Putty time, epoxy putties

This will be a tutorial about sculpting putty or maybe more a review then tutorial, there are many different putties and by far I have not tried them all.

More tutorials about sculpting will follow after this, like figure conversion and so on

There are 3 mayor types:
- epoxy putty
- air dry clay
- oven baked clay or putty

As I hardly ever use clay in my sculpting I will not comment on them because there are plenty more people that know much more about them.

Starting with epoxy putties and my favorite one namely Procreate or PC for short.

Pros:
- its grey, okee this sounds weird does it not grey is a good thing, well yes, it makes shadows far easier to see and because of that details are easier to see so its easier to add more details or see mistakes on your sculpt, the color also makes the sculpting easier on the eyes always a good thing wen doing this as small as this.
- easy to smooth out
- can be drilled and sanded but its hard to get it smooth that way
- has no "memory"

Cons:
- rubbery wen dry, this is why is hard to sand
- 1 of the more expensive putties

company that makes it
http://kraftmark.biz/2017/03/08/procreate-putty/
last time I bought some it was over here, for no other reason then they also had other things I wanted and 1 of the cheaper sources
http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/procreate/34-pate-procreate-90-gr.html


Greenstuff/Kneadnite or GS

both are the same stuff Greenstuff is just the name that Wargaming company gives it. this is the industry standard for years, but I simply dont like it, good chance that if you have a metal figure the master is made with this stuff, fuuny fact it started out as a plumbers putty.
 
Pros:
- easy to get every Wargaming shop has it and a lot of modeling stores too
- cheaper if you buy in larger strips and as kneadnite

Cons:
- its green, wen mixed its a horrible toxic green color, its also makes it harder to see detail in it.
- it has "memory"meaning if you push it in it will bounce back a little during drying, not a problem for larger pieces and after time you get used to it but it give a longer learning curve.
- really expensive in the Wargaming shops where only small strips are sold
- where the yellow and blue touches on the strips it starts curing so wen you buy it remove them form each other or you get lumps wen mixed

original company
http://www.kneadatite.com/
not the best source or the cheapest but best known I guess, I never bought anything from GW 
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-FI/Green-Stuff

Milliput

most common modeling putty which is I almost hate as it leaves a residue on the fingers wen mixing and wen its a bit older it gets a skin on the unmixed bars, some mix it in other got it off I think it will be lumpy wen mixed if the skill is left on

there are 3 or 4 different version but I have only used 2 the normal and white, white is a bit finer but both will work the same.

Pros:
- can be bought in most modeling shops
- cheap
- likely you will already have a bar at home
- can be sanded and drilled easy as it dries rock hard

Cons:
- does not hold detail very well
- gets a useless skin wen old
- leaves residue on the fingers wen mixing

company website
https://www.milliput.com/
never ordered these online can be bought in many shops

Magic Sculpt or MS

this is my most used putty that dries rock hard, bit hard to explain why I like it more then Milliput I just think it does everything Milliput does just a better.

company website
http://www.magicsculp.com/



more will follow wen I have tried out other putties, Aves I have not tried yet and I will order it soon but for the moment this is it.



http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/
carries most of the putties I use and good source

press mould

Sometimes I need 2-3 parts of a sculpt, now I can mould and cast the part in resin but wen I only need a few casts of it its wasteful and expensive if that is the case I can make simple more of the same, can be hard if they need to match well and takes time or I make a putty mould but you do need a lot of putty for that and using putty is also wasteful.
Now there a a new option, Instant Mold or Oyumaru both works the same, Instant Mold is more expensive but is sold at more places.
This how it works.


This is the Oyumaru this pack cost me around €6 from a ebay seller in HK

Make your master part or if you lost a piece to the carpet monsters.

Boil a glass of water and place the Oyumaru in to a cup an pour the hot water on it, you will see that the Oyumaru will get soft, flip it around a few times so that it gets soft all over.
Take it out of the water and press your master/part into the mould make sure that everything is nice and snug pressed to the master/part.

Set a side for a few minutes to let the Oyumaru get hard again.

pop out the master.

Then fill the mould with putty, make sure there are no trapped air bubbles,  I use a mix of 70-80% Magic Sculpt and 20-30% Procreate, this gives the best of both putties, MS can be sanded and carved easily where PC gives a bit of flex.
Any putty will work, strait MS, PC or Miliput but the mix of MS and PC is best  IMHO.

After a few hours the putty will be dry and can be popped out.  See above for the result and below after a clean and attached to my MIAS (more about that later)

this is a lovely and easy way to make a mould and wen your done with it just place it again in hot water for a new mould. I used a bar of Oyumaru for this mould and there where 6 in the pack I bought to give you a idea how much you get.

Now the downside of the mould will not last more then a few castings most of the time and its not really useful for really detailed masters/parts.

The weapons that I made for the 15mm sci-fi soldiers there made the same way just with a 2 part mould.

so try it and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

greetings Patrick Mondria