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I bought both, majic sculpt and m. smooth many moons ago and while I've had a chance to try the smooth out, I'm just getting around to experimenting with the M. sculpt.
I've watched plenty of videos on you tube and am rolling it into 'snakes', twisting and rolling...twisting & rolling to mix it, but this seems to take a lot of effort and not yield much sculpt at a time.
Has anyone tried mixing medium size quantities of this stuff? I'm worried that by the time I get the next section mixed and ready to apply to the rough form the first section is starting to dry out.
Last year I quickly made oversized mushrooms out of Styrofoam, buttered them with the m smooth and that method worked well.
This time I thought I'd try the m sculpt, since I have orders from about 30 people wanting mushrooms for the garden, and it seems a lot slower-going.
The sculpt sticks better to foil covered syrofoam than to the actual Styrofoam itself.
Dan must have an army of staff mixing this stuff up....just to get anything done in a day!
Any tips on working with this?
Edit: by oversize, I mean 18" - 24" tall 'shrooms ad if you look me up on facebook under Shirley Carron there are pictures posted there...if you wanted to see them.
posted
We have gone through tons and tons of the Abracadabra Sculpting epoxy in the last five years. While I have certainly mixed up my share I prefer to have members of my staff help me out. I even have them apply the rough coats to save time. If I am applying fine detail I can usually keep up with one mixer, but if we are doing broad areas then I have two mix for me.
The older formulas were pretty stiff and hard to mix - especially if the sculpting epoxy was kept somewhere cold. I learned to keep it stored on a higher shelf in a part of the shop that was good and warm. It sure made things easier.
I had heard a while ago that they had changed the formulation to make the epoxy softer and easier to work with and in the last 1000 lb order I received a few weeks ago I found this to be dramatically true. It still hardens and sculpts the same which is good because I love the stuff!
I have discovered one trick to applying sculpting epoxy to styrofoam. Under normal conditions it tends to ball up the styrofoam as you work it. I would pop a small bit of mixed epoxy in the microwave for a few seconds. (only a few) It would make it super soft and then I could quickly spread it on the styrofoam to create a thin hard coating. The heating would dramatically shorten the working and curing time but that was of no matter for I would then put another layer over the piece to add in the detail.
Here's some pictures of that project...
Start of rough coat
Finish of rough coat
Start of finish sculpt
Final paint
I hope this helps.
-grampa dan
[ February 09, 2014, 01:35 AM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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I think I'm just going to have to attend one of your workshops.
The stuff I was using last night, I bought over a year ago, and was hoping it would have a consistency more like plasticine, but it was very stiff and not that easy to work with.
That being the case I was considering just using the smooth which worked in the past, for the mushrooms, and seems to go a lot faster.
I can see the advantage to using the sculpt when it comes to texturing though.
I'll order some fresh stuff tomorrow and give it another try.I am anxious to try a more complex project.
Looking at things this morning, I do like the heavy coating I got and maybe some sanding will even out what I have done so far. I got the stem and underside covered on a 30" tall mushroom and I'll coat the top cap this afternoon. It's one a 'trio'.
Thanks for the advice...I'll give it another go.
-------------------- Shirley Carron Black Sheep Designs 184 John St. N. Arnprior,On.,Canada shirleyc@magma.ca 613-623-7053 Posts: 503 | From: Arnprior, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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Nuking the parts separately wil make them more pliable and easier to mix, but then you still have to mix them, so you'd lose some mixing time as it thinks about setting.
Nuking the already mixed mixture means it's ready to apply immediately - even if it wants to set more quickly.
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
A chunk the size of an apple is LARGE. Good luck spreading that much on after it has been nuked. We tend to mix in smaller batches - about half that size. The fresher it is the better as it is easier to work and pally the detail.
When I have two people mixing for me it is inevitable that the minute they get a couple of batches ahead of me the phone will ring and the call take too long. Then I have to work up a sweat to catch up to my mixers.
-Experience will teach you what works and what doesn't.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Thanks Dan....gotta love those pesty phone calls!
I was just trying to get an idea of amount/nuke time to base an experiment on.
Mixing as I was the other night - I was working with 'egg' size chunks, rolling and twisting about 5 times to get a consistant color. Then I was flattening it as much as I could and applying it to my shape.
I think I mixed about 7 times to get as far as I did.
Funny how making something smooth is harder than something textured.
My son wants Plants vs Zombies peashooters to go across the front yard....I'm thinking - way to much work!
My feeble attempts so far really make me appreciate the results you've achieved in the works I've seen, Dan; you make it look easy.
-------------------- Shirley Carron Black Sheep Designs 184 John St. N. Arnprior,On.,Canada shirleyc@magma.ca 613-623-7053 Posts: 503 | From: Arnprior, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
I have nuked it both ways. heat accelerates the cure time. so either way needs to be done quickly
I find a layer of latex paint on the foam helps with spreading of the MSculpt. but I have done smaller amounts a little hot and it spreads great on the bare foam.
I bought a hundred pounds a couple years ago and I need to heat it up with a heat gun just to get it out of the bucket.
making more samples now to use up this old stuff and get some new
-------------------- Jon Peterman 200 Summit Loop Grants Pass, OR -------------------- a.k.a. dc-62 success is in Jesus Christ Posts: 434 | From: grants pass or. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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