# Need Help with Celluclay



## Scarecrow

Help help I am trying to sculpt a set of hands for my witch project. I have the hand armatures made of paper mache now I am trying to cover them with celluclay for more detail. The problem is that the celluclay is sticking to everything except the armature. It also doesn't have the smooth property like real clay. I thought this stuff looked and worked much like clay just that it was lighter in weight. Am I wrong about that? I have tried more water and less water to no success. Has anyone worked with this and if you have can you give me some suggestions as to what i am doing wrong. Thanks


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## RoxyBlue

Stolloween here is probably one of your best sources of advice on both papier mache and celluclay (although I believe he makes his own version from scratch). Several people here have worked with it and hopefully will chime in.

I've used celluclay once over a papier mache prop head and had no problem getting it to stick. I found it to be "not smooth' as well, as you noted. Rumor has it you can sand it once dry, but I think you need to use a fine sandpaper.


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## tot13

Coincidentally, I just started my first-ever project with Celluclay this week. The instructions suggest wetting your hands frequently which seems to help. I'm using it over blue shop towel mache and though it doesn't always stick as well as I want, I'm hoping a second coat will adhere better.

I mixed my first batch by hand and it came out pretty smooth with the exception of a few lumps which smoothed out pretty easily. I intend to make a second batch later today but this time I will use an electric hand-mixer instead.

I've always used a white glue and water mixture with cotton balls for my hands which gives a pretty smooth finish. This might be easier than trying to sand down celluclay hands/fingers.


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## Scarecrow

Thanks for the replies. I let the celluclay set in zip lock bag over night and tried it again today. I have to say i am totally disipointed in this stuff, bummer, I thought it would work more like clay. I have used Stolloweens clay mixture with great success on my pumpkins but thought it might be a little hard to handle on the smaller more intricate hands i am working on. so now i am throwing my hands up and looking for any advise or leads to some good tutorials on making realistic looking hands that are fairly light weight. Pardon the pun and please help. Thanks


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## Jaybo

Scarecrow said:


> Thanks for the replies. I let the celluclay set in zip lock bag over night and tried it again today. I have to say i am totally disipointed in this stuff, bummer, I thought it would work more like clay. I have used Stolloweens clay mixture with great success on my pumpkins but thought it might be a little hard to handle on the smaller more intricate hands i am working on. so now i am throwing my hands up and looking for any advise or leads to some good tutorials on making realistic looking hands that are fairly light weight. Pardon the pun and please help. Thanks


You really need to be following Lauriebeast's work. She is a master of Celluclay. She talks about how she makes the hands for her Zelda witch here. Actually, read the thread from the beginning and you can learn a lot.


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## Otaku

You should also drop a PM to Lauriebeast. She is a master with Celluclay.

Edit - Jaybo, you beat me out by seconds on this one LOL!


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## dave the dead

Perhaps paperclay would be an easier product for the fine detail than celluclay? 

As mentioned above, keep your hands wet when applying the celluclay. I keep a bowl of clean warm water on the bench when I am sculpting, and dip my fingers in frequently to keep the celluclay on the sculpt and not on my fingers. After it has dried up slightly, you can go back and work finer details into it, but if you are looking for superfine details you will need a top coat of another product ( paperclay or das airdry clay) 

Celluclay is sandable when dried, but it is extremely hard. I found it workable with a dremel, but only to the degree of smoothing an area to prep for paperclay.

We all bow down to Lauriebeast's talent...hope she chimes in!


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## Scarecrow

Thank you all for your replies. I will check out Lauriebeast's post the pictures are amazing and just what i am looking for. I took a close hard look at my project today and realized that I don't thing I am happy with the hand armature to begin with so I may be starting over will decide after reading Lauriebeast's info. This is my first attempt at sculpting anything like this and I think I am overwhelmed a bit. Thanks again for your help and support thats what makes this such a wonderful site.


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## STOLLOWEEN

I pretty much make my own clays, I have not worked with Celluclay enough to give any decent advice...I agree with everyone above...LB is your best bet for information.


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## Lauriebeast

Hi everyone, so glad I popped in and saw this thread. Scarecrow, don't get discouraged and please, send me a pm if you have any specific questions after you've read my tutorial. The same goes for anyone else  I'm always happy to help.


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## tot13

Scarecrow said:


> Thanks for the replies. I let the celluclay set in zip lock bag over night and tried it again today. I have to say i am totally disipointed in this stuff, bummer, I thought it would work more like clay. I have used Stolloweens clay mixture with great success on my pumpkins but thought it might be a little hard to handle on the smaller more intricate hands i am working on. so now i am throwing my hands up and looking for any advise or leads to some good tutorials on making realistic looking hands that are fairly light weight. Pardon the pun and please help. Thanks


The instructions say the clay will be ok for up to a week if refrigerated. After a few days in the fridge in my ever-dependable coffee can, enough moisture was lost that it became more like clay. However, a day or so after that and the remainder was unusable. I think it just takes a while to figure out the consistency you want.


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## Scarecrow

Thank you all so much for the great info. I see now that the celluclay is more of a base coat. After reading through LB's how to on the hands things are much clearer now. and I see my hands look much like hers at this point so now I am motivated to continue thanks again.


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## Dr. Scarecrow

I just used it myself and the key seemed to be keeping it as wet as possible. lay it down heavy and they apply some water with your hands wet and it molds just like clay. Let it dry at all and you lose the shaping capability.


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## Howlinmadjack

I'm Thinking I may be too late on this, but I use celluclay ( my own version, but pretty much the same stuff) on pretty much all my props, and I've learned that the most important thing to remember is when you mix it, don't use too much water. It should be stiff and firm, so you can apply it to the armature, and then let it sit for a little while. Once it stiffens just a little, use some water on your hands, and smooth out the clay to whatever finish you want. if you have divots, I've learned that if you add a little bit more clay thats slightly wetter, you can fill out the divots, then smooth it out. After the prop dries completely, I usually let it sit for three to four days without touching it. You can then sand it down to smooth any rough edges, or high spots you want to eliminate. I have to say, that hands, are really difficult to get just right, and aside from the ears, are pretty much (IMHO) the hardest part of the human anatomy to get right. Lots of luck with your hands, hope they turn out great.


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## Scarecrow

Thanks again for the advice.. The project is on hold for a little while very busy time of year for me but i am excited to get back on this project


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