[onionfry]

hi guys
i am new to this hobby. i was wondering if anybody here has used paper clay to sculpt custom heads before? is it do-able?
maybe you could help by posting examples. if you have any. otherwise, a simple yes or no should be sufficient.
thank you very much

 

[saiko]

Paperclay as in greenware, leather-hard, bone dry and kiln fired?
I tried once before in ceramics class, the thing was so small, but it survived. The texture was awful though [I was using cinco blanco] and it shrunk a lot.

Most people here use polymer clays for sculpting custom heads, particularly Super Sculpey firm. Its really easily workable, and stays pliable until you're ready to bake. I still have unbaked heads started from like 8 months ago that I can fiddle with. Just keep everything in a little box so dust can't get on them. Afterwards you can cut and sand the pieces, or score and add on new parts. If you're accustomed to using fibreclay already, then polymer clay will make you happy. The stages are easier and the baking time waay shorter, plus when you drop it, it usually doesn't shatter or chip [fragile parts like ears might, or add on parts might break off if you didn't score well enough].

I also use regular Super Sculpey in the flesh tone, and sometimes Sculpey 3. Stay away from Original Sculpey, its rubbish.
Another option is Fimo clay, which a sculptor named Tony Barton uses. I used it a few times but didn't like it. If you do use it, don't put it on anything painting in acrylic/latex house paint as it eats through it. [My desk can attest to that D:]

Other options are apoxie [Aves Apoxie], green stuff, or miliput, which air dry I believe, and are usually used for additions to sculpts like beards and hair or parts on armour/rifles etc. Smaller scale modellers use them for entire figures or so I've heard, and some 1/6 customizers have made arms and whatnot out out of the latter materials.
There is also wax, but eh, I have no experience in that, though there are a couple of amazing sculptors who use it for their pro work.

Hope I've helped a little bit, if you want to use the paperclay then it should be ok. Just be sure to make it slightly larger than 1/6. Some experimenting might have to be undertaken to get the size right. There is also an air drying kind but it always left little cracks and stuff in my work so I didn't like it. Good luck!

 

[CHowes_Sculptor]

Paperclay is useless for good 1/6 headsculpt.

Howdy! I'm a professional sculptor in the toy industry so I hope my advice will be of some use.

Paperclay is just ground up paper fibers mixed with a binder. In other words paper mache. It will never take a good detailed surface and will dry unevenly causing distortion.

As the previous poster mentioned Super Sculpey Firm is a really good material. Starts out fairly soft for easy build up and roughing out bakes hard for carving and sanding. I've used it a lot, especially for accurate animal replicas for Safari LTD.

However, my favorite material is a wax called Castilene. I was one of the first sculptors in the toy industry to use this amazing material. Used it initially for the Lindberg Models Jurassic Park model kits and I've never looked back. I've used it for about 90% of my work since then.

It combines the best aspects of clay and wax. It can be warmed in a microwave or under a heat lamp until it is soft and pliable and worked like a clay. Once it cools down it can be carved with steel tools and x-acto blades. A small alcohol lamp to gently heat your tools is a must. It can be sanded with sandpaper and a final finish can be achieved by the judicious application of lighter fluid (once you've extinguished you lamp, of course) to the surface with cotton swabs. It's reusable, and inexpensive. $8.00 a pound last time I checked. Used to be made by a lady named Celia Smith in Louisville, KY, but it's available commercially online now at http://www.sculpt.com.

Get the hard for 1/6 work.

The only downside is that to have a durable copy you will need to have it molded and cast in polyurethane. If that is going farther than you want to, then Super Sculpey would be your best bet.

 

[onionfry]

wow, you guys are just great. this really helps a lot.

and yes, CHowes_Sculptor is right. some people call paper clay by paper mache.
i tried doing several tests on this material, it gives cracks when it dries. though i could use water to smoothen it back again. however as said, the result on details isnt so crispy.

right now, i am in the process of craving the dried paper clay with sharp object (mostly my X-acto knife. see what it would comes out with

however, i dont have a digital camera nor a scanner. so, i doubt i would ever post my results here. sorry

thanks again for the helps

 

[rokmunky]

Great information and advise. I found out the hard way that Original Sculpey just doesn't work the way we need it to. As SAIKO said... it's rubbish. You could perhaps use it for items that do not require any details.

 

[Gabriel Garcia]

In my opinion, the best material for this kind of work would be toy wax, but I've seen pretty amazing things done in sculpey and magic sculpt. It all comes down to your own talent and how much time you are willing to put on it. I would advice start with sculpey is cheap and there is tons of tutorials on youtube.