Question about how to make soft Oil clay hard

[Uratz]

OK I got a problem. The weather is getting warm and I got a cheapo oil clay that is just way too soft to sculpt cuz of the warm weather.

My Q is there any way to make the Oil clay harder (so that it can sculpted and molded without being easily deformed by the slightest pressure) ?
There are no harder grades of this clay that I can mix and I got tons of this stuff already

I did some research as to how Oil clay is made I'm thinking can I heat it and evaporate off the grease, wax and oils inside the clay so that it becomes harder?
I'm thinking back to high school using old oil clay and its usually harder than stone, dried up cuz its been out for so long.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[skunk]

Send it round to Mr Miyagis house......he'll sort it out....failing that....give it a flick knife.


.........sorry Mike.....but I have no REAL clue.

If it's ANY consolation...I have the same problem with the clay I use....I bought two lots of clay...one good and one ****....but to do a head I had to mix them both together...now the bad qualities of the **** one shine through....and when worked it goes really soft and sticky.....all I can do is be gentle with it.

 

[Uratz]

Thanks Skunk. I'll have to try boiling off the wax. I've found that sometime the clay that stuck on the plaster armatures I use absorbs all the oil from the clay and it becomes harder maybe that will work.

 

[skunk]

No worries Mike....glad I could be.....er....absolutely no help whatsoverver :/

 

[hez1]

Thanks Skunk. I'll have to try boiling off the wax. I've found that sometime the clay that stuck on the plaster armatures I use absorbs all the oil from the clay and it becomes harder maybe that will work.

You may be onto something there Mike. I found that the clay that had been exposed to my plaster armature was a lot firmer than the freshly unwrapped clay.

 

[Bovine13]

A quick fix is to put it in the fridge for a bit. While your working if you notice its too soft throw it in the fridge and it will stiffen up as it cools. For smaller areas I have tried the computer cleaning compressed air cans...as you spray the air it gets super cold. I do that for small pieces or areas im working on. Works ok but, moisture can become an issue.

 

[Uratz]

Yeah I'll try mixing the absorbed clay on armatures with the fresh batches. Thanks Hez & Scott