Thread: clay and styrofoam question and help

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ok i should of known better from my years of sculpting with firing clay that clay when it dryes actually shrinks ....

i used air dry clay on a styrofoam head , just like regular firing clay but it doesnt need to be baked but the hole face cracked when drying .....and seems like it is not sticking either so i lost an evenings work with this stuff and the worse part is i liked the way the face turned out ....

what can i use to modify a styrofoam head , i wanna change some face features , what will stick on the foam head ? do i need to use some kind of primer ? will the kids crayola type clay work better ? i have something here sold in quebec i think similar to celluclay mache clay would that stick better ?

HELP !!!!

here is before and after before it dried and cracked

Im so sorry, I know how you feel. the air dry clay didnt work for me either, I tried putting it over paper mache to get a smoother look, looked great until it dried then it looked like a dried up river bed UGH a lot of work wasted. I used crayola model magic fusion on 2 wig heads and it worked wonderfully

thanks newbie , i should of known it wouldnt work with shrinkage i use to work with ceramic clay so i had the knowledge to at least know that fact, i dont know where was my head was last night i have some mache clay wonder if that will work but i wanted a very smooth finish....

i'll see if i can try and pick up an oil base clay like the crayola one and try that , thank god i have extra styro heads ....

I would check in to Chavant clays. This would work best for yuor situation.

Did you plan on painting it? If not Chavant or roma are great clays to use.


You can also sculpt with Latex and Cotton or tissue.

C.

thanks guys , unfortunatly i am limited for clay here the only big craft store here is about an hour drive and they only have 3 types of clay (remember i am in Canada so alot of your products are not on our shelves or stores )

i did see a gallon of latex there for the drummroll please high price of 65$ yes 65$ thats why it is still on the shelf at the craft store lol .....i guess for some future project i will have to break the bank and get one

but from what i searched on the internet i am guessing oil base clay would be better ???

If the final sculpt will be the finished product, then I would go with crayola air dry clay if it's available for you. Not sure about the shrinkage, but it will work. Another option would be to use sculpty clay and bake it in your over.

I ran into the same problem, and ended up using regular paper maché over the top of the cracked dried clay. If you use paper towels or toilet tissue, you can get it pretty smooth. Painting helps smooth it out as well.

Or look into a paper clay - that is supposed to be really good - air dries, paintable, sandable (so you can get it really smooth). Creative Paperclay Product Information

I know that Michaels carries it, and you can order it off their website...fingers crossed that you can get this one way or another in Canada.

MAGIC-SCULP!
Air-dry, waterproof, no shrinkage, can be sanded, painted, sticks to most everything, even cures under water. Stronger than most every other sculpting medium.

I love this stuff and every haunter should have some. I've mentioned it here before and I'll mention it again. Hit google and type in magic-sculp.

It's worth it.