Sculpting Materials:

Creative Paperclay
Activa Ladoll Satin Smooth Air Dry Clay
Magic Sculpt
Hader’s Metal Clay

I primarily use Paperclay to do my sculpting. I have tried many, many, many clays and find that the texture, working when wet, smoothing, sanding, etc properties of Creative Paperclay is my favorite. I use the Ladoll Satin for finishing, filling, smoothing purposes and it also works great. Magic sculpt is a new material for me, but I like it. I use it primarily for structural support in larger pieces that I’m ball jointing and I plan to use it for OOAK figurines.

Metal Clay is a very specialized product that I’m finding that I’m in love with. I like base metal clays, like bronze, copper and steel. These require that you fire them after sculpting. There will be shrinkage, so there is a lot of planning that is needed in order to make a finished piece.

Sculpting Methods:

Messy. With Water. And Messy. Wear clothes you don’t care about ruining! Actually, I have no method. I practiced until I got the result I wanted. I use some tools: needle tools, shapers, rubber scrapers, etc – but mostly I just use my fingers. I sculpt very wet, which is why I like air dry clays for sculpting except when I want a sturdy material. Magic Sculpt smooths very well, but doesn’t get as wet. I’m still learning the right methods for this one, but I like it lot more than Aves Apoxie sculpt, personally.

Casting Materials:

Smooth-On Resin
Smooth-On Silicone

Smooth-On has the easiest resin for me to acquire and use and also has the most options of everyone I’ve researched and tried. Alumilite and Polytek are other companies, but for me are more expensive than I’d like or don’t have the product range that I need. I use Oomoo 25 and Mold Max T 27 for my silicone needs. Primarily I use Smooth-Cast 326 for my casting purposes. I do add various dyes and fillers to achieve my looks and the 326 is formulated for that very process.

Casting methods:

Long, extensive and expensive! I would check out Smooth-On’s website for their tutorials in mold making and casting as a good starting point.

I’ve been posting a bunch of in progress stuff on my flickr page, so check things out!