# Poseable Skeleton Hands.........



## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

I never really liked the way foam and plastic skelly hands looked, so I decided to do something about it ! This might be overkill for some folks, but I'm really picky about stuff like that. I've done this to Barney plastic hand also, but it's a lot harder to do than the hard foam hands.










It's best to number the digits on the hand before starting. This way you don't get confused when reassembling.









Using a razor knife or exacto knife, ect. carefully cut off the numbered digits.










Feed the numbered digits onto a medium gauge piece of wire and attache the digits to the heal of the foam hand by feeding the wire into it.


















Continued on next page......


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

I like to glue the foam digits to the wire after it's put together so the digits don't turn or spin on the wire. Make sure you leave enough space between each digit in order to fill with caulking.



















I like to use Big Stretch caulking.....that sounds kinda obscene ?!? LOL
Fill the gaps with the caulking. you can use an artist brush or sculpting tool to help you get into the gaps. I usually put 2-3 coats of the caulking into the gaps.Make sure you let each coat dry thoroughly ! After the caulking dries, you will be able to pose the hands in a more realistic and creepy pose ! I'm not quite done with these, still need another coat of caulking and then prime and paint.I will post more pics when completely finished. Maybe I'm crazy to go to all this trouble, but I can't help myself !




























More pics :Halloween Forum - bobzilla's Album: Poseable Skeleton hands


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Looks good! I too put a lot of time into the hands. I think it's worth it.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks ! How do you do your skelly hands ?


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

bobzilla said:


> Thanks ! How do you do your skelly hands ?


I use a wire frame to get the shape and then cover with air dry clay. I use MinWax gel stain to finish them with.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

The caulk is a great idea!


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

bobzilla said:


> Thanks ! How do you do your skelly hands ?


How did you make the foam hand to start with?. I like the idea of the flex chaulk to fill in between the bones and I really like that the finger bones have a nice look to them too.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=17038
This is my method for a basic hand shape.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks ! The hands came off a hard foam skelly I got at a flea market. Nice job on your how to hands ! 











Bone Dancer said:


> How did you make the foam hand to start with?. I like the idea of the flex chaulk to fill in between the bones and I really like that the finger bones have a nice look to them too.
> 
> http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=17038
> This is my method for a basic hand shape.


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

Nice job on the hands, they look great. I've always had a problem with making hands look realistic, I'll give this a try, thanks.


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Very nice Bob ... I guess I'm in for a "treat" when it comes time to redo my Barney skeleton hand for my pirate prop ...


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks IMU, everyone !
For the Barney hands it's basically the same process except you'll have to cut the finger digits with a jigsaw or hacksaw and drill holes in each end of the finger digits. Be very careful doing that, they don't call me lefty for nothing ! LOL 
I used a clamp to hold the finger digits in place while drilling them. The ends will burr when cut with the jigsaw, but you can just sand them to get rid of that.
Use a fine tooth blade when cutting. You're definitely in for a "treat", but well worth it ! Here are a few pics of some of my pirates with poseable hands :

Fiddler pirate, foam hands :









Fishing pirate, Barney hands :

















Cannon pirate, Barney hands :









Drinking pirate, foam hands :











IMU said:


> Very nice Bob ... I guess I'm in for a "treat" when it comes time to redo my Barney skeleton hand for my pirate prop ...


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

I didn't realize the Barney hands were solid plastic ... if that is the case, then my hot knife might work better than a saw blade.

I always love seeing those pirate props! Thanks again for the info.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks 
Good idea about the hot knife ! I was wondering if the hands were heated up with a heat gun or in hot water, if you could pose them that way ???



IMU said:


> I didn't realize the Barney hands were solid plastic ... if that is the case, then my hot knife might work better than a saw blade.
> 
> I always love seeing those pirate props! Thanks again for the info.


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## abner135 (May 31, 2009)

Great job, Now to find a skelly for the job


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## ELH Erin Loves Halloween (Feb 19, 2009)

amazing work, now your skelly can give me a peace sign!! Awesome job


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Great idea and great how- to thanks.


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## wraithrat (Jun 19, 2007)

Great job and a fantastic idea. At Rocky Mountain Haunters group a couple of years back I did a make and take similar only we carved our bony phalanges out of 3/8" square balsa wood. Your method will save hours of carving. Thanks for the tip.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks wraithrat, everyone  Let me know how that works for you !



wraithrat said:


> Great job and a fantastic idea. At Rocky Mountain Haunters group a couple of years back I did a make and take similar only we carved our bony phalanges out of 3/8" square balsa wood. Your method will save hours of carving. Thanks for the tip.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

A few pics of the hand in action. I still need to prime and paint .


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Very nice ... for a fellow pirate king!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

OUTSTANDING Bob!! I have never seen BIG STRETCH at my normal caulking hangouts....I need to look elsewhere


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks IMU, Beelce's 
Here is a link to the Big Stretch :http://images.google.com/imgres?img...g&start=18&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&ndsp=18&tbs=isch:1


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Tee hee..he said "caulking"...


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Debbie.....shame on you  LOL



debbie5 said:


> Tee hee..he said "caulking"...


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

That was a good idea. Looks like they came out well.


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## Timpbike (Sep 6, 2014)

Great post


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks


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## craigfly06 (May 11, 2012)

ok. What are Barney Hands????


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

The hands from a Barney skeleton.
Here ya go.....Amazon.com - LifeSize Bargain Basement Barney Halloween Skeleton - Musical Boxes And [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@31nO8KYM3BL



craigfly06 said:


> ok. What are Barney Hands????


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:I love how old threads get resurrected...I had never seen this thread before. WOW! Really cool idea, very nice.


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## Mistress Macabre (Sep 19, 2014)

Thanks for sharing! I've been wondering for quite some time just how to "fix" my skelly's hands. Now I know!


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