Cheap Mannequin!!

[hcliffe]

Wanted to show what I was able to do for a mannequin on my low budget.

First, fashion a torso out of chicken wire. Yes, Chicken Wire!!

This was very easy to do. Just get about 40" of the wire by 3 feet wide. Roll it into an oval shape, then bend all the hooks over so they will not catch your uniforms.

Next shape the wire by hand. The best thing about using chicken wire is that you can easily make the torso smaller to to fit small uniforms by simply pushing it in and bending it. Fold over part of the top to form the shoulders, push in the sides to form the waist. You'd be surprised how good you can get this to look with very little effort.

[hcliffe]

Next, you can just squeeze a styrofoam head into the wire at top to make it look good for a hat.

Here is a half mannequin with uniform on it.

[hcliffe]

If you are a little more ambitious, you can go the rest of the way. Build a frame out of 2X4's. It can be as tall as you like. A horizontal board on top for the head to sit on, then attach 2 boards to that to run vertically for the legs. Attach another board at the mid section where the waist would be.

Sorry, forgot to take a picture of this part, but looks basically like this without the dots:


_______
....l ..l
....l ..l
....l ..l
...----
....l ..l
....l ..l
....l ..l

[hcliffe]

Next, put the pants onto the 2X4 legs that you have made. Then the boots. You may have to add some padding for the boots to stay in place.

Slip the chicken wire torso over the top of your frame. Add the head and uniform and you are done!

I was able to complete this project in very little time. Cost is very minimal. The chicken wire was $2.50, the 2X4's are probably about $5, and the head is around $5-$10. So far less than $15, you can have a full sized mannequin!

Here is the final result. He even stands up on his own!

[Christian L]

a really great idea!

christian

[herrgeezer]

Very nice indeed Harry.

[leigh kitchen]

There was a "dummy" design shown in Militaria Magazine about 10 - 15 years ago - make the torso from 4 pieces of 1 x 1 or similar & then bolt on arms & legs etc, the whole thing just swings around at the joints & folds into a flat square, pad it out when used for display.

[Lasse L]

Wow! Thats pretty cool, make some arms with hands to!

[Richard]

Great idea Harry. How do you get the whole thing in balance so that the mannequin stands on its own without tipping over?

Richard V

PS If any of the members start posting about creating women from odds and ends, you need to get out more!

[Demianthedog]

Arm

Just take an old pair of panty hose and stuff the legs with some pillow entrails until they're about the size of arms. Then, cut to desired length and tie off. Stuff into the sleeves for a fuller, more natural look.

I'd probably cover the chicken wire with an old XXLarge T-shirt to protect the tunic.

[Colorado]

I tip my chicken wire hat to you Harry! That is very ingenious.

[BenVK]

Clucking great idea!

[hcliffe]

Thanks for the positive comments guys. Believe it or not, I had to do nothing special to balance this thing out. The 2X4's fit a bit snuggly into the boots and it stood up on it's own right away! Perhaps different sized boots would present a problem.

Next up, another mannequin for my tropical uniform and gear!

[Dave Suter]

In the early days I did the same thing - except that I took it one step further and put paper mache over the chicken wire.

For my tunics with pants I run a 2X4 sideways at the bottom of the shirt form and then attach 1/2" black pipe for the 'legs'.

[hcliffe]

Yes, my original plan was to cover this with paper mache or a T shirt as well. However, now I've gotten lazy. Additionally, if you cover it with paper mache, you will not be able to shape the wire any more. No problem if you plan to keep the same uniform on it, but if you want to put a smaller or larger one on it, you may have some issues.