GrimmOmen
Member
They have a Facebook page and are quite active on it. If your are having trouble, you might want to contact them. They've been really supportive in my interactions with them.
-Grimm
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Clay vs Wax vs Clay (Materials discussion)
- Thread starter booksandcorsets
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They have a Facebook page and are quite active on it. If your are having trouble, you might want to contact them. They've been really supportive in my interactions with them.
-Grimm
(Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD)
booksandcorsets
Sr Member
Thanks. I did email him with my concerns about the change to the formula and sent him the block I had to test if it was a bad batch. This is just how it is now. The maker says he did not change the formula, but my older block definitely shows that he did.
crazygrandma
New Member
I use too sculpt in WEB clay, make a rough mold or waste mold, pour a wax casting ( I have use the same recipe for years.Here is a list of ingredients and the amounts depends on what I am casting. The Wax ingredients
araffin( adds firmness but not hardness),Candelilla (this is a tough wax not brittle,beeswax (increases the workability or softness) Stearin (increases the carve ability)Carnauba (there are multiple grades this adds hardness but can also cause the wax too be brittle) and last talcum powder).
The last process is chasing refining the sculpt until I achieve the desired result. I feel like this is the most important part of the whole process. Lastly, I make the silicone mold and fiberglass jacket. For the waste mold I usually use plaster its cheap. I am working on a life size baby, I try too post some pictures this weekend.
araffin( adds firmness but not hardness),Candelilla (this is a tough wax not brittle,beeswax (increases the workability or softness) Stearin (increases the carve ability)Carnauba (there are multiple grades this adds hardness but can also cause the wax too be brittle) and last talcum powder). The last process is chasing refining the sculpt until I achieve the desired result. I feel like this is the most important part of the whole process. Lastly, I make the silicone mold and fiberglass jacket. For the waste mold I usually use plaster its cheap. I am working on a life size baby, I try too post some pictures this weekend.
Marence
New Member
I started sculpting with children's molding clay (the kind you get for a couple of bucks at a craft store) because no one told me differently.
Then "they" introduced me to WED clay, which they made beautiful stuff out of and I made messes. Back to the kid stuff.
Then I got a chance to film at Monster Makers, and fell in love with their clay - heat-able! pore-able!
But I still use my kid's clay for most stuff, because it's so affordable, doesn't get too hard, and is completely reusable (I'm still doing things the old-fashioned way, with ultracal molds.)
Then "they" introduced me to WED clay, which they made beautiful stuff out of and I made messes. Back to the kid stuff.
Then I got a chance to film at Monster Makers, and fell in love with their clay - heat-able! pore-able!
But I still use my kid's clay for most stuff, because it's so affordable, doesn't get too hard, and is completely reusable (I'm still doing things the old-fashioned way, with ultracal molds.)
Clay contains high-low oils. Oils = pliability and adhesion ease. Oil is a solvent to the waxes/polymers.
Waxes are ultra-low in oils. Natures "gum", organic plastics. Without solvents, they remain rigid and have trouble with adhesion.
Mineral mud (hardening clay), uses a chemical reaction to harden, called oxidation and acidic-neutralization.
Polymers are nothing more than a mixture of all of the above properties. They can be non-hardening or hardening or waxy or gummy, but due to patents, don't expect any one form of polymer, except the most profitable to exist in a few years.
It sounds like you just want to use a wax... so use wax. NSP-hard is mostly wax. NSP-technical/manufacturing is about 95% wax. Depending on your climate and working conditions, you want to pay attention to the melting-points and softening/working-temps. Sounds like you want 108F softening with 130F melting-points, with low-oils/solvents.
NOTE: You can reduce the oil content in clays by simply heating them to workability, and pressing them between two pieces of brown-paper, or any paper. When they cool, the oils leach-out, and the paper absorbs the oils. This is called, "conditioning" clay. Never expect fresh clay to be perfectly workable to your personal taste. You can also microwave clay, to remove moisture. (Microwaves are targeted to water, thus, heat only the water within foods/clay. This will result in dry crumbly clay if done too often. The heat will destroy the chemical bonds of the polymers a little, each time.)
