Sunday, January 09, 2011

Pig Maquette final...maybe...





The final painted pig...I ran into a couple of problems that diminished the quality of the paint job...besides my lacking capability...that always goes without saying...so if you are reading this and know some insights, please clue me in. I had many panicked moments wishing I had just left it unpainted...and part of me still feels that way.

First thing I did was spray a primer down on certain parts. The primer never really dried all the way...I thought it might have had to do with the humidity levels but after placing it at multiple locations it still remained tacky. I believe people usually use acrylic when painting sculpy but thought I might have better luck trying modeling paints.

After waiting for it to dry I went ahead and used spray paints to set base coats...which those too after over a month are still a bit tacky. Not tacky like wearing a 1970's type shirt to a formal dinner event...but not dry tacky.

I painted individual parts with the small bottles of paint, which some are dried and some not.

Finally, because everything was glossy I threw on some flat clear-coat hoping to knock the sheen down a bit...and hoping it would help it to dry. I don't know why I thought that...but I think it knocked parts of it down a bit too much. To restore the shine to eyes and teeth I slathered on some gloss nail polish clear-coat.

So I guess it is kind of done...now I just have to see how many months it takes to dry and then figure out where I'm going to put it.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Bri. I've had the same problems with tacky paints even with acrylics. The only paints I've been truly happy with on polymer clay models are Genesis heat set paints which are a bit like oil paint, so they're workable until you set them with heat. Then they're as dry as you like with a matt finish! Hope this helps!

Eric Scales said...

This is awesome Brian! I've never tried sculpy myself but love the look of it. You really got some nice crisp lines and definition. Way to go!

steve said...

Great work Brian! Yes, I've had this issue with clear gloss acrylic varnich sprays on some Munny's I worked on. What sucked is they stayed tacky, forever, and began collecting dust, which would adhere to their surface. Honestly, I'm not sure what might fix this problem, since I myself haven't tried to fix it.

JON said...

AWWWWWWWESOME! Don't beat yourself up, I think the paint job looks great! Sculpey is always a pain to paint. I usually use acrylic, but I've heard that Genesis paints work the best!

tweed fox said...

thanks for your comment!a plush turtle is a really good idea. might have to try him! thanks!

Raluca said...

don´t know what was the final image you had in mind for this project,but this furious pig is a awesome character!!!!

Hayley said...

I have seen some really cool sculpey project online that have been colored by powder pigments, then finished with a fixative.
A while ago I was experimenting with clay myself and I used old powder makeup (some of those cheap Christmas gift set kinds). It was a cheap quick alternative for just trying my luck with clay. I just applied it with a stiff bristle paint brush before I baked the clay. No need to clear or finish it. The powder baked into the clay nicely.

Maybe on a next project or even a test piece try using some powdered pigments? They blend nicely and are easy to layer and make some really cool effects!