cheap Clay for sculpting props.

[jason1976]

I'm working on a project, and I need to get thit done quick ,and cheep. Some of the items are pretty large. (think very large pistol, or very small riffle, lets say enough clay to fill a half gallon container.)

I want to sculpt the items to be molded, but I can't find the right clay. I have some very hard, gray clay, that even after soaking in water, and needing a bit, is still WAY to hard to do what I need to do, on the scale I need to do it.

SuperSculpty has about the consistency I want. (you know, hard at first but the longer you play with it, the softer it gets, so it's good fro sculpting, but soft enough to push mold items.) But Super sculpty in the quantity I need, would be outrageously expensive, and WAY beyond the budget I have to work with. (probably well over $50. and I'm looking for something under $20.)

I don't have a work space that will allow me to poor a block of plaster, and carve it out, and even if I could find one, it wouldn't work for what i'm doing.

I would really like to find something locally (Columbus, Ohio.) Because I don't have the time (or a credit car) to order it online, and have to wait for it to come, just to find out that it wont work for what I need.

So please post any info you have on an easy to find, easy to work with, kind of cheep, clay, or other substance I can sculpt, and then make a mold of.

Thanks

 

[propologist]

wed clay maybe, cheap and air dry , but alot of pros use it

 

[JDarko]

From your predicament, I would suggest WED clay. Although whether you'll be able to get it without the internet/cc is another matter. Use the search on this forum, there is a hive of information if you just have a nosey about. (Wed clay is: non sulphurous, so okay for molding, is a water based clay, so its cheap and is a really nice clay to work with, is really smooth and if you allow it to dry out a little, takes on fabulous detail, the only downside is it doesnt air dry very well, so you can't keep your originals. You mold it once its surface has began to dry aliitle but if little cracks appear in it, just smooth over with water.)
Hope that was of some use
Johnny

 

[skynet]

Depends on what you want to sculpt.

NSP Chavant (soft, medium and hard) is good because it contains no moisture (resins don't like moisture) and it doesn't contain sulphur, which makes them ideal for molding with siliocne.

Although there are soft, medium and hard versíons of this product, some people find it difficult to sculpt with it - just put it near a lamp or something that keeps the clay constantly warm so it's a lot eaysier to manipulate.

These clays hold up detail very good which results in crisper casts (if done right) and therefore a better product.

WED clay is cool when u want to sculpt something very quickly, but you have limited amounts on surface texture detail. It's affordable and easy to manipulate/sculpt.

It's enough when you place your sculpture under a plastic sheet or wrap it up so that it doesn't dry out completely and perhaps gets surface cracks.

When making large pieces with WED: Use an armature. The more clay you apply, the heavier everything gets and the whole sculpture will slide down your sculpting rod - or whatever u use.

Building a basic understructure out of wood for example gives strength and saves material.