Eyes Is there a reason why clay eyes aren't more common?

I don't see why not! Apoxie's a pretty expensive material to work with though and it'd probably be a pain trying to get both eyes the right size (hence why resin casting with molds is what you see most people do in eyemaking).

There's also the fact that acrylic is a popular material for anime eyes and are really cheap to get if you know where to look (TaoBao, Aliexpress). If you want to sculpt some, I think you totally can because you're right, apoxie isn't bad for resin, I just think most people opt for the easier or more cost/time/effort effective option.

 

Mostly because they'd look very "flat" even with a glaze. Acrylic eyes usually have a white back, either a printed or painted surface, and then a thick layer of clear over that to give depth. Sculpy or the like would be akin to a closed eye doll (like some Dollfie sculpts) where you paint the eye on.

 

For me it was the lack of a clear coat that could handle depth. I used a mold to indent the pupil, but for 12mm eyes the pupils were too deep for the clear coat. It turned cloudy. But i would love to hear if anyone has had success with that!

 

i started with clay eyes and have fiddled with them on and off! i’d use them more than resin as my base, but my biggest trouble is keeping them consistently sized. i also use UV resin though, so it was more an issue with making my iris a consistent deep ness and not deforming the eye lol. I think clay anime eye bases and using resin inside them would be amazing tbqh

I saw somewhere that someone used a flat white button and then painted an anime style eye on it, then glossed it with either mod podge gloss or something similar, and they looked perfectly fine imo! So you could probably do something similar with apoxy, and give it just enough curve that it seems less “flat”, but still easily paintable, if that makes sense?

 

I stopped using clay pretty early because... to be honest, it's just more labor intensive for an end result that is more likely to look wonky. I don't know about other people, but I can never sand something that small perfectly smooth... it always ends up slightly uneven, which makes doing something like painting a neat anime eye even more difficult than it already is. Using a silicone mold to make resin bases requires more specialized supplies, but it's a lot easier and neater in the long run.

Most types of clay shouldn't react poorly with the resin so long as they're fully cured, though. So it's definitely an option if you have the patience for it.

 

I used clay to create some battery-powered LED eyes for my favorite doll, because everything else was too translucent and bled a lot of light where it wasn't desired. I wasn't happy with the brightness of the white, so I painted them after they were done and sanded, then coated with a heavy acrylic gloss glaze so they'd have a nice luster. When they're in the doll, they don't really look any different from the urethane eyes he had before.

Cured epoxy clay and cured Sculpey are both totally fine for eyes.

Clay can certainly be used for beautiful results, especially if you use a clear resin to dome the eye afterward. My guy's eyes have a clear resin dome over the iris, which is just flat paper, and they look great because of the depth that adds.

 

Ahh that's fair! If it helps Apoxie tends to last for a while. It does start to get a little hard with age but I've had my containers for three years or so now and they still function/cure normally, I just used some a few weeks ago and it still works great. If you're looking for other ways to use it up it's also great material to make props like weapons or resin parts like animal ears or horns!