Also, on that same respect... You can soften clays by adding mineral-oils, a tiny bit of water to rehydrate the oils, or petroleum Vaseline (not recommended, as it is a cancerous petroleum oil byproduct.) And/or refined bees-wax or "sex-wax soft", used for surf-boards.
If clay says, "non-toxic", it should not contain sulfurs, as sulfurs are toxic, and thus, would not allow the clay to be marketed as "non-toxic".
Sculpey makes (EZ-Shape), which is a non-toxic kids clay. The kits sold with normal colors are more oily, the kits sold with neon-colors are more waxy with bees-wax "sex-wax soft" formulas. That is what I use for 90% of what I sculpt, after I have conditioned it to soft, medium, hard consistency. Being all the same brand, it sticks to itself without real effort, just enough to grip, unless worked-in to full adhesion.
Your body excretes oils which are a solvent to clay. Clay will always "stick" to your oily hot skin. Waxes will stick less, unless you are real hot.
Waxes are ultra-low in oils. Natures "gum", organic plastics. Without solvents, they remain rigid and have trouble with adhesion.
Mineral mud (hardening clay), uses a chemical reaction to harden, called oxidation and acidic-neutralization.
Polymers are nothing more than a mixture of all of the above properties. They can be non-hardening or hardening or waxy or gummy, but due to patents, don't expect any one form of polymer, except the most profitable to exist in a few years.
It sounds like you just want to use a wax... so use wax. NSP-hard is mostly wax. NSP-technical/manufacturing is about 95% wax. Depending on your climate and working conditions, you want to pay attention to the melting-points and softening/working-temps. Sounds like you want 108F softening with 130F melting-points, with low-oils/solvents.
NOTE: You can reduce the oil content in clays by simply heating them to workability, and pressing them between two pieces of brown-paper, or any paper. When they cool, the oils leach-out, and the paper absorbs the oils. This is called, "conditioning" clay. Never expect fresh clay to be perfectly workable to your personal taste. You can also microwave clay, to remove moisture. (Microwaves are targeted to water, thus, heat only the water within foods/clay. This will result in dry crumbly clay if done too often. The heat will destroy the chemical bonds of the polymers a little, each time.)
Also, on that same respect... You can soften clays by adding mineral-oils, a tiny bit of water to rehydrate the oils, or petroleum Vaseline (not recommended, as it is a cancerous petroleum oil byproduct.) And/or refined bees-wax or "sex-wax soft", used for surf-boards.
If clay says, "non-toxic", it should not contain sulfurs, as sulfurs are toxic, and thus, would not allow the clay to be marketed as "non-toxic".
Sculpey makes (EZ-Shape), which is a non-toxic kids clay. The kits sold with normal colors are more oily, the kits sold with neon-colors are more waxy with bees-wax "sex-wax soft" formulas. That is what I use for 90% of what I sculpt, after I have conditioned it to soft, medium, hard consistency. Being all the same brand, it sticks to itself without real effort, just enough to grip, unless worked-in to full adhesion.
Your body excretes oils which are a solvent to clay. Clay will always "stick" to your oily hot skin. Waxes will stick less, unless you are real hot.
Scote
Active Member
Nobody seems to talk about Chavant Castilene. I guess its the same type as Monster Clay since its a 1/2 wax 1/2 clay but beige color. I really like it but you always need to warm it if you want to sculpt big surface. And need sharp tools.
I try Chavant Y2klay and I prefer it for hard surface sculpting big stuff like an helmet (since you can sand it). Like few people already said: its used in the car industry for years to prototype cars or interior. Come in cylinder shape about 12 inch long.
Like many, I start with Chavant NSP but didn't like it because everything stick to it. And I have a cat
But I use it to create my walls when I construct by mold.
CX5 is something else. Its call a Finish product, because you can pour it, use it like clay, and at room temperature its like plastic, so its a finish product. The downside to it: It smell like melted plastic when you work with it in high temperature and you need hot tools like Kerrlab Ultra-waxer to carve into it when you return on a room temperature sculpt.
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alienbuilder
Well-Known Member
hi there....
