Milliput question

[Loim]

I bought some Milliput standard today for basing and sculpting some trees. I cut a piece of the yellow and a piece of the grey, removed the brown skin from the grey, and mixed them together. After I mixed it, it's still very grainy. Is that normal?

[Metalchaos]

Yes, Milliput is grainy. I also use it for basing and find it very nice to work with. If your mix is right it should get as hard as concrete. It's not as sticky as green stuff but it can be soften with water a bit like clay.

[Loim]

Ok, I wasn't sure, this is very grainy/crumbly. I may just save it specifically for basing since I can't seem to get it to stick to the armature I made for trees.

[MonkeySloth]

You don't have to remove the skin.

[Corporea]

yup- the skin can mix in. it should stick to a wire armature, it's just a bit more finicky than green stuff. I use the coil method. roll out a long coil of the milliput and wrap it around the armature. then gently squish it around and flatten the coil. it will eventually stick. it's great for under layers because it dries so firm- much firmer than green stuff. I used it to make my trees. I've got a maple tree tutorial if you want.

[MonkeySloth]

A lot of people will also cover the armature with a think layer of greenstuff first then put the Milliput on. It's kind of doesn't want to stick to things at first, but once you get it on it doesn't want to come off either.

[Jabberwocky]

You can also mix greenstuff with the milliput to get the best of both worlds. Its a bit stickier initially than pure milliput and cures harder than pure greenstuff. IIRC, it was about a 70/30 mix. I can't recall which one is the 70 though... .

[Panzer_Engel]

Hm. You say you had to remove the skin. If your Milliput has a definate hide on it, rather than the outside of the grey compound just being a brownish colour, then it sounds like it's old, or has been poorly stored, and is starting to dry out.

 

Yes, grainy is normal, the texture when you work it should be like clay; Considerably stiffer and less plastic than green stuff. It's worth pointing out that different grades have different degrees of granularity - White milliput is the finest-grained, and if it's been smoothed with water while working can be polished to a porcelain finish when almost cured (I know someone who uses it to repair china dolls. . . .)

 

If you're having problems getting it to stick to an armature, try dabbing the wire all over with freshly-mixed milliput, then wrap more around as Corporea suggests. Other tricks are dousing the armature with superglue (leave it to dry!) Or wrapping thinner wire around it.

 

I also second MonkeySloths caution; Once Milliput is on, it's on, and is very difficult to get off. This also applies to any tools used to work it (and your fingers) So use plenty of water cleaning up.

 

I would advise Milliput for anything structural, as it's just that much stronger than green stuff. It's also rigid enough to carve or file well, which has obvious aplications in under layers (and making your own swords, guns, machinery and the like)

[mustardgreens]

If you want a less grainy version, you can try milliput superfine white. I think that the yelllow-grey will grow on you, though.