We All make Mistakes.

[Richard61]

Hi everyone.
Here's one to give you all a chuckle. I wasn't sure where to post it, perhaps it should be under "Sculpting" but in the absence of "Total Cock-ups" heading, this is maybe the best place.
Of all the various sculpting mediums, Milliput, Duro, etc, the one I have never tried before is Sculpey but after reading up about it and knowing it's quite a popular choice I bought some and decided to give it a go.
What really appealed to me was it's limitless working time. Knowing it would take me ages to sculpt a head that looked even close to lifelike, not having to worry about the putty setting before I was happy was a huge bonus.
Two days of pushing putty around and finally I had a head to roughly the right size for a 120mm figure that I was actually quite pleased with. Maybe not perfect but better than I'd even dared to hope, so flushed with pride and enthusiasm I fired up the oven!
I had read the baking instructions on the box so cranked the temperature up to 275 and thought 15 mins would be about right........Now maybe I should have consulted my good lady first ..... On our oven the only setting beyond 275 is MAX! .......... But no! I knew what I was doing didn't I. After all, pottery is fired in kilns to super high temperatures, so it made perfect sense!
Well 15 minutes later I had a blistered black head that looked like something from a cheap B movie horror flick
To make matters worse, her ladyship took one look and informed me that the oven is marked in centigrade so I should have baked it at 130, just above MIN setting
I've calmed down a bit now, the blood pressure's almost back to normal so another two days (next weekend) and I should be back ready to cook another one...... I just have to be supervised next time she says!

Richard.

 

[1969]

You can also use boiling water to harden it Richard, just place in pan, pour over boiling water and continue to boil for about 5 minutes, let cool and bingo job done, you dont get any scorching from boiling like you can with baking and its far quicker.
Try some with a scrap piece of Sculpey to try it out.

Steve

 

[Richard61]

Thanks for that Steve, I'll try it next time
I'm still getting sarcastic comments and pitying looks from my Good Lady ....... She read your post and said even I should be able to manage that without having to check the home insurance policy!
"A little scorching" would be a massive understatement, the entire thing was a very dark black/brown colour, all blistered and pitted. King Alfred's cakes would have looked positively anaemic by comparison.

Richard.

 

[1969]

Hope you manage to re sculpt another head, its not nice loosing work in this way when you have put the effort in.

Steve

 

[Helm]

Quality stuff though I can imagine my missus if it was me

Steve

 

[Richard61]

There will definitely be more, I've really got the bug now!
Yes, it was annoying but it could have been worse. The head was for no particular project, just a trial to test out some of the methods of sculpting that I'd read about and I'd already learned a fair bit and surprised myself even more (In a good way) before I tried to bake it.
I tried 120mm only because it's what I felt comfortable with and what I wanted to do. I'd started with a rough skull type shape from milliput and worked the sculpey over it so it was a touch too big for 120mm in the end but the features all looked to be in proportion to the whole.
Using a 50/50 mix of sculpey and sculpey firm I tried various sculpting tools but was most comfortable using nothing more than a shaped wooden coffee stirrer, a pin set into a kebab skewer and two or three various paintbrushes.
Simply working the putty I concentrated on the face, adding and removing creases, changing angles and jaw shape, nose shape, etc, seeing how these changes altered the look from young to old and back again. I even tried for a female look at one point and got close but something didn't look right somehow.
The point is I'm really enjoying it. The cremation was a set back but I can laugh about it now and I do feel that given time and practice I'll at least become competent at sculpting work for my own use

Richard.

 

[ChaosCossack]

When you do the next one, post some pics before it goes in the furnace... oops... oven Maybe you should let the wife do the cooking

Cudos on the King Alfred reference... I just read about that story, I figured it was pretty obscure... or maybe I'm obscure and everybody knows that story

Good luck on the next one

Colin

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Richard,

Been there, done that.

Sculpey scorching has been a well practised artform in my house too.

 

[brian]

"To err is human to forgive is divine"
Brian

 

[Richard61]

Well guys, I've had another go
Managed to bake the Sculpey without cremating it this time. I guess I'd have to say it's my second attempt at sculpting but only the first to survive!



The first attempt (the burnt one) was intended to be 1/16 or 120mm, as was this. The first was over sized and this is under. The rule in picture shows the size but it's 1cm from the tip of the chin to top of head.
The ears are missing as I was just practicing on the face. I know it's far from perfect but it's good practice and I'm enjoying it.

Richard.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Instructions....the things men read after the smoke gets out.....

All good, lesson learned, and you recovered to try again!!
that's the key thing, trying, failing, trying again....

Cheers

 

[Richard61]

Thanks Jamie.
As the old saying goes...... "The person who never made a mistake never made anything".
The point is I'm really enjoying trying to learn about sculpting and painting figures. Even though at the moment I'm somewhere just below the bottom rung of the ladder, I don't find it a chore. Much as I enjoy making a kit, sticking plastic parts together doesn't exactly test me much these days but figure work certainly does!
It's much harder than scratch building an AFV (IMO) because a living creature changes shape depending on posture and attitude but the challenge getting it right represents is where my enjoyment comes from.

Richard.