01-02-2005, 09:09 PM
put a chunk of clay in the microwave, about the size of your fist or bigger
then zap it for 1-2 minutes...closer to 1 minute
after you zap it knead it together with yourhands to get it consistently soft
[color=\"red\"]IF YOU ZAP IT TOO LONG SOME OF IT WILL LIQUIFY AND BURN YOU!![/color]
after you do this you can either pull of tiny pieces of clay and push them onto the armature piece by piece, or what I like to do is stick the whole large piece on the armature and mash it into place with a rubber or plastic mallett...this seems to save alot of time.
as far as cutting the head off yoru armature it is really not neccessary
old armatures used to be alot worste. what you may want to do is build the top of the head a couple inches, then not build too much thickness off of the neck or the tops of the shoulders(maybe 1/4 inch)
the only problem this gives you is that you have to raise the mouth eyes and nose up a bit to make up for it.
I would reccomend cutting off the ears, they are not needed and complicate things when trying to remove the clay from the mold ( usually end up breaking off anyway)
hope this helps
G
then zap it for 1-2 minutes...closer to 1 minute
after you zap it knead it together with yourhands to get it consistently soft
[color=\"red\"]IF YOU ZAP IT TOO LONG SOME OF IT WILL LIQUIFY AND BURN YOU!![/color]
after you do this you can either pull of tiny pieces of clay and push them onto the armature piece by piece, or what I like to do is stick the whole large piece on the armature and mash it into place with a rubber or plastic mallett...this seems to save alot of time.
as far as cutting the head off yoru armature it is really not neccessary
old armatures used to be alot worste. what you may want to do is build the top of the head a couple inches, then not build too much thickness off of the neck or the tops of the shoulders(maybe 1/4 inch)
the only problem this gives you is that you have to raise the mouth eyes and nose up a bit to make up for it.
I would reccomend cutting off the ears, they are not needed and complicate things when trying to remove the clay from the mold ( usually end up breaking off anyway)
hope this helps
G