Smoothing Clay?

[Joshua Morrison]

Hi I have been working on a Gray Fox helmet and I'm having trouble working out all the bumps in the clay. I was wondering if it was due to the type of clay, some modeling clay from a hobbie store, I made sure it was sulfur free, or if it was because its to soft.



I guess my question is how do you smooth out the clay and get a clean finished look?



Or is this something I should be more concerned about after I have made my first plastic model, and can sand down the plastic version??

 

[rundown]

 

[ka5p3r]

i use lotion and a spoon to smooth my work

 

[brashsculptor]

Hey Josh,

Here's a great website that will help you with your sculpting. Dan gives lots of info on smoothing techniques.

Cheers,

Brash



http://www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/sculpting.htm

 

[Joshua Morrison]

Thanks everyone, I have been trying some stuff and it is looking much better.

 

[Joshua Morrison]

Ok so I have made the helmet much more symmetrical and smoother than it was, but I'm still having trouble get all the dents and bumps out. Is there another step in the process where I could sand out some of these problems or is it best to have the clay model perfect before making a mold?

 

[Drgnfyre4]

As you gain more experience you will find that it is best to get your original sculpt as smooth as possible just from the standpoint of saving yourself extra steps. Clay comes in different densities for different applications. For a project like the one you are doing you would have been better off with a much harder clay that you could get smoother broad expanses with greater ease. A softer oil base clay on a piece like yours is going to simply take more time to smooth. Try using a rake tool in order to get the surface layer even. Bumps and irregularities like what you are getting is caused by not having a perfectly even amount of clay across the surface. You may have to add clay to the dimples and depressions or take away to get an even density across the surface area.

On the flip side it is not uncommon to make mold of your sculpt to get a hardcopy to do super refining work. A lot of prop makers will go this distance to make thier master glass smooth. Honestly it doesnt matter so much how you get there as long as the results yield superior product.