Sculpting question

[Mosch]

I am currently sculpting something and I have a certain problem....

First of all, the mixture stuck like crazy (I mixed green stuff and Miliputt superfine white for the armature) to anything that even got near it. Of course the reason was found quickly: You need lubrication, honey! I used some water with only moderate success; the mixture still stuck, but a little less.
Today I continued, this time asking my father for help in the form of lubricant, and he came up with the idea of using tool fat (or whatever that would be called in english). Got a small tub of Paraffin, put a little on my finger and lubricated my tools.
*slip*
After some tries I managed to keep hold of the green stuff (I use straight GS now for the more obvious muscles) and mixed it well.... I applied it to the armature.
*slip*
This was starting to seriously tick me off.
*sculpt sculpt sculpt, poke, push, sculpt*
\"Hey, this works AND it\'s quite smooth!\"
*slip*
What can I say, the sculpted piece of GS slid right off the armature, still in the form I worked it into the cured gs.

Now I am at a loss. No real lubrication - GS sticks like hell. I use lubrication - it slips around and falls off. How am I really supposed to stop the gs from sticking?

 

[CtanSupportGroup]

I had the same problem and nearly threw what I was working on...

It\'s a fine balance and to be honest any additional advice would help me too.

The only thing I can suggest is patience and minimal use of the fat i.e only touch the \'outside\' parts of the Green Stuff rather than what is going to be contacting the surface...

That\'s all I can suggest- hope I don\'t sound too patronising by stating the obvious.lol:bouncy:

 

[green stuff]

Try putting less yellow in the mix, thats the sticky part. 50/50 or 45/55 are good proportions (IMHO).

I use latex gloves (that way it may stick a bit to the gloves, but I\'ll have less to clean up on my hands, plus no more finger prints on the sculpts). And I use plain water for lubricant.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mosch]

Thanks everyone, I settled for the \"sticky\" variant and just smoothed it out using Paraffin. Works reasonably well; I am satisfied with it now.

By the way, is there any way to speed up the curing time of the GS? I don\'t want to wait to continue sculpting.....

 

[El Guardian]

of course you can!! just put the scuplt under a lamp, be careful not to use plastic parts or they may melt (happened to me) just let it cure under a light bulb, and you will have it hard in less than a half time. good luck and keep on scuplting

 

[minimaker]

Hi, some suggestions:

- armature: it\'s easier to work in two layers. First layer is pure green. Just wrap a thin layer around the wire and squeeze it tight. When this is cured you can clean it
and add putty to start sculpting. See here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/minimaker3/album?.dir=445b&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/minimaker3/my_photos Picture 3 shows the base layer and picture 4 the sculpting layer (as well as a bulk out layer).
- lubricant. Make sure you don\'t use too much. Do you have some lip balm around (not Labello)? Stick your tool in that and wipe it over the back of your hand. That should be enough. By the way, since you\'re using Milliput as well, make sure your tools are absolutely clean and polished. Milliput tends to stick to tools worse than GS does.
- Faster curing. As El Guardian says, a lamp helps. You can cut it down to about 10 minutes by using a putty oven:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/minimaker3/detail?.dir=5ad6&.dnm=ef93.jpg&.src=ph

Here is a FAQ that could help:
http://www.lyonstudio.com/Sculpting/1listsculpting_FAQ_v2-4a.pdf

 

[Itchy]

Well... depending on your tools, this might help. i learned to sculpt using nothing but toothpicks! Stick two in your mouth and let them soak up your saliva, then as one drys out, switch to the other and vise versa untill you\'re done with that session. Oh, and don\'t eat the GS.lol Serious, it\'s toxic!:|~

 

[freakinacage]

i find that the best lubricant is sebum (skin oil). when sculpting, wipe your fingertips on your nose/forehead/neck/any other area of greasy skin. as for tools, just lick them. thats what i do anyway

 

[Mosch]

Thanks for the tip, but I am not gong to do it I now dip my fingers in some water and then lightly pull them over the Paraffin. I managed to make some pretty nice bandages already, now to do some hair and a the wooden box

Doesn\'t look like I hoped, but that does not really surprise me I hope to have it finished by tomorrow, maybe then you\'ll get a picture Then comes painting it and THEN I can throw it away because it will probably look crappy, but what the heck lol

 

[freakinacage]

the main thing with sculpting is practice. in time you will really see yourself improve