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RennardX — Tutorial 1 - Mixing Sculpey
Published: 2007-04-15 15:34:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 47475; Favourites: 430; Downloads: 1674
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This is the first in a series of tutorial/walkthrough on working with Sculpey/clay to create your own characters, creatures and things!Here is just the basics of the material you will be working with, Sculpey!
Lemme know if you found it useful.
Mixing Sculpey [you are here now]
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Comments: 85
The main reason I mix is because using super sculpey alone isn't good for seeing details on the surface of the clay if you are trying to get it really smooth. It's kind of translucent, so mixing it with the coloured stuff makes it opaque and surface details stand out. And I wouldn't use just the straight solid coloured clay because it is expensive and if I need a lot of it that'd end up costing me more than I want to pay. Super sculpey I'd get more for less money and mixing makes it most efficient and cost effective.
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You are so talented. Thanks for these super tutorials.
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Nice ! Well explain and presented !
Have a question : chat does the Sculpey bring to your clay ? I mean, Why don't you just use Premo ? (I'm still a Polymere Fangirl Beginner and want learn more and more about it ^^)
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Hey thanks!
The main reason I do the mix is mainly because Premo is expensive for the amount you get. It's more cost effective for larger models with the Super Sculpey mixed in. I also find adding the Sculpey to it makes it a nicer material to work with, like the Premo is tough and needs to be worked to get malleable, and the Sculpey can be too much the other way, ie droopy. So together they make a sturdy easy to work with material.
Premo is also nice to if you wish to avoid painting and if you are working on really small stuff. Think those minature foods you see others make. I paint everything and work on the larger side so I've never had the reason to use just Premo. Though one could always just use a tin/bland sculpey base and make the final layer of Premo....I may try that one day.
lol hope that answers your question
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Yes it is !
Thank you.
I am still a beginner in sculpting but I really enjoy it. And I was quite desperate trying to sculpt precise things with my Fimo (wich is, I guess, more or less like the Premo) and could get my clay soft enough.
I will try that Super Sculpey someday !
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Hi, I'm thinking trying out the super sculpey clay, but I don't know what type of hardness or what tools I need?
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Hello! Super sculpey clay itself comes just as is with the hardness. It's relatively soft, which can be good, but like in this tutorial I mix it with the other two types just to get it a little more firm so it is easier to work with. It's optional really.
These are the tools I work with [link] and [link]
The tool I use the most is rubber tipped like this one [link]
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yesss! I bought a pasta machine today..and gonna use this tutorial to mix my ss with ss firm!
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Nice! That will definitely make it way easier. I even noticed the last time I went to my craft shop they have pasta machines with the clays. XD Took em long enough!
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cool! im trying my hand at simple chibis right now but im getting agravated im using regular grey clay and it makes a mess everywhere and i also cant get it to stay together even with supports. with scuply just plain sculpy is it the same as working with clay just not the mess and the falling apart if you bake it? sorry for the onlot of questions just trying to get my head around this whole thing! haha
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Sorry I'm late with a reply
When you say grey clay, are you talking like mud clay? If so that stuff is hard to work with and it dries out and I never had much success with it.
If it's grey polymer clay, it shouldn't be so much a problem. It's much like the super sculpey [aka SS, pink stuff]. But still a little tougher because it's not a pliable. You really have to work it to get it soft and it's the main reason I mix it in with my SS.
If things are supporting properly you might have to slow your process down a little and build it up in steps. Like you get to a point, bake it so it has a harder foundation then continue building off of that. Then any supports won't have as much work to do.
Hope that answered some questions, if any. ^_^
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oh and what type of scuply do you recomend for someone whos not experienced in the sculpy area?
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is the gray clay better than working with sculpey alone?
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It's only better in the sense that you can see the surface of the clay when it's gray much more precise then straight sculpey [that stuff somewhat transluscent].
There might even be a strength difference too, but I wouldn't say by much.
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Um sorry for chirping in but i think once i saw grey sculpey. It should work too, no...?
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Oh you are very right! There is gray sculpey out there, but I've found working with it alone is very hard on the hands. I like having it mixed with the pink stuff so it's softer and easier to work with, so I've found.
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Ahi see 
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D: ! All your tutorials are going to help me so much! I'm using super sculpey for first generation models for my DT project. @w@;;
I tried using just premo but that failed miserably... it blended nicely but when I used it too much it got everywhere and stuck to my craft knife when I tried to cut pieces off. It bugged me a lot... Now i'm using sculpey though. Luckily my art shops sells it. 
