Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Schweizer on 05 April 2009, 06:53:07 PM
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I was wondering if anyone can tell me why Green Stuff is so popular for creating miniatures in comparison with super-sculpy. I've never used green stuff; I use sculpy all the time for animation pre-production work, and feel pretty good with it; the only down side is that really tiny details can be a little tricky for me. Then again, that's more to my clumsy fingers than my medium, I expect.
I've not used the extra firm super sculpy, but have thought that maybe it'd work better for small stuff.
Anyway, my question is: what advantages does the green stuff have over scuply? Is it something to do with the mold? My main concern is that, with sculpy, I can do things like run it through a clay extruder or use a pasta machine to create thin planes for clothing, etc, and I'm not sure that I can do that with green stuff.
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I've never tried Sculpy, I guess i have to...
Green stuff has some particular aspects, and it is quite different from any other sculpting stuff. It is really suitable for some kind of surfaces (it has some memory shape, so you can make a plain surface without any God's blessing), or for making some particular things.
To make some examples, it is very easy to use for making wharhammer-style details, but if you want to make rackam (or confrontation) style minis, it is sostantially useless. it is just like modelling a used chewingum. it's elastic, and sticky, so you can make easily hands, bags or hairs and beards.
sorry for my bad english, I'll let someone else to complete my introduction.
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Sculpy needs to be baked, doesn't it?
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We had to coat sculpey masters with quite a bit of Lanolin to get them to survive the master molding process, wiping out some details. The sculpts were in 54mm for Nickleson Toy Soldiers, so details weren't that small.
If you want good details work with Procreate, supposedly formulated for the sculpting industry.
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I have used both green stuff and sculpy and find that they both have their strengths. Sculpy works easily and you can work a long time. Once baked you have to break out the files to do much more with it. Green stuff is basically an epoxy product and does have a limited working time, but is much finer grained so it holds small detail well. The best putty I have found is Milliput (available from MicroMark)and has two different formulations - Standard and Superfine - depending on how fine of detail you are trying to achieve. It can be rolled as thin as 1/64 of an inch, and has a fairly long cure time (about 5hrs.).
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I've used both sculpy and green stuff.. and every other type of putty too !
Consistency wise sculpy is different to green stuff. Sculpy is really granular and acts alot like clay. Green stuff is a bit "elasitc" if you pull a bit of it, it will stretch. Sculpy will break (as will milliput for that matter).
Sculpy is not used alot in miniature manufacture because of the pressure exerted on the model during the mold making process. Basically two halves of uncured rubber are heated then forced together with a jack. Sculpt is just not that strong, the pressure could flatteren or crack the sculpt ruining the model and the mold.
When I sculpt I use a 50/50 mix of green stuff and milliput. I get a good mix of the qualities of both.
You can roll green stuff by either leaving it to cure for a while ( hence it will be less "sticky") or by using talc, like rolling pastry with flour.
One important thing about expoxies is that they change there working qualities as the cure so some things are best sculpted early, when the putty is at it's softest, other later when the putty is harder.
Best way to find out about it is buy some and play around with it.
You'll find the milliput is alot closer to the feel of working with sculpy so maybe give that a go first.
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Ive made 28mm figures with plasticine, wax, super sculpey, fimo, milliput(all kinds except the black stuff), kneadite(thats green stuff and brown stuff), terracotta, porcelain, das pronto, new clay and probably others ive forgotten but I have to say my favourite is ProCreate.
Green stuff(GS) and procreate(PC) both survive well in mould making. PC is grey so is less strain on your eyes. I find its easier to work over cured bits easier with PC than GS.
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If you want good details work with Procreate, supposedly formulated for the sculpting industry.
Well having only used green stuff I can't really compare it to sculpty, but for the most part I can't add anything beyond what others have already said. I bought a pack of ProCreate recently and hope to see how it holds up.
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I've used milliput (both standard and fine) for years and found it really easy to use. I can pick it up from most art and craft shops for ?3.25 - so it's cheap too.
Never used green stuff though, so I might be missing a trick!
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Greenstuff and procreate are so much easier to work with than milliput, I mean by a factor of about 1million. I will can you a sample of procreate if you want to try it out....
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Now, now, Curtis. Did you bring enough for the whole class? lol
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Well, if you want! PM me your address and I will send out a sample to you....
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Oh, I'm quite fine. I've got my own stores of the stuff.
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SOmone was going on about mould makers having a hard time with Procreate? Saying it melts before the moulds are done....
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Not a professional sculptor myself, but slowly trying to learn. I have found, in general, that Procreate seems to be easier to work with than Greenstuff when doing conversions and little bits and bobs. I have no idea how it'd work when doing an entire fig.
-Doc