I guess there are not many people using wax for several reasons. I do use wax a lot because I mostly cast stuff in bronze or aluminum and for the stages before this is necessary. If you want to give that one a try, I would recommande to try some smaller pieces first. for bigger sculpts like bust or something like that, it could make sense to do a fast clay model first, do a cheap mold and cast a hollow wax piece to work on. better than having a massive piece. a core to work on would also work fine. there are many ready to work mixtures out there to buy but I can only point out the situation here in germany. there are mostly sculpting waxes in hobby shops but they are extremely soft, or better: they got a lower melting point. in wintertimes they are ok sometimes, but in summer these waxes would ran through your fingers. for professionals you can also buy special waxes for foundries. there are mostly 2 different types: waxes which are just a little bit soft for brushing a first layer into silicone moulds, these can be also used for resulpting or ading somethin to the surface. and a casting wax to cast in a second layer to give stability. this is very hard and can crack easily. I myself use a mixed wax for sculpting. its a mix of these very hard casting wax and the hobby soft wax. the result is a wax that can be formed well enough when its warm and wont crack so easy, but is still very stabile at 20 degrees celsius. but you can always change the hardness by changing the mixture. a great thing about wax is that it works very fine with silicone and you can also cast/ melt it. its also possible to use hot tools with it to "weld" it. needs a little bit of practicing but gives you some nice additional options. carving works too but the wax have to be pretty hard but not crispy. and you have to hold the tools clean. sanding is more or less impossible. another little bit negative thing is the translucence of the material which could make it a little bit hart to really define the real surface.
heres an alien, I sculpted in wax a while ago...
I guess there are not many people using wax for several reasons. I do use wax a lot because I mostly cast stuff in bronze or aluminum and for the stages before this is necessary. If you want to give that one a try, I would recommande to try some smaller pieces first. for bigger sculpts like bust or something like that, it could make sense to do a fast clay model first, do a cheap mold and cast a hollow wax piece to work on. better than having a massive piece. a core to work on would also work fine. there are many ready to work mixtures out there to buy but I can only point out the situation here in germany. there are mostly sculpting waxes in hobby shops but they are extremely soft, or better: they got a lower melting point. in wintertimes they are ok sometimes, but in summer these waxes would ran through your fingers. for professionals you can also buy special waxes for foundries. there are mostly 2 different types: waxes which are just a little bit soft for brushing a first layer into silicone moulds, these can be also used for resulpting or ading somethin to the surface. and a casting wax to cast in a second layer to give stability. this is very hard and can crack easily. I myself use a mixed wax for sculpting. its a mix of these very hard casting wax and the hobby soft wax. the result is a wax that can be formed well enough when its warm and wont crack so easy, but is still very stabile at 20 degrees celsius. but you can always change the hardness by changing the mixture. a great thing about wax is that it works very fine with silicone and you can also cast/ melt it. its also possible to use hot tools with it to "weld" it. needs a little bit of practicing but gives you some nice additional options. carving works too but the wax have to be pretty hard but not crispy. and you have to hold the tools clean. sanding is more or less impossible. another little bit negative thing is the translucence of the material which could make it a little bit hart to really define the real surface.
heres an alien, I sculpted in wax a while ago...
AlchemyDesign
Member
Did you check the grade on your monster clay? They have the premium and what not but it also comes in grades (Soft - Medium - Hard) I know this sounds pretty noobish, but it might simply have been mispackaged.
For my recent gorilla sculpt, I tried Sculpey, Monster Clay and WED.
Sculpey and Monster Clay are great mediums but just didn't fit my level of sculpting (which is beginner). I had 50 lbs of WED and decided to give it try and fell in love with it. It has a slight learning curve but quickly got to know what and what not to do. You can knock out basic shapes quickly. Let it air dry overnight to a leathery feel and it accepts amazing detail.
Its my choice of clay for now on.
Sculpey and Monster Clay are great mediums but just didn't fit my level of sculpting (which is beginner). I had 50 lbs of WED and decided to give it try and fell in love with it. It has a slight learning curve but quickly got to know what and what not to do. You can knock out basic shapes quickly. Let it air dry overnight to a leathery feel and it accepts amazing detail.
Its my choice of clay for now on.
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