Polymer Clay Message Board - Polymer Clay Forum - The Clay Store

theraje · Clay Captain Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

Hey again, I've got another question. This time, it's about handling uncured pieces.

You see, whenever I go to work on detailing a portion of a piece, I have to hold onto another part. The part I hold onto squishes, ruining it. Then I go to fix that piece, only to have the piece I just finished be mushed, and therefor, ruined. It's like a never-ending cycle!

Are there any tips you can give me on preventing this? It's like the polymer clay (or quite possibly I) is confused. It doesn't know whether it wants to be too soft to keep detail intact, or too firm to make a cut without "dragging" the vicinity along with it. Sad

The Clay Store · Site Admin Joined: 21 Apr 2005 Posts: 35

Hi Theraje,

The least amount that you can actually touch the clay, the better. I know that sounds crazy considering hands are "tools", but it's your body heat that warms up the clay and makes it soft. For example, if you're working on the head of a character, try building the head around a wooden spoon handle or something similar in shape. This would minimize the amount of time you spend actually touching the clay. While sculpting, touch the clay with your fingers as seldom as possible, instead use regular sculpting tools as smoothers and shapers. I've tried shaping a head around the handle of a wooden spoon and found that it works well, when I'm done I've been able to carefully slide the head off without any distortion. Humidity in the air is another factor in the softness of the clay, obviously the less humidity the better, but I live in Florida so I'm stuck with that! I've also found that for sculpting really intricate pieces, leaching the clay beforehand to remove the moisture and make it a firmer clay also helps. It takes the stiff clay longer to get that "squishy" consistency.

Hope this is helpful for you!

Susan

theraje · Clay Captain Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

I have three heads now (one is 1.25", the other two are about a half-inch). They look great! All I really needed was better clay. I had been using Kato Polyclay, but it is a lot stickier and more goopey than the Premo I started out with, but I think Sculpey III is perfect. I can put pressure on the clay with my knives or pins or whatnot without it loosing shape as badly.

Once I fry these puppies up, I'll post pictures in the gallery. Very Happy

Brookies Rae · Clay Commander Joined: 21 Aug 2005 Posts: 38

I saw on Jack Johnston tape that he put the face plate on first and baked it. Then put the back of head on and baked that. So what ever side he was touching was already baked and hard, or he was touching the armature.

http://www.artdolls.com/

Rachel Smile

Mousefingers · Starting Member Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 4

theraje

Are you going to paint the project? No? If not you might want to consider Super Sculpey Clay, Idea

(they sell it here ya know Wink

). It comes in a flesh color which you can tint to your liking. It remains quite firm and withstands multiple baking. I can't imagine using Sculpey III for sculpting. I would have it squished into a blob of unrecognizable alien shape. I love the colors, and it is good for a lot of things, but for me personally, sculpting is just not one of 'em. Just my personal preference.

If you do a lot of sculpting you might want to check out Katherine Dewey's website. She is a fantastic sculptor and she has a multitude of tips and techniques.

Here is the link:

http://www.elvenwork.com/index.html

I wish you the best of luck. I do hope you take the time to check out Katherine's site. Oh, there is another site that might help, I don't know how much on sculpting they have but it is a great site to keep on hand if you don't know about it. It is Diane Black's GlassAttic.

Here is that link:

http://glassattic.com/

Drop me an email and let me know how you are doing.

Mouse Very Happy

catlady13 · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject:

THere is a very helpful book out there....How To Make Clay Characters...good for armature help and so on....it is byMaureen Carlson...North Light Books 1-800289-0963...it helped me alot especially with my first HEAD....