Plasticine... FIMO... I dunno...

DaN

New member
Can anyone think of a decent REUSABLE sculpting material which doesn\'t cure in room temperature...?
(so I\'m counting FIMO as it needs to be \"fired\")

I tried using some plasticine last night, and while it is nice and pliable, it ends up actually being TOO soft, and the slightest knock or scratch with your scultping tool or finger totally distorts what you\'ve been doing.

Also - it isn\'t sticky enough, so it keeps moving around on the surface you have it on, or dropping off the pin/armature etc.

(The reason I tried it was to make some simple liquid latex moulds)

It is fine if you want to do simple shapes, but when you start wanting to attach pieces or cutting out parts, as I said it is not stiky enough and way too soft.

Green stuff and milliput would both be perfect for what I want, but they are very expensive.

FIMO would work too, but it has the downside of being incredibly crumbly until you\'ve worked it for an AGE, and then having the same problems with not being very sticky.

I haven\'t used clay since school, and I can\'t remember if you can soften it again once it\'s dried (In the air). And I\'m also dubious about covering it with liquid latex as I think it would be too porous.

Can anyone think of an alternatives...

(I\'m looking at casting things like window frames, doors, frescoes, etc)
 

StarFyre

Active member
yes...here

Supersculpey/supersculpey firm....

The regular version (pink) is soft and great to work with on an armature (wrap wires on the armature to give grip). It does NOT harden until baking it so you can work for months on a project. Store the extra in fridge for extend the life for years and years.

Firm version - grey...powdery when you take chunks from the main amount. Harder, firmer but the same after baking. Mix it with regular supersculpey to get the consistency/softness you want.

The drawbacks - they are weaker than green stuff/apoxysculpt as they are not super epoxy/hardening glue like agents. They do not stick to stuff, hence armature/grip is needed.

My 120+ hours of work into a GD entry for toronto has been put in the trash due to an error on my part. The weight of the huge wings was too much for the model, even with the armature I gave it. The metal, as it bend a bit...put stress on the sculpey (even though it was hardened) and the legs shattered in several locations and then the armature itself broke.

:(

It can be mixed with green stuff but you still need to bake it for that portion to reach full hardness.

Plastilene/Castilene....

Forgeworld uses this. It is a wax/clay hybrid. Great for superfine detail...you use a light (table lamp) to heat it so that you can work on it..then put it in the fridge to harden it.

It NEVER hardens permanently. Forgeworld told me, that once they sculpt something..the process to make the master mold, destroys the castilene sculpt....so all is left is the 1st copy that is made from it.

This is only good for pure professionals who have the fridges to store stuff \'forever\' so to speak.

Regards,

Sanjay
 
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