Cores and Paperclay

Burns like crazy? How thick is the sculpy, what temperature did you bake, and how long? >_> I suggest you just boil the darn thing in the microwave (microwavable container +lots of water.) http://www.denofangels.com/joints/s...t-burn-your-sculpy-using-microwave&highlight= < You may find the information here useful.

 

I use styrofoam cores for both mediums.. with paperclay it can be slightly messy scraping it out if you want it all gone, but it's not too difficult and not TOO messy. With sculpey it has to be the right kind of foam (soft bead type), and it'll shrink up in the oven and just fall out.

for sculpey you should place your pieces on fiber fill stuffing in the oven and either also cover the top of the piece as well, or place a piece of tinfoil shiny side up to reflect the worst of the heat so it doesn't cook too fast.

 

I agree with not liking sculpy. However I have a hard time sanding hard surfaces XD A good trick is also laying a damp paper towl over it while it cooks.

I use styrofoam as well. If you use a wood rasping tool ,getting it out is a lot simpler (but a little more messy). I get white styrofoam, the green kind is unusable. Also modeling clay wrapped in plastic wrap works, though it has more of a tendency to shift- not recommended for large pieces

 

You can really use any kind of styrofoam, but the soft bead (pellet) kind is easier to clean out. It's the kind used for packing in boxes. You can recycle that, hot glueing thin pieces together. It's also available in stores like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

EDIT: I forgot to answer the rest of your question. You can also use cardboard tubes, drinking straws, wadded-up paper towels covered with plastic wrap, etc. I prefer the styrofoam because I can shape it before covering with clay.

 

For styrofoam (polystyrene) blocks - the soft kind - I either recycle packing materials like alewife said, buy one of those cheap coolers from walmart to cut apart 'n use, or buy a sheet of it from a hardware store (they use it for insulation). For sphere shapes for heads I can only get them from the dollar store.. for some reason they don't sell polystyrene foam in craft stores here.. but if they do in the states that may be cheapest for you.

 

I want to share something awesome I discovered. One time while sculpting with air dry clay I wondered what would happen if I used raw sculpey as a core. So I gave it a try. After the air dry clay was hard, scooped the sculpey out and it left a beautifully smooth inside and I didn't even have to cut my piece in half to get the sculpey out. I suggest freezing the sculpey core before building the paper clay over it so you don't smoosh the core.

 

I have been a mold maker for some years now, and the one thing I do not see mentioned very often when talking about cores is draft. Draft is a slight angle that allows a core to be withdrawn from inside the form you are making. So, if a slight draft is incorporated for any core, then the removal of the core, after the outside material has cured, should be easy. Also, like clarinetplayer has suggested, if the surface of the core is smooth, that should also facilitate an easy removal of the core.

For most limbs on a doll, a core that is a long cylinder, slightly tapered (draft), should work in just about any material you want to use. All the core has to do is hold the shape of the interior of the piece you are working on, until the outside material has set. Once the outside material has set, the core can be removed and discarded, or, if reusable (recommended), used again for another doll. Think: newspaper rolled into a tapered cylinder, held together with masking tape, with a plastic film covering to keep the outside material from sticking to it, and so forth. Your cores are going to be as good as the time and design that you put into making them. Don't rush... making cores is part of the craft skill set used to make BJDs.

While not all cores can be designed with draft, consider designing cores that are collapsible. That is, the core is made of a flexible material that is filled with a removable material, that once the outside material has cured, the removable material can be emptied from inside the core, and the core material removed. Think: fabric bean bag, water balloon, paper form filled with sand, etc.

My two cents worth... please keep the change.

 

Thank you kwmelvin for these core ideas. Absolutely inspiring! Gonna print your response for my studio wall.

 

You're welcome.
I just remembered reading about these types of cores somewhere....
probably in twigling's booklet, Zen & the Art of Articulating Dolls by Using Balljoints (2007)?

 

I realize this is an old post, but I am posting my question anyway in the hopes that someone will answer it. I am in the earlier stages of making a BJD. I have glued blocks of green floral foam together in order to have a large enough piece to put my blueprint on and then cut around it. I am going to put my first layer of air-dry clay on it while the figure is whole. It will be an OAKK and not cast. I was disheartened to read in the above post that "the green kind is unusable'. Has anyone used the green floral foam successfully? chesirepanda, why do you think it is unusable? I sure would appreciate any thoughts on this subject.

 

Omg. This is genius! I never would have thought of it, thanks for the idea!

 

Why using sculpey and not a regular modeling clay? (I assume we are talking about super sculpey or similar with it's softener and high price and everything.)

Have anyone tried a meltable modeling clay for cores? There are some that are pretty hard when cold.

 

The only problems I could see with green floral clay are that it squishes very easily, and I've heard that it contains sphagnum moss which some people are allergic to. Did you go ahead and use it? How did you like it?