any preference on brands? where to buy etc. thanks

Check out the book Pop Sculpture, it's chock full of awesome info.

cool thanks. I was hoping for 1st hand info from other sculptors on the board who have used wax before. not really trying to buy a book to figure out which brand of wax to try.

I here you, I'm not sure if anyone here uses wax, I'm pretty sure I've asked about it before. http://books.google.com/books?id=8KoX6S ... re&f=false

That's a link to a pretty lengthy preview, they might have some brands, half the book details sculpting with wax.

It seems that it's mostly done by clay first, than make a mold, and some junk casts, and make a wax cast, than sculpt on the wax to get finer details, and then do a final resin cast, and then make your final cast from that.

http://www.skullbrain.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=34221&hilit=+sculpture

Here you go. I'm sure you can pick some up at the complete sculptor, www.sculpt.com I think it their online store.

thank you very much! I just ordered some. that's the stuff I was looking for.
an old sculptor friend used to use that & the name escaped me.

I've been meaning to try it, just haven't gotten around to it. Too comfortable with my current methods. Maybe some of the guys on the board who have used it could chime in with their preference or pros/cons vs an epoxy clay.

sweet, that book has a foreword from Checkov!

Joe, do you use Master Sculpy ever? If so where do you order that from?

i've never used it but it seems cool. I like that you can handle it. I have a jeweler friend that uses it alot, I'm gonna have to get some off of him. I wonder if it's hard bulding it up if you take too much off. but maybe it's not that big of a deal.

Build ups isn't too bad specially if you've properly warmed up the Castelene. A great way to keep the wax soft while you work is to buy a wide dome spot lamp from the hardware store and clamp it on your work table with the dome facing up. Then take a small cookie pan (big/small enough to cover the dome) lined with tin foil and place sheets of sculpting wax on it. If you've read my how to article you'll already know how to melt Castelene into sheets.

I'm not sure what master is. I use a mix of sculpey firm and super sculpey. I just get it all from the complete sculptor, they're right by my work. Crazy store they Sell stone working stuff and you just walk downstairs and it's filled with giant chunks of marble and rock.

A lot of the Japanese sculptors use paper clay, I also want to give that a try.

thanks robert! yeah I read ur other post that joe linked it was really helpful as well.

joe, master sculpy is no-bake sculpy, it's 2 different types that you mix together & it hardens on its own.
it's for finalizing things made w sculpy. someone gave me some a long time ago & I used it to touch up a
baked sculpy sculpt. I've never been able to find it anywhere, it's really useful.

Oh yeah, there are different brands, it's also known as plumbers epoxy, the brand I use is magic sculpt. But there are a bunch of brands. I think it's actually a 2 part resin epoxy, dries very hard and durable, much stronger than sculpey. I don't sculpt with it, the ideal window of softness/hardness is too small. But I'll use it to touch up.

I'm using milliput (a 2 part epoxy), brushes, and laquer thinner. It let's you build up your piece. A lot of my sculpting is also done with super fine grit sandpaper.

Regarding, Wax I've read a lot about people using pizza stones, and heat lamps. The pizza stone stays warm, and keeps your wax warm, without completely melting it. The heat lamp is used the same way Robert mentioned.

Oh yeah, there are different brands, it's also known as plumbers epoxy, the brand I use is magic sculpt. But there are a bunch of brands. I think it's actually a 2 part resin epoxy, dries very hard and durable, much stronger than sculpey. I don't sculpt with it, the ideal window of softness/hardness is too small. But I'll use it to touch up.[/quote]


Ok that makes sense, my friends must have just been using 'industry speak' I guess when referring to that stuff. makes sense noone ever knows what I'm talking about when I ask for it at stores or search online even.

Also, I was in a book store today & they actually had Pop Sculpture so I picked it up. Seems cool so far, thanks for the heads up slipstar01!