Thread: Help Animating My Sam Prop

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Greetings,

I wanted to try to add some animation to my Sam prop this year. I wanted his head to turn left & right, and also have a stabbing motion with his lollipop wielding arm. I have a few vent motors I can use, but in all the applications I have seen, they require a pretty decent length on the crank arms to work. Since Sam is child-sized, there is not a lot of room in his little pvc-framed body to work with. Any suggestions?



Here is a photo of his internal structure.

Rocknrude- I've used a section of dowel rod INSIDE the PVC that connects both shoulders to allow movement and animation to arms. Find a dowel rod with a diameter slightly smaller than the PVC so it can move easily and screw your 90 degree shoulder elbows to the ends of the dowel rod. Then attach a piece of metal or wood to the dowel inside Sam that the motor crank can pull on to raise and lower the arm. I think you should have enough room for that.
You could use the same set-up in the neck to make the head move also. But, It looks like two motors would be needed---one for each movement.
Or, if you only have room for one motor, pick the movement you want most.

Dave thanx for the response. I'm a big fan of your work! Since I'm a noob with working with motors, I had a few questions. Would pvc or wood be a better choice for the rotating "dowel"? The crank on the dowel would be just like a small flat piece of stock, right? And that would attach to a similar piece on the motor?

Thanks for the compliment!
If you are talking about the dowel INSIDE the PVC that would rotate, I would use a wooden dowel. Unless your prop would get wet in the rain (the wood will swell up). But PVC would work just as well.
And, yes, a small piece of flat stock would work as a lever pulled by the motor crank.
I keep trying to figure a way to have the head swivel with the same single motor, but haven't come up with anything yet.

I think I will concentrate on the arm movement for now. What do you think would be a good length for the two crank arms?

Hmmm. Kind of depends on how much movement you want out of the arm.I'd make the motor crank about 3 inches long. then make the lever that moves the arm a bit longer. Then you could adjust where the motor crank attaches to the lever by making new holes. A hole closer to the dowel rod= a lot of movement, move the hole further away=less movement.
(I think I got that right.)
Feel free to PM me if I can help.

I finally got it done! With a lot of helpful advice from Mr DaveintheGrave, I was able to get the arm movement I wanted. I will post pics & hopefully video after 2nite. Dave, thanx again! YOU ROCK!
BTW, As a happy accident or side effect, I got head movement! I guess due to the proximity of the moving parts to the neck joint, the head kinda bobs up & down when the crank is on its upswing!

Great news! I'm glad you got Sam working.
Glad I could help and I'm looking forward to a video.