Sculpting Putty Differences

[Darkmeer 5855]

The handles are a bit.. sharper than I'd like.  I filled mine with some milliput and let it harden.  I prefer smooth handled tools rather than the diamond handled tools.  Some of the ones I ended up with were partially.. mangled by the drop forge process, which is not uncommone, and really isn't noticeable except in two tips.  Some of them do have burrs that I sanded off going from about 200 grit to 1000 grit sandpaper.... yes... OCD I know, but I felt better. 

 

That was my experience and I am not disappointed in the tools overall, I just had to make some adjustments for my preferences.

[TaleSpinner 32437]

Putty report:

 

I've been experimenting with putty mixing.  I am now really liking a GS:Apoxie Sculpt blend, as recommended by Jason W.  It takes a bit of getting used to, and I am not sure I want to use it for the fine details or very small sculpts, but, it is great for all of my underpinning.  It dries rock hard making the armatures much more rigid.  I have used it on several of my new armatures now.  Tonight, I might try doing some detail work with it and see if I like it for that too.

 

Andy

[Willen 9580]

TS, have you tried the GS/Milliput blend?

[psyberwolfe1 1038]

TS, have you tried the GS/Milliput blend?

I have. It's good for basing/terrain horible for figure sculpting.You loose the water malleability, but gain sanding, pinning, and easier to sculpt than plain milliput.

[DixonGrfx 4266]

Julie Guthrie showed how she mixes in just a little FIMO to her GreenStuff (1:5) to give it a little bit more clay like quality. It's a little less sticky and easier to push the putty where you want it. This mix is almost magical. You just have to be aware that if you try to put in details too early, the putty has a tendency to relax a bit in the first hour, so details won't stay sharp if you rush.

Jason Webie showed us how he mixes in Aves Apoxie Sculpt to his GreenStuff (1:1) to make it harder. It makes the putty easier to carve, sand, file, and drill once it has setup. He is a more traditional sculptor that enjoys subtractive sculpting and this blend lends itself well to that approach. 

Strait Aves cures rock hard. Didn't realize that until after I had used it on the giant frog. 

 

 

Edited fimo : GS ratio

Edited May 29, 2014 by DixonGrfx

[TaleSpinner 32437]

Yep, Fimo Classic with GS works great, but has a 4 hour cure time, which makes transporting minis home after work tough for me.  It is really good for doing large areas of details like the scales on a dragon because you double the working time of the GS.  However, don't mix more than 1/4 the amount of FIMO into the GS or it doesn't set up right.

 

I've done GS:Milliput before, but didn't enjoy it as much as the GS:Apoxie Sculpt.  It was too gooey.

[TaleSpinner 32437]

My big push for this now is to find a machinable replacement for Brown Stuff which has been discontinued.  Previously, i'd always used Brown Stuff for weapons and hard things.  It looks like GS:Aves is my new weapon maker.

Edited May 29, 2014 by TaleSpinner

[fishnjeeps 4028]

 

Because I'm terrible with milliput and am attempting something different. Light cursing may ensue from said experience.

 

Curse loudly and foamingly at the piece.  It helps with digestion and will make the materials behave.

 

Also:  The double ended wax sculpting tools from one of the companies comes from india and has some... interesting... tooling.

 

I recommend the clay shapers ans some sculpy (like Corporea uses on her bases).  MonkeySloth put me up for these and I have found them to be very very handy for a multitude of projects (including the 2 and a half foot wide Sculpy crab my son and I made).

 

 

I have the firm color shapers and I think they work well enough. The color shapers are exactly the same as the clay shapers just not quite as firm (supposedly, I can't tell a difference).

Edited May 29, 2014 by fishnjeeps

[TaleSpinner 32437]

 

 

Because I'm terrible with milliput and am attempting something different. Light cursing may ensue from said experience.

 

Curse loudly and foamingly at the piece.  It helps with digestion and will make the materials behave.

 

Also:  The double ended wax sculpting tools from one of the companies comes from india and has some... interesting... tooling.

 

I recommend the clay shapers ans some sculpy (like Corporea uses on her bases).  MonkeySloth put me up for these and I have found them to be very very handy for a multitude of projects (including the 2 and a half foot wide Sculpy crab my son and I made).

 

 

I have the firm color shapers and I think they work well enough. The color shapers are exactly the same as the clay shapers just not quite as firm (supposedly, I can't tell a difference).

 

 

Me neither.  I use the gray Color Shapers for everything.

[fishnjeeps 4028]

My wife was quite upset with me cause I took about an hour to decide which set I wanted. It involve walking back & forth between the Paintbruch Isle and the clay Isle more than a few times.

 

Talespinner, do some of your colorshapers seem loose in the ferrules? I have a couple that feel like they might pop out of the ferrule if given too much pressure.

[Serenity 1534]

My big push for this now is to find a machinable replacement for Brown Stuff which has been discontinued.  Previously, i'd always used Brown Stuff for weapons and hard things.  It looks like GS:Aves is my new weapon maker.

GS plus ProCreate is another one I've seen recommended as a replacement.  Don't have any of that here to try, though.  I have a small supply of brown stuff frozen, should I ever learn to sculpt beyond gap filling or simple repairs.

[TaleSpinner 32437]

My wife was quite upset with me cause I took about an hour to decide which set I wanted. It involve walking back & forth between the Paintbruch Isle and the clay Isle more than a few times.

 

Talespinner, do some of your colorshapers seem loose in the ferrules? I have a couple that feel like they might pop out of the ferrule if given too much pressure.

 

No, I have no issues with any of mine.

 

 

 

GS plus ProCreate is another one I've seen recommended as a replacement.  Don't have any of that here to try, though.  I have a small supply of brown stuff frozen, should I ever learn to sculpt beyond gap filling or simple repairs.

 

That's a new one for me.  I was unaware that Procreate was machinable.  I thought it was more similar in properties to GS, but less gummy.  I'll have to ask Patrick or Kevin sometime. 

 

I'll be doing a lot of tooling work when I get to the Cyber Lady's crossbow, so I should be able to give a good report on how the GS:Aves works out.

[DixonGrfx 4266]

I have some ProCreate Putty at home and I know that there is an information sheet in the inside of the packaging that details out the different mixing ratios to make the putty harder and more machinable. But I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what they are, I haven't used it enough to say. And as far as I have seen and read, I don't think you would need to mix Knedatite with ProCreate. ProCreate is supposed to be a better sculpting putty for miniatures and mixing with more resin and less hardener is supposed to make it cure harder.

[ShadowRaven 54188]

the mix with fimo still dries alright? i thought fimo had to be baked in order to set.

[TaleSpinner 32437]

the mix with fimo still dries alright? i thought fimo had to be baked in order to set.

 

Yes, it still sets up, so long as it is less than 25% of the mix.  That said, I tend to heat cure my sculpts from time to time anyway, which I'm sure hardens any that hasn't.