This has lead to a lengthy discussion over at the Clubhouse...
here's a quick summary:
Castilene now is pretty bad because manufacturing got moved to China, but I have a "quick fix" posted below that might help.
Also,
*Toxic Papa sells a sculpting wax that I haven't tried but heard is good.
*A guy named Gary is working on his own mix right now- again, no idea how it is.
*I'm working on my own material which, I have plans to make available under the name Compound X, but it may be a while before I can get that going full speed. When samples are ready, I'll put up a post.
... So if you have already bought Castilene, you might try sending it back I have no idea if that will work. If not, then try my quick fix. No guarantees though! And be advised, too much Damar will just make it stickier.
***A QUICK FIX***************
for all of you out there that have some bad stuff:
Go to your local art supply store and buy a bag of Damar crystals. These are extremely hard chunks of clear resin from tropical trees ($10.00). Also buy J&J baby powder (this is finer than the pure talc available at ceramics supply places and art stores)
Dump in a lot of both. Sorry, I don't have exact numbers. Maybe 4 or 5 big chunks of Damar (like ice cubes) for a tub of Castilene and 10-20 tablespoons of Talc.
Adding Carnuba will only make it more translucent, but you can put in a bit of that too, maybe 4 Oz. to a tub.
The Damar will GREATLY improve both the hardness and the flow of the Castilene. It will still suck, but not as bad.
It will be in the oil paint section at any good art store.
NOTE: since Damar is tree sap, it does have some inclusions sometimes- chiefly, dirt and bark. Even small bugs. Try not to add this.
When adding Damar: be careful, it burns at a low temperature. It'll sizzle long before your waxes do, so at a low temperature, you can put a bit of wax melting in the bottom of your crockpot and basically smudge the Damar lumps along the bottom.
Either that or you can use a file or rasp to grate some powder in on top of the already melted wax.
*DISCLAIMER: if you don't like it, don't come crying to me.
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Good Luck!
www.AdamBeane.com
