(Part 2) Best clay & doughs according to redditors

Initially I used Crayola white air-dried clay with coconut coir mixed to a sticky consistency. For me, this required adding too much water to actually get the clay to mix so it had to set about three days to dry and become less sticky and more form-able. Then I added a little more clay to get something that holds together. I would recommend adding too little clay and gradually work up to minimize the clay. These seeds were primarily collected locally on sandy soils, so I don't think they are really clay-adapted. I would guess it was about 1:2.5 or 1:3 clay:coir. I wanted a soilless mix to make sure no weed seeds piggy backed on the mix.

The second mix I have been playing with (not pictured) is coir and amaco terracotta:

https://www.amazon.com/AMACO-Moist-Terra-Cotta-Earthenware/dp/B0044SET3S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=terracotta+clay+amaco&qid=1571232106&sr=8-1

I used the same process to make the mix, but I needed way less clay it held together much better. I also added about 2% bonemeal and 1% hot chili powder to stop animals eating seeds:

https://www.amazon.com/Rani-Indian-Natural-Ingredients-NON-GMO/dp/B00307EMRC/ref=sr_1_43?crid=10YQX29F7L65K&keywords=chili+powder&qid=1571232218&sprefix=chili%2Caps%2C329&sr=8-43

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Once you have the mix, I pulled a chunk of clay about the right size (tried to get 2-4 times the diameter of the seed) flattened, put the seed in, and rounded up. For rarer seeds, I did single seeds per ball. More plentiful seeds and species with poor germination got doubled or tripled up. For ultra tiny seeds, I just kneaded them into a lump to get evenly dispersed and made smaller balls from that, e.g. rattlesnake master, leadplant. For everything posted, I dried them about three days to harden them up and scattered them! For a few odd-balls like Great Solomon's Seal (not pictured), the ball was not dried completely since the seeds cannot survive being dried. Scattered while still slightly damp.

Have fun!

Hah, no. I used the cheap stuff.
I got it at Michaels for $2.50/pkg. So in total I spent $5 and 3 hours. 3 hours I would have wasted watching tv anyways. It's not a bad way to spend the evening. Plus, all of my brains fit in the original container. I'm pretty sure you'd have to buy a separate container to hold the erasers. :)

Edit: Oh, and just for comparison $32.97 - $5 = $27.97 / 3 hours = $9.32/hour if I were getting paid for my time.
Edit 2: Sorry, didn't mean to sound all defensive. The math seemed weird is all. Anyway, it's super cheap to make it yourself, and homemade stuff is always better than store bought, imo. Plus, it's so easy kids can help make them. Have a family craft night and make some brains!

Yes, middle GA

Amazon

super sculpey

I saw a video, try MAGIC GLOS by Lisa P.

https://www.amazon.com/JHB-International-Inc-306619-Pavelka/dp/B002N8605G

This video is really interesting to watch. The way he makes the body using the resin, you don't have to hollow it out after -- the method he uses, the innards can be just poured out leaving a hollow shell.

When you say flexible "cutters" I assume you're referring to flexible blades, right?

Looks like at least their online site has at least Sculpey's Super Slicer, although this version comes with 3 other blades (2 ripple/wavy blades, and a long rigid blade), and "handles" which imo aren't necessary and just get in the way (unless the user tends to be especially klutzy).
https://www.michaels.com/sculpey-super-slicer/10138054.html

Amazon has a number of different ones, different long lengths, etc, but I see only the Kato blade as a brand I'm familiar with, and anything by Donna Kato is good. It comes with handles but they don't have to be used:
https://www.amazon.com/Van-Aken-International-VA12602-Multicolor/dp/B004O7EWPE

Different degrees of flex can be fun too but in general the medium-flex ones will be sufficient (and the medium to very flexible ones can be kind of pulled on from both sides, with the fingers fairly close to the cane, when slicing canes rather than needing a more rigid one).

https://www.google.com/images?q=polymer+clay+blade

We didn't have a lot of choice in the old days. The only game in town was ordering tissue blades (biotome blades) from places like Thomas Scientific. Those weren't stainless steel so we just put up with the discoloration, etc. I've even ordered a box of those in the past to share with my guild.

You've got your priorities in the right place re pasta machines...lol! Unless you're really into making your own pasta.

No problem and as a reminder you can definitely find Super Sculpey, Super Sculpey Firm and Sculpey III at most of those box-store mini-mall art stores you mentioned (Michael's, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's all carry polymer clay). For the other clays I would recommend Amazon since you said you have an account. Monster Clay - appears to be medium , Chavant NSP Medium , WED clay - Let me know what you think.

