New to forum, New to Sculpting...I think I messed up with Chavant

[LanceUppercut]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum, and I just recently started sculpting (this is actually my first full week with clay -- yay!). After reading a bunch of stuff online, and watching tutorials, I decided to go with Chavant's Le Beau Touche HM. It's been quite the task and they make it look so easy in the tutorials. I'm in Florida where it's always hot and humid, so the Chavant gets very sticky. It's like trying to sculpt with biscuit dough. I've been using the air duster upside down trick, but that stuff is pretty expensive, and I don't want the girl at Office Depot thinking I'm huffing it. I'm about to order some Chavant NSP Medium, and Super Sculpey. I'm still learning so I'm not going to cast anything just yet. Gotta crawl before I walk.

Now, here's where I think I messed up. I was trying to search online but can't find an answer. It brought me here, I registered, and no time like now to join a new community. So I'm sculpting in the Chavant Le Beau Touche HM, and didn't finish it completely. I still have to sculpt the hands, face, feet, clothing...you get the point. My brother wanted to see what I was working on, so in order to make it look better, I hit it with some mineral spirits. It's been sitting for over an hour, and the surface is still very gummy. Did I jump the gun and "finalize" the piece without knowing it? Is there anything I can do to get the clay into a workable condition again?

Here's what I'm working on. I just created an armature and started sculpting a basic human figure. I'm going to keep on doing it like this until I'm proficient. I started adding clothing because although he wasn't anatomically correct in the junk area, I didn't want my daughter asking silly questions. And honestly, you can never go wrong with a Spartan.



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Oh, by the way. If anyone has any tips or tricks, I'm all ears. Especially tips on how to work with clay and not having it stick to your tools, hands, face, hair, etc, etc. Thanks!

 

[Malibu139]

I have not worked with Chavant's Le Beau Touche HM. But I have used mineral spirits on Chavant NSP medium, the advise I was given here was to use that for smoothing once all peaks and valleys had been thoroughly raked. I was told to be careful not to use too much and let if "flash off" overnight. So smoothed it , put the mineral spirits on and set it aside until the next day. I ended up doing this multiple times until I got it where I wanted it. good luck.

 

[Sinned]

Wow, great first sculpt, and welcome to the board!

I also have not worked with that particular Chavant product, but do make extensive use of NSP Medium. Sounds like it is pretty soft overall though? One of the first sculpts I ever did was with a very soft, and oily clay, and I very quickly moved to something different. Actually, now that I'm thinking, maybe that *was* Le Beau Touche I first used. If so, then yeah, feel your pain. Some people can work with that soft stuff; I can't.

NSP Medium is can also be a bit on the soft side, for some things, but it's overall quite versatile, and I really like it. Give that stuff a shot when it arrives, and see what you think. They also have Hard, if you find the Medium to still be too soft, in Florida. You could also try out Monster Clay. It is a bit more waxy, and probably falls somewhere between Chavant's NSP Medium, and Hard.
Mr Mold Maker resides somewhere in Florida, and may have some specific tips for working with clay there. Hopefully he can chime in.

As Malibu139 said, mineral spirits are quite aggressive with clay, and will definitely take time to properly flash off. Certainly more than an hour. I find "overnight" is usually sufficient as well.

You can also try 99% alcohol, as it is much less aggressive with the clay. Or even finger-polishing with water can work with Chavant. If you search this forum for smoothing clay, there have been several strategies discussed, over the past year or so. I've never seen a definitive, one-size-fits-all, solution though. Everybody has their favorites, and all have advantages/disadvantages. You've found the disadvantage of mineral spirits. But it does have the advantage of really knocking back larger tool marks.

A few specific tips:

Get things close by hand, then work with decreasing gauges of rakes. I start with one which is a filed down scroll-saw blade, then move on to a heavy guitar string, then a really fine one. This also somewhat depends on the size of the piece as well. e.g. larger pieces, you might start with a notched kidney tool; smaller pieces, might start with guitar string.

Definitely save the solvent smoothing for last, and do just enough to get the marks out. Let it sit, and repeat as necessary. You can also do some super-fine smoothing with a nice, clean, soft paintbrush.

As for keeping clay off of everything within reach... no tips there, just learn to live with it. But in seriousness, I do keep a scraping tool handy, which I use to (mostly) clean off handles and such, when they really start to build up stray clay.

 

[LanceUppercut]

Wow, great first sculpt, and welcome to the board!

I also have not worked with that particular Chavant product, but do make extensive use of NSP Medium. Sounds like it is pretty soft overall though? One of the first sculpts I ever did was with a very soft, and oily clay, and I very quickly moved to something different. Actually, now that I'm thinking, maybe that *was* Le Beau Touche I first used. If so, then yeah, feel your pain. Some people can work with that soft stuff; I can't.

