Aves Epoxy -VS- Sculpy..., I need help

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To answer your questions:

1 - Depends on how long you leave it on the oven, but too much heat and the sculpey may burn. So it is recommended to cure it at intervals. It depends also on how much you are curing.

2 - It does hold forms really well, most sculptors use this to make statues and busts and stuff. I recommend sculpey firm for extra hardness.

3 - As stated in point 1, it needs to be cured in an oven, the package the sculpey comes with should tell you how to. You can also use the boiling technique, BUT, it turns out a little brittle.

4 - Aves and sculpey are 2 different kind of materials and their uses depend on the situation. I sculpt using sculpey firm, since it does not harden by time, I can work on the details and facial expressions and what not until I'm ready to pop it into the oven. Then I might use aves to modify the sculpt. Here's a little shameless promotion to show you what I mean:

This is a sculpt done with sculpey firm, once cured I used aves to sculpt the hair:

https://cheungkinmen.blogspot.com/2011/12/16-dominic-west-new-sculpt-painted.html

Then I modded it entirely:

https://cheungkinmen.blogspot.com/2011/12/16.html

5 - After it cures the sculpey definitely can accept paint without any problems. You might want to spray some primer first but that's just a personal choice.

6 - I think you can. I don't have a Michael's in my country but it seems people normally get their stuff there, heh.

I don't have a preference, I use both for different purposes. Some only use aves to sculpt and some only use Sculpey. There are others who does not use either and use castelene, wax and such.

Quick question about Sculpey...I've used it and other polymer clays in the past, but it's been many many years and I wasn't trying to sculpt very seriously. But now I'm thinking about getting into it more earnestly to make some 1:6 scale heads. I dug out some older stuff that I still had, granted this stuff hasn't been literally touched in years and it could be past its usable date...but I'm wondering how easy it is to set aside a head and come back to it.

By that I mean, Sculpey even right out of a brand new package has this whole ritual you have to go through to get to a workable state, you're running it through a pasta roller or rolling it in your hands for hours and hours to get to a pliable state. So do you run into issues after not touching a head for a week or two where it isn't as easy to modify because it's set back up somewhat? If so do you have to 'rejuvenate' the Sculpey again in a manner that doesn't destroy the portrait...maybe some light, gentle heat from a hair dryer or some such?

Seeing that you work with Sculpey is very encouraging, as I was afraid all serious sculptors stuck with clay. Since I have experience working with Sculpey I was leaning more towards it.

JRSly said:

Quick question about Sculpey...I've used it and other polymer clays in the past, but it's been many many years and I wasn't trying to sculpt very seriously. But now I'm thinking about getting into it more earnestly to make some 1:6 scale heads. I dug out some older stuff that I still had, granted this stuff hasn't been literally touched in years and it could be past its usable date...but I'm wondering how easy it is to set aside a head and come back to it.

By that I mean, Sculpey even right out of a brand new package has this whole ritual you have to go through to get to a workable state, you're running it through a pasta roller or rolling it in your hands for hours and hours to get to a pliable state. So do you run into issues after not touching a head for a week or two where it isn't as easy to modify because it's set back up somewhat? If so do you have to 'rejuvenate' the Sculpey again in a manner that doesn't destroy the portrait...maybe some light, gentle heat from a hair dryer or some such?

Seeing that you work with Sculpey is very encouraging, as I was afraid all serious sculptors stuck with clay. Since I have experience working with Sculpey I was leaning more towards it.

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When I work with new sculpey I have to go through the ritual you say you do. If the sculpey is dry or very hard, try using a little of sculpey softener, a few drops and it'll do the trick. People have used olive oil or mineral oil, but I prefer to use the sculpey softener as it's made for that purpose.

When I start roughing out a sculpt I sometimes set it aside to work on something else. When I come back to it a week later or maybe 3 days later (The longest time I've touched a rough sculpey sculpt was about 3 weeks I guess), it is indeed a bit hard, but in this state it's for your benefit as the sculpey is not that malleable and soft, and accepts details like a champ. If you want to add in more sculpey it'll not be a problem, just make sure the new sculpey is soft enough.

I'm basing this on my experience with Sculpey Firm.

Ahh, okay, that makes a lot of sense. I was planning on picking up some new clay here soon. And I think I'll give Sculpey Firm a look.

