Questions about sculpting supplies

[Mr.Magnetichead]

I'm looking into taking up sculpting.
I've planned several 7-8 inch characters that I wish to sculpt.

Question is what sort of material shall I use?

I'm looking for a substance that stays firm, even at room temperature or after being worked with for a while.

I also want it so that It doesnt become hard untill I bake it, or so at least I can leave it for several hours without it going rock solid.

It also has to be able to have a wire skelington intergrated into it.

What sort of subatance should I look into with these properties?

Oh yea and it also has be non pourus so I can apply a good coat of paint afterwards, airbrushed or otherwise.

Any ideas?

It would be greatly appreciated.

TIA.

:chug:

[Deth Jester]

super sculpty is nice to work with.. not sure if you can bake it though..

Normally I just used normal grey clay from a art store.. *shrug*..

I use to have a link to a great site for sculpting.. Ill look for it and post it.

good luck

[egerie]

yes you can bake Super Sculpey for it to harden. Grey clay requires a special attention with damp cloth and ermetic plastic bag and stuff :)

[Mr.Magnetichead]

I want something that kinda dries as a plasticy rubbery kinda substance.

[character]

if you mix some primo with normal sculpty, you'll get a nice flexible sculpture as your end result. i build my sculptures with a combination of regular and super sculpty along with a wireframe underneath, using aluminum foil wrapped with a thin wire to mass it out so i don't waste too much sculpty. that stuffs expensive yo! btw, for your main framework, double up the wire you use and make sure it's sturdy.

sculpty can also be painted on afterwards. you can either primer it or just paint on the sculpture. havent done either yet but i have a few friends that use this method and it's what is taught at school. hope this helps. =)

[jester]

If you have problems getting super sculpey try FIMO by Eberhard Faber which is almost the same stuff but comes in lively colors...

Both materials keep soft until baked at low temp (app 130 degree celsius, don't have the Fahrenheit at hand right now...)

In both materials you can use wood, metal or cork as a frame structure.

Hope this helps.

Jester

[Erik]

Hey guys cool link to that Faber FIMO stuff...

But ehh... hom many grams go in an 'oz' ? I guess i'm just not even FROM Kansas ;-)

Erik

[show]

If your from the UK... the only place ive found that can supply supersculpey is www.yorkshireartstore.co.uk .

Their site is a bit shite and they have one of those premade payment systems that arent part of the site itself but ive ordered from them twice now and recieved what i ordered within a week.

Still presuming you from London Uk and not somewhere in canada or something :) .. you can get thick wire, mesh and dental style tools from www.studentartshop.co.uk .

Like they said above though, plan ahead and flesh out your model with wire and foil. Ive wasted so much sculpey recently because i just used a few peices of 2mm wire as my armature :P

[azjohnl]

I seemed to have a lot of cracking problems with super sculpty when baking it later... anyone else have that same problem?

[show]

yeah i got cracking on my last model, it seemed to originate from a spot where some air had gotten kinda trapped between a hole at the base of the model and the wooden board it was tied to by wire.

i filled it in with some more super sculpey and quickly baked it for a few minutes which seemed to work fine.

Of course when some idiot friend of mine dropped it and broke a finger off, when i repaired it and baked it later i got cracks all over that i couldnt possibly fix. :/

[character]

I've found that if you have at least a 1/4" layer of sculpty over your armature, you won't get as many cracks, if any. My most recent sculpture was made with about a 1/8" layer and it cracked in quite a few places.

I've also found that if you leave your sculpture in the sun or where it's exposed to heat, it will crack all over so try to keep it at room temperature after you're done with it and try not to move it around to much. A strong base and armature should prevent it from cracking further but you can never be too careful.

Also, I mentioned earlier to mix primo with sculpty so that you get a rubbery feel to it. I meant to say Fimo, hehe. I was reminded when I read Jesters post. Depending on how much Fimo you mix in, you will get different results. Primo works too tho. I use it to color my sculpty since i never paint my sculptures.