Hey guys, I think I've seen this question covered here somewhere, but for the life of me can't find it anywhere now. So I'll just ask again. How do you cut the head cap and/or faceplate NEATLY. I'm working with "Premier" clay and I have used a dremel on body joints. But the cutting bit is not good on curves, I get a really ragged edge. Tried the scalpel also, and it takes forever, I just end up cutting myself instead and still get a really rough edge. So how do people cut it? What tools? Techniques? And how do you neaten the edge afterwards. Because I can't get it to fit perfectly back together. Any ideas appreciated. Thanks.
If you cut the head into two, focus first on sanding one side of it smooth and neat. Once you are happy with that side, you can add clay to the rim of the other side before squishing the two parts back together again with plastic wrap (cling film) in between, so that the less neat side then matches the neat side. It's really hard to make a straight and neat cut first time. I used a bit that came with my dremel that looks like a disc with a sharp edge. Does that help?!
Thanks aneemal. It does help actually, that's what I thought I'd have to do for evening it out. No magic trick then, eh? Just more nitty gritty work. Yep, I've used the disc too. And I really don't want to try it again, it took chunks out of my torso joint. It didn't matter much on such a large area, but as I'm doing a faceplate I think it would be impossible to go around all the fine curves...
Even when you're making a clay ring on top of the edges of the cut, you won't get a perfect result. That's why I usually use a low grit sandpaper, lay it flat on the workbench and sand the headcap area like this, until it is completely smooth. Only then do I add notches and grooves and whatever else I need to keep the headcap in place. I hardly use any tools; just sandpaper and a fine toothed saw.
You can always use model kit putty, which is relatively quicker to cure and easier to sand for those cut area. They are designed to fill out seems of air plane, automobile scale models so it gets super smooth. Also it holds its shape good enough for molding process. Some body filler putty works as well and they cure super fast( like in a few minutes) but you need to pick softer kind otherwise you spend a lot of time sanding. Hope that helps. I use wax for all those so it is relatively easy. But I know the pain as I worked with other materials. Good Luck, Nia
when I'm sculpting to fit pieces against each other, I place a later of cling wrap between them. It helps me get a really tight seam =)
