Sculpting questions...

[garyhiggins]

Hi Elia, in dad's time they mixed the plasticiene beeswax compound in an old tobacco tin on the stove, but I suppose the modern way would be an old saucepan lined with tin foil. Take equal parts, heat them together till liquid, mix them thoroughly take the tinfoil and mix out of the saucepan when still soft, and you have a great modelling compound though to be honest, with all the great materials around these days, it probably isn't worth the effort. The CX5 sounds interesting and I agree with you about moulding. Since you get your stuff from Tiranti's am I right in guessing T20 or T 28?
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Rich Sculpts]

Another problem is cracking. It expands at a different rate than your armature hence small cracks appear when it bakes.

I've found that when you bake Sculpey its best to put the sculpt into a cold oven. Allow the oven to reach heat then time the bake from that moment , when that time has elapsed turn the oven off and let the sculpt cool down (don't take the sculpt out until the oven is cool). I've not had problems with cracking with this technique.

-Rich

 

[Elia]

Hello Gary,

you're right, preparing the plasticene/beeswax mix it cetrainly sounds like a lot of work! We're lucky to be almost spoilt for choice when it comes to materials these days.

I only bought the clay from Tiranti and MP Artware as it's not sold in Greece as far as I know. The moulding/casting materials I get from a local place called Neotex - the cost of getting it from the UK would be too high - but I'm not sure about the exact properties of the silicone.

All the best,
Elia

 

[Joe Osborne]

Ok, ordered 2lbs of. Chevant HM... And while I'm waiting decided to work with Sculpey for practice. Spent an hour or so mixing the 50/50 combination that Gary suggested of super sculpey and super sculpey firm into small balls. The mix works great and provides a mediium firmness. Good feel to it. I dont know how anyone could work with just the firm - very hard and crumbly.

Now to the practice..... Probably going to try a bust. That way can work on face and head and shoulders, and at about 1/10 size plenty of room. Will use a wire and foil armature to limit the amount of sculpey needed.

 

[kidsbday7]

I have always wondered about Chevant so thanks for that input Elia. Also wondered If anyone has tried Monster Clay.

 

[Pekka]

Hi Joe,
I use Super Sculpey Firm. Out of box it's hard and crumbly, but it needs to be " conditioned" like all polymer clays.
http://www.polymerclayweb.com/Techniques/TheFundamentals/Conditioning.aspx

 

[garyhiggins]

Joe, before deciding what to sculpt, check out Carl Reids SBS on the sculpting forum. Also look on Google for "Human Proportions Calculator", these might be useful.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Joe Osborne]

Gary,

Thanks! I'm watching that one closely... good info. Also read Stu's. To date I've been doing a LOT of reading... have about 6 books on sculpting/miniature sculpting. Been practicing with Sculpey - not hardening but practicing sculpting technique, and getting used to tools. Also doing some conversions with a few DML figures I have.

Someone mentioned in Carl's post their heads look like gargoyles, right now that would be a compliment for mine

Practice, practice, practice....

 

[Funky50]

Gary,


Someone mentioned in Carl's post their heads look like gargoyles, right now that would be a compliment for mine

Practice, practice, practice....

But they are really ugly Gargoyles Joe LOL.....Maybe if I could do a Victorian bare knuckle boxer it might just about pass....Kevin

 

[garyhiggins]

Oh Kevin, don't be so hard on them, Gargoyles just want to be loved. But seriously, no one who wants to sculpt can just take up tools and putty and create a masterpiece first time out, as with everything there is a learning curve. Those who paint have a head start in that they already have the hand to eye co-ordination that allows them to translate the skills they have into a 3 dimensional format.
Those skills however need training. There's no point in worrying about a specific size of head etc. until you've got the hang of where the features go and what the proportions are. On Google there are masses of sites dealing with artistic anatomy, but personally I think you'll learn more by buying yourself a couple of good anatomy books and studying them.
Another point is not to be afraid of going wrong. Anything you can mess up, you can fix. If it doesn't work today, it will tomorrow, just enjoy
Best wishes, Gary.