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RennardX — Tutorial Summary
Published: 2007-09-03 20:17:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 17348; Favourites: 189; Downloads: 233
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Description
I am finished for real now!!
I'll submit the finished model pictures tomorrow.
Tutorial Summary [you are here]
Edit Apr.16.09 - I changed what the temperature was, I made a mistake there.
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Comments: 102
Hello there, thanks for the questions.
Yes you can bake at the same temperature. That won't effect it.
I also use our food oven for baking. You are only limited by the size space, but if it fit it's all good. I haven't encountered any problems with this method.
[If you want to share pictures of the model that'd be awesome.]
Hope that helps. ^_^
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ahaha thank you :3
I have now baked my steeve and will be giving him a layer of fur hopefully coz at the mo hes just muscle and bone 9w9
<3 Ill get some pictures of him together soon as i finish him all 
Thank you so much for these tutorials as well- they are great help and inspiration for future works. XD i just wish i read them before i started on steevy Xwx I encountered alot of problems that I could of avoided 9w9
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Great tutorial. Can't wait to put it into practice. Thank you!
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Great to hear! I hope it really helps ya out.
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I'll just save this part and use the links to see the others. This is very useful. Now maybe I can make that figure I wanted to for my friend... maybe. > x>
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Good idea!
I hope it helps you in some way. I found there wasn't too much info about all this.
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Indeed. Question though, I've only got 22 Gauge (or .73mm?) Galvanized Steel Wire (based on a tut for making loops for little keychain like things), would that work for a base? Or would it be best to use the one given here in the tutorial?
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thanks i finaly found what i have been looking for
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That's great to hear! It's always nice to know this will help someone out!
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yea thanks it has helped a lot espacialy since i had some question about details how to make the base baking it and ect 
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I bought a whole block of Sculpey a few weeks ago without any idea of how to properly sculpt with it, and needless to say none of my projects so far have turned out very well. 
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You are very welcome. Your story makes me happy to know it has been helping. Thank you so much.
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DUDE!!!!!!!
PRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you sooo sooo sooo much for sharing you ways!!
lol THANK YOU!!
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You are very welcome. I hope this helps someone out there!
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I just bought some Sculpey and this is going to be really helpful. 
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Great to hear! Good luck with your project, I hope this does help. ^_^
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Great tutorial! I'll give another go at a sculpture based on what I've learned from you XD
I had a question concerning baking and the wooden base; Is it safe to put it in with the model?
Since I've never heard anyone mention it, I always avoid putting it in the oven; and I end up dangling the model from one of it's unfinished limbs as best I can. This has caised me problems though, so I'm not quite sure what the best solution is.
Thanks for any assistance!
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It is okay to put the wood stand in with the model. The oven temperature shouldn't be high enough to cause problems [burning the wood or catching fire]. This was an actual concern of mine when I first started out and I tried to avoid it, but I've found that it is fine. Plus it saves the models a lot of trouble too.
Hope that helps!
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Thanks for sharing this, it's a great and helpful tutorial.
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I'm really glad to hear that!
Thank you very much.
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I've been wondering... what do you use to seal your finished works?
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(smiles) Late is fine. I've been experimenting a bit, but I'll see if I can't find what you're using, since you've obviously stress tested it for some time. Thanks!
Yeah, I know I'm not replying directly to your reply; that will keep me from saving it, and I want to keep it for reference. Thank you so much for sharing what you know in sculpting!
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[sorry for the late reply]
I use a matte varnish by Liquitex on the finished model.
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I read the whole thing, it's very good!! now I realy want some super sculpty! how much does it cost? Can it be found in any art store? do you think when I do start sculpting I should start off with a simple animal instead of a human?
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Hello,
Getting super sculpey, from what I've heard from people, varies a lot from place to place. It might only be available in North America........but seeing as you're in the U.S, that won't be a problem. XD
Art stores like Michael's would carry it, and the prices usually goes for $15 CDN a box. So probably a bit less over there. I think most arts and crafts stores have it. The Premo is much more expensive and a small block costs $5 each.
Sculpting a simple animal would be a good way to start. It gets you familiar with how sculpey works, but really it all boils down to how ambitious you are feeling. Not all human figures are hard to work with though. Chibi type characters work well in that respect.
Hope that answered your questions. I'll be happy to answer any more you may have. ^_^
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oh thank you! That's all the questions I have. thank you for answering them.
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A couple of lame questions, may I?
Is the regular sculpey oven-bake clay sor of too flexible and smooth for forking with it? I found it not enough resistant while fresh...may be it's just me... but I ofter run into working on one part ofthe sculpture and getting another part of it distorted because of the pressure >.>Another thing - when do you use alcohool to smooth the clay - I couldn't find taht part in the tutorials, does it help just like water does with mud scupling?
Also... you seem to be using a think wire for armature, that is rather natural, yet does the clay stick to the armature properly? it always tends to come apart from it by all means with the wire I use...
