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Tutorial review - THE GARAGE MONSTER'S GUIDE TO SCULPTING CLAY - MINI-TUTORIAL

Matthew GroveMatthew Grove ✭
in Tutorial Reviews
If you are just starting out and want to create creatures, then this has to be one of the first tutorials to watch. Though this is a mini tutorial, the information is very well presented. Shannon Shea goes through a bit of history of what was available in the past and what is available today. He walks you through all the oil based and water based clays on the market and how to make a warming oven to soften up the oil based clays so that you can do quick build ups of smaller character creations. The one aspect of this tutorial that I felt was weak, a if an after thought was the epoxy clay. Shannon shows a product called ProPoxy. This is a fast set epoxy clay. He makes mention of what he calls a cousin of the epoxy called Magic Sculpt. I disagree with that statement. Quick set epoxy clays are cousins, Magic Sculpt is not quick set. You have a work time of around 45 minutes. Clean up is with water and water smooths the clay. I have used Magic Sculpt for the past 4 years now and it feels more like pottery clay than an epoxy clay. Epoxy clays can feel a bit rubbery and a lot of them tend to not want to form into the shape you want. Magic Sculpt can be drilled, sanded, carved, etc and it is very good keeping a hard edge to it after it has cured. I have to run now, but I will make a follow on to this post with my thoughts on the wide range of epoxy putties out there that are not quick set. Thanks.

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    Matthew GroveMatthew Grove ✭

    I wanted to show you a few things that have been sculpted with the epoxy putties I am going to talk about next.

    Small figures used in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Historical table top miniature games and board games are sculpted using  Kneadatite ( called Green Stuff as a nickname), Miliput  or Procreate.  This material is used because of the high temperature vulcanization process used to capture these models.

    One of the leading companies of historical miniatures is Perry Miniatures.   Alan and Michael Perry sculpt using Kneadatite.

    http://www.perry-miniatures.com/images/BR/AWI_Plastic_Continentals.jpg

    They normally sculpt in 1/50th scale, but the link is to 1/60 versions they did for some plastic injection molds.  These require a sculpture that is 3 times the size of the final product.

    The next link is a 1/60 scale Asian elephant I was commissioned to do around 4 years ago.  I used Magic Sculpt to form the under skeleton and then covered it with ProCreate for the detail.

    http://www.deviantart.com/?q=45thdiv

    I like Procreate better than Kneadatite as Kneadatite tends to have a lot of memory and can be a challenge to push around into the shape you want.

    Epoxy putties can be very useful in your creations.  They are a better option to sculpy or Fimo type oven back clays due to their strength upon curing.  The working time is around 60 to 90 minutes with a full cure in 24 hours.


    The tutorial, as I mentioned is really well done and I think is the right one to start with.  I just wanted to share the information about the other types of epoxy clays that are out there.

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