Sculpting Materials

[Vertigo]

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for sculpting materials for big projects. I'm gathering materials for my first big project, and it requires a lot of hand sculpting. So, I'm looking for putty, etc that will work well for this project. Thanks in advance.

[Aero]

I've never sculpted much, but you might want to read Crimson Sky's worklog for Silicon Rising.: http://thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186

The whole thing was sculpted.

[Canadian Eh?]

i don't know about sculpting materials for cases but if you dig far enough into the ground (about a foot) you should find orangey-brown dirt called clay that is very good for raw sculpting.

[crazybillybob]

i don't know about sculpting materials for cases but if you dig far enough into the ground (about a foot) you should find orangey-brown dirt called clay that is very good for raw sculpting.

This is not true everywhere there are many places you just have dirt or sand then bed rock....no clay.



Back to the real Q here:
One of the best things I've used is florist foam, it's those big green blacks in cut flower arrangements. It has a very tight cell structure so you can get good detail and decent finish. Plus you can make bigger blocks by hot glueing sevral smaller blocks together.I would give it a light coat of bondo for even smoother finish. You can make a positive with this then use plaster or latex to make a mold for casting (resin, fiberglass, etc). This is a cheaper alturnitive to Clay modeling that is just as easy (if not easier ) to do.

Good Luck,
CrazyBillyBob

[Vertigo]

Thanks Crazy, I'll try that. I've been talking to a few people about this, and have a couple of materials I'm going to test first. So far, Bondo (a material used in auto body repair) appears to be the most likely candidate. But, this idea for the flower arranging material sounds good for making a mock up before I actually mess with the case. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback guys. I've got the case picked out, so my hope is to start working on it next week.

[crazybillybob]

Verto,
The Florist block is great for the core even if you us bondo or clay for the detail surface.(just don't fire it, as it's plastic and will melt). Saves more expensive Material and you have to worry less about cracking (you can only lay bondo down about 1/8" thick at a time before it starts to crack as it dries). Also if your going to work with bondo make sure you follow all the saftey precautions on the can, use it in a well ventilated area (out side your home!!) and ware aresperator too (not those cheap white or green disposable thins from the box stores...but a real resperator with organic capture filters...yes they cost a bit but your saftey is worth it!!). Why I say this is the vapors off bondo kill brain cells, if you can smell bondo your loosing cells (rule of thumb).


Good luck, be safe,
CrazyBillybob

[Vertigo]

Yeap, that's exactly what I was thinking actually LOL. Thanks a lot Billy.

[Cevinzol]

Another material similar to florist foam would be styrofoam sheet insulation (http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/).
you can buy it at any home center. it comes in 4x8 foot sheets. you can easily hot glue it and then shape it with saws, files, knives, hot blades.

[Ironsides]

I used old case sides that were plastic in these mods, i cut them close to the shapes i needed epoxyd them together, or rather stacked them up and got a rough basic shape, then used bondo to make all the detail. It worked great for me , but i have alot of experience with bondo as i am a bodyman.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2635
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2038