Dude, you're a master at this sculpting thing!
Quick questions... what kind of clay are you using? How much, approximately, do you use for each mask? What tools do you recommend for the detail work?
Great job!:cheers
David.
Not a master yet...but thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll feel better once I actually have finished pieces.
Type of clay -- Regular oil-based clay...medium firmness. The sculpture shop I go to carries a couple of different types -- J-Mac Clay Products and Wesclay. But any oil-based clay should work. I've used firmnesses from soft to extra firm, and I like medium. Soft gets too gummy when you work with it a lot, and the extra firm needs to be blasted with a heat gun before you can move it around.
How much clay -- For the Calamari I used about 40 pounds. For the Coruscant Guard I used about 30, and the Dyre helmet was probably 20.
Tools -- I've collected a bunch of tools over the years. Follow slowly -- I'm going to use some pretty hardcore technical terms, yo.
*The loopy wood thing on the far left is my favorite. I can do just about anything with it.
*The really really big one in the middle is also pretty handy for smoothing out large sections.
*The silver dentist tool things -- they're ******* dangerous, but can be handy for intricate details on miniatures and whatnot. I've almost put my eye out with one, though, so...I don't like using them much.
*The other silver loopy things -- that are great for small detail work on larger pieces.
*Funny looking wood thing with black rubber tips on the bottom-- also great for detail work where you'd like to get your finger in to smooth something out, but your finger is too big.
*And the loopy wood ones on the right -- they're all purpose scraper things that are pretty handy, too.
I'm sure they have real names, but when I go to the shop and say, "I'd like something...kinda...big, but with loops, and sharp, but kinda smallish...like this [makes gesture with finger and thumb]," they always seem to know what I'm talking about.
On that Dyre helmet, though, I only used the really big one, the loopy wood one on the far left, the wood popsicle stick with the one sharpened end, and that twine at the very top so I could map out where I'd make my longer cuts.