Getting started

[Perry]

Hi, I'm new here and I would like to start making my own statues and busts but I'm not really sure where to start or where to buy materials from. I know some basic things but not much.
There are probably other threads for this type of question but I haven't seen one. If anyone has any tips or advice, knows any sites they could post links to, or a thread they could post a link to, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your help

[claws181]

I was wanting to get startedas well. I actually just got home from buying some Sculpy.

[occulum]

Try this link. (http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=17&topic_id=824&mesg_id=824&listing_type=read_new)
:)

[Perry]

Thanks for the link, it was really helpful.

[Eye of Agamotto]

Do many people use this sculpey? I would like to try my hand but don't want to buy something without knowing first if it's the one to get?

http://www.midwestclay.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=18

[rob]

Same stuff as SS, but only grey. SS is transluscent and it is hard to see imperfections until it is baked & primed. Usually mix it with another color to get an opaqueness. This stuff works the same way but takes out the step of mixing. Highly recommend it.
--Rob

[Colossal]

Ive been really interested in at least having a stab at sculpting, always with the idea that if I was going to do one, it would be the Hulk or DD. But Ive just been floored by a dragon statue over at the clubhouse, and I know its an overwhelming challenge, but I really wanted to do a FS Drake from Dragonheart.

But Ive noticed on the forum the sculptors talking about epoxy's and sculpey etc, and was wondering - whats the differences between them, do you use one more than the other for certain parts of a sculpture or do some of you just use one type of clay or wax and dont need anything else?

Also, for something like a large, bulky dragon, what would be recommended? Ive heard of using armatures to fill out the frame but not sure if there are links on how to do this, in order to save on the sculpting materials.

Any help or advice on this would be awesome.

[Arannz]

Try this link for a great step-by-step that could be applied to a dragon or similar sculpt:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18287&page=1&pp=60

Use super sculpey over an aluminium wire armature. Bulk up the armature with tinfoil (the baking kind that you buy at the supermarket) or epoxy.

The difference between epoxy and super sculpey is that epoxy goes hard not longer after you mix the two parts. The working time depends on the particular epoxy that you are using, but is typically 1-3 hrs. Super sculpey on the otherhand does not go hard unless you bake it in the oven (or accidentally leave it in the sun for a long time!). Many people use some sort of epoxy to do fine/pointy details on a sculpt, so that those parts quickly set hard and they are less likely to be damaged while working on the rest of the sculpt in super sculpey. Epoxies tend to be stronger than sculpey and are hence better for sanding/filing/carving into fine sharp points (e.g. spikes) either before or after baking the sculpt to make the sculpey go hard.

I recommend this epoxy:
http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Sculpt/apoxie_sculpt.html
It has a consistency quite similar to the sculpey, but it tends to be a lot stickier, so you need to wet your fingers and tools with water when you are pushing it around to prevent it sticking. It washes off really easily in water and is supposedly non-toxic.

Wax is a whole different story to epoxy or clay (super sculpey). You need special tools to melt or warm the wax, so that you can push it around. Otherwise you need to take a subtraction approach where you carve, sand, or cut away the wax from a hard block. I wouldn't recommend wax if you are just starting out. Super sculpey is definitely the way to go. You don't need any special tools - practically anything from knitting needles to small scraps of metal, wood, or plastic can be used to sculpt it.