sculpting with Sculpey opinion?

[thetang22]

Hi everyone. Just last night I got the urge to do some small scale terrain items and looked up a few ideas on the net. I'm planning on making a water fountain and some other things from scratch, and I wanted to try sculpting them.

I recall hearing some sculpters use Fimo (sp?) with success and that was what I was planning on using because I could find it at Walmart (I live in the middle of nowhere, so I don't have a local game shop to get any supplies from). Anyway, I've bought the stuff at Walmart years ago, but when I went this time the only thing they had was Sculpey, and I don't really know how well that works. I went ahead and bought it, but I was kinda hoping to get some knowledgeable opinions about it before I cracked into the package.

If the stuff isn't that good for small scale terrain creation then I would probably just assume return it and get my money back. Anyway feedback on Sculpey?

Thanks

p.s. This is what I was going to try and make with the Sculpey if that helps:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/icedheart/misc/fontaineb1.jpg

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/icedheart/misc/fontaineb2.jpg

[350kilotons]

Sculpey is used in the FX industry (along with other polymer clays like Chavant NSP) for creature sculpting (the extras on Star Wars: Attack Of the Clones, where George is shown a load of small busts for the diner owner is a prime example of this). Check out Glenn Southern's Creature Tutorial for a look at working with it, and don't forget to check out the Sculpey homepage.

[demonherald]

Sculpey is great but lends itself a lot better to the organic shapes of faces an muscles etc... It works just like an ordinary clay .. then it's oven bake....

If your doing a terrain piece like that you should be ok although in fairness I would prefer to make the basic shape out of poly foam (styrene) and use a putty to add a little extra detail..

That said sculpey should be ok for this kind of work too.

just make sure that you have a rough idea of the thickness of the piece you have sculpted so you get the timings right in the oven. If it is still soft in the middle it can become flexible and crack over time....

summing up I'd say it wouldn't be my first choice for that kind of work but if it's easiest to get then it will be fine..

hope that helps

[thetang22]

Thanks for the replies. I agree, it wouldn't be my first decision...but I have to work with what is available at the moment. I want to let my girlfriend have a go at designing a few little terrain pieces and see if she enjoys it (she's a highschool art teacher, so it shouldn't be too far off from her "thing"). Hopefully if she takes to it I'll be able to come up with a decent supply of customizable terrain for Malifaux. I just want to be sure and start small so she doesn't get overwhelmed.

[TheBugKing]

I use the stuff to great effect.

See here:

http://www.terrainthralls.com/articles/brokencoast2/firstpage.aspx

Sculpy makes an excellent accent material.

Foam can be replaced with cardboard or foam core.

Both cardboard and foam core take a bit more effort as you need to laminate a bunch of pieces together to get a similar thickness to extruded polystyrene but they work.

Another way to tackle the volume question is to use metal lath of some form. Obviously going with smaller openings is a better way to go as sculpy (Or femo or any other polymer clay) doesn't have a great tensile strength till baked.

If you have some more specific questions on actual application please post them. I've got quite a bit of experience using the stuff and I would be glad to help.

[thetang22]

Great site TBK, I love tutorials on stuff like that, and you've got some nice results there. I really like how successful your water treatments work. I'm gonna browse through the site more a little later, but I really enjoy what I've seen so far, and will probably try putting some of the techniques to practice!

[TheBugKing]

Great site TBK, I love tutorials on stuff like that, and you've got some nice results there. I really like how successful your water treatments work. I'm gonna browse through the site more a little later, but I really enjoy what I've seen so far, and will probably try putting some of the techniques to practice!

Oh it's not all me!

I personally have never done a water effect for terrain. (One rather bad attempt on a figure base)

The current project needs some innovative water effects though so I will have a crash course coming up.

John "Scarab" Salmond is probably the most talented member of our group. Jim "Nobody" Cornell is a close second though.

One helpful thing that you can do (Or any one for that matter) is ask for tutorials on using certain techniques. We all have to supply at least three tutorials to the site a year. (I have anew one due this month. )