So I had an idea, but wanted to know how practical it would be.

[Wax n' Wane 103]

Hullo, plush artists, veteran and novice alike!

 

For the record, I'm not a plushie maker, but I had an idea that was born from a friend's discussion in material engineering.

 

We all know that plushies are soft, fluffy, fuzzy, and just plain hug-able.  However, because of this, they only have a vague rigidness, making it harder for them to be displayed anywhere else but a shelf.

 

Remember my friend in material engineering?  Here's where that comes in.

 

I had an idea: what if plushies had a kind of "skeleton"?  Now, when I say this, I mean a skeleton in the loosest terms, being a frame that has give to allow for flexibility.  Needless to say, the first idea I had was "laminated wire" for the material.  However, most metals for wire then to succumb easily to material fatigue, thus making the plushie fall back to the original problem it had in the first place.

 

As for the application of such a skeleton, this would make the legs pose-able, such as folding the legs to make a "ponyloaf" position,

 

I was wondering- how practical, if at all, is making such a skeleton when it comes to making plushies?

 

Thanks,

 

-Wane

Edited March 22, 2016 by Wax n' Wane

[Overlord0909 479]

Now, I'm no plushie maker, so forgive me for speaking out of profession, but I think I get what you're saying none to less. Perhaps if the frame wasn't metal persay, but a hard rubber or soft plastic. Perhaps even a soft wood (built obviously in a spinal fashion). I don't know, but as long as it was covered with enough fluff, it can still be hug-able. Really just my thoughts, you can skip this post at will.

 

Plus, I just didn't want you to not get any replies.

[Nervous Stitch 813]

Fun topic!

 

 

A lot of larger plushies do have skeletons, but not ones that allow for such movement, as far as I know. Few different types of things come to mind!

 

Once you hit a certain threshold of size, fabric and stuffing kind of collapse upon themselves and have trouble creating natural support. One of my favorite examples of a "skeleton" is from Nazegoreng, who used to have a journal stepping through her process of assemblage...inside the plush is a static PVC pipe skeleton for support. Super cool, but doesn't really get the motion you're speaking about.

 

Aside from wire (which you hit right on the head with material fatigue), a mix of the idea of Ball-Jointed Dolls and teddy bears could create a fairly functional skeleton. A well stuffed plush is fairly strong, and could be a "bone" - the only issue you'd have is with joints. Using the concept of ball and socket joints from BJDs (although, I've not seen a ball and socket joint meant for that use..not entirely sure how you'd implement it!) and cotter pin joints from teddy bears (spinny joints, easy to use) you could create a fairly functional skeleton.

 

Only huge issue I see presenting itself is the lack of stretch surrounding ball and socket joints...like if you've ever had a look at knees and elbows, all that flappy skin allows for the bend...and flappy plushie skin might look worse than knees. 

[Fhaolan 4,483]

Actually, skeleton posable 'dolls' aren't unheard of. They tend to be not... cuddleable though, due to what Stitch said about the stuffing material bunching up and making the possibility rather limited. So the 'plush' dolls that are posable tend to have relatively thin padding. They're still vaguely soft, but you can tell there's a hard surface under there.

 

The best ones I've see were *hideously* expensive as they had multiple layers. A thin steel ball-and-joint setup, with each joint having a special viscous sac around it so the material can move around the joint as it moves while still maintaining 'density' and keeping the stuffing itself away from the joint. Then they usually had a couple of layers of fabric with different densities of stuffing in them to retain the flexibility involved.

 

I've not seen anyone try to do MLP plushies using this, because these are things that would retain in the *thousands* of dollars range. They're more experiments done by high-end custom art dollmakers for pushing the limits of the form.

[Wax n' Wane 103]

*whistles*

 

I actually didn't realize the larger plushies had skeletons already.  It does explain alot though- the weight of various limbs and would cause some terrible sag.

 

@Overlord0909

We considered the idea of rubbers and plastics, but they also succumb to fatigue.  Theoretically, even faster than metal.  However, the wooden joints tie into the other two insights. 

 

@Nervous_Stitch

I do like the idea of ball-socket joints; I figured those are the easier to make, but you brought up a good point- the area around the joint would have to stretch each time it was bent, causing the material to sag (or even rip) over time.

 

@Fhaolan

I didn't think that such joints were already used in dolls and plushies.  And such advanced (if not, complex) joint systems at that.  It's a pity the stable structure of those joints make the end result not-so-cuddly.

 

 

Thank you guys for your time and insights.

[Teavvi 627]

Cute and 20% cooler topic!!!!