Clay Sculpting for Fibreglass

CarbsAndCylinders

Careful With That Axe Eugene
I don't know if anyone here has done this but it looks like a good alternative to using foam. I think doing it this way might allow you to make finer edges and details easier.

https://youtu.be/UHdJYL7iiRk
 
CrabsAndCylinders said:
I don't know if anyone here has done this but it looks like a good alternative to using foam. I think doing it this way might allow you to make finer edges and details easier.

https://youtu.be/UHdJYL7iiRk

How good is this guy that’s level plus, clay would have been nicer to work with.

Luckily the fibreglass is so thick on my seat, I think I can skip the carbon fibre sheets :/ probably added another 10kg lol


Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
 
It does. I prefer clay to foam. Way nicer to work with. Make a mistake? Slap some more clay on and do it again. Make a mistake in foam, get a new block of foam, do everything again, and hope you don't make a mistake trying to get back to where you were.
 
You have to be careful about what type of clay you use. water-based clays will dry out and shrink as you work. Oil based clay's are great but you have to get sulfur free or they react with the resin preventing it from curing properly. The bummer is sulfur free clay isn't cheap. 2 pound blocks are usually $15-$20, 40 pound cases are $170-$300 depending on the brand and quality.

The preferred method among sculptors to conserve clay is to build a substructure that is close to the final form to minimize the waste of clay in building mass, for example, the original surface he created could have been easily done with a piece of MDF and then the clay layered on to form the desired convex shape.

I find that clay is good for building complex surfaces but for simple curves or planar surfaces I prefer to use sheet material and add clay where it needs it. I primarily use it for filleting interior corners, filling gaps, and sealing molds.
 

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Lets say 6 hours a day at an average $50/hr shop labor, 12 days makes that diffuser worth $3600 before materials. So I figure that panel cost him $4k to make.
 
Modeling clay is really not hard to make yourself. It's a combination of beeswax, microcrystalline wax, mineral oil, petroleum jelly and talc. Some use calcium carbonate too.

A basic recipe is:

2.5 lbs beeswax
1.25 lb microcrystalline wax
3 pints mineral oil
1 lb vaseline
6.25 lbs talc

Store it in an air tight container and it will keep for years.
 
irk miller said:
Modeling clay is really not hard to make yourself. It's a combination of beeswax, microcrystalline wax, mineral oil, petroleum jelly and talc. Some use calcium carbonate too.

A basic recipe is:

2.5 lbs beeswax
1.25 lb microcrystalline wax
3 pints mineral oil
1 lb vaseline
6.25 lbs talc

Store it in an air tight container and it will keep for years.
Easy to make and we all that stuff laying around, don't we? :-\
 
o1marc said:
Easy to make and we all that stuff laying around, don't we? :-\

Sorry, I forget that people like you don't know how to order stuff from the internet, Amazon, their local Micheal's or Hobby Lobby, or from a local Ceramics vendor. For anyone else in this thread that's not retarded, modeling clay really easy to make and the most expensive part is microcrystalline wax and beeswax.
 
Ive never even thought to try making my own. Next time i'm doing a bunch of sculpting I will try it out.
 
irk miller said:
Modeling clay is really not hard to make yourself. It's a combination of beeswax, microcrystalline wax, mineral oil, petroleum jelly and talc. Some use calcium carbonate too.

A basic recipe is:

2.5 lbs beeswax
1.25 lb microcrystalline wax
3 pints mineral oil
1 lb vaseline
6.25 lbs talc

Store it in an air tight container and it will keep for years.

I like this idea of making it. Whats the best way to get it all mixed without some special setup?
 
Bro my kids are making homemade slime all day long. I bet they can whip this up no problem. Maybe I need to get them working.

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irk miller said:
Sorry, I forget that people like you don't know how to order stuff from the internet, Amazon, their local Micheal's or Hobby Lobby, or from a local Ceramics vendor. For anyone else in this thread that's not retarded, modeling clay really easy to make and the most expensive part is microcrystalline wax and beeswax.
I usually can find stuff on the internet cheaper than locally. After checking your ingredients I came to a total of around $103 for would looks like it would make 10-12lbs of clay. Then I found bulk clay for $30 for 10 lbs. I don't think you can make your own for less than what you would pay for bulk clay anywhere they have it. So some of us actually do know how to save money on the internet. So who's retarded?

10lbs. modeling clay 2.5lbs bees wax
HobbyLobby- $10 $27.50
Michaels- $26 n/a
Amazon- $8.15 $30.13
eBay- $18 $23.75
 
o1marc said:
I usually can find stuff on the internet cheaper than locally. After checking your ingredients I came to a total of around $103 for would looks like it would make 10-12lbs of clay. Then I found bulk clay for $30 for 10 lbs. I don't think you can make your own for less than what you would pay for bulk clay anywhere they have it. So some of us actually do know how to save money on the internet. So who's retarded?

10lbs. modeling clay 2.5lbs bees wax
HobbyLobby- $10 $27.50
Michaels- $26 n/a
Amazon- $8.15 $30.13
eBay- $18 $23.75

The recipe I am providing is a generic recipe and it's for plastalina. Plastalina at Hobby Lobby is $3.69/lb. Whatever you saw for $10 is not the right stuff. I don't know what bulk clay you found, but all clays are not the same. So please provide details on what "bulk clay" you are referring to. Also, your math is way the fuck off, but that's no surprise. I'm glad I don't get invoices from you.


