The best material for larger projects

[mallock]

I'm going to be starting alarge scale project soon, roughly 3 feet tall, I generally use sculpey. Is there a product out there that might be better suited for something of this size?

[moore_000]

Originally Posted by mallock

I'm going to be starting alarge scale project soon, roughly 3 feet tall, I generally use sculpey. Is there a product out there that might be better suited for something of this size?

What is your concern in using Sculpey for large projects?

[riteguytu]

Originally Posted by moore_000

What is your concern in using Sculpey for large projects?

Probably cost...

[mallock]

Right cost and durability....

[moore_000]

Apoxie sculpt is very durable, but it will not help you with cost. Don't know how you feel about working with the original Sculpey, but here is a link where you can buy it in bulk at a very decent price:
http://www.creative-wholesale.com/Sculpey.html

What ever you decide to use, you definitely need to bulk out from the armature instead of using solid sculpting material all the way through. Bulking out will definitely save on using less sculpting material.

[rAd]

Originally Posted by mallock

Right cost and durability....

isn't sculpey durable?

[fettcicle]

One of my first posts

Sculpy can be durable on smaller solid projects where its been worked very little. If you work it too much, you begin to form layers which don't always stick to each other, and tend to flake. If your using it as a 1 off to cast off of, your original will probably be ruined removing it from the mold, so no real big loss. You'll be able to make resin copies anyway.

The other problem with sculpy is the baking process. If the item is too large, or too thick, sculpy has a tendency to crack. If you build up an armature inside, the sculpy skin tends to crack, unless you do a long slow bake, with a long slow cool down to minimize the chance for cracking.

If your planning something big that you are going to use as the final product and don't plan to remold it in resin, I would recommend apoxie sculpt. The only draw back is that it's self hardening, so you only have a short window of work time before it sets. Sculpy sets when you bake it, but apoxie sculpt is a 2 part epoxy that hardens through a chemical process once the 2 parts are combined.

It starts off really soft, like silly puddy. Then after about 10 min, behaves more like a soft clay. After about an hour, it gets a bit harder , and probably in about 1 1/2 hrs it behaves like a wax. It's water soluble to an extent, so if you need to smooth anything, a little water on you finger will blend sections. It bonds to just about anything, and it bonds extremely well to itself without the likely hood of flaking or sections breaking free during build up.

If you do want to build in sections, a little paste wax as a barrier keeps sections from sticking to each other. Once hardened, you can break the parts free and work on them separately. I would say once hardened, Apoxie sculpt is Very durable. I've had very good luck with using various wire brushes on hardened apoxie sculpt to add texture very easily. I've also thinned it out with water to a paste and stippled it on to create different textures.

To give it a very smooth surface, I found using a nylon brush to buff it will give it a very smooth and shiny appearance. Apoxi sculpt doesn't shrink as it cures, so burying an armature inside to make up the bulk wouldn't hurt.

I hope this helps.

[moore_000]

Originally Posted by fettcicle

One of my first posts

Sculpy can be durable on smaller solid projects where its been worked very little. If you work it too much, you begin to form layers which don't always stick to each other, and tend to flake. If your using it as a 1 off to cast off of, your original will probably be ruined removing it from the mold, so no real big loss. You'll be able to make resin copies anyway.

The other problem with sculpy is the baking process. If the item is too large, or too thick, sculpy has a tendency to crack. If you build up an armature inside, the sculpy skin tends to crack, unless you do a long slow bake, with a long slow cool down to minimize the chance for cracking.

If your planning something big that you are going to use as the final product and don't plan to remold it in resin, I would recommend apoxie sculpt. The only draw back is that it's self hardening, so you only have a short window of work time before it sets. Sculpy sets when you bake it, but apoxie sculpt is a 2 part epoxy that hardens through a chemical process once the 2 parts are combined.

It starts off really soft, like silly puddy. Then after about 10 min, behaves more like a soft clay. After about an hour, it gets a bit harder , and probably in about 1 1/2 hrs it behaves like a wax. It's water soluble to an extent, so if you need to smooth anything, a little water on you finger will blend sections. It bonds to just about anything, and it bonds extremely well to itself without the likely hood of flaking or sections breaking free during build up.

If you do want to build in sections, a little paste wax as a barrier keeps sections from sticking to each other. Once hardened, you can break the parts free and work on them separately. I would say once hardened, Apoxie sculpt is Very durable. I've had very good luck with using various wire brushes on hardened apoxie sculpt to add texture very easily. I've also thinned it out with water to a paste and stippled it on to create different textures.

To give it a very smooth surface, I found using a nylon brush to buff it will give it a very smooth and shiny appearance. Apoxi sculpt doesn't shrink as it cures, so burying an armature inside to make up the bulk wouldn't hurt.

I hope this helps.

Yes, Apoxie Sculpt is very durable and has its advantages over Sculpey. But unless you are very quick and accurate with sculpting, I would advise against using it as it gives you only about 2 hours of work time.

[fettcicle]

Originally Posted by moore_000

Yes, Apoxie Sculpt is very durable and has its advantages over Sculpey. But unless you are very quick and accurate with sculpting, I would advise against using it as it gives you only about 2 hours of work time.

Very true, I've had to develope a few tricks to get what I want out of Apoxy sculpt, and I usually work with very small sections because it begins to harden before I can use all that I've mixed.

Sometimes what you're sculpting can help determine the best material.

If it's relatively smooth with little detail, Apoxi sculpt works well because you'll probably get the basic shape, and either grind or sand it to the final shape, like a sword blade. Geometric shapes, angles, smooth surfaces.

If your're doing something highly detailed that you need to work on over a period of time, Sculpy is a better choice because it can be worked until it's baked. Very organic shapes with a high amount of detail.

[wardes]

You can go 2 ways:
do an original in ordinary clay, plastiline,etc and then mold with plaster, and copy in fiberglassed resin or plaster (plaster is very cheap but very heavy)
or do the definite version, for which i suggest do an aproximate shape with styrofoam and cover it with DAS clay ( around $9 for 1kg/ 2.2p) .When dry, if you need to do much finer details , they could be done in epoxy putty (apoxie etc). das is an italian water based clay that´s sort of a papier mache. it´s sold worldwide, but if you cant get it where you live you can make your own. if you need i have a few formulas.