Ball Jointed Wing Armature Sketches

not sure if anyone can understand my notes, but these are my rough sketches and notes i use for working out an elasticated ball jointed armature for posable bird art dolls.
i decided to go with this kind of armature instead of a wire armature to give the wings rigidity where needed, i.e. the bones, but flexibility and realistic movement. the "bones" are made from plastic piping (i use these kind of things [link] they are snap on pipe covers, like a sheet of plastic rolled up, which i can then tighten by curling them up more until they are the right size for whatever i am using them for. however, if you can find solid piping that is the right size and is strong enough, you can use that, or you could make your "bones" like a traditional ball jointed doll).
by including the velcro slot the armature can be removed and given maintenance very easily. the use of fee floating ball joints, i.e. not attached to either pipe on the joint, means that they can also be replaced easily if needed. my balls are made form sculpey firm [link] for durability.
the drawings of the hole shapes are for reverence only and some adjustment is needed when actually making in order for the wings to work how you want them to work.
the holes and semi spheres in the side of the back plate box give rotation to the wing for better realism. the box is also make from sculpey firm, reinfored with foil or wire mesh inside. the fabric pouch inside the body, stitched to the back fabric, holds the box, and therefore the wing armature in place.
the strength of elastic you go for will depend of the size wings you are making, and how tight you make them is a personal choice. very tight and the wings will snap back into a folded position when you pull them open, which you might like on your bird, very loose and the wings will hang fully open.

this is just my method and i am constantly adjusting things to make improvements. i am by no means an expert in traditional ball jointed dolls and the methods i use have been developed after reading numerous tutorials and studying many images.

some of the tutorials i have read and found useful :

*Deskleaves this is the first part, the rest are linked in the description.
~scargeear
*batchix
~twigling [link] this requires your name and email address and then the download will start. it is completely free and definitely worth it. is is a pdf file. the link will take you off deviantart.
~kagen-no-tsuki this one is on re-stringing but the information is good for initial stringing too.

if you do use this, it would be great to see your results. if you have any questions, feel free to ask them, but remember i am no expert and i might not be able to help.