Super Sculpey Question.....

[mongo51]

Hello all...I am at work right now so can't introduce myself properly...My name is William and I'm just getting back in to sculpting after 30 years or so, and am VERY new to Sculpey....I'll introduce myself better a a later time, but I do have a question I'm hoping some one can answer for me. I am sculpting a custom award from Super Sculpey, that will be attached to an actual trophy base. The base is plastic. Any suggestions as to the best adhesive to use to glue the baked, unpainted Sculpey to the plastic base? I do plan on having a rod going up, from the bottom of the base, in to the styrofoam core of the sculpt and a liquid nails adhesive applied to that, but I need the extra strength of an actual attachment to the base itself as it's relatively heavy. Any help? Thank you in advance!

[JimB88]

If I were you Id seriously think about making a mold and casting it in something else. Contrary to what it says on the box Sculpey is very fragile and will crack easily. I never use it as a finished material (I generally cast it in resin) resins and mold making rubber are available at Dick Blick art supplies (or other art suppliers) at reasonable prices.

[Mah ' Crub]

Hi William, welcome back to sculpting. Yeah, sculpy is not really all that tough.
Drop it and it shatters. Making a mold would be better and safer. Now, maybe you don't have time to mess with it. Trophys don't usually get handled a lot so you might be safe. I would say try just your hardware variety of polyseam-seal.
It's a great adhesive and it is paintable.
Good luck!

Mah ' Crub

[mongo51]

Thanks for the advice...I am indeed thinking of having it cast. The last time I made a mold of anything, was again, 30 years ago...and I used plaster. I wouldn't even attempt to do a cast myself these days...though I do plan on learning. I do know a guy (only online) I hope to convince to help me out....it never hurts to ask.

[Fovos]

Regarding the casting, if you post your sculpture or design i believe twe have a lot of experience people here to help you with molding and casting and with the materials out in the market right now it is not that difficult unless you don't have time to experiment with them or your sculpture is too complicated.
Also you mention styrofoam core for the sculpture!, ....don't forget that you have to bake super sculpy in the oven!
I did it coupe of times when i sculpted some heads about 1 to 2 inches head and it is tricky when heating styrofoam, i will not recommend it for a bigger size we actually had a thread about it some time go...

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171755

I think you are better of with a aluminum foil core.
Good Luck
Fovos

[mongo51]

I'll try to get some pics posted soon....but one of my problems is that I simply don't have the time to experiment with casting on this piece, but there will be plenty of experimenting in the future. As far as the foam core? I am a little ambivalent about baking it inside the sculpey...but...I did a lot of research about sculpey and using styrofoam was actually one of the few consistent "OK to do" things I found. I found this info mostly on doll making sites. A few sculpting sites said it's not a good idea...but for the most part I think it's worth a shot....Famous last words?

[maddmaestro]

It works fine as long as you bake at the lowest possible temperature. Also when I did it I covered the core with Magic Sculpt just in case!

Good luck, and Welcome!!

Maddmaestro:afroboy:

By lowest possible temp I mean lower than the Sculpey package suggests...if you bake at a lower temp increase the time it cooks for to insure it cooks all the way thru! William Paquet has an exellent baking tutorial on Statue Forum's Home grown section!

[mongo51]

Thanks for all the advice everybody. I'm going to try to get some pics of my sculpt and my other art up this weekend. I'm not overly worried bout the foam...I had forgotten to mention that there is actually a vinyl armature beneath the Sculpey...I pirated a T2 drink cup topper I had lying around...and the styrofoam was mainly used as a filler inside the vinyl. I do plan on decreasing the temp and increasing the bake time as I am somewhat worried about the different thicknesses of the Sculpey....some spots are nearly paper thin, while others are up to 1/2 inch thick. I'll have to check out the tutorial...Thanks again all!

[mongo51]

Well....for those keeping track....my sculpt is baked. The foam part of the base did indeed melt a little, but not bad. I think I will invest in a heat gun however. The top of the sculpt came out scorched. I reduced the heat to 230 degrees (should have gone with 200), I put the rack on the second fitting from the bottom to keep the top of the sculpt away from the top element. It still burned and bubbled. Hopefully I can get this cast as planned. I have also made an album and added a couple pics of the sculpt as well as some pics of some of my other stuff. Have a look...comment....be as brutally honest as you want. Or not. I'm not the boss of you! Thanks again for the help and advice so far......
William J. Bivens

[AProps]

I read this on another forum, tried it and it worked killer... So the technique
is to take a pot of water, put your piece in it and bring the pot of water to a
boil for 10 minutes (all you need). Turn off the heat and let the water cool
down on its own so you don't get thermal fractures.. I was a bit leary of this
method, but after trying it with some old clay, I was pleasently surprised how
great it worked, not to mention how hard the clay got.. I wanted to see how
fragile the piece was so I dropped it on concrete with the results being no
damage, though I wouldn't recommend doing that....

[mongo51]

Thanks man....I was going crazy, trying to pin point a method of boiling a sculpt. I do plan on purchasing various sized pots for any future sculpts I do. An then I was going to experiment....This gives me a great point to start. All the sculpts that I did O so many years ago were done with just oil based modeling clay...and cast in plaster. And then it was only make up FX and a couple of masks. So thank you for the information kind sir.....I plan on spending some time here on the forums....as time allows....stupid work gets in the way.

[mongo51]

Hopefully I did this right...Here is an image of my sculpt, shortly before baking.http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/mongo512000/DSCN6447.jpg