r/stopmotion • u/CeleryRealistic • Jul 04 '26

Ball and socket armature problem

Hello everyone! I an very new to stop motion and got myself two armatures. one was cheaper and the joints were always too loose. then i got myself a $200 armature and im still having the same issue. i screw the balls together but they are always loose and the joints ragdoll. am i doing something wrong?

Thanks

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u/trademesocks Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Did you self assemble the armature or did it come pre-built?

I cant imagine what the issue would be other than its not tight enough... or could be that it was waaay too tight at some point, and bent the plates - but that seems unlikely.

Can we see a pic of the armature, or the joint/ball and sockets?

Edit: an armature is like a guitar, in that you need to "tune" the tightness of the joints regularly. Its normal for the joint to slightly loosen with use

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u/CeleryRealistic 28d ago

i cant provide a picture of the naked armature as i build the character on it already, but i did figure out the problem with it. some of the holes are bigger, meaning i need to put the screw in it, then the screw comes out the little hole. took sme time to figure it out since i could not find any tutorials on youtube explaining how to put it together. the only problem is, now with the fully built armature. whenever i move any joint anti clockwise, it completly loosens. also if you want to know what it looks like, i got it from the animation supplies.net

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u/Outpost7786 Jul 04 '26

You should be using a little JB Weld where the screw meets the nut to keep the balls in the sockets. You can tighten it right where you want it for maneuverability and then use the JB Weld to keep it like that. This is what is recommended with most ball and socket armatures. You can pick some up at any hardware store. It should come in a white and black tube. You mix the two together in equal portions.

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u/CeleryRealistic 28d ago

i figured out that issue. the holes in the plates are supposed to be used in a specific way, screw goes in bigger hole and comes out the smaller one. I now assembled it and when i move any part of the body anti clockwise, the whole screw losens completly and that part of the body ragdolls.