aluminum and ball. I appreciate the comments. And beelce - see what you've done to me? Ha.


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## hpropman

very cool, nice wings!


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## fritz42_male

For the wing material how about Tyvek? Tough and light abd used on a lot of commercial Halloween models. I don't know if you can get it in rolls but the disposable white painters all-in-one overalls are made out of it.


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## Phil

OK, the golf ball joint is a time vampire. It just won't hold up the wings fully extended. Understandable, as it is one heckuva lot of leverage. I believe that they can work if precision-built but that ain't my thing. So, hinge joints are installed instead and I have a couple yards of nylon lycra to finish the wings. Started corpsing the body and head but nothing photoworthy yet.


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## hpropman

What is a golf ball joint?


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## Phil

It's this one


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## hpropman

Phil said:


> The golf ball idea came from a good friend (and whiskey). I didn't think it would work but couldn't let it go. It needs more friction to be stable in wind, so I will experiment with either holes in the aluminum, or inserting sandpaper or rubber between the aluminum and ball. I appreciate the comments. And beelce - see what you've done to me? Ha.


what about adding a hose clamp around the aluminum that curves around the golf ball. You should be able to adjust the tension that holds the ball and make it stiffer so that it will not move unless you want it to.


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## Phil

good call - that is exactly what I was thinking for round 2 of me vs. golf ball joint.


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## Phil

Finally had a few hours to get back to the wings. We ended up buying a dark tan swimwear lining (polyester/spandex) material at Joann's for the membrane. It was pricey at $9.99 per yard and we needed two yards, but a trusty 40% coupon knocked off $7.99. 
Tacked it to the wings with hot melt fabric glue then roughly cut it to shape. Final cutting and fatiguing will wait for reattaching the wings to the body.








Laying out the wings on the material.








Glued and rough cut.


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## Bone Dancer

"Hot melt fabric glue" I was unaware that there was a difference in hot glues. Is it a temp difference or what? And did they have it at JoAnn's? Did you find the spandex a better way to go for material then a non streach cotton?
By the way, the wing looks wonderful. Whats the span?


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## Phil

Ack!! I pulled the knothead move of gluing one of the wings backwards! I was even thinking that I need to be sure not to do that and ended up doing it anyway. Thankfully it pulled off, and my dear wife committed to peeling most of the glue off.
Moving forward, here are two more in progress shots with the wings bolted on. I am so glad that the wings can be removed and folded pretty well for storage! This thing got larger than planned.


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## Phil

Bone Dancer said:


> "Hot melt fabric glue" I was unaware that there was a difference in hot glues. Is it a temp difference or what? And did they have it at JoAnn's? Did you find the spandex a better way to go for material then a non streach cotton?
> By the way, the wing looks wonderful. Whats the span?


I think the fabric glue is lower temp and provides longer working time. JoAnn's carries the Aleene's brand. We actually got it for making teeth. 
The spandex seemed like a good choice since the wings articulate. We will see if it was really necessary.
Thanks for the compliment! They span from 7 - 8 foot.


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## RoxyBlue

OMG, Phil, that's a GORGEOUS piece! He's absolutely stunning and the wings are just astounding!

(Can you tell I'm impressed?)


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## hpropman

coming along very well! I can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Phil

Thanks guys!
Here's a peek at the head though it is still in progress.


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## Mr_Chicken

WOW! That's looking great!


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## beelce

Damn nice Phil !!!


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## Albertfish

Very Excelent Wings, cheep way of making a great prop


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## The Watcher

Great looking creature! I really liked the frame, but you have turned it in to something special.


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## BudMan

Looks great so far. For my flying demons, I used tulle (sp?) and latexed it. They are not articulated, but they have the "see thru" look. B4 latex, just QUICKLY hold a lighter below to get the tattered look.


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## BudMan

Was also thinking the same thing with the hose clamp, how'd it work?


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## Bone Dancer

Anymore progress on the dragon an his wings?


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## Phil

Bone Dancer, I should have some photos up next week of the finished project. Wing bones have been corpsed and stained, just need to distress the wing membrane and finish the eyes. But heading to Columbus for a few days first.
Bud Man, gave up on the B&S joint for this project. The wings span 4.5 feet each and droop over time. Will resurrect it for a conventional biped in the future.


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## Uruk-Hai

This is looking amazing!! I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished project. Your wing idea has uses for so many possible props.


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## Phil

*Rey, Bringer of Darkness*

Behold Rey, Bringer of Darkness. I had planned more detail work, but I was working on her with the garage door open and she escaped. My wife caught a few photos before Rey disappeared in the night sky.


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## hpropman

Fabulous I love the talons!


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## RoxyBlue

She is so beautiful, Phil.


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## Bone Dancer

Wonderful work Phil, I like it all.


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## Mr_Chicken

Awesome!


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## Phil

Thanks folks, you are all very kind. 
Things I won't do again Part 1: I thought using an actual deer skeleton would be cool & authentic, but the prep time of bleaching and reassembling the spine was excessive and did not provide a mechanically sound structure. I would use a deer skull again but not the rest.


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## fritz42_male

I've just picked up a skull (think it is a cow) from a friend and can see what you mean - I'll have to put it in a caustic solution today to clean it up (don't want any of those nasty little prions getting at the Tot'ers)

Will post pics this weekend for suggestions.

Rey looks brilliant though - very authentic!


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## Joiseygal

Wow that is awesome work. That will scare the crap of some totters!


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## Phil

Good luck Fritz - cow skulls are huge! And thanks Joiseygal.
Things I won't do again Part 2: I won't cut the wing material to size BEFORE distressing it. The best method I could come up with was burning holes with a heat gun and the lycra contracted as it melted. I ended up having to add material to the abdomen and didn't end up with the effect I was hoping for.


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## Bone Dancer

Thanks for the heads up on the what-not- todo list. That is every bit as important has the how-to list. Thanks again for sharing all you ideas on this project.


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## beelce

Darn Fine work Phil!!!!....This thing is perfect....


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## Phil

Thanks beelce! I don't know about perfect but I guess it could have turned out worse.
BD - thanks for the PMs, they were motivational!
Things I won't do again Part 3: As a result of mistake #2, the wings are not easily detachable from the body. With a nine foot wing span, even folded up she will be a storage problem. 
Also, I should have heated and slightly bent the PVC used for the upper & lower arms about 3-4 inches from the upper ends (shoulder and elbow). The arrow straight line of the PVC pipe does not look natural, and if done in the right direction it would allow the wings to fold up almost completely for storage.


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## Bone Dancer

Thanks Phil, its been great watching the build. And "if" I get to building my dragon next year and I run into a problem your getting a call.


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## Phil

Let me know how I can help BD!
Things I won't do again Part 4: I made her head removable and that helps in storage size. In addition to removable wings, I should have made her tail removable. It takes a beating.


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