air dry clay & other materials

[Powder]

Where can I get air dry sculpey? Someone mentioned it was one of the best items to use for customizing. I tried another air dry clay but it crumbled once it hardened. Any tips/suggestions about an add on material to shape areas of a figure would be great. Not for serious use but more for practice, Ive been using crayola model magic lmfaoo... for throwaway figures its actually serving some use. Im just doing it for experience, ya know, shaping, not leaving finger spots & all that. Once it 'hardens' if you could call it that, i paint it with crazy glue & so far its held up. Now that Im getting a little better with that I wanna do some serious business. Help!

[Topsu]

I've used Magic Sculp myself, since it's one of the easiest (and cheapest) to find over here. In my opinion, it works fine, haven't had issues of it cracking. I don't know if there's better or cheaper solution to find over there, but in Finland customing/making your own models isn't that big business...

[Wes]

I think most of the super-skilled customers use Aves Apoxie Sculpt -- and while I'm not in that class, I've got some and I have to say it is great. It's a two-part clay; once it's mixed you get a working time of roughly 3 hours. I wouldn't use it for huge projects -- at $13.50 per pound before shipping ($20ish afterwards) it can be kinda expensive, but you could always use some general clay or something else to form the basic shape and then use Apoxie Sculpt for the more detailed top layers.

You can order it from http://www.avesstudio.com/ -- and if you do so by telephone, you get to talk to one of their super-friendly representatives with uber-cute voices. It's almost like getting a free gift with every order. ;)

[Powder]

Well I'm not super skilled unfortunately lol. Technically I've never made (or finished rather) a custom. I've got the right tools though. Is that sculpt what you generally use? any pointers?

[Wes]

Yeah, Apoxie Sculpt is what I use now. I tried several different air dry clays from Michael's and found them to be pretty weak, and I figured I could just as easily spend $20 trying more clays I wouldn't like... so I decided to just bite the bullet and get some Apoxie Sculpt. I've only used it on one custom so far (I've only finished two, really), but it works great! It works like any other clay, so you don't have to be a master sculptor to use it.

[Elizabeth]

I'm an Aves Apoxie Sculpt / Clay fan.
I use an x-acto knife, my fingers & a sculpting tool set to make details in the apoxie.
I keep a small cap full of water nearby to help with the stickness of the apoxie sculpt. Just dip your finger or sculpting tool in the water. You don't want too much water.
I sometimes will practice on silly putty first.
This is one of the more frustrating parts of customizing for me. I've thrown away several failed sculpts. It's not easy. And if it is for you, feel blessed.