Super Sculpey or Super Sculpey Firm

[Troy-Stith]

Currently I'm using regular Super Sculpey but a lot of the works in progress I see seem to have the gray Super Sculpey Firm look. Does anyone use Firm and if so is it better than using regular Super Sculpey? I feel like regular Sculpey gets soft after working on a piece for a while and I'm constantly battling 'finger dents' when I'm smoothing and such.

What are all of you using to get such smooth results? Is there another type of clay that all of you use instead of Super Sculpey that I might want to try out?

[Wetterschneider]

Hi, you might already know this, but Sculpey can be baked over and over, you can do the head separately, bake it and add it into an unfinished torso.

As for material suggestions, I used to do all my sculpting with regular Super Sculpey, there was no firm at the time. But for tiny details we always used plumber's putty, a 2 part mixable material that is ridiculously strong.

[Breath of Life]

I highly reccommend Super Sculpey Firm over regular SS. You will be amazed at how much more detail you can see with Firm. Though lately it isn't THAT much more firm than SS.

[taurn7]

I've just gotten a block of SS Firm for my Kratos project. It's so much easier making his armor with it than regular sculpey. Although, the brick is a little bit smaller than the super sculpey.. damn pictures make it look bigger.

For smoothing, use rubbing alcohol and a paintbrush.

[VulgarDragon]

It's a matter of preference...some use SS and some use SS Firm, and some like to mix them both. I'm finding that the translucent flesh-tone color makes it hard to see the details so I mix SS with SS Firm or a bit of colored Sculpey to color it to make it easier to see the details.

[Wiggins]

I tend to blow my "quick build up" clay with minimal detail using regular original sculpey. I toss in some gray or black Sculpey III into the batch to get a nice gray color.

SS and SS firm, I don't see much of a difference in any blocks I have really, aside from color, and "pre-worked" firmness. Once you get either one going through your fingers for a while, they're both pretty equally soft, although SS is a bit more sticky.

I'm going to eventually spring for some aves, but I hear from some people that stuff is really sticky too, but they might be talking about Aves sculpt, and not Aves Epoxy....


Overall, SS and SS firm are pretty similar if you ask me. SS firm only costs a few cents more for the same 1lb block where I shop, so it just depends on what I need to restock on....

[SoulWraith]

Aves Apoxie Sculpt is only sticky for a few minutes....I am referring to the Natural color. The colored ones are extremely sticky and I hate them. I really love AP for certain things because it cures and is rock hard, but I like Super Sculpey Firm for areas that you will need to rework a few times before baking it. Make sure if using both on the same sculpture, that you have everything done is Sculpey that you want, then bake it...then use Apoxie Sculpt....if you bake Apoxie Sculpt, it does not come out too great LOL...it can however create some interesting texture being baked I wish SSF were even harder than it is but I am not sure how elastic it would be...it would probably be crumbly. Aves Fix It Sculpt is similar to Apoxie Sculpt, but it cures faster and is more lightweight after it cures...and please never say Apoxie Sculpt dries LOL...It does not dry, it cures Yeah, a pet peave.
Oh, and I use Mineral Spirits to smooth my Sculpey Firm...and plain water to smooth Apoxie.