Materials polymer clay or paper clay?

Whatever you do, don't use paperclay. It don't take detail good, it's horrible to work with and if it ever gets in contact with water, it turns back into moldable paper clay. Some people on this board have been able to make really beautiful creations by using paper clay, but I'm for one am having great trouble working with it at all.

Polymer clays on the other hand, are really good in my opinion. You can buy fimo, cernit and puppenclay in Norway, and all three gives good results with varying plusses and minuses. Fimo is more brittle than cernit, but takes detail better.

To get polymer clay pliable, you just have to work with it for a long time. Kna den lenge! (sorry folks, don't know how to say it in english :P) Cernit is more easy to get pliable than fimo.

OT: have you seen the plans of a Norwegian meet-up? If you want to come, I can show you some tricks for working with polymer clays :-)

 

Paperclay is much easier to sand down, and to a degree it's easier to work with. However, remember that you have to wait for it to DRY for it to harden. The ease with sculpey is just popping it in the oven for 15 minutes and then letting it cool for about 10 and you can work on it some more. Paperclay needs to dry over night. Also if you add too much water it takes longer to dry and well... it turns into a soupy mess sometimes too. ._.

1. Paperclay is pretty fragile, if you're not casting in resin and plan on playing with the doll i don't recommend it. My first doll was made from that and poor Nicodemus is now in pieces.

2. Yes, in shuen's tutorial she uses Mr White Surfacer, that's a white sandable primer spraypaint. You can paint it with whatever you please, but I'm not sure how it would react to removing paint, like with acetone or the like.

3. I like Polymer better because it's harder when baked, hardens faster, and it's what I'm used to. Paperclay and Epoxy Putty clay(like Apoxie Sculpt) feel more like terracotta clay, and I'm not so used to that. Polymer is more plastic-like feeling, more like modeling clay and that's what I'm used to. Also, it's not as much a mess to clean up. If you want to see my results with Super Sculpey, you can check out the two threads with my homemade dolls in them.

4. It should be pretty pliable after you warm it up in your hands. I like to pull off a piece and beat it around with a rolling pin. It saves my wrists and gets the clay mixed. Some people put it in a blender... but I haven't done that. XD

 

I've never used paper clay but i've used pottery clay and polymer clay. The polymer clay drove me nuts. Its hard to work with, it seemed to pick up all the dust and lint in the entire house. Its hard to add and remove. its difficult to get it workable.

I'd go with regular clay, and pay to have it baked in a kiln. you can add clay, decrease clay fairly easily unlike super sculptey, add water to make it more pliable, or let it dry out to make is harder. it can have pretty fine details too. its sandable when its greenware. I'd reccommend getting the white clay.

and pottery clay is dirt cheap. (i've actually dug my own clay a few times which made it free) It is a little pricey to get something baked, but super sculptey is aroun $10 a box, and you need 2-3. For fimo, or premo (which i've never used) they sell them in tiny packages (i think like 2 oz packages) for a few bucks each. when you think how many packages it'd take to make a doll, its insane. I'm not sure about painting pottery clay, but i know it can be done.

 

It depends on how big a doll you want...I on;y need one pack of SS.

I don't like pottery clay...It's all personal preference I guess.

 

Seeing as worked with both.. water based clay is hell. >< It took me a month+ to work on the TORSO of a 1/6 sized dollie. I'm almost done with my mini-sized doll done with super scuply. I've used about two boxes so far. I've completed a 3-peice torso, 2 legs, and 1.5 arms. I need to do 2 heads,lower arm and hands+feet. I can most likely be done really soon. I used paperclay in scrapbooking class.. and it is *really* flimsy and doesn't hold detail all that well... Scuply is nise because you can pratice without wasting money/clay when you forget to seal the package/ect.

 

I really prefere paper clay, because you can always carve, sand, add fresh clay to hard one. Nothing is definitiv, you can always change your mind, there's no fear like: "can I bake it know? Isn't there something wrong I didn't see and won't be able to change tomorow?"
But that's true, it is really fragile and has to be cast if for a played-with doll.

 

Chiming in a little late here.

Its a toss up really, cause both have their good and bad points.
Mostly it depends on how you like to work.

Paper clay is forgiving cause you can sand and add forever, but its weaker and lighter
Too many times I have used sculpey and baked it and gotten those little moons in it, it is heavy and it is better for detail.

 

I'd like to add that I have carved and added onto my scuply doll too ^_^; I haven't got any moons, and if I did... I can't notice them o-o

 

getting moons are hit or miss. it's the plasticine? part of the clay that makes it do this. Some people say that baking at a certain temperature gets rid of them, some say proper mixing of clay, others swear by mixing. I've been using this stuff for about six or seven years now and sometimes I don't get any marks and sometimes I do. :/ If you're going to be painting or casting your items it doesn't really matter. It's only a concern if you're trying to use the SS as it is and not covering it later. :3 Apparently they also make matte grey super sculpey that doesn't have the translucent quality that flesh colored SS has... I'm going to try and get that for my next project and see if I like it better.