Making a Well with Sculpey, First time Sculpting with this....

[knarthex]

I am moving this to it's own thread....

 

Posted Today, 10:21 PM

I bought some Sculpy today as well, but I plan on  making a well, similar to 02634: Well Of Doom, but without the tentacles. (Bonus, Nice cashier lady had a 50% off coupon that she used for me!) And other dungeon dressing things.

I was surprised at how malleable the stuff is, I expected to have to knead it for a long time, but it was pliable and easy to work with in under 5 minutes.

 

So I started by making a circle 1^3/4" in diameter and about an 1/8 in thickness. I then laid a 'worm' of sculpy about 1/4 in in diameter around the outside, and proceeded to use

clay shapers to blend it into the base, and then flatten the top, and carve a pattern like laid stone around the outside. I plan on another 2 pieces about the same size on top, so that the whole thing will be about 5/8 in tall or so.

 

Pics of first layer:

 

Astrid the Chronicler for Scale:

 

The baking directions say 15min @ 275 deg F per 1/4 in. I am guessing that would be for a solid object. As mine is going to be more of a torus, about a 1/4 in thick, do I bake for 15 min? or longer due to the height?

I have heard that sculpy doesn't like to be burned....

 

Also. I am sculpting this on the bottom of an upside down pyrex dish. when the sculpy is baked, will it come off the pyrex without breaking????

 

Thanks for any and all help!

 

8)

George

Edited November 9, 2015 by knarthex

[knarthex]

Okay, added second layer of Sculpey...

 

 

 

Astrid for Scale again:

 

It seems low when next to Astrid, but tall enough on its own.

 

I am going to bake this now so lets see what happens!

 

George

 

Need to find a new thing to sculpt on though, this thing is very awkward...

[ub3r_n3rd]

Nicely done

[kitchen_wolf]

The 1/4" is the narrowest dimension - it's the depth the heat has to penetrate to.  You can build those walls up and be fine.  Take it off the Pyrex when it's still a bit warm.  There will be a bit of give in the warm Sculpey, and none in the Pyrex - they usually just pop right off.  Use a plastic spatula.  It won't mark up your clay or singe your fingers.  You can actually get pretty big with polymer clay:

 

These are Sculpey.  They were done with a single baking. The big thing to remember is that if you have more than 1/4" or so of clay in your narrowest dimension, what your really need is more armature.

[knarthex]

The 1/4" is the narrowest dimension - it's the depth the heat has to penetrate to.  You can build those walls up and be fine.  Take it off the Pyrex when it's still a bit warm.  There will be a bit of give in the warm Sculpey, and none in the Pyrex - they usually just pop right off.  Use a plastic spatula.  It won't mark up your clay or singe your fingers.  You can actually get pretty big with polymer clay:

 

These are Sculpey.  They were done with a single baking. The big thing to remember is that if you have more than 1/4" or so of clay in your narrowest dimension, what your really need is more armature.

So these sculpts are hollow?

Or built around what kind of armature?

 

Also, can you UNDER bake Sculpey? Thinking of setting oven to 250 instead of 275 and heating for 15 min so as not to burn...

 

George

[ub3r_n3rd]

Follow directions. You won't overlook it even if you are 5-10 mins long. I've done a lot with sculpey, don't worry it'll be fine.

[knarthex]

So I just pulled it out of the oven, popped off no problem.

How 'Hard' is this supposed to be? Like a ceramic? A Resin? A hard Rubber?

 

The one that I just made is a little Flexible, it is still warm though....

 

George

[ub3r_n3rd]

Let it completely cool down, like 30 mins or so. It'll be hard, not Rick hard like hard plastic a bit flexible.

[knarthex]

Great thanks!

I did go an extra 5 minutes with it.

 

Do I prime this stuff like I would Green stuff with my P3 spray?

Reaper brush on?

Liner like a bones?

 

Game tomorrow (well tonight now....)

and would like to have some paint on it...

 

George

[redfox]

You can underbake sculpey, it doesn't damage it or anything, it just stays soft and doesn't set.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Great thanks!

I did go an extra 5 minutes with it.

 

Do I prime this stuff like I would Green stuff with my P3 spray?

Reaper brush on?

Liner like a bones?

 

Game tomorrow (well tonight now....)

and would like to have some paint on it...

 

George

I prime and paint like metal/resin. Works just fine.

[knarthex]

cool, thanks again.

primed 1st coat....

 

G

[Mad Jack]

 One thing you'll want to do is find some reference pics of the type of stone you want the well to be made of - even better if you can find a pic of an actual well to use as inspiration. The key to making good stone walls and wells is to make sure the rocks sit believably on top of one another - always keep gravity and the weight and shape of the stones in mind when working: sculpt them as though you were individually stacking them yourself to build a real well...

And as you can see from kitchen_wolf's pics, getting the right texture is also important for making a believable stone construction.

[kitchen_wolf]

I used aluminum foil for the armatures.  Sculpey gets to be about as hard as plaster, which is why I prefer FIMO for gaming stuff.  FIMO is much tougher.  Sculpey also made something equivalent to FIMO but I can't recall the name (it would have the same baking directions as FIMO).  I strongly discourage spray paint or sealer for polyclay - PVC and tolulene are not friends.

[BLZeebub]

Armature for structural things and rocks, I second kitchen_wolf's aluminum foil method--if it's really big you can use wire with foil on it too.  Did some questing--apparently Sculpey is pretty resistant to extra time in the oven (though some varieties will darken in color), the issue to dodge is getting it over 275 degrees.  Rebaking is apparently okay too with that in mind.

 

Nice looking well so far I say.