morgansmith Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 I finished the fitting/gluing part last night and after cleaning the house and mowing, hope to try the grouting part. It really is an easy technique so far. Sooooo..........I've read all the tutorials I can find on this. I think I missed the part about grout. What's the deal there? Just paint? And as for the stones, I've read about tearing the shapes and cutting them. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 AFTER you seal your papermache bricks or stones you can grout them. A lot of people use spackle for grouting. I would thin it a bit with white glue and pipe it in like I do with frosting. I make a piping bag from waxed paper, but I bet parchment would work, too; fold it in fourths and cut a teensy hole in the point, fill about 1'3 with the thinned spackle (or whatever) and pipe away. You can wipe off excess from the surface of your stones/ bricks with a damp rag, but you do want to seal them first, and your sealer nice & dry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansmith Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Why have I missed this? I swear I have read everything I can get my hands on. So, this should be common sense and I don't get it either but do I paint the stones before or after sealer and before or after grout? I have primed the MDF with Kilz. Egg cartons, glue, paint and sealer along with several 'sculpting' tools are all waiting It seems to me 1) prime 2) tear/cut stones & glue on, sculpting as I go 3) paint stones 4) sealer on stones 5) grout. Am I headed for disaster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 I'm working on the same thing today that I've been working on for the last month...SHOPPING! It keeps me motivated and locked in on this house. Today I got a miniature tassle making kit, a HoM chippendale desk on a frame for $4.00, a 5 watt transformer for $4.26, a 40 watt transformer for $8.00 and a roll of green grass landscaping mat for $14.00. In the last month I kinda went bonkers with the buying, but today's goodies were things I really needed - honest 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P. Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Well, this is my first attempt at building furniture not-from-a-kit. It isn't either an epic failure or an epic success. Next time, I will measure instead of trying to cut around a paper pattern, and I'll use the new little miter box I just bought. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Why have I missed this? I swear I have read everything I can get my hands on. So, this should be common sense and I don't get it either but do I paint the stones before or after sealer and before or after grout? I have primed the MDF with Kilz. Egg cartons, glue, paint and sealer along with several 'sculpting' tools are all waiting It seems to me 1) prime 2) tear/cut stones & glue on, sculpting as I go 3) paint stones 4) sealer on stones 5) grout. Am I headed for disaster? You have the steps in order. I was a little worried it would be a giant mess, too, but it turned out great. I didn't seal my carton stuff first, and used wall board mud because that's what I had to hand. I'm going to dry brush some chalk on after the mud dries, then spray seal. Just go for it--lots of time to undo anything you don't like. I had messy hands and a great time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Well, this is my first attempt at building furniture not-from-a-kit. It isn't either an epic failure or an epic success. Next time, I will measure instead of trying to cut around a paper pattern, and I'll use the new little miter box I just bought. You did a great job. It gets easier with every piece you build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Chris, looks better than my first attempt, that's for sure! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P. Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 You did a great job. It gets easier with every piece you build.Thank you, Holly and Gloria. I know that experience is my best teacher so my first pieces will be experiments to see what I need to do differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansmith Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 We're making a fairy house from a Dura Craft Hillsdale. It will have alot of moss and climbing flowers and vines. My hope is that I can hide all the mistakes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 so the dryer lint moss was a big success! I only did a small bit and place in the few areas I knew I wanted some...looks good dries stiff so you could paint to give more depth and the pits I left hanging over the mouth of the cave are stiff but flexible and looks Good....I dont think I will never get to done on this! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Well I did it again, someone needs to lock me up Spent the afternoon shopping, but I HAD to! Got some great little accessories and didn't spend more than $3.70 for any of the items...so you can see why I couldn't resist. But I swear no more shopping for me for the rest of the month. (Please don't any body mention that there are only 5 days left in the month LOL.) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I made good progress on my rowhouse this weekend. Got three more lights in (including a replacement for one that got messed up the last time I worked on it!) and did wallpaper and flooring in the bedroom. I've been hung up on electricity for *months* but the end is finally in sight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Well I did it again, someone needs to lock me up Spent the afternoon shopping, but I HAD to! Got some great little accessories and didn't spend more than $3.70 for any of the items...so you can see why I couldn't resist. But I swear no more shopping for me for the rest of the month. (Please don't any body mention that there are only 5 days left in the month LOL.) striped jar-190.jpgflowerpot-220.jpgred vase-250.jpgorange juice-2.50.jpggold glass-250.jpgblue pitcher-250.jpgvases-370.jpgmeat with knife-3.30.jpgwok-240.jpg What do you mean, no more shopping for a WHOLE MONTH, Judith! With really neat stuff like that, how can you not shop!