Sculpting Clay, NEED HELP

[Hellstrok]

Hello, i am new here to the forum and costume design for Predators. Can someone please help me with the type of clay used to these sculpt Predator masks?? (not Bio-Helmets)
And if you could tell me where i can buy the clay that would be very very helpful.
Help wuld be soooooo very much appreciated!

 

[Elkman]

If you're going to sculpt a mask that you're later going to cast in latex, you need to buy some oil-based clay. You can sculpt your mask onto a head armature to make things more convenient and to get the proportions correct. Then, once you're done sculpting, you'll want to make a two-part mold out of Ultracal 30 plaster. Since you used oil-based clay, it won't permanently stick onto the plaster. Finally, after you make the mold, you'll slush-cast the latex into the two-part Ultracal 30 mold.

Oil-based clay is available at most good art stores. Otherwise, check out The Monster Makers for all sorts of materials and instructions about how to make masks.

Then, show us pictures of the sculpture as you're doing it, so you can get feedback and show off your skills.

 

[Neil Mehta]

Hello, i am new here to the forum and costume design for Predators. Can someone please help me with the type of clay used to these sculpt Predator masks?? (not Bio-Helmets)
And if you could tell me where i can buy the clay that would be very very helpful.
Help wuld be soooooo very much appreciated!

you can buy the Air-Dry clay from Michael's. The brand name is Amaco and it works perfect. I just made my mask last week. Sculpt the mask and then put multiple liquid latex coats. It will work. Good Luck

 

[Hellstrok]

If you're going to sculpt a mask that you're later going to cast in latex, you need to buy some oil-based clay. You can sculpt your mask onto a head armature to make things more convenient and to get the proportions correct. Then, once you're done sculpting, you'll want to make a two-part mold out of Ultracal 30 plaster. Since you used oil-based clay, it won't permanently stick onto the plaster. Finally, after you make the mold, you'll slush-cast the latex into the two-part Ultracal 30 mold.

Oil-based clay is available at most good art stores. Otherwise, check out The Monster Makers for all sorts of materials and instructions about how to make masks.

Then, show us pictures of the sculpture as you're doing it, so you can get feedback and show off your skills.

Thank you for the help now maybe i can finally get under way with my Pred

 

[Hellstrok]

you can buy the Air-Dry clay from Michael's. The brand name is Amaco and it works perfect. I just made my mask last week. Sculpt the mask and then put multiple liquid latex coats. It will work. Good Luck

Thank you,
Thats interesting, i tried that but i couldnt leave it covered overnight without it drying. Maybe i just have a bad batch though. About how many punds should be use for a Pred mask though?

 

[Pretty Huntress]

Hi! I've done some research and it looks like some people use up to 20lbs+ on their mask. But I believe that kinda depends on whether or not you extend your armature in the back of the head. In my case, I extended the back of my armature so I wouldn't have to use as much clay. So far I've used 10lbs on my mask sculpt and I probably will end up using another 5-8 lbs just on the back of the sculpt to even things out and finish detail. Also, the type of clay that I use is called Klean Clay and I bout 10lbs of it off Ebay for about $28 (including shipping). I think columbusclay was the name of the seller. You can also find Klean clay @ silpak.com as well as other supplies you will need later in the process. You can also do a google search for it...hope this helps!

~Eve

 

[Hellstrok]

Hi! I've done some research and it looks like some people use up to 20lbs+ on their mask. But I believe that kinda depends on whether or not you extend your armature in the back of the head. In my case, I extended the back of my armature so I wouldn't have to use as much clay. So far I've used 10lbs on my mask sculpt and I probably will end up using another 5-8 lbs just on the back of the sculpt to even things out and finish detail. Also, the type of clay that I use is called Klean Clay and I bout 10lbs of it off Ebay for about $28 (including shipping). I think columbusclay was the name of the seller. You can also find Klean clay @ silpak.com as well as other supplies you will need later in the process. You can also do a google search for it...hope this helps!

~Eve

Thank you that helps alot!