1. What is Aves Epoxy? Is there a brand I can ebay search?

2. About Sculpy, lets say you made it into a final form that you like, you then oven it. What temp and duration do you set it at? Does it depends on the brand of sculpty you use? And you can simply place it in the cooking oven in the kitchen or a specialize oven with vents, etc.?

3. With sculpty, after you oven it, how do you make a mold from it, for casting more and more? You use a softer material to make a mold or same sculpty? I took a ceramic class a long time ago. We use a hardened clay mold and poured a liquid mixture into it and let it hardened. Then we place it into a oven/furnace for a specific time to harden, then we paint it. Its a coffee mug that I did. But I want to make and cast polystone statue in hugh 1/4 scale about 19-24 inches high. How does manufacture like SSC cast statues over n over?

4. How do you make clear and/or colored material in statue? What material and how do you work it? Something like DC Direct clear/colored water or cloud parts of the statue. Sinestro for example.

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red4 said:

I can only answer 2 of these questions.
1. Aves Epoxy is the brand that you would search. It's a binary 1-to-1 putty.
2. I don't know
3. I don't know
4. You can create a clear statue by casting your sculpture in translucent resin. You would have to make a mold of your statue, and then make a translucent copy.

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Thanks for your respond red4

Searched ebay for Aves Epoxy and got nothin. Did Aves Epoxy sculpt and got 3 from England? Damn

And the translucent resin, you heat it and pour into a mold? I wonder how good it is. Does it discolor over time.


I'll buy some and experiment soon.

Mr. Green said:

2. About Sculpy, lets say you made it into a final form that you like, you then oven it. What temp and duration do you set it at? Does it depends on the brand of sculpty you use? And you can simply place it in the cooking oven in the kitchen or a specialize oven with vents, etc.?

3. With sculpty, after you oven it, how do you make a mold from it, for casting more and more? You use a softer material to make a mold or same sculpty? I took a ceramic class a long time ago. We use a hardened clay mold and poured a liquid mixture into it and let it hardened. Then we place it into a oven/furnace for a specific time to harden, then we paint it. Its a coffee mug that I did. But I want to make and cast polystone statue in hugh 1/4 scale about 19-24 inches high. How does manufacture like SSC cast statues over n over?

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2. It depends a lot on how much sculpey is used, but since I only bake a headsculpt, it takes around 1 hour. I find that sculpey firm takes on heat pretty well. The temperature varies depending on size of the sculpt, but more heat does not mean it'll cure faster, as it may burn it or crack it. Any oven can work, I use an old oven in my kitchen XD .

3. If you want to make casts, you will have to mold it using silicon rubber and then pouring in casting resin or any other resin you like. You can visit smooth-on.com, they got great tutorials, FAQS, and many materials to choose from.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kLIYrlgAM8[/ame]

Mr. Green said:

Thanks for your respond red4

Searched ebay for Aves Epoxy and got nothin. Did Aves Epoxy sculpt and got 3 from England? Damn

And the translucent resin, you heat it and pour into a mold? I wonder how good it is. Does it discolor over time.


I'll buy some and experiment soon.

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For aves apoxy sculpt try this: https://www.avesstudio.com/

another alternative just as good is Magic Sculp : https://www.magicsculp.com/

I hear the Aves is grainier than magic sculp, but I wouldn't know, I haven't used Magic sculp.

Thanks Cheungkinmen. I'll at least try sculpty and clear or colored resin first as a test. Then on to paint.

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red4 said:

One thing to be very careful about is that casting resin copies is tricky. They often have bubbles, so the professionals put them in vacuum chambers to force the bubbles out. I don't have this equipment, so I have to resort to making multiple casts until I get acceptable results.

Another thing you might be interested to know is that Aves Epoxy can be reinvigorated with water, rather than oils and solvents. But once it cures completely, water won't work.

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Cool thanks. I actually worked with a few vaccum in my previous career. Mostly no more than 10-15lbs per square inch. I probably won't go this route so I might just have to tap on the mold for 7-10 mins or so.

I have a electric hair trimmer that I turn on and set on the table I am using... it does a decent job, not as good as a vacuum though...

Oh, and I must give credit where credit is due... great casting tutorial HERE

^^^ Thanks!!

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Great tut. I have done a sim. method but still end up with bubbles. Will try the vibrating method. We have a huge back massager which should do the trick.