Sticky nasty Apoxie

I think you just got the little packages you can get in common stores that are ment to repair things instead of the more expensive epoxy clay you can get in specialty stores. I have used this too in the past but it isn't very suitable for this kind of pproject becaus it sis indeed very soft in the beginning and can make you allergic to resins if you use it with your bare skin alot. if it's dry, it is quite fragil too. if you want to use this matterial i would recommend you to use alot of handcream on your hands for mixing it and then letting it stiffen abit before actualy using it for sculpting

 

Hmmm - I mix it glove-free but I do talc up first... and often use water to stop it from sticking to me.... Oh and I do use a barrier cream before I start any work... At the moment I'm just using Vaseline Intensive Care non-greasy formula

When I overlaid the apoxy onto my paper-clay on my mermaids tail - it refused to stick so I had to make a layer out of little squished on bits and then smooth that out with water - let it dry and then smoothed the next layer on without fear of breakage... And yeah in some weather its like boogers on your fingers (NOT that I pick my nose - but... yeah shutting up now Haha)

Funny but I've never found it to be fragile - I've had a few clumsy moments where hardened parts have gone flying meters in the air and nothing broke when they hit the cement floor.... I do find the texture to be a little odd though as it doesnt stretch the way sculpy does - its more likely to tear or shred when you pull it apart rather than elongate - And its really nice to sand when its cured - carving it can be a real drag though

 

I mix it without gloves and its fine. Its just a pain to get off once it dries (I think is the real reason they say use gloves)
The softer part (I think part A) Is water soluble, so if you use water while you work it should be very much more easy to use. Kinda like paperclay but doesn't desolve as fast. (Also make sure to wash your hands before they dry!)

 

I've never used gloves while mixing or using Apoxie sculpt at all. The other day I woke up with it dried all over my thumb. I was so tired I bent my thumb and felt a snap and thought I broke something.
I haven't been feeling itchy or anything so I doubt I'm getting allergic to it. At least I hope not.

What I tend to do is mix small bits of apoxie in different lots, with minutes between each mixed lot, so they cure all at different times. Obviously different densities have different uses.
(eg)I just realised my doll needed to be upgraded to SD from MSD so I've cut my sculpts in half and used the Apoxie to bridge the gap so I had to wait until the material was hard enough to support itself but still tacky enough to hold the two parts together.

Also, sculpting when its cured is always effective for me. If you're finding it sticky, water does help but Vaseline is what I use when I'm making a cup for a joint to stop the two parts sticking together (eg, ball & cup joint).

 

I don't usually wear gloves when I mix, unless I'm adding pigment. I sometimes wear barrier cream but I don't find it makes a difference. After mixing there is always residue on my palms and fingertips.. I rub fingertips together and the stuff mostly comes off in small crumbles that can be mixed with the rest of the material. Washing hands with just water while the material is still soft, I find it comes off easy, soap makes it more slick. I would recommend buying apoxie from the manufacturer to ensure you get fresh product. If it's sticky at first, let it sit for 15-20 minutes before you work with it. It the part A and B were hot before mixing they will be more sticky, or if it was cold it would be much more firm.

HystericalParoxysm, are you absolutely sure you got Apoxie Sculpt and not Apoxie Paste or Apoxie Clay?

It does help to lubricate your fingers when you are trying to attach the clay to another surface. If it was a sticky mess, it might have helped to keep mixing a bit longer? Were the gloves fitted snugly on your hands or big and floppy? Fitted gloves would give you less grief.

 

Hi! I have worked with apoxie several times, Its a bit tricky at first, but what you want to do is mix it togeather and let it sit for a fair amount of time. keep pushing it to see when it gets firm enough. At first its always very very sticky. If you can find it use "turpinoid" to remove it off your hands very fast. I have worked with several aves products, all of which have come off pretty easily with it.

