It feels like its been ages since I’ve had the chance to work with clay. I really miss the opportunities college gave me to explore the medium. Without a studio to use and clays/kilns/glazes I figured there wasn’t much I could do or even afford.  Thankfully there are plenty of options out there and one of the really great ones I’ve come across is Super Sculpey. The material is basically a lightweight oil-based clay. To cure the clay its as simple as popping it in the oven at a low temperature for a short duration.

I stumbled across this magical stuff while watching a streamer on Twitch.tv who creates figurines, based largely off video games, in great detail. The Super Sculpey he uses is the most firm product available so intricate texture and shapes are possible. After watching him do his thing I thought I’d give it a try as well. His process is pretty straight forward and the directions on the box of Super Sculpey actually recommend the same steps. I’ll show there here with a few poorly lit photos:

Wireframe and Building Mass

It is obviously important to have a good idea of what you plan to sculpt in mind before your begin. Start by using armature wire or any wire thick enough to hold up the piece but light enough to bend with your hands to create the base structure. In my limited experience with this step I learned that getting the wireframe as close to perfect as possible saves a ton of headaches later. Since Super Sculpey isn’t exactly the cheapest material around its nice to save on building mass by using something like tinfoil.

The wire inside the base is connected to both feet wrapped in a ring. It also is wrapped in tinfoil before adding the exterior clay. Most modeling done this way is secured more rigidly to a based made of wood or other solid/heavy materials (which also conveniently saves the clay). I didn’t have anything ideal so I gave this a shot. I baked this first after adding some texture so that it would stand a little better.

Adding the Clay

From here its all about continuing to add mass and moving on to greater detail once your happy. In a way the whole process reminds me of the little I know about 3D Modeling with Blender.

It is a really fun process and I’ve already purchased a few more boxes so I can continue to play around with the stuff!