munny project - part IV

sculpty: you may want to add something to your munny instead of painting it on, i.e. hair. what i would recommend is super sculpty. it's a type of polyester clay professions use. i couldn't find super sculpty so i settled for regular sculpty. the super sculpty is just a new and improved version of regular sculpty and there is not much of a difference in price, so go for the super if you can find it.

tip: if you're sculpting something like two swords where you want them to be equal length, i suggest you roll a piece of sculpty and split it into two equal parts and make the swords out of that. it'll save you a lot of time instead of trying to add and subtract pieces of scultpy trying to make them proportional.

super sculpty it does not cure by air so you can work with it for a longer time. it does crack if you let it air out too long though. cover it with plastic wrap helps. you can either cure it in the oven (275 degree F for 15 minutes per quarter inch of thickness) or you can buy a heat gun.

i've read you can shape your sculpty onto the vinyl munny and put the entire thing in the oven without it melting. i have not tried it so i don't know, i've only used a heat gun.

tip: if you have fingerprints on your sculpty when you're done sculpting you can use some rubbing alcohol to brush away the finger prints, but be careful not to brush away the detail.
warning: don't put your munny accessories in with the munny, they're made of pvc and will absolutely melt in the oven.
warning: if you use a heat gun, move the gun around instead of pointing it at one part because it will burn.

when it's done curing it still should feel a bit soft and as it cools off the sculpty hardens.

you probably hard tell from this picture, but it's been sanded and is smoother than the one above it. it's not going to be perfectly smooth when it comes out of the oven, and all the bumps and imperfections will show up when you paint, so you need to sand them out. i first use a 220 grit to get rid of the big imperfections and then a 120 to smooth it out. i suggest doing it over a box to keep yourself dust free.

the good thing about sculpty is you can bake it over and over without worrying about it cracking. so you can sculpt one part, bake it, add on to it, and bake it again.