It's tough stuff to work with, but on the bright side, it has presented me with issues that I am forced to overcome. That will make me a better sculptor in the long run. But it has been a nightmare. I received my Super Sculpey this morning, and it is much easier to work with, and holds detail much better than the Chavant LT HM. But my overall goal is to start casting, so I'll stick with the non-polymer stuff.

@Mr Mold Maker resides somewhere in Florida, and may have some specific tips for working with clay there. Hopefully he can chime in.

That's great! I hope he can toss a couple pearls of wisdom my direction.

As @Malibu139 said, mineral spirits are quite aggressive with clay, and will definitely take time to properly flash off. Certainly more than an hour. I find "overnight" is usually sufficient as well.

An update to my problem. I left it outside last night (didn't want my house smelling like spirits), and it was also a cool night for Florida standards. The sculpt is not nearly as mushy, but still a bit tacky. I can go in and do fine detail work now with holding quite well. But as far as doing any further work on it, I'm not sure. If worse comes to worse, I can always rake the crap out of it to get that gummy surface off, and work from there. Live and learn, heh? :darnkids

You can also try 99% alcohol, as it is much less aggressive with the clay. Or even finger-polishing with water can work with Chavant. If you search this forum for smoothing clay, there have been several strategies discussed, over the past year or so. I've never seen a definitive, one-size-fits-all, solution though. Everybody has their favorites, and all have advantages/disadvantages. You've found the disadvantage of mineral spirits. But it does have the advantage of really knocking back larger tool marks.

I'm going to take your advice and test different solutions to see what works best. This is my first sculpt, but I'm learning a lot from it. I didn't expect to create a David my first time, it's a learning experience, but exhilarating none-the-less.

Get things close by hand, then work with decreasing gauges of rakes. I start with one which is a filed down scroll-saw blade, then move on to a heavy guitar string, then a really fine one. This also somewhat depends on the size of the piece as well. e.g. larger pieces, you might start with a notched kidney tool; smaller pieces, might start with guitar string.

I purchased every single tool you could possibly purchase, and it's funny because I find myself using the ones I've made myself. I used my daughter's bobby pins to make different sized ribbon tools (bent and then seated in a pen tube, melted over alcohol lamp, and crimped). I also ordered some guitar string on eBay for the rakes. I never thought of using a saw blade, thanks for that tip! I'm going to do that as soon as I'm done here. :thumbsup

As for keeping clay off of everything within reach... no tips there, just learn to live with it. But in seriousness, I do keep a scraping tool handy, which I use to (mostly) clean off handles and such, when they really start to build up stray clay.

I figured as much. Just working with this Chavant HM, it's pretty firm when you first start using it, but once the heat of your hands gets to it, yeah, it's like real sticky dough. I'm glad I chose a hard product to work with first.

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I'm glad to be a member of this community.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Welcome to the forum!!


I have very little experience with Le Beau Touche, but from the little time I've had handling it I can say I'm not a fan. Chavant NSP Medium is definitely my preferred choice, with Monster Clay being a very distant third.... there is no second.


Generally, I wouldn't use something as harsh as Mineral Spirits unless you're going for a machine smooth look. As Sinned said, 99% IPA will probably serve you a little better. As for your current predicament, the mineral spirits should all flash off the sculpture if it's left alone for a little while. The surface will go a little chalky but it will be perfectly fine to continue sculpting.


As for the clay sticking to everything... it just kind of happens. You can spray your wooden tools with a sealer or spray varnish and it helps a little bit, or you can dip your tools in water every few strokes. I've noticed Jordu Schell actually licks his tools as he is sculpting so the clay has a harder time sticking. :lol I just keep a Scotchbrite pad taped to the table and use it to scrape the clay off it it builds up a little too much.



It's worth mentioning Monster Clay has a much higher wax concentration in it, so it doesn't really stick to anything and you may prefer that over Chavant NSP. You've just got to get some and see what your tastes are.

 

[LanceUppercut]

Thanks for the info Mr. Mold Maker! I subscribed to S.W. Schools and have watched several Jordu Schell videos. He does have a habit of licking his tools and fingers. He must be onto something though, he's an incredible artist.

I ordered 6lbs of Chavant NSP Medium, it should be here by Friday. I can't wait to get my hands on it. It's funny because before I started, I must have read hundreds of articles and watched hundreds of hours of video, but no one ever said what clay they preferred. Now I see praise for Chavant NSP Med. everywhere I go. Better late than never. :thumbsup

 

[Leigh]

Hi
I use a slightly different clay to you (Newplast) bit like plasticine & being in the UK its a bit cooler here
I'm no expert but I've found that with spirits I need something that'll evaporate quite quickly & I personally found lighter fluid to be good. I sometimes use white spirit if I need the clay soft for a bit longer (slower evaporation). If I've got a sticky surface I've had good results by dusting the surface with talc. I use a cup with talc in the bottom & a blusher brush to apply it. I can actually polish the surface with talc if I work it right. If your going to try any of this I'd recommend testing it on a spare piece first

Nice work

HTH