What clay to use?

[Stinky Dragon]

After watching the LotR series again I've decided that I really want a model of Orthanc, the tower of Isengard. I watched all the appendices and gathered some reference, but I'm not really sure what to make it out of. I know for the movie they used some type of wax, but I haven't sculpted very much and I think clay would be easier to work with. So I my question is what clay would be best? I'd like it to end up about 2 feet tall, and at the moment I don't have any plans to mold it, so something that could hold up on its own would be nice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

After watching the LotR series again I've decided that I really want a model of Orthanc, the tower of Isengard. I watched all the appendices and gathered some reference, but I'm not really sure what to make it out of. I know for the movie they used some type of wax, but I haven't sculpted very much and I think clay would be easier to work with. So I my question is what clay would be best? I'd like it to end up about 2 feet tall, and at the moment I don't have any plans to mold it, so something that could hold up on its own would be nice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I have nt sculpted in a long time, but i would recommend a hard tooling clay. that should hold up nicely. try www.chavant.com theres some great reference for shoosing the grade of clay you will need.

hope that helps. im sure some of the more experienced sculptors may have some other good brands to recommend.

Al

 

[REL]

You can use a self hardening clay if you plan on making it as a display piece.

If I were to make it, I would pour a big plug of plaster and carve it out of that. Plaster is really easy to carve with chisels, knives and files and it would have that chipped stone look you're wanting.

 

[Stinky Dragon]

Thanks for the ideas! Chavant looks like it would be nice to work with, but I don't think it's quite what I'm looking for, since it doesn't look like there's any way to harden it permanently.

I'd never thought of using plaster, that sounds like something I might try. As for self-hardening clay, my fear is that it would harden before I finished working. Is there a way to keep it soft over long periods of time? Is it just a matter of keeping it damp?

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

In that case try super sculpy it stays soft until you bake it, then you can paint it. That way if you have an area to re do you just add more clay with the plaster it's a little harder to fix mistakes.

Al

 

[Stinky Dragon]

Yeah, Super Sculpey does seem like the best way to go. My oven's not quite big enough, but I probably wouldn't be too hard to make it in two pieces and put them together with some epoxy putty or something once they've been baked.

 

[JPolacchi]

Are you just sculpting the master itself and painting it,or are you sculpting and making molds off of your sculpt? If you are just doing a one of a kind, I think you should use Epoxy Scuplt clay,but that depends how great your sculpting skills are?If you need generous amounts of working time,it may not be the way to go?Super Sculpy is great too,but it isn't as sturdy/dependable.It may crumble,crack and break over time?If by chance you are wanting to make molds to cast from, Super Sculpy will be fine I think? Depending on the size of your oven. You may have to design your scuplt to be made into 2-3 parts? Another idea would be use a foam core as a molding base and sculpt with an oil base clay like Chevant or another brand? Oil base clay is extremely universal,retains extrodinary detail, smooths out like glass w/alcohol and you have all the working time in the world. Just be sure to "seal it" with a laquer clear coat before pouring silicone RTV(if in fact you are using silicon and plan on making castings?).Silicon RTV's react with oil based clays so that's why you have to seal it(incase you didn't know?).I hope to see some pics when you get your project off the ground!Good luck!

 

[hansicle]

I've used Apoxy sculpt for a while now, and it has it advantages and disadvantages.

On the plus side, it's a breeze to work with. Water claen up, self hardening, easy to just add onto itself without seperating, sticks to just about anything, durable after it hardens, easy to carve and sand once it completely hardens.. ect. I used it on a project I'm working on and really wouldn't have used anythig else.

Draw backs, it starts to set in a few hours, so it has very little working time. If you plan to "sculpt" intricate detail, you need to work fast.

On the other hand, if you are good at carving out the detail, you can sculp what you want when it's still soft, then finish up once its hard with a dremel to touch it up.

I had to find ways of improvising to get the detail I wanted out of it. But I've used it for a while, so I've just gotten used to it.

You could always double up. Make the large structures out of foam, cover it with the apoxy sculpt to create the main body, then make smaller add on pieces out of the sculpy and just glue them on.

 

[bxstrmn]

I was interested in some of the same information. It's been a while since i sculpted anything, I tried once or twice in school a few years back, but didn't really have the chance to explore how far I can go with it due to superficial timelines like due dates. I was planning on sculpting a bust with the intent of making molds in silicone. I have some sculpy clay but it would seem that the best pieces i've seen or using chavant. I saw a 2lbs. block for about $10-$15 online, however I wasn't sure how big that was. Can someone provided a rough measurement of how big that is? I'm guessing the size of a brick but not sure. Also after making the mold is it useless or can it be reused, and last question I know with sculpy you can use a lot of foil as a base so it can still bake and save on clay, anything that can be used with chavant? :confused