Best Way To Store Your Clay Work.

[lbrewardB52]

I have the problem of only being able sculpt on a saturday dew to the fact that i do far to much. so i have to store my clay work from saturday to saturday. I have the problem with the clay drying out. i've tried putting it in the fridge (didn't work), spraying every day with water and now i put a black bag over it witch wrecks the fine detail (arrr). i use water bast clay at the min but will try oil when i run out. Any over tips or methods. Thanks yeall



PS halo rules!!!!

 

[Achille]

Water clay will just dry out, it's a fact of life. In addition, when it does, it will shrink and crack. I suggest getting oil clay, or, if that is out of your budget, pick up some WED clay. It is a water based clay with some oil added. What this does is keeps it from ever completely drying out. As long as you keep it covered when you're not using it, it will stay nice and soft.

 

[Arithen]

Just as achille said, Oil based clay wont try completely if covered. A member just uploaded some pictures of his sculpting work in the galleries. take a look, this is what he meant by "covered"



http://405th.com/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=9873

 

[Belakor]

... A member just uploaded some pictures of his sculpting work in the galleries...

That would be the person that started this thread

Oil based clay wont dry even if uncovered, it'll just gather dust, which makes a bit of a mess in the early stages.



As has been said, water clay will dry out, it's nothing you can really stop sadly. What I used to do when I worked with water clay (before moving to Chavant) was to carefully cover the sculpt with damp cloth and put it inside a sealable tupperware type container with some water in the bottom. That kept the moisture level pretty high and would help keep everything from drying too quick. Also storing it somewhere dark like a cupboard helped.

 

[Arithen]

That would be the person that started this thread





As has been said, water clay will dry out, it's nothing you can really stop sadly. What I used to do when I worked with water clay (before moving to Chavant) was to carefully cover the sculpt with damp cloth and put it inside a sealable tupperware type container with some water in the bottom. That kept the moisture level pretty high and would help keep everything from drying too quick. Also storing it somewhere dark like a cupboard helped.

oh damnit! lol

 

[NZTK]

The majority of large scale professional work is done with water clay or WED which is just water clay with glycerine added to help it hold moisture. If you care for your clay properly it wont dry out. Once it has lost too much moisture you can reconstitute it. Use a spray bottle to keep it wet while you're working and keep it wrapped in a wet cloth and under plastic bags when you're storing it. Yes you'll loose surface texture but that cant really be helped. save your fine work till you're about to mould. Plastilina's are great but, water clay has its advantages too, particularly for organic type work.

 

[bobbio555]

Well I sculpted this figurine a couple of months back, and it's still in my freezer... Maybe try that until you can get some oil based clay.

 

[lbrewardB52]

Cool thanks all. bring on the oil.

 

[carnage]

To prolong the water based clay try covering it with a cloth soaked in water this helps stop the clay drying out to a certain extent.

 

[Tafumi]

I just use NS Plasticine (sp?). I've had the same sculpt sitting out in the open for 2 or so weeks now and it hasn't dried out. Mainly because it's not supposed to dry out which is one of the many perks.



As for keeping oil/water based clays from drying out, I unfortunately cannot provide any real insight.