Kind of a newbie question

[I.B. Deadguy]

[Undertaker]

Boy no pressure here to use the wedclay. LOL its still got me nervous but the price is hard to beat. The amount of clay Im gonna need the chavant is gonna kill my bank account. I guess I will have to start small I got about 20lbs of it here at the house Im gonna mess around with this weekend and try working with it a few times to get a feel for it before moving onto a important project. I have friends that use only the wedclay and have put the projest aside for several months as long as its wrapped well with saran wrap and trash bags. I see some of these guys in some of the videos I have wet the piss out of it and others you may see them hit it once with a spray bottle the whole time there sculpting. I guess one other question I would have is how long do you really got to work with it out in the open air before it really starts to dry out? Can you work for several hours before having to wet it?

[Allen H]

Im not using WED Im just using water based. Wed should last even longer.
Yes several hours is fine, overnight I would not do, but I live in TX. Im trying to get a sculpt leather hard right now and I left it out for about ten hours and its not quite there yet, some areas are but others are not ready yet.
extremities dry out first so keep that in mind, any thin parts will dry fast also. since my sculpt is a wolf man I painted the ear tips with vaseline in order to keep them from drying and cracking off.
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Allen H
Artistic Director Screams Halloween Park
www.huntmonsters.com

[Undertaker]

I just spoke to my friend that pretty much only uses the wedclay. Well actually its just a cheap water based clay hes been using. He told me there will be a huge advantage to me to use the chavant since Im new at doing the large scale stuff. And even though it costs more I can reuse it. Sometimes he reuses the water clay from the inner parts of the sculpt to build up a base then add the newer clay over it for the final sculpt and details. He also said oil clay tends to be eaiser to demold. With oil clay when the mold heat ups it tends to soften oil clay making it easier to seperate it from the molds. Where the water clay starts to dry out from getting warm and doesnt pull away from it as easy. I know that cause me and a few friends went to his house to help him seperate the second half of a leg mold. It took 4 of us about 2 hours to get that darn thing off. We had to go in with wooden sticks and scrap clay little by little till it finally popped free. Im still gonna take a shot at wedlcay this weekend before commiting myself to one clay or the other.

[Allen H]

Its not any more difficule to demold water based clay if you have a small pressure washer, and you did not make a mechanical lock. Next time tell your friend to take his mold to the car wash, put in the quarters and spray the clay so it melts away. Even a regular garden hose will help a lot.
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Allen H
Artistic Director Screams Halloween Park
www.huntmonsters.com

[Undertaker]

I didnt want to mention his name hes actually a well known prop maker from Canada. Hes been doing it for many years and Im shure he knew that but the mold was in his basement and very large and heavy to get out of the basement to get it to a car wash. Im shure if that happens to me I will have to do what you suggested. Im actually doing all this stuff in a back back bedroom in my house during the winter months in michigan.

[Allen H]

Wow, I have had to go to the car wash in January in TX,(that stunk) I cant imagine in Michigan!
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Allen H
Artistic Director Screams Halloween Park
www.huntmonsters.com

[Undertaker]

Yeah going to the car wash in Jan or Feb in michigan is kinda cold. I dont think I will be taking a huge mold to the car wash anyway they keep a eye on the car wash and if they saw me doing something like that they would probably arrest me. Im working with the wedclay alittle I do like the cheap factor and you can move it quick. But Im still not very fast so it still makes me nervous that it could dry out on me on a big project. I only have a few days a week I can sculpt. I havent seen making tutorials on sculpting with it other than Mark Alfrey and one with Jordu Schell. And there not to specific as to how and when it needs to be wetted down or not wetted down. Guess all I can do is work with it a few times maybe try to let it dry out on purpose to get a idea of just how long I do have to work with it.

[Allen H]

Thats the best way to get a feel for anything just work with it some. watch your extremities as they tend to dry out first.
Allen H
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Allen H
Artistic Director Screams Halloween Park
www.huntmonsters.com

[Undertaker]

Yeah I hate when my extremities dry out. LOL I have one more question. Since wedclay has glycerin in it would it be benificial to add some glycerin in the spray bottle of water?

[Undertaker]

Im finally getting ready to start this sculpt. its gonna be over a fiberglass lifecast. Here my problem with the wedclay like I said Im not a fast sculpter and this thing could be sitting around for a couple months before its finished. And the thickness of the clay will only be maybe a inch or alittle thicker than that in most places. Should I scrap the wedclay idea and go for the chavant so I dont have to worry about it drying out on me? Its alot more price wise to suck up and the clay is so much harder on the hands and tools for that matter. But I would hate to put the time into this sculpt to have it dry out on me. I really only want to do it once and I suppose I can allways reuse the chavant. Realisticly what is the lifespan of wed clay only about a inch thick over a fiberglass lifecast? Assuming I keep it moist and wrap it up in plastic bags and saran wrap. Can I keep it for a month or more while working on it before molding it up?

[revenant]

Hi, I'm no expert on sculpting the sort of project you're describing, but I have sculpted with water based clay for well over 20 years and have never had a problem with drying or cracking. You just have to judge the condition of the clay as you're working on it....if it seems to be drying out in a particular place just mist it a little until it's damp again. No need to soak it, just enough to re-hydrate the area in question.
I have left sculpts for weeks at a time covered in plastic bags with no significant drying occuring.....if you check on the sculpt every now and then you can always mist it a bit more if you think it needs it.
You seem to be under the impresion that you can't re-use water based clay....you can! Even the most dried out leftover bits can be re-hydrated with water....just chuck all your hard lumps of clay in a bucket ,pour over some water, cover and leave for a few days and you will have soft workable clay again!

I hope this helps, give the water based clay a go and see what you think

Terry

[Undertaker]

Yeah I know guys that reuse it aleast alot of it after they pull it from the mold. I have allways been told you cant though but have seen guys doing it. Thanks for the tip on putting some water in the bucket to bring it back to life I wounder if it would help to add some glycerin too. I actually spoke to Steve Wang the other day and he said he has left sculpts for a couple months before with no problems as long as you wet them as needed and keep them wrapped. A buddy of mine who uses it alot said he left once sculpture for 2 years and it still didnt dry out. He said after a few months he would mist it with water and bleach to prevent mold from growing on it but was still able to finish the sculpt 2 years later. So I think I will be safe if I just check on it to make shure its still moist. Like Steve said its like having a pet if you dont feed it its gonna die.

[alter-egos]

I always reuse my water clay, one other thing that has worked great for me is to put a wet towel or cloth over the sculpture if it has dried out. I had a sculpt that was about a year old and dried i put a wet towel and overnight the water soaked into the clay and the surface was workable.

just my 2 cents.

Brian

[RunningDog]