Ah, anyways, thank you for your time and effort put into this tutorial! May I hope to see a sculpture-painting tutorial someday? ^^
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I find a lot of sculptors will wrap their armature in floral tape so that the clay adheres better. I think it's a textured tape, and I've seen others use glue and other materials on the wire. Just something textured so the clay has more traction and sticks better.
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Okay, I'll try to answer your questions best I can.
I don't fully get the first question, but what you're asking is about the sculpey being too soft and droops?
Super Sculpey itself is pretty soft, especially if it gets warm (like you've been working it with your hands), in the oven there is a tendency for it to droop if it isn't supported.
To get around this you use a stronger armature, or you can mix the Super Sculpey with another sculpey type [I use Premo] to make it more firm. I believe there is also a Sculpey Firm which doesn't involve any mixing. I haven't tried it, but it's supposed to be a bit better supporting itself.
The last thing I can think of when it comes to drooping clay, is by putting external supports in there to hold the clay into place. I normally just use other pieces of clay. I think I do something like that in my tutorial somewhere.......lemme check.
In tutorial 5 I do this to support the sword sheath. Similarly in tut 6 at the bottom of the tutorial, I build what I call a rig and that supports the sculpey to bake in a particular shape. I hope that helps someway.
Smoothing with the alcohol is just like you described. You use it when the clay is still "wet" and pliable. After its baked, doesn't make a difference, only sandpaper can help you then.
Two things I noticed when sticking clay to wire. The sculpey sticks best to the wire if you've really got it mushy with your hands. If the clay is kinda crumbly or cool, it doesn't stick well. This also applies if you are adding clay to a already baked sculpture. It needs to be warm to sort of adhere.
Another thing I found. I think the kind of wire you use is important. When I first started out, I tried using a cut up hanger as my wire base. Sculpey doesn't stick to that very well. I've been using soldering wire and it works pretty good for me. There is also aluminum wire you can buy, I haven't tried it, but I suspect it'd work just as good.
I have a piece in the making I think I will make a painting tutorial of. Hopefully I'll finish it this year.
Thank you for your interest in Sculpting. Again, run any questions you might have and I'll be happy to answer them best I can.
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Well, sculpey, when not baked, it very soft, so taht I could hardly be doing any layered-sculpting like you advised, for the sculpture was to bend and distort at every pressure, even with armature. Now I'm using thiker armature and I tried baking the base for the body, and it works much better^^ tahnx!
Ah.. I have seen only one type of sculpey in store here 
Smoothing with alcohool just saves the texture, wow! I tried doing it with nail gloss disolvant, it stinks and makes my head ache though.. is there any less poisonous alcohol I could use??... What about Vodka?
I think I use aluminium wire - doesn't work very well and besides it's pretty thin. So should I invest in some plastic-covered wire then?
painting tutorial yay!^^
Thank you SO much for spending time on me - you're reallya huge bunch of help, and I will probably do some sculpting work from time to time from now on thanx to you
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If you can't find different gages of wire in craft stores, check the fabric stores. JoAnn Fabric & Crafts usually has a very nice selection, depending on your location. Not sure if they exist in France, I've not checked. But perhaps your fabric stores by other names would also have such a section (beading area) for you to look through.
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I guess you could always experiment with the Fimo. I've never tried that stuff before either so I just don't know about it. It could work surprisingly well, who know!
Haha, vodka. A good substitute to smooth the clay would be turpenoid. It's like an alternative to turpentine for oil painting so you'd find it around the painting supplies. I hear it's good for clay smoothing too, and it shouldn't be as toxic or smelly. Again I haven't used it, but I've heard from actual pros that's what they use, so that must mean something.
If you look you might be able to find various gauges of aluminum wire. I've seen a good selection between thick and thin, hopefully that same selection is available to you too. If you do use the plastic covered wire, just be sure to remove the plastic covering. That would stink if cooked
Good luck with the sculpting! Hopefully you can show something on dA when you have something made, that'd be cool. 
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Yeah, that's cool. I'd be happy to lend a critiquing hand. ^_^
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Thanks so much for making this tutorial! I can't wait to try out your techniques~
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You are very welcome! I hope they help you out.
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You're like, the sculpting master
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Aha well...........
Thank you. I'm trying my best. I'm nowhere near I want to be, but I am thankful you hold me in such high regard.
Thank you.
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:3 I'm really gonna have to try this some time! They're all really good tips.
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thanks so very much for this tutorial!! Its awesome!!!
i'm definately gonna try it out~ i've never sculpted anything before but i really really wanna try and this tutorial is just what i needed
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That's great to hear! Hope it helps you out! Lemme know how it goes too.
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Wow this tutorial is awesome! THanks so much for sharing! 
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I think the best thing is to take your time and start off simple. I hope this helps you out.
Good luck!
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Yay! I can't wait to see the finished sculpture! It looked awesome from the tutorial! X333
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can't wait to give this a go, minus a few steps this is totally how i attack my sketches and illustrations
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lol I could see a few steps not proving very useful to an illustration. XD
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