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I have been trying some different compounds to work on some sculpture, haven’t found anything I particulary like however. I was thinking of trying some of that sculpty stuff….anyone ever use it? Or if you know of something else that is good to carve and doesn’t require a kiln I am open to suggestions >.< I haven't sculpted much for about the last 10-15 years so I need some practice lol.
Super Sculpey is a good general purpose polymer clay but general consensus is that although it’s a good balance of cheap and durable, it’s not the strongest or best clay (especially for carving) out there.
Sculpey Firm is another type from the same brand that is a lot harder and more durable. It is a bit more expensive and harder to find, and is really difficult to knead. Also since it’s so hard I kind of find it hard to carve because I’m used to super sculpey and more muscle is needed for Sculpey Firm.
Then there’s Kato Polyclay which you can get at hobby lobby. It’s very hard and difficult to knead but the finish on cured clay is really nice. I think it smells bad though, but it’s good for sculptures you don’t plan on painting.
And then there’s cernit, fimo puppen, and prosculpt which are all more for dolls that you don’t plan on painting. Each of those is quite expensive but they are very durable and have a gorgeous finish. For me, since I paint my sculptures, the added cost isn’t worth it for the finish.
All of the ones I just mentioned are Polymer Clay. You can bake them in a kitchen oven (275F or 130C ish) so no kiln is required. They’re also not as messy to use as the stoneware clay you’d have to bake in a kiln.
If you want something air dry, I’d recommend epoxy putty, so either Apoxie Sculpt or Milliput. It’s hard like a rock when dry, though is kind of abraisive to the skin (I get a rash every time I use it). People use it to repair windstones and to reposition breyer models.
AND I will link you to this info tutorial thing another artist wrote about clays on deviantart. It’s here: http://indigo-ocean.deviantart.com/gallery/4688275#/d1l63tk
Hope that helps! 😀
Thanks scenceable! That does help >.< Most of the compounds I have tried to carve recently, start crumbling midway into working it! It is extremely frustrating to work on something 6 hours or so and have it fall apart on you O.o
Ugh that does sound annoying! I don’t think any of the clays I recommended would actually crumble. I have a dremel rotary tool and a power sander I use all the time on my sculptures and they never break or crumble. The only issue I’ve had is for stuff like Sculpey Firm is so hard, I try to slice it with an exacto knife, have to press super hard, and slip and cut myself. But it never crumbles, haha 😛
Just my couple of pennies…
Apoxie Sculpt – I like it but would recommend working with it in small batches otherwise it starts to cure and get hard before you’ve finished what you’re doing. Once it’s hard it’s almost impossible to carve or sand.
Critter Clay – Made by Aves studio and behaves like regular clay but is air dry. As long as you keep it moist though it won’t dry until fully exposed to air
Crayola Model Magic – Is fun stuff. It’s light weight shapes pretty well Though it’s not so good for details. I’ve used it for the base of some of my stuff and they done the details with Apoxie Sculpt
*timid voice* Ive used it! But I was more or less just playing around with it. I sculpted a grey hound laying down…I wonder if I still have that sitting around somewhere? I didn’t bake it, but it took a long time (weeks or months) to dry and the little guy was only 3 inches long. It was cheap and easy to find though, which was a total plus.
Heh, I would rather cut myself then have something fall apart any day! That link you posted had some good advice too. Perhaps I will make some “turds” to try lol.
And Thanks fox, any advice is more than I knew before >.< I even tried carving on some plaster (lol, yeah that was messy!) Oh well, if at first you don't succeed… :bigsmile:
Heh, I would rather cut myself then have something fall apart any day! That link you posted had some good advice too. Perhaps I will make some “turds” to try lol.
I use turds all the time now too. I don’t have a food processor to mix them though, but if I have a few hours watching a movie or something I’ll use it to cut up tiny slivers of S. Firm and S. Sculpey with an exacto and then knead them. Takes forever. xD
When I was a teenager I made a LOT of dragons with it. I never used the ‘clear’ but the colors are fun to work with. Plus with the different tools I could make different kinds of scales and get the clay to sparkle different in different kinds of light. I think my Mom has one, and my Dad has one…those are probably the only survivors over the past decade, so I would say they didn’t have great longevity…but perhaps that was because I made them as one piece instead of fitting them together then baking them seperately, and then gluing or using epoxy (double bubble) to put them together.
Thanks again for the input gang! It’s great to be able to ask folks who have actually used something what they think 😉
I use a mixture of super sculpey and sculpey firm for my work.
I find the sculpey firm to be a bit to hard..and prone to getting crumbly over time…but the super sculpey is too soft for my taste, especially if working with warm hands, which will loosen it further.
If you decide to mix the two, just do so thoroughly, for a consistent working texture. You can work with different ratios of each type until you find a solidity and texture which works for you.
I’ve used apoxie sculpt…but dont like it due to the limited working time. I also had a couple apoxie sculpted pieces do a weird thing about a year after their cure….making a bleeding effect that came through areas I’d painted over, ruining the overall finish of the piece. It was gross looking…and I was really upset.
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