How to Make a Posable Army Man/Woman

A posable arm man based upon seamster's concept. https://www.instructables.com/id/Poseable-Army-Men/

I have had so much fun playing with these as they are, that I haven't bothered to add a base stand.  These directions have the option to add hair and then cut it how you like.  I made one with really long hair for my daughter so she could braid it.  My wife cut hers short and colored it.  These guys can do pushups, head stands, yoga poses - you name it.  Let your imagination go.  I have yet to break the wire in my first prototype and it has had a real workout.

You will need about 67" of Paracord and 22 gauge wire, scissors, wire cutters, ruler and a lighter.

There are more accessories to come, since my mind has gone wild with ideas for embellishment.

Cut two pieces of paracord, one 22” and the other 45”. Remove the center strands and save for optional hair. Cut two pieces of 22 gauge wire the same lengths.

Use a lighter to melt one end of each paracord outer sheathing and insert the corresponding length of wire in the center. Stretch the paracord along the wire and melt the other end of the paracord sealing the wire inside. Fold each length in half to find the center.

Wrap the 45” piece around the 22” piece, overlapping at the centers, to form the head. Wrap the right side 5 times and the left side 5 times. There should be a total of 10 wraps between the two long pieces (pieces pointing up in the first picture.)

You can optionally add in hair in step 3. Take the 22” center strands and cut them in half. A good amount is 6 groups of 5 strands each. This will leave two wraps without hair on each side of the head. Fold a group of 5 in half and put those in the first wrap. Do two more on the right side and then three more on the left side. Use a little CA glue at the roots to hold the hair in place.

Fold the head around and shape. Overlap pieces as shown. Then weave the four pieces together. Be sure to keep the head tight, so the head wraps meet in the center. When finished, the shorter pieces should be on top with the longer pieces on the bottom.

Fold the top short pieces back on themselves as shown. Wrap the long pieces around the arms as shown.

Tighten the long pieces around the arms. Notice how the extensions that are wrapped in the arm fall behind and in the center of the arm loops when viewed from the front.

Adjust the arm loops to a length of 1 7⁄8” from the center of the head. Starting from the bottom, weave the extensions into the arms on both sides as shown. There should be 3 wraps on the top of each arm.

Form the legs and set to a length of 3 1⁄8” from the inside bottom of the head. Wrap the pieces in the back with a criss-cross.

Wrap the cord around the legs interweaving them until there are 4 wraps as shown. Grab the legs and tighten the waist weave by sliding it toward the head.

Lock the waist in place by wrapping the cord around the outside half of the leg and tighten.

Start the leg weave.

Weave the legs making 4 wraps on the outside of the leg, not counting the starting wrap (wrap used to lock the waist in step 9), as shown.  Notice how the wrap pieces for the legs finish pointing out the back and to the outside and the wraps for the arms finish pointing out the back and upward.

Finish the arms and legs by cutting the end pieces about 1/4” from the body. Trim back the wire inside and then melt the cord and flatten using a lighter.  If you look real close, you can see that my lighter is made in china, since that is what I use to smash down the melted ends.

The finished Army Man.