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 so the dryer lint moss was a big success! I only did a small bit and place in the few areas I knew I wanted some...looks good dries stiff so you could paint to give more depth and the pits I left hanging over the mouth of the cave are stiff but flexible and looks Good....I dont think I will never get to done on this! What did you use for color? Food dye/colorng? The Gome Home needs mossy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 What do you mean, no more shopping for a WHOLE MONTH, Judith! With really neat stuff like that, how can you not shop!? Heh, Heh, Heh...No more until NEXT month (5 days away) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P. Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Well I did it again, someone needs to lock me up Spent the afternoon shopping, but I HAD to! Got some great little accessories and didn't spend more than $3.70 for any of the items...so you can see why I couldn't resist. But I swear no more shopping for me for the rest of the month. (Please don't any body mention that there are only 5 days left in the month LOL.) striped jar-190.jpgflowerpot-220.jpgred vase-250.jpgorange juice-2.50.jpggold glass-250.jpgblue pitcher-250.jpgvases-370.jpgmeat with knife-3.30.jpgwok-240.jpg You're so lucky to be able to have someplace nearby where you can find such great things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I used a dark moss green and a lighter Christmas green...cuz thats what I had my lint was black...its going to be great when I finish my painting of the base and than I will pit on more moss.... sitting here tearing up egg carton for the rocks on the walls...one of the smaller rooms will now have some gems and gold mixed in the rocks... Im so not going to be done when they get here! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 You're so lucky to be able to have someplace nearby where you can find such great things! NEARBY??? Oh no Boo-Boo everything I got today I got on eBay! Coming from China! Fabulous little El-Cheapo stuff from a vendor named BoBo. He has the cutest stuff. It usually takes about 7-10 days to arrive, but I'm not in a hurry, and with prices like these I can wait! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Panner Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 After almost a month working on the ducks order I finally have time to work on my regular minis. First thing was to complete a Ragdoll cat I've been working on before the commission. Here are a few pictures of the finished cat. Now I'm starting on a pair of wolves, by far the largest animals I've tried, and I've been starring at a sketch for 2 hours now not knowing where to start. They are just huge, the head of one is almost as large as the cats I usually make. I have to use some sort of wire structure and filling for the interior or the thick clay will never bake. Between the bits I've been catching up on my reading, here on the forum and on some wonderful user blogs. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P. Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I love your animal sculptures, Steve. Your ducks were magical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 The book I have for sculpting polymer clay critters recommends using squashed pieces of aluminum foil for armatures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minigrandma10 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 After almost a month working on the ducks order I finally have time to work on my regular minis. First thing was to complete a Ragdoll cat I've been working on before the commission. Here are a few pictures of the finished cat. 1.jpg2.jpg Now I'm starting on a pair of wolves, by far the largest animals I've tried, and I've been starring at a sketch for 2 hours now not knowing where to start. They are just huge, the head of one is almost as large as the cats I usually make. I have to use some sort of wire structure and filling for the interior or the thick clay will never bake. Between the bits I've been catching up on my reading, here on the forum and on some wonderful user blogs. I LOVE that cat. Wonderful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Panner Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Thank you all for your kind comments! @Holly Thanks for the tip! I've used crumpled aluminum foil over twisted brass wire armature and it worked out great! Saved a lot of weight and polymer clay. The structure for one wolf is already done. Sculpting was a lot easier than cats and other small critters, because of the size details are easier to make. But when it will come to adding fur the size will be time consuming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansmith Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I use foil inside my bigger items. It works great. Wire, chicken wire.....other stronger materials work. Also, when the project allows, I use foil over newspaper and once the sculpture is complete and a bit stiffened just by air, I pull the newspaper out, then bake. Sounds awkward but it worked excellent for a large piece I did. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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