Working with Sculpy - Questions/Comments

[boba_fett300]

Hi,

Just got some questions. What's the brand of Sculpy that you guys used? Cause I seen few of them and not sure which one to get. Is there pics of what they look like? Also, is there a scrulpting guild?

Thaks!

[Ruprecht]

I started out with just plain old Sculpy, which comes in all the funky colors.  From there I played with Super Sculpy, which is a sort of pink fleshy tone, and will set you back 10 or 12 bucks.

There is a sculpting guild here, but you have to be at least a level 10 Mage, have at least 200 gold, and be able to cast fairy fire causing +100 damage.  You must also have completed Hrothgar's Nibelung Quest.  Once all that's been done, you'll receive the secret handshake instructions via pm.

[Sarge]

Ah, I never finished the Quest, THAT'S why I never got the secret handshake! 

I do a lot of polymer clay sculpting (the official name of Sculpey). I also have a pasta machine for conditioning the clay before I start to work with it. I find it a great medium. I would encourage beginners to read up on the subject, most book stores / libraries have great craft books on Polymer Clay. I highly recommend purchasing Creating Life-Like Figures in Polymer Clay - a step-by-step guide by Katherine Dewey. I feel it is the guide for everything from proportion, clothing, hair, to paints and finishes. I use the heck out of it when I am sculpting.



Random ramblings from the Sarge. Hopefully I can get off my butt after the holidays and start posting more.


Mike

[boba_fett300]

Okay, I just found some sculpies, but there are differences. I'm not exactly sure which ones are the best for making SW parts. Plz lmk which product to use.

Ultra Light:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0596

Super Sculpey:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0406

Sculpey 3:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0055

Original:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0054

[Ruprecht]

I can't tell you what's the BEST to use, you have to decide that for yourself.  Different types of Sculpey have different properties: some are more firm, some softer, some are tacky, some are smooth.  Some people prefer one property over another.

I've never used Ultra Light, or Original, but here are my thoughts on the others:

Sculpey III - Too soft for my tastes, so it was real easy to accidentally mess up an hour of work with the slip of a tool or finger.  That said, it was a good medium to begin sculpting with, and it's cheap.

Super Sculpey - It's a tad firmer than Sculpey III, but one drawback I didn't like was it is slightly translucent.  Seeing the part underneath what I was sculpting made it more difficult to find flaws in my sculpt.  Ultimately it was too soft and not as tacky as I like clay to be.

One cool thing is you can boil both of the above in water to harden it, which is helpful when you sculpt onto a plastic piece that can't be baked in an oven. 

[BrentS]

I can only comment on Super Sculpy as its the only one I've used.  I found it to be okay when sculpting.  My biggest challenge was that the pieces were always brittle after they were cured and ofter broke.  I switched over to using two part expoxy modeling compounds ("Greenstuff", Fixit Sculpt, or Milliput).  These two part compounds are much stickier and are a bit more difficult to work with but they cure rock hard and don't break nearly as easily.

[IncomT65]

I've only just begun working with sculpting materials. Tried Sculpey III for shoulder armor, but like others said, that broke to easy. I now use Greenstuff from Games Workshop. I made a belt and a towel. Very tough material and indeed, it cures rock hard.

[Straxus]

Hey Incom and BrentS, what is the cure time on the "green stuff"?
I (when I have time) use FIXIT sculpt now days. Sculpey is good and all for starting sculpting, but if you want to get some really good details, definitely give the FIXIT sculpt a shot. (Just take a look at Sith_Fire30s recent work to see the wonderful details that stuff can hold) My very first attempt sculpting with the stuff allowed me alot more detail than any of my previous sculpey sculpts.

[Ruprecht]

Keep in mind that Sithfire also uses Bantha5's wax for his final head sculpts, but initially and for body parts he uses the Fixit Sculpt.

For a beginner though, Sculpey III or Super Sculpey are probably the best way to start.

[BrentS]

Hey Incom and BrentS, what is the cure time on the "green stuff"?

You know, I'm not sure.  I usually just wait and use it the next day.

[IncomT65]

Me too. I mostly work on my customs in the evenings, so most of the time there's at least a 20 hour gap between it. Greenstuff is quite sticky though, you really should keep a bowl of water nearby to keep your sculpting tools and fingers moist.

[Straxus]

Hmmm sounds like working with it is very similar to FIXIT. That will definitely help in giving me and idea of what to expect if I get some to try out.
Were do you find sculpey III? I have never seen it.  I just see the regular sculpey in most places I go. (I actually still use sculpey once in a while to make a rough shape of something, then do a detailed layer over it with FIXIT, that way when I need to hollow the parts out, the sculpey is the softer and easier to dremel out part.)

[Milan]

Hi!

When I did my Darth Nhil figure I used super sculpey for the armor,
He fell and the spikes and a part of the shoulder armor broke...

I had to redo the armor, so I cut out a corner from a figure bubble and glued left over parts from diffrent figures, anything looked like a spike, then I worked the sculpey on to the armor and put glue over the boiled piece.

He fell two times after that but the armor didn't break.
The moral of this post is, put your sculpey around something more durable and you'll have slightly better odds if an accident occurs.

Or maybe I just got lucky

[IncomT65]

No such thing as luck  . You did the right thing. When making spikes or other thin accessories, it's best to sculpt on something er... spikey. Little pieces of plastic work fine, but pieces of a paperclip will do well, too.

[bikeridetony]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to cast a head from an existing figure's head.  Would Skulpy work?  What would be my best route?  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks!

Tony