Anyways... I have a question... Premo + Sculpey combined...is it sticky? Well I know it is a bit but I mean would it go everywhere, if you know what I mean?
A-and what if you don't have a noodle/pasta machine? Could I just thinly slice it all up?
Sorry for all the questions D: Awesome tutorial!
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I haven't been having trouble with premo+sculpey making things overly sticky or getting everywhere. Heh, what do you mean when you say it goes everywhere? Like it makes a mess or it's hard to control when shaping?
Slicing it up would work. The basic idea is getting it all into small chunks you can work with your hands. It's very tiring to do otherwise.
No problem! I'm happy to answer questions since I probably didn't cover everything in the tut itself. ^_^
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I meant the first one.
I don't know if it's because my house is at a high temperature or what, but a little while after I start working with premo it gets really soft so when i blend it in with something it gets stuck to my fingers and when I go to cut a slice, it gets stuck to my craft knife. So I have to stick it in my fridge for a few minutes. It's like "what the hell!"
I guess it's not so bad being soft though, because I think it's easier to shape... but just not THAT soft xD
Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a try... and turn my heating down.
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This is so brilliant! I have to ask my cousin in the states to go see if she can get me some sculpting clay. xDD
Is Sculpey one of the only good brands to get? owo Are there any others you'd like to recommend? (just in case she cant find any sculpey for me)
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Ohhhhhh............hmmm.
I'm thinking of other brands you could try if not for Sculpey. I haven't worked with any other brands so I can't be sure. There is Fimo and Milliput? I have very little idea about those, but they are brands I've heard of and people have used.
Hopefully you can get some Sculpey!
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Yesss, I hope she can find sculpey. D:
Sculpey hardens on its own right? you dont bake it or anything? 'Cause I've heard a lot of problems with the clay you bake in the oven and it becoming slightly deformed when its done. ;w;
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Sculpey does need to be baked to harden. It does deform under the heat, but that can be dealt with. To have it not deform you have to include a support within the clay structure. It gives it a skeleton [so to speak] that holds it up. The skeleton is called an armature and you build it out of wire. I probably have an example of that in my tutorials.
So it's still all good. ^_^
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Oooh so the "skeleton" in your tutorials are so it wont deform. xD
Thank you for replying so quickly. o3o But I have one last question, What kind of paint would you prefer to paint it with? 8D
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Yep, yep.
As for painting, I paint with normal acrylics. Just easier and no bad chemicals involved. XD
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Oooh, thank you very much for answering all my questions! :3 I'll be sure to credit you when I make a sculpture I like, and post it up here. ^^ You've been a great help!
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You're welcome. If you make a sculpture, I'd like to see it!
Good luck. ^_^
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Ohhh sure! It'd be an honor for you to look at it. xD
Thanks! :3
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sweet. That's a great tutorial. I have been looking for this for ages. Thank you! Now, I just wish there is sculpey available around here in my place.
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Thanks! I'm glad I could help. 
That seems like the one problem with sculpey, it's not very available everywhere. :blank:
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Yes, sculpey is hard to find, as well as turtorials or classes for that matter. I luckily found a store that supplies them and it has minimal instructions on how to bake it. I'm a little tensed, I'm trying to make small sculptures, thumb sized and I don't know what temperature is needed to bake them. I don't want to either over-bake or under bake--if there is such a thing.
Do you have any suggestions?
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Thumb sized sculptures eh......well I know it is possible to under bake, but with small sculpts that shouldn't be a problem. Overbaking usually means it's burnt so you can see when that's happening. If anything you might want to experiment a little, or keep an eye on your stuff when it bakes.
I've found that baking at 210-215 degrees Fahrenheit is a good area to hang around. I cook at intervals of 10-15 minutes and once cool the models are pretty hard. When I'm completely done a model I'll give a long final bake, like at a lower temperature 190-195 and go for 20-30 min. I only do that because I work my models in layers.
So yeah, you could try it at the settings I try and keep checking in on it every 5 mins to make sure it's okay.
^_^
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thank you very much! You have been a great help! kudos to you, and more power!
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Thank you for the thank you, and the power! Moar power!!!
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^^ beautiful tutorial! 
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Thanks for doing this; I wanted to get into making stuff with Sculpey for ages... gotta say though, the translucent mush looks nasty, like something off a really gross crime scene XD This is gonna sound really dense as well, but the black & white stuff... is that just coloured Sculpey? We only have Fimo here unless I go to Ebay
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The pink stuff does leave something to be desired. XD
Yes, the black and white is coloured sculpey. I'm going to have to buy some Fimo since I hear lots of people saying that's all they have access too. That kinda sucks.
Hope these help you out.
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