 

I use Apoxie Sculpt quite often. Admittedly it is easier to work with in cooler weather. When it is hot, the mixture gets sticky.

Usually I do the rough form in the beginning, then let it sit for a while and then do the detailing.

And I wear no gloves, as I have not feeling of touch even with thin latex ones.

 

obscene shapes. Now you HAVE to upload pictures 8D

 

Seconding request for pictures of obscene shapes. And glad you gave it a second chance, and excited that you fell in love with it in the end.

 

I'm imagining tiny boobs for some reason!

I do not think boobs are obscene, though.

 

Oh good i'm not the only one who does that! My *cough* dolls have a whole line of sex toys I made because I had left over and was like Ooooh *porn with clay making*

 

.....and I made a turtle >_>

 

A turtle pokin' it's head out?

 

Yep. He's half an inch long and he has no dirty bits!

 

Is it a bad idea to 'bake' apoxie? If I used it as a base underneath fimo - would something nasty happen in the oven?!

 

you can safely bake apoxie...the only problem you might have is that Apxie doesn't shrink but sculpey does so you may get some cracking of the sculpey.

This info is from Apoxie FAQ page...and of couse, they continue with saying Apoxie is superior to sculpey so why not detail out with Apxie instead of Sculpey.

 

You can bake apoxie, but I'd like to add my recent experience with baking apoxie that had been applied over resin, this is fine to bake at a low temp like 60 degrees celsius, but when brought to over 100 C, if there are any microscopic airpockets between resin and apoxie, they will expand in the heat and make the apoxie come loose from the resin. The apoxie is temporarily softened to a degree when heated, and this will cause distortion and swelling/bubbling of the apoxie where trapped air is expanding underneath. In my case I think also the heated resin may have excreted/leached a substance which the apoxie couldn't/didn't want to adhere to.

 

Press Mold and Apoxie?

Has anyone tried Apoxie Sculpt with a silicon rubber press mold yet?
For example, pressing Apoxie Sculpt into two halves of a mold to a
certain thickness, then closing the mold to let it harden to obtain a
core-less hollow piece?
KW

 

I have tried but only for portions of a mold. I think it would not work because there will be lines between the lumps of putty that are squished into the mold, and any thin sections are likely to be manipulated by the clay rather than control how the putty is formed, unlike the way the liquid resin behaves when poured, it just fills the spaces that are not already occupied by other mass.

Apoxie wouldn't stick to silicone and it would be easy to demold but the results wouldn't be great out of the mold.

Rather than making two halves and glueing them together, perhaps what you'd want to investigate further is slush-casting if you want to make a relatively hollow form.

 

I use alcohol on paper towels~

 

I guess it might be an old batch. I bought one that looks old too. There is a yellow-brown oily residue on top of PartB. I guess it's ok. I just knead it before mixing it with PartA.

I guess alcohol makes it flake off easier.

 

Reconditioning old Apoxie

If your Apoxie has gotten crumbly you can microwave it for 45 seconds and it will be as good as new.

 

Instead of microwaving, you can just put it near a heater or in the sun, or even in a plastic bag and then submerge in hot water. This is before you mix the two parts together, obviously.

 

I hadn't tried the hot water or sun....I got the microwave tip directly from customer service at Aves.

 

I used Apoxie Sculpt for a few projects some years ago and over time developed a terrible allergy to it. If I touch anything that touched one of the uncured part A or B materials, I get a very itchy area on my skin, with little bumps. Yikes!

Needless to say, I don't use it as my primary sculpting material anymore. If I do use it (as sometimes, it's the perfect solution), I wear nitrile gloves the entire time.

 

I full admit I didn't read through every post but in case no one has mentioned it- if I'm using Apoxy Sculpt brand I let it sit for about 20 minuets after mixed before I do anything with the dratted stuff. It helps it harden just enough but the work time is still long enough for me personally. I've switched to Milliput for any project that doesn't need a huge amount though, as I find it so much more manageable.