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Clay finishing

Brandon DennisBrandon Dennis ✭
edited September 2021 in Sculpture
Hi community! Anyone here know about using water based clay that can help me? This bust I've used water based clay and I've never used it before. I want to fire this, but I have noticed due to shrinkage there are little gaps in the ear and a few uneven surfaces. This is not completely dry, however is very powdery and no longer cold to the touch, so probably close to be ready to fire. Can this be sanded or slightly tooled? or could I potentially ruin it by doing this? It may be hard to match the surface finish if I sand it as i did lightly sponge the surface while it was wet to give a nice finish. What are your thoughts. Thanks


Post edited by Brandon Dennis on

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    Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    Firing clay is not super common in special effects, so that's not something I have much experience with.  But with water-based clays, you normally want to keep them slightly damp while working on them and while storing them.  If they dry out you can start getting shrinkage, cracking, etc.

    If you want to work it further you may be able to re-hydrate it by storing it with damp paper towels covering its surface and placing a garbage bag over it to protect it from airflow.

    /Chris
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    Brandon DennisBrandon Dennis ✭
    Thank you Chris!
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