So I am trying my hand at sculpting for the first time and am running into problems. First question: How do you get the putty on the armature? I try big pieces wrapped around and the wire just breaks through as I try and remove the seam, and then after it is cured it just slides off. When I try little pieces they just wont stick to the armature and end up flaking off. Any help please?
Sculpting Questions
- Thread starter Wombat85
- Start date
freakinacage
Well-known member
First off, what putty are you using? If adherence is a problem, you can always use superglue on the armature and then sprinkle it with bicarb. It'll form a rough surface which will help the putty to stick
Einion
New member
I'm sure it won't be the only issue but your SuperSculpey itself might be partly the cause here. If it's at all dry or crumbly you might need to condition it before use and from what you've said it does sound like it's not soft or pliable enough to work with easily. But regardless of this, having trouble getting polymer clay to adhere to an armature is a pretty common issue.
The armature might be part of the problem too, if it's too smooth (like any kind of basic wire) you'll have a bear of a time getting any polymer clay to stay put. Two of the main ways of solving this are to wrap it in fine wire to provide a much better key, or to apply a thin layer of epoxy which you then adhere the polymer clay to.
If you do a general Internet search you should be able to find lots more useful info on sculpting in polymer clays as it's a really popular medium.
Einion
The armature might be part of the problem too, if it's too smooth (like any kind of basic wire) you'll have a bear of a time getting any polymer clay to stay put. Two of the main ways of solving this are to wrap it in fine wire to provide a much better key, or to apply a thin layer of epoxy which you then adhere the polymer clay to.
If you do a general Internet search you should be able to find lots more useful info on sculpting in polymer clays as it's a really popular medium.
Einion
QuietiManes
New member
Polymer clays are not usually very sticky. Especially not to smooth wires. So, in my experience, there's 2 parts to getting it on there good and solid.
First-it helps a ton if the armature is created a certain way. Basically if it is more than just a single wire frame. That's just too smooth (even after it's baked it can just slip through). So if you make a single wire skeleton type of armature, then wrap another wire around the whole thing, loosely wrapping around each wire in the frame/armature. This creates a rock solid connection after it's baked and gives the soft clay far more footing, doesn't shift and slip as much. There are basically a bunch of little crevices that lock things down physically, so the stickiness of the clay isn't required. I usually just twist 2 wires together and use that to form the armature but many people do it the other way, often with a thinner wire to wrap around. If there's no room for 2 wires, use thinner wires or just learn to be careful and delicate working with clay on a single wire (that's probably a good skill to have either way).
Second-make sure to condition the clay, it's got to be warm, soft and sticky. The usually annoying fingerprints at that stage help adhere the next layers (rough surface, you don't want a smooth surface here). Don't worry about "sculpting" too much, just get it on there. It also helps to really push it into the wires, to ensure good contact, especially if they are the twisted wires, got to get the air out of the crevices.
I've never thought to sprinkle talc or bicarb on super glue to texture the surface, I'll have to try that. You can also put a tiny drop of super glue on the wire and it will instantly set when you push the sculpey into it (moisture in the clay makes it act like your skin around super glue). I've done that and it works fine, just don't stand in the kitchen too long while it's baking, it has to be deadly fumes coming off of baked cyanoacrylate. It's probably a good idea to not bake polymer clay in your cooking oven anyway...but yeah. Gluing the clay directly to the wire creates a really secure connection that'll hold a fairly wide area of clay in place.
Another common practice is using a sticky 2 part epoxy putty for the first layer on the armature. After they're cured they (many of them) can be layered with sculpey and baked with no problems. Greenstuff I see used a lot, but you can just get almost any of the 2 part epoxy plumbers putties from the hardware store (for pennies on the dollar, by comparison) and it will work just as well and cure in a fraction of the time (good IMO).
As for the wire pushing through, you just need to learn a little finesse. Try more things like rolling the section between your thumb and finger, pinching and supporting delicately, instead of just pushing and forcing it directly. Also, keep in mind, a little "edged groove" where the pieces meet is no problem, as you'll be putting more clay on top, so no need to fuss and make it smooth.
First-it helps a ton if the armature is created a certain way. Basically if it is more than just a single wire frame. That's just too smooth (even after it's baked it can just slip through). So if you make a single wire skeleton type of armature, then wrap another wire around the whole thing, loosely wrapping around each wire in the frame/armature. This creates a rock solid connection after it's baked and gives the soft clay far more footing, doesn't shift and slip as much. There are basically a bunch of little crevices that lock things down physically, so the stickiness of the clay isn't required. I usually just twist 2 wires together and use that to form the armature but many people do it the other way, often with a thinner wire to wrap around. If there's no room for 2 wires, use thinner wires or just learn to be careful and delicate working with clay on a single wire (that's probably a good skill to have either way).
Second-make sure to condition the clay, it's got to be warm, soft and sticky. The usually annoying fingerprints at that stage help adhere the next layers (rough surface, you don't want a smooth surface here). Don't worry about "sculpting" too much, just get it on there. It also helps to really push it into the wires, to ensure good contact, especially if they are the twisted wires, got to get the air out of the crevices.
I've never thought to sprinkle talc or bicarb on super glue to texture the surface, I'll have to try that. You can also put a tiny drop of super glue on the wire and it will instantly set when you push the sculpey into it (moisture in the clay makes it act like your skin around super glue). I've done that and it works fine, just don't stand in the kitchen too long while it's baking, it has to be deadly fumes coming off of baked cyanoacrylate. It's probably a good idea to not bake polymer clay in your cooking oven anyway...but yeah. Gluing the clay directly to the wire creates a really secure connection that'll hold a fairly wide area of clay in place.
Another common practice is using a sticky 2 part epoxy putty for the first layer on the armature. After they're cured they (many of them) can be layered with sculpey and baked with no problems. Greenstuff I see used a lot, but you can just get almost any of the 2 part epoxy plumbers putties from the hardware store (for pennies on the dollar, by comparison) and it will work just as well and cure in a fraction of the time (good IMO).
As for the wire pushing through, you just need to learn a little finesse. Try more things like rolling the section between your thumb and finger, pinching and supporting delicately, instead of just pushing and forcing it directly. Also, keep in mind, a little "edged groove" where the pieces meet is no problem, as you'll be putting more clay on top, so no need to fuss and make it smooth.
QuietiManes
New member
Oh, lol, my son started talking to me when I was writing the response and I forgot to hit submit. Now I hit it and Einion beat me to it with a fraction of the word count to boot.
