Strengthening DAS clay

It seems to me that I have heard of lining the sockets with two-part epoxy clay to strengthen them for tensioning? This would require that you make allowances for the layer of epoxy clay in your joints.

Another thought is make some test joints? Make a couple of DAS tubes four or five inches long, with one having a ball at one end, and the other having a socket at one end. Let them dry, then try tensioning them with some doll elastic cord. Start loose, then tighten it up a little bit. Test it after each time you tighten the elastic. This is a touchie-feelie way of finding out how much tension your DAS clay can withstand.

Then try the same experiment with two tubes, but line the socket with epoxie clay, and see if the test tubes can withstand more tensioning.

Your 40cm DAS clay doll may be able to withstand tensioning well enough to keep her strung loosely, or medium tight, or tight? You will find out first hand.

 

There's a couple of things you can do to make DAS stronger. The best things I've found are to make your base out of something else that is compatible with DAS, like paper-mache. a lot of people use plastic straws as their base for the limbs, but they're very weak. If you take a dowel the size of your cores, and tighly wrap a piece of paper around it (with a little glue as well), you get a way stronger core that will hold up to stringing. After it's dry, you should be able to pull the dowel out pretty easily. If you make the bases of the rest of the body out of paper mache as well, you can do the rest of the sculpt over the mache with DAS so none of the mache shows. To make the DAS more sculptable and strong, you can add in some white glue and molding paste. When you're done, seal all the pieces with something like Krylon cystal clear.

I did a test doll with paper mache a while back, and the original recipe I did (only using white glue, wood glue and paper pulp), was so strong I could hardly sand it or get a saw through it. But the base for my current doll was done with a slightly different recipe (white glue, wood glue, corn starch, and flour wth paper pulp over strips) and it's still really strong but definitely more workable. DAS sticks to it and I haven't had any cracking. I will note that it's important to let it all dry before you put DAS on top though.

 

You tell us.

 

I'm using DAS for the thicker parts of my girl as well... seems to be going well...

 

I was considering using Das to fill the space between the hollow interior and the layer of stronger clay on the surface (to make the pieces easier to cast, supposedly)... So I'm hoping people will report back their experiences!

 

Use the ladoll for details in your sculpt and filling in the cracks because it's so much better at holding details. DAS seems to dry and crack for me at least and I'm not even living in a hot climate. It's best to use it at a base once its completely dry and use better clays on top of it provided it doesn't shrink.

I once dropped a glob of it onto some rabbit hair and it became super strong because the fine hairs acted like a mesh. No kidding. Also no help whatsoever but I thought it'd be amusing to share. :3