6 replies to this topic

[72moonglum]

What is the grey putty that for example Patrick Keith uses instead of the green stuff and what's the difference between the two?

[MonkeySloth]

Well for a neophyte like me I have grey stuff because it's less sticky and easier to work with if I make something that's not attached to a figure at the time of sculpting.

[haldir]

If anything it's this:

http://www.kraftmark....procreate.html

I for one like using it more then green stuff. As 'sloth said it less sticky & for me works easier then green stuff.

["That Guy"]

Pat uses Pro-create and/or Fimo. The difference is that Green/brown stuff cured chemically and Fimo and Pro-create are oven cured. He also uses Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It's a two part epoxy putty that is able to be mixed with water.

[GreyHorde]

Actually, ProCreate is chemically cured, two-part epoxy, just like greenstuff and brownstuff except for the varying properties. You can mix two or three of these together change the working properties, curing time, etc. Very low heat can speed curing, and cold will slow it.

Apoxie Sculpt and other Aves products are also two-part, but similar to Milliput in that neither is really an epoxy. If they were, they wouldn't mix to a slurry or work with water. Both cure chemically.

Fimo, Primo, Sculpey and several others are heat-cured polymer 'clay'. They don't mix with any of the above, at least not unless the main form is baked and cooled before adding any epoxy onto it.

[72moonglum]

Good deal, thanks guys! I've played around a litle bit with green stuff, and it always seemed too sticky and hard to keep where you want it to stay. One of these days I'll grab one of the grey putties and see if that is any better. I'd love to try my hand at sculpting some day. Not expecting any miracles, but it would be nice to try. I think my main issue is just the more time I'd spend sculpting, the less time I'd have for actual painting, which in itself seems little time enough.

[GreyHorde]

Pro Create and others are just as sticky as greenstuff in the first few minutes after you mix A/B. Try this with your greenstuff:

• Very small amount of petroleum jelly, like Vaseline, worked into fingertips and thumb, plus a very light amount on hobby knife and tools, will keep greenstuff from sticking so much to the 'wrong' things.
• Mix blue & yellow thoroughly until it is a uniform shade of green. If there are any streaks or spots of yellow, it will be stickier there and cause problems with curing.
• Mush a small amount of gs onto the work, then walk away for 15 minutes before doing any further work. It will be less sticky and more likely to stay where you put it. Again, tools may need to be lubricated in very small amounts to keep them from sticking too much and pulling the gs away from the work. While gross, spit works as well, here.
• Vary the 50/50 ratio a small amount. 55/45 blue to yellow will make a darker, harder, less sticky form of green. If the ratio was off previously in favor of yellow, like 40/60 blue to yellow, you'd have a lighter green final mix and it would be very sticky & hard to work.

By the way, the working properties of all epoxies are very similar. Waiting a few minutes, varying the A/B ratio, working time, lubricating tools...pretty much all the same. Switching materials mostly just means you have a slightly new learning curve to climb. More often than not, you're better off mastering the stuff you have on hand before trying something different, hoping it's better, somehow.

The main difference between epoxy materials is in how 'stiff' the stuff is, how it behaves while tooling, how quickly it cures. Remember, it's curing while you're working on it, so it's a question of how long you can work on it before the material becomes too stiff to work.

While curing, during working time, greenstuff tends to settle a little, which means details soften, edges become rounded, etc. It's very, very subtle, but it means you have to work at it a lot to keep crisp detail. That self-leveling tendency is also a good property if you're working on a flat or smooth area. It smooths nicely and is forgiving of tool marks. By comparison, Pro Create is less forgiving. I mean, it's good for keeping details and sharp edges, but it takes more skill to smooth and eliminate tool marks. It shows every touch of the tool, good or bad. So, it's not better or worse, really, it's just different.