Friday 20 March 2009

Master baker? Bollocks...

Baked the bust of Fry.

Lots of cracks. Well, a few.

Not happy, I think I baked it for too long at too high a temperature (i.e. according to the instructions).

Conclusion: ignore the instructions in a pack of Sculpey. Bake for longer, at a lower temperature, and then leave it in the oven when it's switched off, thus cooling more slowly.

Still, at least I was able to fill the cracks, which I sanded under a tap with fine wet-n-dry, and buffed with a rotary buffing thing. This weekend, I'll spray on a coat of primer.

6 comments:

  1. Well, you sure are keeping busy, which is as it should be. What may the next blog be about?
    :DDD

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  2. It's already up! Nice and sweary, it's the real me... Mwah hah ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa...!!!

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  3. Right On, Man! You rock! Keep the salty language flowing, say I! 8-)

    There's a thread on StopMotionAnimation.com about baking Sculpey -- low and slow is the way to go. I baked my vork maquette at 180 F (82 C) for 90 minutes or so, then left it in the oven to cool. It's about 8" (20 cm) tall and not terribly thick, except the haunches, with an aluminum wire armature, which may have helped bake the inside a little.

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  4. Yep....I cook my stuff for 40 minuets at 180-200 degrees....then let it sit in there.

    never burn anything anymore.

    jriggity

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  5. Groovista and Justin - brilliant advice, thank you both!

    My next sculpture will have a wire armature inside as the amount of Sculpey I used on this one (600 grams in total) sometimes caused it to sag in places. There's a talented caricaturist by the name of Paul Moyse who made a Sculpey bust (of Robert Mugabe), and you can see how he used a wire armature:
    http://artofmoyse.blogspot.com/2007/11/mugabe-sculpt-cont.html

    My sculpture is around 12cm high from the bottom of the chin to the top of the hair and maybe 6cm thick at most, so probably no thicker than your piece, Groovista.

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  6. Bloody hell, I thought that URL in my previous post would appear as a proper link... Ah well, you'll just have to copy 'n' paste.

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