My first attempt at Sculpey

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 1:13 am

I finally got ahold of some Sculpey, so I figured I'd try my hand at some custom...things. I couldn't figure out what I needed that I could make out of Sculpey, though. I wanted to do a hairpiece, but the only hairpiece I could really think of that I wanted was WAY too complicated for the likes of me. So finally I settled on a beard. Unfortunately, though, I now have a problem. I got the whole beard nicely sculpted around a guy, but now I don't know how to cure it without ruining the fig.

I read through Red Bean's how to article, but didn't see the answer. I know this has been asked in the past, but at the time I wasn't really paying attention, and I've probably forgotten anyway. So, anyway, here it is:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/porsc ... eard01.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/porsc ... eard02.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/porsc ... eard03.jpg

PLMKWYT!

Cm2

Post by **Formendacil** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 1:33 am

Looks good from the front, but a little skimpy on the back.
Although, I shouldn't criticize, not being a user of the material myself. So, don't ask me how to cure it. I dunno?

Red Bean · Post by **Red Bean** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 7:43 am

Hi Porschecm2,

I went to look at my article again and looks like I forgot to mention this part. My mistake, sorry

Anyway, the trick to getting the sculpey off a minifig afterward is that you have to wrap a coat of clingfilm/kitchwrap around the figure BEFORE you sculpt, with the sticky side facing outward. Try to look for a brand that is less sticky (usually the cheapest one). Although I sometimes find fruit bags more useful for this purpose (the ones you put fruits in in supermarkets), but the downside is they will make the stud thicker (thus your product looser). To get your sculpey off, however, will still be very tricky and you have to be extremely careful. So for beginner, I recommend another method which is to sculpt over an existing Lego elements. For example, a luke skywalker hairpiece if you want to make a helmet; or the cut-off 'rim' part of the beard in your case). Hope this helps!

Now for your beard itself. Great work!! The only small suggestion I can make is to thicken up a beard a bit or you might find it becoming quite fragile after awhile. But this is already much better than my first sculpture, so keep sculpting!!

R. B.
visit my website: www.redbeanstudio.net

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 2:23 pm

Red Bean wrote:
Anyway, the trick to getting the sculpey off a minifig afterward is that you have to wrap a coat of clingfilm/kitchwrap around the figure BEFORE you sculpt, with the sticky side facing outward.

Have you tried Vaseline or some kind of oil?

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:11 pm

Formendacil: thanks! I did have a problem with back, in that I couldn't figure out how it should look. I don't own an official Lego beard(

), or else I would have modeled it after that. I'll see what I can do though.

Red Bean: Oh now you tell me. J/k!

Anyway, thanks for the compliments. I think I'm going to try sun baking it a bit here(it's certainly hot enough out!

), then carefully pulling it off. Next time I'll know better though.

Two Tonic: Hmm...nope. If the sun baking doesn't work, I may try that though. I like your new avatar!

On a related note, the pack of Sculpey says "do NOT put in microwave". Being curious, I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried to do that. What happens? I can't imagine anything too drastic happening, other than the sculpt perhaps getting ruined(or not cooking at all).

Cm2

Sir Smittens · Post by **Sir Smittens** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:35 pm

Very, very nice. Much better than anything I could make.

On a related note, the pack of Sculpey says "do NOT put in microwave". Being curious, I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried to do that. What happens? I can't imagine anything too drastic happening, other than the sculpt perhaps getting ruined(or not cooking at all).

I've put clay in the microwave, not sculpy though. The only thing that happened was...nothinng. Well, that's not true. The clay became softer! I'd imagine the effect would be the same on sculpy, but the way you type the warning makes it sound like something worse.

Of course, I'm not 100% sure what I used was clay, but that's a long story (involving it turning out that there is a POSSIBILITY that it was facepaint, not clay. But I doubt it, talk to me in the chat if you want more detail (But I don't know why you would))

--Caleb

Red Bean · Post by **Red Bean** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:57 am

I discovered something even better last night. Get this: the tin foil off a Kit-Kat!!! First of all, any tin foils are better than clingwrap because they don't stick (thus making the peeling-off process much easier), but most of them are much too thick for wrapping around minifigs. Then yesterday, I was deciding on what to sculpt next (the Greek helmet proves to be too much of a challenge, I need a break from it

) and having a kit-kat at the same time, then I noticed it's really thin compared to your normal tin foil. And voila!! It worked like magic. I think the tin foil from other chocolate bars are like this, too, but I've only experiemented with Kit-kat so far. So I hope you all like Kit-kat

(disclaimer: Red Bean does not work for Kit-kat, nor is this an advertisement

)

R. B.
visit my website: www.redbeanstudio.net

Snoopy · Post by **Snoopy** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:59 pm

Looks pretty good! That beard would come in handy for several things.

Sir Smittens · Post by **Sir Smittens** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 6:30 pm

Red Bean, you've greatly enhanced my life.

Now I have an excuse to bulk buy Kit-Kats (Best. Candy. Ever.) and "unfortunately" have to eat them, because I wouldn't want the chocolate to go to waste if I'm just using the foil! Plus, it'll solve my biggest dilema! Thank you so much!

--Caleb

Brickboy · Post by **Brickboy** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:41 pm

I really like it. Looks like santa clauses beard.

Alan

Post by **Robin Hood** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:25 pm

I like it. Just a couple questions. One, whats the kit-kat for agian? and WHAT MATTERIAL DID YOU USE TO MAKE THE BEARD? Didn't mean to shout, but I have been curious for a month what you use, and it sorta burst out.

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:56 pm

Red Bean: Hmm...I may have to see if other candy bars are the same, since I've never been a fan of Kit Kat. I think Hershey's has the same type of thin foil.

Sir Smittens: Thanks! And lol...Actually, the caps in "do NOT place in microwave oven" are on the package too. Gotta wonder...

Snoopy: thanks!

Brickboy: Ya, it does, rather. I thought about that when I was making it, though that wasn't what I was trying for.

Robin Hood: Thanks. If you'll read up, you'll find the answer to your first question. And as the title implies, the beard is made from Sculpey, a synthetic clay material.

Cm2