Update: I wanted to add a few notes about how I baked this maquette, as it baked well without cracking. If you scour the internet on information for baking Super Sculpey, you will find scores of conflicting ideas. I will admit that since this is the first time I’ve done it, it doesn’t guarantee that this is the best method, but I thought I’d pass on the information if anyone else wants to try this system.

The first thing I did was estimate the thickest area of the polymer clay at any one point. This figure is 8 inches tall, and the inside is well padded with foil around the armature. I estimate at its thickest it could be no more than 1/2 inch. I also assumed that cracking while baking is most likely related to rapid temperature fluctuations (that’s why sidewalks crack, right?). So I put it in the cold oven and decided to use a “ladder” system of temperature changes to try to minimize any cracking. Here are the times and temperatures I used (note that 170 was the lowest setting for my oven):  170 degrees for 20 minutes + 200 degrees for 20 minutes + 225 degrees for 20 minutes + 200 degrees for 20 minutes + 170 degrees for 20 minutes = 1 hour, 40 minutes total baking time. I then let it cool down with the oven door closed for about 4 hours. The color changed to a slightly darker flesh tone from the unbaked color, and it has the look and feel of plastic when baked. I’ll probably try the same method when I do this again, and I’ll be sure to report on the results. One last thing: the oven definitely had an odd chemical odor after I finished, so I gave it a thorough scrub with a foaming oven cleaner before I cooked anything in it. I’d suggest having a can of oven cleaner on hand if you plan to cook anything afterwards, as you don’t want to use the self-cleaning cycle for this cleanup. Happy baking!

MDR

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And coming soon: Details of an amazing workshop I attended last week with the legendary Don Bluth!

-MDR

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MDR

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MDR

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