Here's the breakdown of that recipe:

2.5lb Bees wax ($9.45/lb): $23.63
1lb Microcrystalline wax (6.39/lb) : $8
1pt Mineral oil (21.99/gal): $2.75
1lb petroleum jelly ($.32/oz): $5.12
6.25lbs talc ($.50/lb): $3.13
--------------------------------------------
11.5lbs plastalina = $42.63 vs $42.44 for the Hobby Lobby plastalina

All of these materials are cheaper in bulk prices. Talc, for example, is literally half the price @ 100lbs vs 10lbs. So, in just the talc alone I can make this recipe cheaper than the Hobby Lobby stuff.

However, if you want a cheaper version then here's a cheaper recipe I use or my classes. That first recipe is a very excellent working clay:

10 lbs Micro-crystalline Wax @ $6.39/lb : $64.90
1/2 gal(weight 7.63lb/gal) Mineral Oil @ $21.99/gal : $11
4 lbs Petroleum Jelly @ $.32/oz : $20.48
25 lbs OM4 Ball Clay @ .25/lb for 50lbs : $6.25
--------------------------------------------------------
46.63lbs for $102.63 or $2.20/lb or $25.30 per 11.5lbs

We can go back and forth with this Marc, but you really have no idea what you're talking about. I do this shit for a living. This reminds me of that time you said Honda never made an MR.

It should be noted, 10 or 11 lbs of clay is not a whole lot of clay. When you make this stuff, you make it in bigger quantities to actually be able to do scale work. I still use clays I made in 1998. I just keep adding to the mix every so often and dispose of clays that get too dirty or unusable. Also, micro-crystalline wax is used in foundry casting and other applications, so it can be bought in huge quantities for a fraction of the above prices if anyone has the inclination. Just like with most industrial materials, bulk rates are significantly cheaper. This stuff is no exception.
 
canyoncarver said:
I like this idea of making it. Whats the best way to get it all mixed without some special setup?
Mix it like bread, homeboy. In fact, during my tenure at Tyler School of Art we had an industrial dough mixer for mixing clays.
 
irk miller said:
The recipe I am providing is a generic recipe and it's for plastalina. Plastalina at Hobby Lobby is $3.69/lb. Whatever you saw for $10 is not the right stuff. I don't know what bulk clay you found, but all clays are not the same. So please provide details on what "bulk clay" you are referring to. Also, your math is way the fuck off, but that's no surprise. I'm glad I don't get invoices from you.


Here's the breakdown of that recipe:

2.5lb Bees wax ($9.45/lb): $23.63
1lb Microcrystalline wax (6.39/lb) : $8
1pt Mineral oil (21.99/gal): $2.75
1lb petroleum jelly ($.32/oz): $5.12
6.25lbs talc ($.50/lb): $3.13
--------------------------------------------
11.5lbs plastalina = $42.63 vs $42.44 for the Hobby Lobby plastalina

All of these materials are cheaper in bulk prices. Talc, for example, is literally half the price @ 100lbs vs 10lbs. So, in just the talc alone I can make this recipe cheaper than the Hobby Lobby stuff.

However, if you want a cheaper version then here's a cheaper recipe I use or my classes. That first recipe is a very excellent working clay:

10 lbs Micro-crystalline Wax @ $6.39/lb : $64.90
1/2 gal(weight 7.63lb/gal) Mineral Oil @ $21.99/gal : $11
4 lbs Petroleum Jelly @ $.32/oz : $20.48
25 lbs OM4 Ball Clay @ .25/lb for 50lbs : $6.25
--------------------------------------------------------
46.63lbs for $102.63 or $2.20/lb or $25.30 per 11.5lbs

We can go back and forth with this Marc, but you really have no idea what you're talking about. I do this shit for a living. This reminds me of that time you said Honda never made an MR.

I must have misread the title to this thread of "Plastalina Sculpting for Fiberglass". The video shown used standard modeling clay, same shit my daughter uses. How is that not the right stuff for this application? I don't see where I did any math on my post so how can you comment on that being way off? The clay used for the Corvette diffuser can be done with the modeling clay from Amazon for $8/10lbs. If you want everyone to waste their time mixing up $40/lb clay to use when you can do it for $8, so be it. So you found I made a mistake 5 years ago , you've never been wrong before? Is your name God? Sure you can make it cheaper if you invest in amounts to make a 100lbs of what you only need 10lbs of.
 
o1marc said:
I don't see where I did any math on my post so how can you comment on that being way off?
o1marc said:
After checking your ingredients I came to a total of around $103 for would looks like it would make 10-12lbs of clay.
No math here, right?

You just show up in this forum to troll. You rarely have anything constructive to say. I won't even waste my time to respond to the rest of your comment.
 
irk miller said:
No math here, right?

You just show up in this forum to troll. You rarely have anything constructive to say. I won't even waste my time to respond to the rest of your comment.
No need to reply, but I didn't list the items or amounts to come up with that figure, so how do you know my math was wrong. I used the amounts needed in your list, sure you can make it cheaper per pound if you make 100lbs. My numbers were for making one batch of your ingredients and amounts.
Whatever
 
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