Hugs! You might not have done so bad! Fingers crossed!

Jade Green Fimo is pretty awesome. It is a super pretty colour! I've been learning how to work with fimo this last week and I find it all super exciting! Today I've made a turtle with a marbled blue shell! It's not perfect, but i'm getting better!

Petrobond?

Depends on what you're using it for.

What are you making? How long do you expect it to last? Will it be handled frequently? Or are you just practicing?

Salt dough is cheap, can be molded and baked just like clay. It lasts a long time, but only if it's handled rarely. My mom has salt dough ornaments that my 33-year-old brother made as a child and they're in fine condition, because they're only decorative and otherwise gently packed away.

If you're really interested in clay sculpting and you care about the result of your work, you'll probably want to spring for the real thing. 3/4lb of Sculpey is less than $8. You can easily earn that by selling something on craigslist or Etsy or eBay.

Also consider making miniatures since they require less material.

>
> However, if you truly did perform windtunnel testing, then the aerodynamic effect causing water to deposit onto the rear window should've been fairly obvious?

No one sprays water on models/cars in wind tunnels. :D At least I never did

The guy who I was responding to posted a basic picture of how air behaves around a car. Air. Not the water it is carrying.

The surface spray that gets carried around with the air around the motorway and the water drops are anything but stable. They don't follow what one stream of air or one arrow shows on a picture. It's more or less haphazard as soon as more cars are driving next to each other on the same roads...

Second of all.

You can go to a test tunnel for two things: Get actual numbers from the testing (both at direct and different angles of wind), or you can use it to see how something you changed on the design or certain shapes affect the air.

That's usually done with just tape and string attached to the car. Then you make a modification on the model (either with this sort of modelling claythat's the way I did it because the model was just MDF foam. If it was already dressed with clay then you'd just make the modification on the [clay model and test it again. But the first option is quicker and our time slots in the wind tunnels were limited.

But none of these show you how all of the air around the car is behaving. This doesn't show you all of it either.

Just an image like this shows you just how much goes on behind the car.

So to post a picture with 5 arrows and say "The water sticks to my ass" is just funny.

But hey, if what I'm saying is wrong then perhaps people should start ringing all car manufacturers and ask why their sedan doesn't have a rear wiper when the hatchbacks do :)

i'm guessing kaelin clay's mom had a dirt craving when she was pregnant

(in case yall are unaware that people buy dirt to eat: https://www.amazon.com/Hannibals-Diner-Kaolin-Clay-Chunks/dp/B009T8UN3S )

I've been using this stuff, which works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Sculpture-House-Plastilina-Modeling-Sulphur/dp/B006JFUZXC

Start with a nice oilclay.

J-Mac (J.F. McCaughin) Classic Clay 2-AB225 Tan (Medium) -- 10lb Slab

https://www.amazon.com/J-F-McCaughin-Classic-2-AB225-Medium/dp/B005ZJQDEI/

And screw some stovewire and wood blocks down to a board to use as your armature.

Probably start with a sculpted torso of a figure that's starting or ending some motion, then the individual parts of the face.

I need doll-modding supplies!

Like clay or tools or acetone pens or embellishments or brushes.

With practice, I hope to be able to work with some very talented doll artists in my community, as well as crafting custom dolls for people over the Internet.

So I went on a research spree of air dry clays, here is what most people tout as the best clay:
https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Hearty-Weight-Modeling-Padico/dp/B0019R537S
However I haven't seen it in colors so I don't think this is what was used.

I googled "Super Light Clay" and came up with the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Aipleril-Colors-Modeling-Crafts-Children/dp/B01MDLUB2E
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Light-Clay-24-PCS/dp/B074L86TH4
It could be either of these, it could be neither of these, but this is probably similar to what was used.

Also air dry clay is different from polymer clay, polymer clay is usually oven or microwave dried, air dry clay will dry by...well, air. Air dry clays especially Hearty are also very silky soft and super pliable compared to polymer and real clay so a lot of figurine artists like to use it!

Idk how curious you were so if this is TMI sorry but I personally have been learning how to sculpt recently so I'm trying out many different materials.

I made a rest for my X55 stick. I covered the stick in cling film, moulded a rest out of FIMO, baked it and covered it in SUGRU, then fixed it in place with dual lock tape.

If you really hate the centering on the stick you might want to look into my mod for it. I can't help with the hats though, I still need to figure out how to replace the swtiches in them.