#automail

[cratastica]

When I am in too much pain to move my right arm, I pretend I am Edward Elric and my automail is broken

[yumemiwrld]

FMABRUARY DAY 6 | AUTOMAIL

Automail + metal rendering study! Drawing part is easy since I have my own automail for reference however the rendering part was a pain in the ass

[dairogo]

When Armstrong and Ed (and Al in the cargo bay) are on their way to see Winry and get Ed's automail fixed, it's a great opportunity for exposition about automail in this world. But ...

Armstrong hasn't heard of an automail mechanic?

Automail seems to make sense to him - he's not asking about that, but I wonder if he's removed from the process due to privilege, or if automail has several different stages with different workers involved, and 'automail mechanic' is a more specialised role? Because yeah, Ed explains she's all these things rolled into one.

So in their world, the more familiar process (maybe more common in the city) is usually there's a surgeon working on the person's injury, a prosthesis maker (helping with measurements/specifications??), and an automail engineer creating the automail (I assume the prosthesis maker would work with them to personalise for the injury??). But Winry, working rurally, has to fill all three jobs.

[muffinvikingart]

Standalone post of the finished piece because I'm so proud of it. 😤

[chattoeart]

FMAbruary2025 - Automail

"You Broke It: You've Bought It!!!"

I didn't see any other choice, for "Automail."

[alethianightsong]

The quiet lore and worldbuilding of Fullmetal Alchemist

I read the entire manga & it's never infodumped why prosthetics are so commonplace. We learn that Amestris is a martial country always at war. We know that war creates cripples. We know that war creates innovation. If Fullmetal Alchemist was a western work of fiction, a character woulda flat out stated, "Amestris heavily invested in prosthetics cuz it was more cost-effective than training new soldiers to replace all the ones who lost limbs fighting." The writer simply lets us draw that conclusion from all the details she set before us. In our world, soldiers who lose limbs get a cheap replacement and discharged. In Amestris, they give you a new limb almost as good as the old one, a little physical therapy, then send you back into the fray to fight some more.

[zumazozuma]

Woe, the mechanic is also a bomb freak.

I had two ideas for today's prompt, but I won't have time to finish it, so here's a sneak peak for you all......

Yes, I was going to draw actual automail!

Just let me cook 🔥

[voidaress]

Started the Fmabruary list to get back into drawing

Starting with day 6 automail

Prompt list under

[mienaime]

fmabruary day 6 - automail

[taranaraaa]

Lan Fan for FMAbruary Day 6: Automail

Sorry it’s late I procrastinated colouring her automail for SO LONG but I actually like how it turned out??? So that’s nice!

Anyways god help me finish the rest of these in any sort of reasonable time frame T_T

[fma-03lric]

[harcidian]

I forgot about the fact that it’s painful to get an automail surgery. This shows a lot on Ed’s courage

[prinrue]

The Mechanics of Automail

Table of Contents

UPPER LIMB AUTOMAIL

PREPARING FOR AUTOMAIL

Just like with lower limb automail, before the patient can even begin training, their port needs protection—but that protection looks a little different for upper limbs. In this deep-dive, we will be focusing specifically on a shoulder-located port, for its relevance to Fullmetal Alchemist.

Once the outfittee has healed from surgery, the permanent structure of the port will be fitted with a very similar cover to the previously described leg cover. As it is, all this piece does is protect the patient’s nerve outlets—there is no functionality for their future automail, and for good reason. Due to the much more intricate nature of arm automail, there is substantially more wiring required to power the prosthesis—wiring which would only be an inconvenience when there is no prosthesis attached. So, until the patient is ready to begin working with their arm, a simple cover is all that is required to protect their port.

(figure 1: arm port cover 1)

(STOP HERE FOR SIMPLE THINGS CHAPTER 22 SPOILERS)

Once the patient is ready to begin training with their arm, the port cover will receive a two-fold upgrade: fixing the existing piece with the necessary wiring and adding the removable guard layer on top of that. 

To attach the wiring, each wire is fitted to designated outlets in both the cover and the patient’s body, then fed through small slots on either side of the central plug.

(figure 2: arm port wiring)

With the wiring in place, the shoulder guard can now be attached. This steel piece is measured and fitted to the individual receiving it (utilizing the measurements taken during preparation for surgery) and has multiple functions toward the complete automail. It protects the patient’s body from their future arm (which, due to its weight and sharp components, could injure the patient otherwise), and also acts as a slight counterweight to the prosthesis. In addition, if the outfittee needs their arm removed for any reason, the excess wiring described prior can be tucked under the guard, keeping it out of the way without having to unplug it. 

(figure 3: shoulder guard attachment)

(I decided to keep the attachment of this piece minimal because if it were actually bolted into the ribs or shoulder blade, it would greatly reduce the patient’s ability to move. As I explained in the surgery section, there are bolts in the ribs and shoulder bones, but only for the permanent structure—which this piece is [canonically, as referenced in Vol. 3] not a part of. By limiting the places this piece is attached, it should be able to move relatively fluidly with the person, but still be stable enough to do its job.)

STAGES OF AUTOMAIL

And now that the patient’s port set-up is complete, they can finally begin the first training stage of arm automail.

Just as with lower limb automail, the first stage is for exercise purposes only—and it appears almost exactly the same. And, just as the lower limb version, stage one arm automail is not connected to the nervous system, and therefore causes no pain during docking. The first attachment weighs about 5lbs, and is used during exercise for five days until the patient is deemed ready to receive an actual prosthesis (and then again, in increasing weights, between each following stage of automail).

(figure 4: arm automail stage one)

What benefit, you may ask, does attaching a weight to the patient’s shoulder provide, when there is no residual limb to exercise? Plenty of benefits! You see, in order for a person to move their arm, there are a multitude of muscles involved—many of which are not even located in the arm itself. Those muscles in the shoulder, back, and chest do just as much work to raise the limb as the muscles in the arm, and therefore, they are just as important to train in preparation for automail.

And now that that preparation is complete, the outfittee can finally receive their first prosthetic arm.

(POST IS STILL BEING UPDATED AS STORY PROGRESS CONTINUES!)

[no-nic]

"awake but at what cost" but it's no mystery because mr alchemist here knows all about equivalent exchange

☕🦾

more from my ed-core pinterest haul:

[starsnowcone]

I made Edward Elric’s automail with cardboard 😋

[fmascreencaps]